Champix/Varenicline

This is a form of tablet prescribed to people who want to quit smoking. Someone recommended that I try them so I visited the doctor here in Korea and he wrote me a script out for 2 months supply. As his english was limited I went online simply to find out the correct dose, as this alters as the days go on. What I found horrified me..I'm not sure if this is pure hype or fact so...I'm asking you all if any of you have used it...heard good or bad reports and...if any country has banned this product.

Some of the stories regarding side effects really scared me...suicide, depression, violent tendancies..paranoia to name but a few...I'm seriously thinking of returning them and just chewing my nails down :) I've done a lot of google searching but..if anyone has any personal opinions/advice..I'd really love for you to share it with me?

Hellon...sounds very close to chantix here in the US.

I took it and quit smoking for a month but it made me really edgy at the end. You smoke on them for the first week or so, then on the day you stop it is actually pretty easy not to light up...

But then devil woman came out and I was on edge all the time. I decided to smoke because I was getting angry all the time.

If things would have been different at the time (all the crap that was happening in my life) and I could have quit and been relaxed, it may have worked.

I think it's the same medication.

Yeah....it's definately the same one, I checked. I'm just really concerned that I'm doing the wrong thing here. I want to quit but, will this open up another can of worms for me? I'm in good health at the moment, even as a smoker, and I want to stay that way.

I'd say try it Hellon..just prepare yourself to be done with it for good.

Find a peaceful place with no whiney ass teenagers or squabbling family members...brush your teeth often, drink lots of water, make a nice soft place to rest and buy lots of skittles :) Good Luck

I've quit a couple of times before...once for 10 years and again for 3. I just cold turkeyed it both times but, as I've got older, my willpower seems to have diminished somewhat so I thought I'd try these tablets but now I'm scared to take one. I wasn't examined or questioned by the doctor and he never told me of any side effects.

I didn't take that pill but another one several years back and suicidal thoughts were terrible plus I never did quit smoking then.

I used nicotine lozenges last year and they let me taper off the cigarettes and in January 2012, stopped completely and haven't had a cigarette in the past year. Even with the number smoked cut down, it still was not easy. Will power and strength to do it are the only things that really work. I have COPD, Asthma so it was critical to quit. (Test show that I only have 39% of lung capacity left now. Trying to maintain that with breathing meds.) Not shouting but just QUIT Hellon and don't ruin your lungs completely like I have.

EDIT: If you want details on how difficult life is now with COPD, Asthma and the prognosis just let me know. Or look those things up on the internet. Trust me it is as bad as it sounds.

If you have it in your head to quit again, it will help.

I have to get serious about quitting too. I have been smoking too much for too long..

lots of people have quit on them. Do more research and read patient reviews...call the doc back and ask him more about it.

Hope you get the nicodemon out of your system :)

I'm going to give it a serious go....believe me!

I paid $26.75 for a pack of 40 cigs in Australia...I really felt like telling the woman to take them back but I was too embarrased..that's the 4th increase this year and we haven't even had our budget yet.. Over here they are very cheap so the incentive is not the same but....I'm leaving tomorrow so I will not buy any duty free. The patches are cheap here too and I had already bought a supply of them when I was told about these tablets but...I never researched them until today and that's why I posted here. Thank you both for your info and words of encouragement...this is what's great about this site....it reaches so many countries and people who can share their thoughts and experiences.

It helps to have someone as a "buddy" when you are trying to quit. I volunteer to be a buddy for you if you need one. Sometimes you need to scream, yell, go over why you need to quit, why you don't, why you feel so bad, etc., Feel free to PM me anytime.

Thanks Sylvia...that's very kind of you. I'll be sure to keep it in mind. I think I've finally psyched myself up to do this!

Anyone else with any info on these tablets feel free to post....I've very curious about them now.

This official dosing guide may be of help:

http://www.chantixhome.com/chantix_dosage_usage.html

Varenicline, is a nicotinic receptor partial agonist, so mimics nicotine effects and likely displaces nicotine from binding to these neuronal receptors. it is however, the most successful to date for quitting smoking. Most depressive/suicidal side effects are reported in teens, but as others that have experienced these, can be in anyone. No harm trying though, one can always quit if not tolerated. Plus some have added or followed Chantix with Bupropion (Zyban/Wellbutrin), a dopaminergic anti-depressant, and also a nicotine receptor partial agonist/blocker used to quit smoking. A Stage 3 clinical trial is currently looking in to the combination, a follow up to a preliminary study (Mayo) suggested complementary anti-smoking benefits (as much as 50%) and negligible behavior issues when Chantix and Bupropion were combined.
Suggest taking Chantix under close medical supervision of your doc, so you are safe. It may be worth it for you if it works.
Just in case if you feel depressed/suicidal, we all at PnQ might be able to warn you (when we see you suddenly lose your ever "sharp" communication edge in the forums...haha! :\wink)
Good Luck.

My grandma had one lung (lost one due to emphysema), and had COPD and asthma.. that alone scared me from ever smoking. She couldn't walk to the bathroom without having to use her nebulizer, and even then itd take a while to recover. Ultimately it took her.

I am so proud of you guys for quitting, whether you want to or had to. Hellon I know you can quit again and be successful at it. Youre stubborn so I know when you decide its something youre going to do, youll do it.

Connie my mom had a similar issue .. she tried everything and ended up going back to smoking because it made her... insane? Though shes insane regardless lol. I always felt it was just her using it as an excuse to be a raging .. you know. Lol

Thanks for all your input people...I have taken the tablets back...guess I'm not willing to take the chance of the side effects that could happen. I'm really funny with meds....very seldom do I even take panadol so....guess it's cold turkey once again....I have some patches and, although they haven't worked in the past....I feel I'm more determined this time around. Thanks again everyone.

The depression/suicidal feelings are probably just feelings amplifed, teenagers tend to be melancholic at times.

I know you hate them Hellon but I have now puffed away on my Electronic cig for nearly 3 months.

So I haven't smoked a real cigarette since 4th Jan.

However I am aware I still 'smoke' just changed my brand from harmful to futuristic.

One day I will have to give up the electronic ones.

Good luck, as long as you want to, you will.

Darren, I read about e- cigarettes and there is a huge difference between the brands available. Some e-cigarettes have up to 19 times the dosage of nicotine per "cigarette". A friend told me his daughter in law has been smoking e-cigarettes for several months and is really starting to look bad (eyes sinking into the skull and tired expression etc.).

I quit smoking on 01-01-2000 after having smoked 2 packages a day for 20 years. The first four months I sat on my hands all the time, rocking my body to and fro and it felt like the clock stood still. I drank a lot of strong, black coffee every time the need for a cigarette became overwhelming. Murhpy's Law kicked in really hard and all that could go wrong went wrong right after I stopped, but I somehow knew that was also part of the test. I am still a non-smoker and can easily run a whole hour non stop now, whereas before, I was out of breath after walking up just one stairway!

The emotion that helped me most was anger, I became so very angry that I literally destroyed every cigarette offered to me after I had quit with my shoe.

Become angry, make it personal!...:)

Thanks Ingrid

I would imagine more research needs to be done regarding E-cigs however my view is that it is the better of the two evils.

I am always knackered anyway so wouldn't notice anything different.

Hey, I have no knowledge of the drug or anything. But my mother was an awful smoker (2-3 packs per day) for about 16 years. The way she quit was she carried a note book around and everytime she felt the need to smoke, she would write it down and for everytime she resisted she would mark it down as a dollar and save it up for something. After about a month of her torturous urges she had enough money to buy the new tv she wanted, which she used as motivation to work toward that goal. I myself have never smoked but it seems like a really hard habit to break, I thought I'd share that idea because it may be worth a try. Hope something works for ya (:

Good idea, FM. That may work well on other addictions too, like overeating!

Darren, be carefull with the stuff..most brands are made by Chinese and those people don't really bother with health issues. Lots of poisonous medicines and such on the market here from China...try to break free from the addiction completely, if you can. Start jogging!

FM...that was the way I quit first time around. I wrote down when I was most likely to want a cigarette (this was back when you could smoke anywhere) and it was generally before I was requested to go in and take shorthand down (yeah...what's shorthand haha!!) or when the phone rang..or I was making a call...generally times where I guess I was apprehensive of the length of time I may be required to be present without my cig...anyway...day one without my smokes guys....I am using patches which I've used before and failed with but...I'm more positive now thanks to you all :)

I'm not really sure about those e-fags Darren...I know someone who used them and still smokes...never tried them but...like the patches...aren't they still supplying your body with nicotine?

Thanks Ingrid for the advice.....er Jogging sounds very tiring, maybe I can talk Abbie into running with me, help her tennis.
Although she would probably be embarrased to be seen running/walking with a wheezing old man.

Hellon, yes they do supply you with nicotine. I am chuffing away on one now....plenty of nicotine...I haven't noticed any side effects apart from the light headedness and the dizzyness and the moods and feeling sick and talking gibberish and the sleepless nights and the..........

Lol, you are not old yet! Jogging or even play tennis with Abbie might help you, because you will want to be able to run longer and faster once you start.

When my dad died of cancer last year, black water came out of his lungs right before he died...the tar that had accumelated over the years and that also played a part in him losing his health. I wish all smokers could have seen this, it would stop them smoking cold turkey, no doubt. Once you are ill, you will know what you have lost..thinking a doctor can save you, should you become ill, is the biggest misconception of all..they hardly ever can.

Darren and Hellon, would it help you to quit if you knew that Nicotine by itself (not counting the 70 other carcinogens in cigarette's) is a category 7 pesticide and herbicide, still in use in some places, but is to be finally banned as an insecticide 1-1-14 per FDA decision in the US.

Also, the LD50 (median lethal dose that kills 50% of exposed individuals/animals) of nicotine is lower than that of cocaine! It has caused death at a dose of as little as 40mg, each cig gives 1-3 mg of absorbable nicotine though the package labelling states 10-15 mg. One deep drag on a cigarette can provide 0.35 mg nicotine. One strong cigarette can provide 3.5 mg of nicotine and twenty one cigarettes provide 73.5 mg of nicotine.

People do know all these facts, David..but sometimes it is easier to ignore messages, no matter how stupid it may be.

The days of no one knowing how harmful smoking is, are long gone.

I didn't read any of the posts ahead of me, my apologies I don't have the time...

However I'd like to say this Hellon, my dad smoked almost a pack to a pack and a half a day...He was told last fall that he has this disease called Barrets esophagus....which was actually caused from acid reflux that he never knew he had..which means the tissue in his esophagus is very thin because the acid burnt it over the years.

Anyways, from August to October they cells went to a low grade...from October to Feb they cells went to a high grade. The next step was cancer....

The doctor said he HAS to quit smoking because that really didnt help the situation. So in october he got Chantix.....after the second week on the pill you are to completely stop. Well he didnt stop....he just cut it down to 3 or 4 a day....which was a great accomplishment at first, however months pass and he made no further progress...

Finally 2 weeks ago, he got himself to compeltely stop.....and hes been smoke free for 2 weeks.....So I'm not even sure if the pill worked, or if it is just his mentality...I say its a mental thing, but hey if they pills help mentally, go for it....

At this point he says cigarettes don't even sound good....So if you can get yourself to get passed the first 3 days of really craving them and going through some moodiness, by week 1 you'll not really want them, and by 2 they shouldn't sound good at all..

He was also worried about the side effects he heard about suicide and really terrible nightmares....my dad didnt have any side effects at all. Everyone is different, but I truly think its how you want to handle it that determines a side effect.

Good luck to you Hellon. I don't think anything anyone can say could make you stop, but perhaps your grandchildren? My dad is doing it for hisself but keepts telling me its for his unborn grandkids.....My grandpa died before I got to meet him of throat and jaw cancer from smoking, and I am really bummed I never got to meet him..a bond between grandparents and grandkids are so important...make sure you keep yourself healthy to be around for them :)