Chantix (non-smkg aid)

[K9karen]

In my gazillionth effort to stop smoking (truth: I sometimes enjoy it) I asked my doc for Chantix. My hairdresser is on week 3 and doing awesome, no weight gain, no side effects). So that was inspirering.

However, the side effects on the enclosed info is scary stuff.

If anyone on PT has taken it, can you please give me a heads up?

Many thanks, as usual..

[Glacier]

Stuart took it. It worked very well for him. The only significant side effect was wild, vivid dreams. He normally has very clear dreams, but they were a step beyond when he was on that stuff.

[caseysmom]

If thats the one that makes you have no enjoyment when you smoke a friend of mine at work is doing it and he has stopped smoking for quite a few months so far and he has tried many times before.

[pomtzu]

All I can say is - just be careful. The side effects listed are very serious, so if you notice any changes in yourself that sound like some of the more serious warnings, then please notify your doctor immediately. With some people this drug works just fine - but with others - not so fine at all indeed.

[Laura's Babies]

My Captain used it and he was a 3 pack a day smoker, this July will be 2 years since he has quit and he swears by it and keeps encouraging me to use it to quit.

My son in law use it and he quit. My daughter tried and she was such a grouch and was screaming at everybody all the time that she quit using it.

I had another friend that was on it but he didn't tell me. He was acting funny so I asked him if he was taking any new drugs, he had been on Chantix for 2 months and asked me why I asked. I asked him if he was having any side effects and he said he wasn't... "WHY?".. I told him yes he was and that is when I found that first sight I am going to post.. He started reading and got SO MAD! That was the last day he took them. It had changed his whole personality and was causing him a lot of unexplained pain.

I was all set to try it but researched it on the internet first and there are MANY people that it has altered their lives in the worst way. Side effects that do not go away when they get off of them and are now in pain 24/7 because of it. In some people it seems to wake up pain receptors and once they're woke up, you can't cut them off..

Go here and read away at what it does to some people.. http://forums.wrongdiagnosis.com/showthread.php?t=2301

and here.. http://www.chantixsucks.com/

Here is a good sight that you should check out before you start trying to quit, it explaines a lot and teaches you a lot about the process.. My eyes aren't good enough yet to read much but once they are normal again, I am going to read everything in there..

Point is to make an informed decision and learn what to watch out for if you do decide to take it..http://www.whyquit.com/ The OBJECT is to PREPARE and learn BEFORE you start! Did you know your sugar level drops when you quit? This sight explains why and what to do about it...Plus a LOT more..

(I already know that I am Miss Side Effects Queen and if a drug has side effects, I will experience the worst of them and as much as I want to quit smoking and want to take this, I will suffer the worst of the side effects if I do so I am going to try all other options out there and leave this one alone)

[Taz_Zoee]

My good friend quit with Chantix (its been about three years). The manager of the boutique at the shelter tried it but it made her very sick. So it's different in everyone.
I do remember my friend that quit using it said she found something online about it and I thought she said it was black boxed. I'll have to ask her again about it.

[Twisterdog]

I quit January 1st using Chantix. It worked wonderfully for me! I, too, had some very strange, vivid dreams, but they stopped after two weeks. It is the ONLY thing that has ever worked for me.

One of my employees also quit by taking it, and said her only side effect is nausea, if she takes it without food.

My sister also said it was great. She quit, and she had smoked two packs a day for 45 years. The only side effect she had was sleeplessness. She said, though, that she wasn't tired and restless, just didn't feel like going to bed, and wasn't tired during the day.

I would highly recomend it. There are scary side effects listed on EVERY prescription medication. Obviously, there are some people who won't be able to take it, but I've never heard anything but very positive responses to it.

[cassiesmom]

It gave my former manager two seizures. One was a partial and one a grand mal seizure. Her doctor reported this to the FDA.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I used some drug (don't remember which - it has been 10 years) to quit.

It worked and I have no regrets. But I will say the sleeplessness for me was terrible. I had to quit using it way short of the prescribed time because of not being able to sleep...at all...but it worked.

And...at the end of the day...that is what mattered.

[pomtzu]

I used some drug (don't remember which - it has been 10 years) to quit.

It was probably Zyban, which I believe was the first of the bad news drugs used as an aid to quit - and I speak from experience when I say "bad news" - very serious bad news!!!!

IMO - cold turkey is the only way to go, and I'd rather suffer those side effects than the potential effects of those poisonous drugs.

[Laura's Babies]

It worked and I have no regrets. But I will say the sleeplessness for me was terrible. I had to quit using it way short of the prescribed time because of not being able to sleep...at all...but it worked.

I had the same effects when I tried to use Zyban too.. After the 3rd day of not sleeping I quit using it and went back to smoking. That stuff was WICKED! Soon as I took the first Zyban, I started getting depressed, couldn't eat and all sorts of stuff...That is why I checked out Chantix before I made a decision to try it and from what I have read, Chantix would be worse for me than Zyban was.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yup...it was Zyban!