Zyban and Arrhythmia Medications
If you are going to give up smoking and you use Zyban for this purpose, then you should know that Zyban is contraindicated with certain drugs. In particular, if you suffer from arrhythmia and you are prescribed the drugs listed below, you should keep in mind that the concurrent use of these drugs may lead to a number of side effects. It is known that Zyban can increase the levels of arrhythmia medications in your blood, possibly increasing your risk of side effects. To prevent this, your healthcare provider may need to monitor you more closely, especially when you are starting or stopping Zyban.
The list of arrhythmia medications that should not be taken together with Zyban includes Efavirenz, Doxorubicin,Cyclophosphamide, Levodopa and some others.
Combining Zyban and Efavirenz may increase the risk of your side effects. You should consult your doctor before taking it together, as it may lead to such side effects as fever, sore throat, and headache with a severe blistering, peeling, and red skin rash, nausea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, dark urine, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, or any other signs of a new infection. Depending on your situation, if you are taking Efavirenz along with Zyban, your healthcare provider may monitor you more closely and may need to adapt your doses of these medications.
Another arrhythmia drug that should not be combined with Zyban is Doxorubicin. This drug may raise the level of Zyban in your blood, which may increase the threshold of side effects. It is recommended to decrease your Zyban dose while you are taking Doxorubicin. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite, mouth sores and a sore throat, redness and a feeling of uncomfortable burning on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. It is very important that Doxorubicin along with Zyban should be given only under the supervision of a medical oncologist.
As for Cyclophosphamide and Levodopa, these drugs also should be taken with caution when combined with Zyban. There have been no cases of interaction among these drugs in actual patients, but still it is recommended to consult your healthcare provider as much depends on the individual state of health.
Mind that your healthcare provider should know your medical history, especially if you have heart diseases, cardiovascular diseases or if you had a myocardial infarction before, otherwise it may lead to fatal consequences.