Champix?????

[snake_lady]

Originally Posted by Crazyforinfo

You definitely have to find things to keep you busy even if it is just sleep.
Wait until things start to taste and smell better. No more sore throat, stinky breath or junk in the lungs.

Yup, I have a sinking suspicion that I may be "napping" more often. (I put more details in the quitting smoking thread, cuz they weren't directly related to Champix....they were my smoking triggers n' such)

I am definately looking forward to savoring my food. That's one thing I recall vividly the one time I quit.... having some yellow beans and just "wowing" over the taste.

I have to laugh.... everyone I've talked to has said they've had vivid weird dreams. It seems to be a very common side effect.

Of course, me being me, cannot have the common side effects....(aside from the nausea) nooooo. I have to have incontinence and panic attacks

I want weird dreams LOL

 

[crazyforinfo]

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Yup, I have a sinking suspicion that I may be "napping" more often. (I put more details in the quitting smoking thread, cuz they weren't directly related to Champix....they were my smoking triggers n' such)

I am definately looking forward to savoring my food. That's one thing I recall vividly the one time I quit.... having some yellow beans and just "wowing" over the taste.

I have to laugh.... everyone I've talked to has said they've had vivid weird dreams. It seems to be a very common side effect.

Of course, me being me, cannot have the common side effects....(aside from the nausea) nooooo. I have to have incontinence and panic attacks

I want weird dreams LOL

Yea I didn't get the weird dreams just more of them.

 

[snake_lady]

ok, I can say that this med is working for me

I am on day 10...and I had my last cigarette on Day 8. I did not quit on purpose...my actual quit date is day 14, this coming Sat. But on Sunday, I made it 5hrs without one, so Monday I decided to try for longer... and succeeded.

I feel pretty darn good....I can take a deeper breath than normal, and my chest didn't hurt when I woke up today

I do think with these meds, you need to follow your body's reaction to them. If you don't, I don't think you'll end up quitting.

Day 1-3 I could have quit.... I didn't want to smoke, didn't feel like smoking, and I guess you could say that I "forced" myself to smoke. After that I smoked alot.... more than usual. Then when I increased the final increase on Day 8, I didn't feel like smoking much. I went 5hrs without, and had 3 in total that day... then none.

My reasoning is simple, based on what I did in the beginning, I figure if I wait till my quit date on Sat. the not feeling like smoking may not be there anymore as the increase in meds has stabalised in my system now.

side effects now: none. Unless I don't eat with the pill. If I don't eat, I will be nauseous.
- no increased anxiety since day 5, and I'm back to taking my anxiety meds the same as I was prior to starting this med.
- no panic attacks since day 4
- no sleep issues
-no incontinence (other than the one time)

My only cigarette withdrawl symptom, appetite increase yesterday and today. But I am comfortable in saying its not a withdrawl symptom, but a side effect of not smoking.... food is tasting better to me, and its a case of I want to try this or that and see how it tastes..... rather than the cigarette withdrawl symptom of needing something in your mouth.

I would highly recommend these meds to anyone, as long as they do know the potential side effects. But I am sooooo glad I didn't quit taking them after my first 2 bad panic attacks.... I'm glad I know my body well enough to know that I have side effects to most, if not all, drugs that affect brain chemicals.

I'm very happy right now. 37hrs and going strong.

 

[yosemite]

Chris, that's wonderful news! Keep it up girl!

 

[lil maggie]

Way to go Chris!! You're doing fantastic!! I'm glad to hear the side effects are gone!
I'm rooting for ya!!!

 

[snake_lady]

Today is my 19th day on Champix, and I quit smoking the evening of day 8.

With this med, you are supposed to pick a date in between day 8 and 14 to quit. I picked day 14 and ended up quitting before that because I listened to my body. In hindsight, I could have quit just as easily on day 2 of the pills, but to an extent I forced myself to smoke because I didn't really want to smoke but it wasn't my quit date yet....by day 4 I was back to thoroughly enjoying smoking.

On day 8, I had my final increase in meds, and just didn't feel like smoking. I had 3 smokes that day, and listened to my body rather than waiting till a quit date.

This med works best if you listen to it.... I think if I had not listened, then I would have had a harder time quitting on my quit date, than when I did quit.

It is definately worth the price IMHO.

 

[franky41]

Am almost 8 months off them thanks to Champix. Smoked 20+ a day for 30 years. Gave Champix up soon (after a month) because I couldn't stand the side effects, but I reckon that is so much better than smoking. My husband still smokes in the house and I succeeded.

 

[trouts mom]

My DH is a project manager for smoking cessation at the Heart Institute here in Ottawa, and according to studies, Champix is the most effective smoking cessation tool for most people.

 

[carolina]

My DH is a project manager for smoking cessation at the Heart Institute here in Ottawa, and according to studies, Champix is the most effective smoking cessation tool for most people.

I don't agree.... IMHO vaping is :bigthumb:

 

[milk maid]

I gave up in January 18th this year using Champix, I was a 20/30 a day person and had smoked for 40 years, 

 I found the year before that I couldnt take the full strenth champix ( I had a really bad reaction to it) So this year I decided to try a half dose, buy the end of the month I was on a half of a half and after a month and a half I stoped taking them I havent smoked since so for me they really worked well.

  

 

[snake_lady]

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Good for you. I too had some pretty yucky side effects, and did not take it for the "suggested" length of time.... I ended up missing a dose shortly after my last posting, and said screw it.... I had already quit, no desire to smoke, etc. and I did NOT want to go through the symptoms I experienced, so I was done taking it.

Happy to say it's been over 2yrs (wow, were does time go) since I quit..... and with all the bs in my life, I can't say I haven't thought about it..... I did, I thought about smoking again when things first went horrible, BUT............... with all the times I've quit before, I know I cannot just have one cigarette. As well as, once me and my girls have to move, money is going to be tighter than it is now, and I wouldn't be able to afford it.

Yup, I would definately vouch for Champix, I know without a doubt that I would not have quit smoking without it. I didn't want to quit..... didn't have the drive of motivation....sure I wanted to in a minor way (because my ex was a non smoker) but we all know that one has to quit when they are fully ready to. I was nowhere near that. The Champix made me quit LOL.

If a person knows about the side effects (some lucky ppl don't have any) and can handle them, this is by far, the BEST smoking cessation product out there, IMO (and I've tried most of em LOL)

I gave up in January 18th this year using Champix, I was a 20/30 a day person and had smoked for 40 years, 

 I found the year before that I couldnt take the full strenth champix ( I had a really bad reaction to it) So this year I decided to try a half dose, buy the end of the month I was on a half of a half and after a month and a half I stoped taking them I havent smoked since so for me they really worked well.

  

 

[feralvr]

Congratulations, Chris - two years !!!!!!!!!!!! That is great . I have heard that Chantix really does work but the side effects are scary to me. I never went on that when my doctor recommended it to me and Larry. We were just able to quit "cold turkey" but I will admit, I still will sneak one once in awhile :frown2: I know I have to give it up for good. AND it is just too expensive to smoke anymore. :nod:

 

[speakhandsforme]

Whoa, yeah, Chantix. My stepdad was a pack a day guy for quite some time and has been able to cut back lately but he was on Chantix for a while.

The side effects were just madness. He had the crazy dreams, but the waking effects were even worse. His mood swings were terrible; he wasn't himself at all. The worst episode was when he called my sister, who is a little overweight, "porky" when they were having an argument, and then he walked into the garage and cried like a baby. It was completely unlike him, and that's when he knew he had to stop taking it.

He smokes a lot less nowadays, but I think it's just impossible for him to go cold turkey. Hopefully he'll be able to quit soon.

ETA: He was an Army ranger and then a Apache/Huey pilot for 25 years, so crying is just not something he does. LOL

 

[jcat]

He smokes a lot less nowadays, but I think it's just impossible for him to go cold turkey. Hopefully he'll be able to quit soon.

He might be a good candidate for vaping (e-cigarettes), but he should check out forums like the e-cigarette-forum (dot com) before buying anything. The ones that look like cigarettes aren't worth the money or aggravation. You still get nicotine, but not the thousands of other toxins, and don't have to worry about ersatz behavior(s).

 

[zohdee]

Champix is the Canadian equivalent of Chantix?  I have heard horror stories about it and IIRC, the FDA stated that it should only be used as a last resort.

 

[snake_lady]

Champix is the Canadian equivalent of Chantix?  I have heard horror stories about it and IIRC, the FDA stated that it should only be used as a last resort.

Yes it is.... same thing just slightly different name. And yes, some people have been quite sensitive to it.

But, for me, it was the only thing that worked..... so even though I had really crappy (non-lifethreatening) side effects, I also haven't had a smoke in over 2yrs....so it was worth it to endure the effects of each dose increase in my case.