Champix/Chantix
by Chris Holmes
*Update: If you or a loved one has suffered a bad reaction to Champix and you are based in the U.K., you can report it to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) here. The more people do that the clearer the true picture will become. Protect others! Report it.*
At the very end of the book “Nicotine: The Drug That Never Was”, in the final section called A Pause For Breath which you can read here on the site, I mentioned the announcement of the coming of a new magic pill to stop people smoking, which coincided with my completion of the book in May 2007. What I didn’t know at the time I was writing that last section was that the number of smoking clients I was used to getting every week was about to drop by around 50% as thousands of would-be quitters raced off to try the new medication instead.
People want magic pills. They want to believe the doctor can make their problems go away, just by swallowing a little tablet and then getting on with their day. So as soon as the headlines hit - “New Pill to Stop Smoking! Available on the NHS within weeks!” - hypnotherapists like myself who specialise in smoking cessation encountered an unexpected drought that went on from June 2007 right through to the end of the year. Now we’re pretty much back to normal, as everyone has learned that the latest magic pill isn’t magic after all - surprise, surprise - in fact it has turned out to be a horrible nightmare for some.
Champix is supposed to work by ‘blocking the nicotine receptors so that smokers no longer enjoy smoking’, which is actually nonsense because habitual smokers don’t smoke for enjoyment anyway. Some may believe they do, but if you ask any smoker to focus on the pleasure of smoking, and then describe it to you, they will find themselves unable to do that. Then ask them what their first cigarette was like - most smokers remember that it was disgusting. So, if there is a pleasure in smoking, how come none of us noticed it straight away?
The truth is that the pleasure is all in the moment, none of it is coming from the cigarette. Only smoke is coming from the cigarette, which we all found nauseating to begin with, but it’s amazing what you can become accustomed to. Simply because habitual smokers tend to smoke at moments of repose - which are usually pleasant moments because they are no longer stressed or exerting themselves - many smokers adopt the idea that they enjoy smoking. Even so, there will be moments when that illusion falters, and the original nausea and disgust becomes noticeable again. Nicotine itself is not pleasant in any way, as all smokers noticed on the first day they ever inhaled the smoke - and apparently, neither is Champix.
Only a few weeks after Champix became available on prescription in the U.K. I began hearing reports from the only people I really trust these days when it comes to quit products: smokers themselves. The most common remark about the drug was that it caused quite severe nausea, but there have also been much more severe reactions too. If you have taken Champix yourself, or someone close to you has, feel free to add comments at the end of this post.
Some reports I have heard suggest that although the urge to smoke seems to disappear whilst taking Champix, it returns once the drug is out of your system.
The course of nausea-inducing tablets is twelve weeks, which is a long time to put up with nausea. Not everyone is nauseous for that long apparently, some only reported that for a short period after taking the tablet, but others seem to be regularly heaving or actually vomiting. Since when is medicine supposed to make you ill? Does it really just ‘work’ by making you feel too rough to face smoking, rather like a hangover does? That’s a bit unsophisticated, isn’t it? Sounds a bit dangerous, too. Hypnotherapy - by contrast - isn’t nauseating or dangerous, and the whole process usually only takes a couple of hours. For the majority, that’s it: you’re a non-smoker again. No cravings, no willpower needed, no bad moods and no weight gain. That’s one hell of a lot better than taking tablets that make you ill for weeks on end, isn’t it? Not to mention safer, and with a much higher success-rate, when it’s done properly.
Champix Scary Side-Effects
The scariest Champix reports were those that involved unexpected changes to mental well-being, including one woman who told me that she stopped taking it because she was having time-lapses in her day she could not account for, including whilst driving. A five-minute journey seemed to have taken twenty-five minutes, for no reason she could remember or explain, and she was deeply concerned. A report published in The Telegraph (24.10.07) warned that people taking Champix had been told by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) not to drive when taking the medication, following two accidents blamed on the drug. Dizziness and sleepiness are two side-effects of Champix, made by Pfizer.
Okay, so how is that going to work in reality? Smokers are put on this for twelve weeks, or even twenty-four weeks if they are still smoking after the first twelve. Does the GP say: “By the way, don’t drive for the next six months”? No, they are much more likely to just say: “Don’t drive if you don’t feel well”, but the trouble is, most people on Champix feel unwell daily. Still got to get to work, haven’t they? So the MHRA have issued a warning that few working smokers can possibly heed in practice. How many people are driving about under the effects of a drug that is known to cause dizziness and/or sleepiness - and even memory loss - for anything up to six months? Given to them by their doctor.
Recent Updated Warnings by Pfizer
At the beginning of 2008 Pfizer added more warnings to the medication suggesting that users should be monitored for erratic behaviour, suicidal thoughts or personality changes whilst on the drug. Okay - by whom? Since the only people likely to see that warning at all are the user and their GP, how is that supposed to work in practice? The people most likely to notice those changes are family and work colleagues - all of whom will probably be unaware of Pfizer’s warning and some of whom may be subordinate to the user in some crucial way which makes swift and effective response unlikely or impossible if indeed any sudden erratic behaviour occurs.
What if the user is a police officer, or in the armed forces? What if they are an air-traffic controller, a crane driver, a rail signalman or a pilot? **Update: Pilots and air-traffic controllers have now been banned from taking Champix** Memory lapses, sudden personality changes or suicidal thoughts take on a whole new angle in such cases, and even the driving issue makes Champix a potential threat to anyone even trying to cross a road. The mass-prescribing of Champix to smokers is actually a gigantic experiment, and what that updated warning from Pfizer really means is this:
“We’ve covered our asses now, you’ll just have to chance it in practice unless you can afford to quit work for a few months… and if anything terrible happens to you or your loved one, and you try to blame the medication, our well-paid legal team will create just enough uncertainty to make sure you get the blame for the disaster, sucker!”
If you have a story to tell about Champix, let us know. If you would like to know more about how hypnotherapy can help with smoking, or any other issue, visit the Central Hypnotherapy website.
If you wish to comment on this, or any other post on this blog please use the Leave a Reply facility at the end of the list of comments below.
Filed under: Champix/Chantix, Drugs on Trial, Smoking, The Book by Chris
I have taken the course for 14 weeks i have not smoked in this time ? I have worked all my life never been of sick or claimed social welfare. But now my life is in a right mess i have been signed of work because of really bad back pain that bad i struggle to walk also people keep saying i have changed and that i have done things i can not remember . Not at all im losing time somwhere which i cant get my head around .Im still taking the course 1 tablet a day of 1 mg they supposed to give 0.5 mg to wean me of this mediecation. I have about ten tablets leff of 1 mg i shell keep taking those none left .Dont no how i will feel when i have finished my last few but i dont feel very well at this time i have stopped drivin . I am in court on the 29/04/08
for fighting two people they have said things that i have suppossed to of done to them which i do not rember they could be lying . This behaviour from me is very unlike me . Ill write again to let you no of the complete out come of the whole thing
BUT 1 GOOD THING I HAVE NOT SMOKED FOR THE TIME ON THIS MEDICATION
**Update to this message, August 31, 2008. Reproduced by permission, Paul sent the following message via the Contact Form email facility:
“Hello. I was wondering if you could take my comment of your web site. Had a really bad time on this tripped out drug champix. And i still do not feel right? Or could you take my last name away.”
So we have removed Paul’s surname, got permission to reproduce the message above and Paul has offered to do another post in due course, recounting his Champix experience in more detail.
I am an LGV driver, I have been using Champix for 10 weeks so far. I have not encountered any of the side effects described in this article. The drug has made my dreams more vivid than usual, but I have not suffered from nausia, or drowsiness. The drug has proved most effective in my case, so far. Although I have smoked two cigarettes since the 8-14 days initial integration to the course, there was no nicotine “rush”, and little desire to repeat the experience. I believe that this drug is an excellent product, and with it’s help, and my own desire to quit. That I shall be succesfull on this, my third attempt. Champix beats patches, and gum, hands down in my opinion.
So far these are the only two apparently genuine comments posted about Champix. I do want to get as many real contributions on this as possible, as the jury is still out on how successful that medication will turn out to be (and how safe or hazardous.)
My attacks on NRT are quite seperate, I have an open mind on Champix and all I can do is provide a space for smokers to speak for themselves. I intend to be even-handed, as I fully expect a range of comments as different as those above.
Timothy’s comments certainly seem positive, but he is still on the course. Some of my clients said they were ok until they stopped taking it, then felt they were back to square one. I’d appreciate it if Timothy could give us an update later, when he’s had a few weeks off the medication.
I have been taking Champix off and on since August, 2007. Prior to that, I had given up smoking for approximately 14 months but had a 4 week slip. I gained a terrific amount of weight during those 14 months primarily due to an overwhelming craving for sweets, i.e., pies, cakes and cookies, etc. Not only did the Champix take away my desire for sweets but also my craving for cigarettes. I have now lost over 20 pounds, am smoke free and still on Champix. I do have the odd vivid dream and at times feel ill if I don’t take the medication with food; however, this is so minor considering how I felt as a smoker with COPD.
I’m on my second week of Champix. In the first week, I felt no side effects whatsoever and my smoking was reduced from 20 a day to about 3 a day.
It does have an interesting effect. While you don’t feel like smoking, you still have a mental habit of doing it. So, in week 1 they told me that I can smoke if I want. So I did, and found that I did not get the usual good feeling after having a cigarette. This was a bit unusual to me, and a big let down. It does make you think “why even smoke I don’t feel a thing”. In the back of your mind though, you still know that once you’re off this medication it will probably feel as good as it used to having a cigarette. I try not to think about that part.
Week 2 has mostly been about killing the mental habit of smoking, which i recognize as the biggest problem. After a meal, after you wake up, when you’re bored. Those are the real enemies. I don’t feel that overwhelming desire to have a cigarette though… it looks like the champix kills those cravings that used to control me so well. I decided not to buy cigarettes this week, and I am doing ok. The drug removes the overwhelming nicotine addiction and let me focus primarily on the mental part of trying to quit.
What i did notice though.. was that since I went from 1mg to 2mg a day, I do get nausea when taking it. It lasts perhaps 10 minutes for me, but isn’t so overwhelming that I throw up. I also have begun feeling sleepy a lot, more so than usual. If I am doing something though, I can shrug it off. If you let yourself go though, you can easily just go right to sleep.
Overall I feel that it’s worth a try. Quitting is really about ignoring those cravings and defeating the mental challenge of not doing something you’ve been doing for so long. I could never beat those cravings. The nicotine patch came close but it also made me sleepless and I couldn’t stand that.
Anyway, I don’t know if I can quit forever but I also know that it’s all about my own mentality at the end. I feel the Champix has been really effective in helping me along.
Or how about two hours relaxing in a comfy chair that wipes out the whole compulsive habit, cravings and all, with no weight gain? Zero personal risk, too. Hypnotherapy also has a far higher success rate than Champix, when it’s done properly. (For more information about this, click the link to the Central Hypnotherapy website at the end of the Champix blogpost to which these Comments refer.)
Also, with Judith’s comment (No.4), she is still on Champix, ten months after she started! This is supposed to be a twelve week course, not a lifelong commitment. If you try to quit with willpower it is common for cravings to switch to food, especially sweets, causing weight gain. In hypnotherapy we wipe that out. Two hours, not ten months. She is assuming that the only choice she has is either weight-gain, or Champix!
Where are all the comments from people who quit with Champix on the initial twelve week course, haven’t taken it for months, feel perfectly normal and simply don’t smoke anymore?
I have been smoke-free for nearly four months and after trying all other remedies and failing miserably, I opted for Champix. I have to say that it worked for me. As others have said, I continued to smoke with it for the first week but by the second week, I was hardly smoking at all. Once I had chosen my quit day, I was fine. That was the good bit.
Now the bad bit. The nausea! I suffered really badly with the nausea. Sometimes it would last most of the day. I also had very vivid erotic dreams (not a bad thing!!!) and had a lot of interupted sleep. Waking up in the middle of the night wide -awake etc.
I have been off the tablets for a week now and I feel very strange. It’s almost like the cravings are back, yet they’re not (if you know what I mean). I feel quite ’stressy’ without any reason for being stressed although at the same time, I don’t want to rush to the shop for some ciggies.
As long as you know what you’re letting yourself in for and have tried other remedies in the past, the I would recommend Champix. Even though the side effects can be a turn-off, it works.
this article is crazy. the author’s claims are opinionated and ungrounded. champix does work and nausea does beat the hidden baggages of habitual smoking.
anyone including myself is now dumber for having visited this blog
Not my claims, Mr Scarface. Google it, and you’ll find lots of concerns about this medication that go far beyond mere nausea - but as I say, the jury is still out on this, which is why I’m inviting comments from all sides. I’m not making any claims, except about the fact that hypnotherapy is far more effective, much quicker and doesn’t involve any risk or nausea.
Whether Mr Scarface believes that or not is immaterial to me, and his pathetic attempt to make visitors feel “dumber” just for visiting this, or any other blog will, I’m sure, be immaterial to them also. How do I know Scarface is a male person? Just call that intuition. Bye bye, Mr Scarface. Thank you for your lovely contribution.
Nick’s contribution was much more positive, but as he has only been off the tablets for one week, and by his own admission is certainly not feeling normal or content, it might be a bit early for him to be declaring that “it works”. I would welcome an update later Nick. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
i have been taking champix for 12 weeks have had the occasional crafty fag but not enjoyed it at all have now come off champix for ten days am feeling stressed and anxious and feel like the past 12 weeks on champix have not happened feel like i have just given up with willpower alone everyday is a rels struggle without a ciggy champix is like patches is a load of crap like dumbos lucky feather is all in your head
me again im not saying i dont think it works but as soon as you come off it thats it you are back to square one. i feel like i am holding off the inevitable if you know what i mean. i have now tried patches gum the fake fag allen carrs book paul mckenna cd and champix maybe hypnosis is the key but for now ive had it up to here with it all the answer is dont start smoking. the next generation might be more fortunate than we were as you are now so limited to where you can smoke.
I am on day 3 of the Starter Kit. Tomorrow I start to take the 2 half-doses morning and night. No nausea yet but I will report on that when I am on the full dose next week.
So far I can confirm a “detached” feeling and the dreams have already started. If the dreams and feelings of detachment are this strong at this early stage I am somewhat anxious as to what’s to come. However, I am now too intellectually interested to see what will happen to stop.
I can also confirm that cigarettes are already losing their appeal. I have smoked daily (and heavily) for 33 years (I am 43). This is a pleasant surprise but at the same time I already have this unshakable feeling that something profound and disturbing is happening to my brain…
I will try to keep a running log to keep you all up to date as to my progress. I sincerely hope this breaks me of a lifelong habit that is killing me and perhaps by sharing my progress I can provide some insight and much needed balance to this discourse.
Wish me luck!
Good luck wayan, and thank you for your contribution. A running commentary is just the sort of thing we need! It’s a pity Mr Scarface has vowed never to return to this blog, he might have learned how to put together a useful and intelligent post.
Hi All,
First day of full dosage of Champix. Slight nausea this morning but abated as soon as I ate something.
My dreams continue to grow in intensity and vividness. I have a slight sense of lethargy and detachment today, much like when I first started using the drug. I am assuming at this time it is because I have increased the dosage.
Tomorrow is my quit day as well as my first complete day after taking the full dose of the drug.
Wayan Out
I took the full course of the champix. I smoked for approximately 25 years, 1 pack a day. Champix helped me stop smoking. It has been 7 months since I have quit. A huge miracle in itself. However something gained and something loss is at play here I think. I have not been myself. I still have side effects I think anyway.. I just don’t feel myself. I had severe depression…, and still have bouts of it. Aggression and underlyng anger still. Sex drive has increased..(not a bad side effect…) tiredness forsure… Mainly the detachment feeling is still here and my tolerancec level is very low…. I hope these subside. I do find myself doing and saying harsh things…. things that I would never have said before… totally out of character for me. Anyway, still glad I am a non smoker. I dont’ have the urge to go back to smoking and I am not enticed or repulsed when I am around smokers. Again another miracle….I did have slight nausau when I was on the Rx, but food helped withthat. It’s the mental and out of body feeling that is most disturbing. Especially since it’s been so long after finishing the medication that I am still feeling like this. I hope not to be permanently changed by this “brain candy”..
Good luck to all .. Ed
Back 3.5 weeks …
…after 2 and half weeks on Champix I started to have serious pain in the right kidney and then eventually both kidney were very sore and i developed distinctly dark circles around my eyes (I see my GP tomorrow). Cut back the Champix to half doses and the pain cleared up within 48 hours, eyes have improved immensely. Still have not smoked but the craving definitely worsened after reducing dosage. Aggression was increasing as well as a general feeling of disassociation and a lack of drive. I do seem to be alternately over-sensitive to saccharine television and then completely emotionless when a real response would be appropriate. This could be just the stress of quitting of course. I simply do not care about work and I am starting to feel the same way about my relationships. I am taking an increasingly lower dose of this drug and plan to be completely off it by this Thursday (it is Monday evening for me now). For me, it has been a success in helping me quit cigarettes in the short term, but the physical and mental side effects of this drug are very disconcerting and frightening to me personally and frankly the episode with my kidneys has convinced me to get off the drug completely.
Chris and most above
Thanks for the insight. I was wondering what the heck kinda bug I had picked up because I feel like dirt. I started Champix 14 days ago and stopped taking it - for good an hour ago. This stuff is scary. I know Cigs are the worst addiction and so many of us share it, but for goodness sakes, this stuff make you really sick. Before I came to your blog, I ready three articles on suicides related to this stuff and I have to tell you, I’ve never been this sick. I feel like I have the worst flu I’ve ever had and the gas! Don’t get me started. But what really worries me is what this stuff is doing in my brain to make me feel like this and what kind of long term effects will if have on me. So thanks. I’m off Champix and planning to read your book Chris.
Thanks to all for these posts. Surely it is a cause for concern that Ed is still suffering from depression and mood swings SEVEN MONTHS AFTER coming off the medication. Do we call that success because he isn’t smoking? I think that’s one hell of a risk - but then I would, I’m a hypnotherapist.
Notice how many people are assuming they either have to smoke, or go on Champix? Hypnotherapy involves zero risk, and leaves you feeling great, as well as beating all other methods hands down. Check the evidence for that in the book, and elsewhere on this site. It’s high time the medical authorities stopped misleading smokers dreadfully by pretending this wasn’t so, and dishonestly repeating the suggestion that hypnotherapy is “not proven”. The British Medical Association endorsed hypnotherapy in 1955, as did their American counterpart around the same time. They did not do that on a whim - but back then, you see, those people were not owned lock, stock and barrel by the pharmaceutical industry, so they could still deal in truths and reality, couldn’t they?
Wayan says the physical and mental side effects of Champix were very disconcerting and frightening. Ellie has been reading about suicides linked to Champix and says she has personally never felt that sick before. Once she has read the book (thanks for that, Ellie! Hope you enjoy it!) she will understand why smoking has never been a drug addiction, it is purely a compulsive habit. Cravings are nothing to do with nicotine, or anything else in the smoke. We get lots of cravings, they are not all about tobacco. In hypnotherapy we shut that compulsive urge down, proving that the urge to smoke is NOT a need for nicotine, although it feels like a need, which is the factor responsible for the confusion. If it were genuinely a requirement for nicotine, hypnotherapy would make no difference.
Incidentally Sharon, please don’t assume that listening to Paul McKenna’s cd is a real hypnotherapy experience. The guy made his name as a stage hypnotist, not a therapist. People only buy his self-help books because he’s famous, but he didn’t find fame doing therapy. People assume that because he’s a famous hypnotist he must be a ‘mind expert’, but really he’s a showman by profession. He may have ‘helped’ hundreds of ordinary people become impromptu entertainers over the years, but that’s a world away from what we do in my profession - a profession to which Paul McKenna has never belonged. His books and cds are just a money-making exercise, you cannot do hypnotherapy on yourself without the therapist even being present. If I greeted one of my clients by presenting them with a book, putting on a cd and then leaving them to it I should expect them to be most dissatisfied! McKenna’s next book should be called “I can make myself rich”. Not that I’m having a go at him, he’s a very good performer. But then, so was Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. Both rose to the top of their game in showbusiness, but that don’t make either of them a guru. Even if one of them is a Kan-guru…
No, cravings never were withdrawal symptoms, and this is exactly why the smoker with the nicotine patch on still has the urge to smoke. It’s a compulsive urge to light up, not a ‘need for nicotine’. They were taking nicotine already. Also, the urge disappears the moment you light up! You don’t have to smoke it to get all the nicotine out of it, the craving signal vanishes the moment you respond to it by lighting a cigarette. This also explains why some smokers put it in the ashtray and forget all about it. The compulsive urge has already gone, and the actual smoking of the cigarette is just automatic repetition of the usual routine, i.e. pure habit. If you have any doubts about that, it is only because you haven’t read the book, but you have been lied to incessantly by the people behind the 1.2 billion-dollar-a-year nicotine industry and their associates in the medical profession. There’s plenty of evidence cited in the book, and some on this site also.
These comments on Champix are being posted exactly as they come in, none are altered or blocked. Not looking too good for Champix, is it? Any doctors out there want to comment? You seem to be making people ill with this stuff, and causing depression with suicidal thoughts. Since that fateful day when Champix was passed as a “safe, evidence-based medicine”, some people are dead apparently, and others are not feeling at all happy or normal. Still, I’m keeping an open mind. It’s not as if we’ve had dozens of these alarming tales. Yet.
[*For information about hypnotherapy services in the North West of England, U.K., see http://www.centralhypnotherapy.com
This is the second time ive been on champix.I feel spaced out and drugged alot of the time.I am finding concentration difficult to deal with and feel like im in permanent morning sickness mode.However,im on it for six months and im on week 5 !.Ive quit 4 weeks now and know this is my last chance on champix to quit.
I have been on Champix for 7 weeks and the only side-effect that I have suffered is the occassional gas (bearable compared to cancer causing cigarettes). In the first two weeks I felt a little nauseas - however, this abated when I took it an hour after food. So, clearly, as with any medicine, you need to work out how to combat the side-effects. What a lot of people are experiencing here (from their comments) are common symptoms associated with your body craving a DRUG and usual with stopping smoking. That’s right - nicotine is a really nasty drug! Come on guys - giving up is the the best thing that you can possibly do for your health and it sounds to me like a lot of you have this racket going that you will find any excuse to continue smoking!
My partner has also been taking Champix for 5 weeks with little or no side-effects. We both have tried to quit smoking on numerous attempts using other methods; this time is the only time that both of us have felt confident that we will succeed!
I have been forgetting to take quite a few of my Champix pills, and still do not get the craving - so what a lot of you need to realise is that, Champix or any other method is not the be all and end all of smoking - your success lies within your desire to REALLY want to give up!
Good luck everyone, and I will let you know what happens with us when we come off the Champix.
It is interesting to note that the positive comments all seem to be from people who are still taking Champix. You cannot decide that a programme “has been successful” - and start recommending it to others - while you’re still on it! Don’t get me wrong, I welcome these comments too and am happy to include them, but they are no more CONCLUSIVE than a surgeon commenting that “It seems to be going well” whilst in the middle of an operation. Where are all the comments from happy ex-smokers who have been off the Champix for months and are feeling normal and well?
Grant, if the bad effects some people are reporting were really “the body craving a DRUG”, then why aren’t YOU suffering? Why do ALL my successful hypnotherapy clients experience NO SUCH REACTION? And if you really think nicotine is a drug, can you tell me what it does? You need to read “Why nicotine is not a drug” from the READ THE BOOK contents menu on this site.
Just because YOU haven’t suffered much doesn’t mean everybody else is making it up or exaggerating! Clearly no-one needs excuses to continue smoking anyway, it’s not against the law. You are being unduly dismissive, especially since you are still on the course. Look how much wayan’s opinion changed when he started to suffer personally.
Recently I was contacted by someone in deep distress because a relative taking Champix had been involved in a terrible incident which will result in court proceedings so we cannot post any details here. This prompted me to read around further, and I’ve decided it’s time to come down off the fence. I think this stuff is very unpredictable and proving fatal for some people, and if you go to the new blogpost Champix IV, you can follow the link to the most damning and well-researched article I’ve seen yet. Read it, and really think about it people: this is the health of your brain we are talking about. It also explains why the U.S. Surgeon General REJECTS the suggestion that the “withdrawal of nicotine” is the cause of all the suffering, depression and suicides that have occurred so far. About 85 harrowing accounts of adverse reactions are appended. Make particular note of how often the expression “completely out of character” pops up, and the references to family members begging the user to stop taking Champix, as they feel certain it is the cause.
Hypnotherapy didnt work for me -I tried it twice.Champix is the only smoking cessation product ive used that has had any sort of impact on me without me relapsing within 2 or 3 days of quitting.I had to stop using it first time as i failed to keep my appointment at smoking cessation clinic due to a family commitment and had to wait six months before being allowed back on the course.I was on champix first time for 2 months quit for 4 months total.Im now only taking one blue tablet a day now and got another 5 months on the course.
Quite a few clients that come to me have tried hypnotherapy before, sometimes unsuccessfully. That never worries me because I know that there are hypnotherapists out there who are not experts when it comes to smoking cessation, so although they might have no problem with the easiest clients, the tricky cases might be a bit beyond their experience.
Of course no method works for everyone, but it is scientific fact (see the evidence in the book and elsewhere on this site) that hypnotherapy works for more smokers than any other method. That fact has been in the public domain since 1992. The highest claim ever made by Pfizer for Champix was 44% (as far as I know), which was not a long-term outcome anyway, but the number not smoking after a twelve-week trial. When it is done properly, hypnotherapy is far more successful than that.
I’m not suggesting hypnotherapy is perfect for everyone, however talented the therapist is. Champix is certainly not perfect for everyone, as we can see from the variety of comments here, but that doesn’t put people off trying it, obviously. Unlike Jane though, the vast majority of people trying Champix at the moment have never tried hypnotherapy. So they are comparing the apparent “effectiveness” of Champix with the uselessness of methods like willpower, nicotine gum, patches etc. But once again, you cannot judge the outcome in the middle of the programme. I hope those of you who are still on the course will give me an update when you have been off Champix for a few months.
Week six on champix-18 weeks left on it-taking one blue tab per day.Taking last thing at night as less likely to vomit.Felt okay otherwise-all other symptoms have vanished.Craving occassionally-but not too bad-live with smoker so temptation always close.Not had a puff of a ciggie in six weeks-miracle.Certain foods make me gag-coffee (instant type) drank for 20 years-cant touch it-had to start on tea (caffeine free).Ive tried every type of nrt in past-never got past 2nd day of trying-not tried zyban though or accupunture.Cold turkey-no good-nearly knived my ex b/friend.I may try hypnotherapy or cog. therapy aswell as Champix.Sorry but Champix working for me.
Forgot to add-ciggie cravings only happen when certain situations that were previously ciggie moments-ie-when stressed.I also crave other things often more than ciggies.Is that Champix working or purely mental ?
Jane thanks for the post - I have no comment on cog. therapy, but hypnotherapy is best used by itself, not in conjunction with other methods. Sometimes smokers assume that if you use several things at the same time, you maximise your success potential, but in reality - and particularly with hypnotherapy - you run the risk of mixed messages cancelling each other out.
No need to say “sorry” that it’s working, but again I have heard people say that before whilst they are still on the medication. What worries me about this drug is that it apparently has very different effects upon different people, some of whom report very alarming side-effects. Of course I am glad this is not happening to you, and wish you well in your aims.
Your experience of the ‘cravings’ switching to other things - typically it would be sweet things or anything that might be regarded as a treat - is a move by your Subconscious mind to ‘compensate’ you for the perceived ’sacrifice’ of giving something up. This may be exacerbated by the fact that you live with a smoker. One of the big advantages of hypnotherapy is that we can ask the Subconscious please not to do that, explaining that this is a liberation, not a sacrifice. Medications can never prevent these reactions, and of course that is the main factor causing weight-gain in all smokers who try to do it without hypnotherapy. It is easily prevented by any good hypnotherapist.
To be honest im not really over eating-im actually eating more healthily than before-fruit/veg etc.Im taking more exercise so my only weight gain has been put down to been put on the mini-pill 2 weeks ago.I have in the past substituted ciggies for food and hence got very fat and been a smoker again within few days of quitting ! I think as this is my 12th quit attempt im getting aware of what to do-the most important to me-take one day at a time-every smoke-free day is freedom from ciggies!. And because so much time was spent smoking per day-mine was 2 1/2 hours per day-instead of eating crap-I do something productive-my latest idea is those little maze games with the silver balls! or I take dog for walk.Instead of substituting ciggies for crap food-use time constructively.
Talking of hypnotherapy a neighbour quit April 15th-he said it was short/sharp and to the point and over and done with.With Chmpix its a long drawn out process -but its working for me or I must be doing something right for once-I know I dont want to be a smoker….xxxx
I took champix for only 3.5 weeks. Was horribly irritable, so decided to stop. After 33 years, I no longer smoke, but still after 2 months since stopping the Champix, I do not emotionally feel myself. I am blue, tired all the time and moderately depressed.
I have never felt like this before.
I work with 2 other woman that also used Champix, and we all feel emotionally changed. I do believe it curbs cravings, but I do believe it does so at the expense of our emotional well-being.
I would be interested to know if this feeling will go away or if I’m doomed forever.
I would say ask the manufacturer Pfizer, but I already know that they will either blame a history of depression - if there is one, which there isn’t in your case - or try to claim it is “nicotine withdrawal”. Already that suggestion has been dismissed as nonsense by the U.S. Surgeon-General, on the grounds that most ex-smokers quit by themselves, without any medication, yet there is no ‘common knowledge’ of ex-smokers being depressed. Quite the reverse, in fact.
So Karen and her colleagues need some answers, and fast! Any similar experiences, which wore off? If so, how long did it take? Anyone else feeling this way?
I am trying hypnotherapy next week with a highly regarded hypnotherapist in my area…I had stopped smoking for about a month and started again on vacation.
I wll report back on hypnotherapy experience.
Wish me luck!
I should note - when I was originally prescribed Champix, it was by a specialist not my GP. When my GP found out, she was none too pleased. She is unique in North America as she doesn’t accept the pharmaceutical sales reps literature on a drug as gospel, she keeps herself up to date on all the “latest craze” medications and is very aware of reported side effects and concerns.
She raised a litany of concerns regarding the drugs (many which have been commented on here) and has suggested laser treatment and/or hypnotherapy along with a pack of good old fashioned chewing gum.
Armed with my pamphlets, Stop-Smoking support contact numbers I head off to hypnotherapy soon.
.
Good luck, Wayan!
What the hell do they do with lasers? I’m not familiar with that approach, but if the hypnotherapist is as good as the reputation suggests, you won’t need laser treatment anyway. (I’ve visions of a Bond villain saying: “No Mr Bond - I expect you to stop smoking!” Surely it’s not that kind of laser…)
Give my very best regards to your GP. One small tip: during the hypnotherapy procedure, if you look forward with general enthusiasm to being FREE! That helps. Welcoming all suggestions along those lines: “Great, that will suit me down to the ground… ” That’s the kind of mood to adopt during the trance part of the session. And don’t expect to “feel hypnotised”, there is no such feeling. You feel pretty normal, but pleasantly relaxed. In fact it seems as if nothing is happening really, so the results are a genuine surprise. Don’t worry about the conscious doubts about the method, those thoughts are perfectly normal and don’t affect the outcome, as long as your mood is cheerful and forward-looking.
Look at me trying to take over! Good luck!
I have been on Champix (Australian Version) and im going into my 5th week of a 12 week course (1mg/day). The following side effects i have encountered are as follows:
-Completely changed sleeping patterns (waking up randomly at 2.30am, and being unable to get back to sleep. I usually sleep at a minimum 9-10 hours and like the dead, i usually resist waking up as i love my sleep!)
-Lack of conversation (i hardly talk to anyone in conversation anymore, Before i never used to shut up)
-Emotionally changed (hard to describe, but i almost feel like i have become numb, things arent as funny anymore, all happy and good emotions have become somewhat numb, hard to explain and very unpleasant)
-Dreams (Oh my goodness, My dreams are so vivid that i can recall all minute details that have occured, and I have experienced only a few “strange” dreams)
-Nausea ( I only experienced a small amount of uncomfortableness at the very start, i dont get it anymore)
-Temper (im a very passive person that does not get angry very often, however whilst being on this drug i have been getting close to boiling point)
Although i have listed all these things, they are not a constant side effect as i have found over the past 5 weeks things progress and regress and change.
The worrying part for me is the sleep factor as i am becoming more and more deprived of sleep and i am remembering my dreams as if i have memorised a passage from a book which is totally strange.
But a bonus to all this is when i wake up in the morning i am feeling less tired for some reason and more mentally alert although i am losing out on more and more sleep…
Asides from all this I am extremely happy that i have taken Champix and i will continue to do so as i have stopped smoking along with my fiance, and now we save between us $120.00 a week on cigarettes ($6,240 a year) as well as the drug is free to take in Australia at the moment which is a huge initiative by the governement.
P.S. The one thing i am furious about is that our G.P. (General Practioner) did not tell us that there is any side effects, and there is absolutely no labelling on the packet of Champix that states there is any side effects either !!!
You could imagine how i felt after taking the wonder drug and telling friends about it only to be asked what side effects i am experiencing. I really think Pfizer should label their product may have some side effects.
Anyways thats my 2 cents worth. Just thought id share my story with everyone else. Good luck.
I have been on champix for almost four full weeks. I stopped smoking during the second week - cigarettes tasted so so vile I couldn’t take it anymore. I have experienced side effects fron Champix though. I have not been myself.
In the first week I was angry all the time, over nothing and I had a bit of nausea. I also had some of the weird vivid dreams - along with weird vivid *dream like* thoughts.
The second week the anger situation got worse, and I was really struggling with sleepiness. The dreams stopped this week, but its like I wasnt getting into REM sleep and thus not getting enough sleep regardless of how many hours I was out. In contrast the *dream like* thoughts got worse this week.
The third week was a struggle. The sleeplessness got worse again, as did the anger. The *dream-like* thoughts turned quite sour….I started thinking quite macabre thoughts that made me think I was losing my mind a litte. Still had nausea at this point - it seems to be getting worse, but food helps. My parents and some friends have expressed concerns with continuing the drug.
Week four - I don’t seem to be as angry this week, but I am having “out of body” moments. I just tune out regardless of whether I am in the middle of doing something or not and just sit/stand there like a zombie until something *snaps* me back into action (at which point I realise I cant remember what Im doing). Ive also had severe short term memory problems outside of this. I can’t seem to retain anything in my brain! The nausea is continuing, as is the sleeplessness. Im exhausted within 2 hours of getting out of bed. Im a little concerned about the out of body thing, as it is so sudden and so complete.
I want to stop taking the drug too now, but I have heard some horror stories of people just stopping and having the symptoms get worse! I can’t stay on this for three months - Id lose my mind!
Note: I was not told anything about side effects by the GP nor was there anything on or in the pack that indicated there were any ill effects of taking the drug. It was only after hearing some horror stories that I started looking it up on the net and realised what I had gotten myself into!
I was slightly surprised, Simon, after you listing all the nasty side-effects, by your choice of words “extremely happy” about taking Champix, immediately followed by “furious” about not being warned of the side-effects. Mood-swings going on there even within a single post!
Thanks very much for the observations though. Kristin’s post also confirmed nasty side-effects but without warnings, which is not fair on smokers and not safe either. The risk of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, violent outbursts and actual suicides has now been known about for over a year, so why are people being encouraged to take this drug with no warning of any of that? No good arguing that smoking might kill you in the long run - a suicide attempt could kill you immediately, and there’s a legal case for neglect, surely, if medics and drug companies are failing to warn people of known potential risks.
Also, the fact that people are reporting not feeling normal, feeling depressed and “strange” even months after they have stopped taking it has got to be a real cause for concern.
We welcome all posts, please keep them coming - but yet again I have to point out that the ‘positive’ ones all seem to be from people who are only part-way through the course. Where are the tributes to Champix from ex-smokers who are no longer taking it and now feel healthy and happy? Does this stuff even work in the long run? Some people are assuming the side-effects are worth suffering because they aren’t smoking at the moment, but that assessment will obviously reverse if they start smoking again as soon as they stop taking Champix.
Why no triumphant updates yet from Paul, Timothy St. John Hayes, Judith F., Steve T., Nick or Sharon? They thought it was working while they were taking it… but what has happened since? I don’t know about you, but if I had felt motivated enough to post a comment on a blog like this to report favourable progress with a medication, I’d be keen to prove I was right to be singing the praises of it earlier by telling everyone how it all turned out wonderful. But we’re still waiting for that post, aren’t we?
**Update, August 31st 2008: We have now had an update from Paul by email, but the news is not good for Champix: I’ve appended the message to his original post (No.1). He has stated his intention to post more comments in due course, and I’d like to thank him very much for getting back to us.
We have received another email through the Contact Form route from someone called “mark”, but I smell a rat with that one, so I haven’t approved it. It is so badly spelt it looks like fake bad spelling, and it just reiterates the official Pfizer line really, which is what makes me suspicious. I’ll just quote you exactly the last line:
“i ain’t gonna lie , better to no so you can be prepared , but stick with it its worth it ive only smoked again for a few months but its just as tough but in a way i no what to expect and ready , the chapix are exerlant , and i think what a lot of people are feeling is the nicotine withdrawel effects”
No “mark”, the US Surgeon-General has already discounted that bogus attempt to explain away the horrors of Champix side-effects, by pointing out that most ex-smokers quit without any help or medication, but they do not report horrible experiences like the ones being described by Champix users.
I have been on Champix 8 weeks now and have another 4 months on them-as its been rec.by my doctor to stay on them for six months-but I am not sure.Up till 6 weeks I have experienced not many side effects.However last 2 weeks Ive started waking middle of night and Ive become very short tempered.This is not funny as I lashed out at my pony the other day and punched him across the nose-never done that before-I hate myself for this.I have also become so antismoking-I screamed at a pregnant woman the other day who was smoking.I have now cut down to one blue tab per day and not noticing any difference in cravings etc and I appear mellower.I think there is some truth in what is been said regarding this drug and Im doubting my ability to go past 3 months.I will see how I get on on the one blue tab per day.
One point about Champix.In England where I live we have a leaflet with our medication which gives us a list of loads of side effects.We join a smoking cessation clinic whilst taking the drug and have our co2 levels checked every week or 2.We also have 24/7 telephone support whilst we taking Champix and have to report all side effects and any others not on the leaflet.Some of the above posters are just given the meds and left to get on with it.What country do most posters reside.
Ive decided im only going to stay on Champix for three months -for the last month Im taking only 1mg blue per day and should be finished end of September.Im feeling ‘not normal’ but not as abnormal has I have felt.Im not thinking of smoking much now and I am going to stay positive and motivated .
I am on day 3 of stopping Champix. I started them on 8th May 2008, quit on the 19th May. Had 3 months worth but eeked them out a bit longer as I was trying to wean off a few weeks back. This doesn’t really work for me so this week I decided to ‘just stop’.
I have my moments of feeling a bit odd - but overall pretty good and have stayed quit. I am in two minds about it. It works for some, not for others. There are some people out there with really awful side effects, which are lasting beyond taking the tablets as well. I hope that doesn’t happen to me.
I wish I had found a good hypnotherapist a couple of years ago, as I tried it and it didn’t work AT ALL. Lit up the second I walked out (well went to buy some first!). So I just had no faith in it anymore. I did try Allen Carr seminar in UK, 6 hours of listening to a lady talk about Allen Carrs theory and it was brilliant, I didn’t smoked or care about smoking for 3 weeks! Then just thought I could have one on a night out! Damn!
Overall I would recomend Champix as an absolute last resort to quitting, try everything else first!
Hypnotherapy would be a whole lot more popular I think if they all offered a money back guarantee for:- say, if you start again within 3 months. Its reassuring and who wants to risk wasting £200-250 - not me. Yes we all waste money on cigarettes, but still we don’t want to spend lots of money on quitting if it doesn’t work. Luckily the guy that I use refunded me. I just rang and said how gutted I was that i’d wasted all that money. So he put a chq in the post!
First of all, if you lost faith in the entire field of hypnotherapy on the basis of just one session with one particular therapist, I have to say you give up on things way too easily! If you took that attitude to everything in your life, you would not achieve much success, would you? If you didn’t pass your driving test the first time, you would never drive again. If you didn’t pass your first audition, you would give up on the whole acting career forever.
But the truth is, you don’t normally have that attitude. If something goes wrong with your car, and you take it to a mechanic, but he doesn’t get it working properly again, you do not conclude: “Mechanics can’t fix cars - I’ll have to get a bike, for I have lost all faith in mechanics.” No, you go find a better mechanic! But with hypnotherapy, people often assume that if they don’t get immediate success, any further therapy would be a complete waste of time and money!
That assumption simply wrong. Most clients will stop smoking straight away - because they have no objection to stopping, either on a conscious or Subconscious level. Some will encounter a hesitation from the Subconscious - or relapse at some point later - and any good hypnotherapist will know how to work around that and get success anyway. But in order for this to happen, the client obviously has to continue with the process. In refusing to proceed, they actually make that resolution impossible.
One of the main causes of this is actually Stage Hypnosis. Everyone will have seen a demonstration of that sort, but they have probably never seen any hypnotherapy. Stage Hypnotists are aiming for immediate but temporary responses. Therapists are aiming for permanent responses, hopefully immediately, but we have to be realistic: some things take time. And we are often dealing with serious matters, which Stage Hypnotists are never doing, their routines are just frivolous larking about for entertainment purposes. With serious matters that really have a bearing on your quality of life, your happiness and your health, we cannot expect the Subconscious mind to be frivolous about those matters. So although instant responses are common enough, measured responses and hesitations are not that unusual, but we can usually turn that into success anyway in due course. Consequently, when we charge a session-rate for our services, we are not charging clients for a particular outcome to that session, we are charging for our professional time.
The outcome of a hypnotherapy session is not controlled by the therapist - just as the antics on the stage are not truly controlled by the Stage Hypnotist, even though he wants the audience to believe they are, and many will buy that illusion (click on Read The Book, see Section Two Stage Hypnosis). The outcome of any hypnotherapy session is
governed by the client’s Subconscious response to the case for change put forward by the therapist. So if there is no objection to the change, change goes ahead immediately. But if there is a conflict, we may need extra time to identify it and then work around it. However, this is private therapy. Not because hypnotherapists prefer it that way, but because medical authorities in the U.K. have persisted in keeping us frozen out of the National Health Service through sheer ignorance and prejudice. So if you want someone to blame for the cost of hypnotherapy, blame them. They are quite happy to waste hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a poison posing as a medication (nicotine), as well as even greater sums on ‘medications’ that don’t really do anything (Prozac), make people ill (Champix) or even kill people, but if you want to use the most successful quit method (me) you have to pay for that yourself. There’s nothing in that for the pharmaceutical industry, you see. It has nothing to do with healthcare, this is business.
So as we are forced to be part of a free market system, charges vary a lot in hypnotherapy, partly depending upon location. If you go to Harley Street - or anywhere in London, actually - charges like £200 or even £300 are not that unusual. Elsewhere they can be considerably lower, and some therapists are actually quite inexpensive - try ringing around. Successful clients will save that money back very quickly anyway if it was a smoking issue…or a drug, alcohol or gambling issue. But in any case, you are paying for session-time. You cannot buy an outcome. It’s not like buying a kettle, when the manufacturer guarantees the performance of the object because he manufactured every element of it. We do not manufacture any aspect of our clients! And they vary enormously - in outlook, attitude, mood and temperament.
Now I reckon I’m as good as any therapist in the world is ever going to get with the smoking issue - but can I get a positive response out of everyone that walks through the door, no matter how negative, awkward, miserable or failure-minded they may be to start with? Nope! Is that my fault? Nope! Do I let that bother me? No, I’m generally very successful. If I could fix EVERYONE in just ONE SESSION, that would be nothing short of miraculous, which would put me on a par with Jesus Christ. I don’t want to be that successful, you know what they did to him.
I think it’s quite telling, Sarah, that you actually rang the therapist to complain, not to find out what might be causing the problem. To take that attitude after only one session is an over-reaction, revealing that you were only prepared to allow hypnotherapy one chance to prove miraculous or you wanted your money back, which is an attitude few people adopt, thankfully. Most clients who need further help will telephone for advice, and usually then book further session-time to fix it, but there are just a few - maybe about three a year, in my experience - who really just rang to complain, and see if they can get a refund.
You didn’t need a refund, you needed another session, or a different therapist. And you didn’t really deserve a refund either, because unless he guaranteed the outcome of the session before you started - which would be stupid, since he doesn’t control the outcome - that means you wanted your quitting attempt to be at the therapist’s risk, not yours. That’s just wrong, because he’s not the one with the problem. You did take his time, but in the end you didn’t pay him for it. You lost nothing, he lost some of his working day: your quitting attempt at his risk, you see? It’s just not right: you have to take responsibility for the fact that you have a habit that is potentially deadly, and invest some time and money into getting rid of it before you become seriously ill. It’s not his responsibility to do that, it’s yours.
By the way, I doubt that your therapist really thought you deserved a refund either, but just paid you off to get rid of you. Therapists shouldn’t do that in my view, they should explain the matter properly. But I suppose some reckon they can afford it because so few smokers take that unusually negative attitude after only one session, and we can usually fix the problem with the rest anyway.
I’ve been taking Champix for 11 day now. I stopped smoking 5 days ago after a 24 year daily habit of about 30 smokes per. I haven’t felt any serious side effects as I have also tried to start doing healthy activities like excercise and eating good foods to compliment my non-smoking lifestyle. I believe that Champix has helped me - “magic pill” or evil farmeceutical conglomerate conspiracy aside - I have smoked 150 smokes less and I feel there is hope. Today this medication is working for me.
Hi
I’ve finished the course of Champix and feel great. No side effects. Although, the last few weeks were quite nauseating… so pleased to be off them. I really wanted to give up - so I’m guessing that had most to do with it, but at least the Champix took away the urge. I have had friends on it that failed - so yes, it is not the be all and end all. My partner is on last week of the pills and going well. Will keep you posted over the next few months to let you know what happens. P.S: We are advised of the side effects in Australia when we get the first lot and there are ongoing check with our GP to see if there are any problems. Clearly, there are side effects, but nothing ongoing that I can tell. I did feel a bit vague in the course of the meds, but that has now subsided. Cheers, Grant.
Two positive comments, and thank you both for your posts. But can I just point out: Sean is still on the medication, as is Grant’s partner. Grant has only just finished the course. For some of the people taking the Champix route, that’s when the problems begin.
This drug does not only stand accused of causing horrendous reactions in some people, there are now serious doubts about its long-term efficacy, which is why we ask contributors like Sean and Grant to update us in the weeks and months ahead, and invite posts from anyone who stopped taking it ages ago and is happy, well and smoke-free. So far we’ve had none. Obviously, if most smokers are relapsing - as is the case with NRT - then the exercise becomes a waste of time and money anyway.
We will prove, in the end, that hypnotherapy is the quickest, safest, most effective and most natural quitting method of all. It is simply the truth. I just wonder how many thousands of people the pharmaceutical industry will be permitted to kill and injure before everybody knows the truth.
Champix takes away the cravings etc but I feel when you stop or reduce the dose -you are at serious risk of relapse.I’ll admit tonight ive had a ciggie-but im not going to beat myself up.Im growing increasingly tired of this long drawn out process with champix and quitting.Ive been seriously trying to quit since december07 and the urge to smoke is still their all the time-im on one blue tab a day at moment.Im seriously thinking that in few weeks when I come off Champix another relapse is evident.Ive read every book under the sun.LOL. Im very tempted to try a bout of hypno. later when im off Champix-Not same time.Its the mental anguish that never goes away.Its easy to stop smoking-its staying stopped.I feel Champix is just suppressing the urges and the mental side is waiting to take over again when it gets a chance.I wished I could wake up and never crave another ciggie again.
How do you find a good hypnotist in the Midlands ?
I dont think I was wired up right the one and only time I gave up.Help.
Ok Jane, here’s my advice: Right now you are feeling exhausted, desperate and rather disillusioned about the medication. This “mental anguish” is really caused by the fact that Champix is not proving to be the wonder drug it was supposed to be.
Hypnotherapy is not responsible for this sorry state of affairs, but any attempt to quit with hypnotherapy right now would almost certainly be adversely affected by it. People are often left feeling like this when they try willpower/ NRT too, and the assumption is that stopping smoking is terribly hard because it’s a hopeless addiction. The truth is that THOSE ARE JUST THE WRONG METHODS, but most people don’t realise that because that’s what their doctor is telling them to do!
If it were really true that stopping smoking is terribly hard because it’s a hopeless addiction, Jane, then hypnotherapy would leave everybody feeling the way you do right now. It is true that some people don’t respond very well on the day, but that is usually because they come to us LAST, after they have already been through battles with willpower, gum, patches, Zyban and now Champix, which seems to leave some people suicidally depressed. Is it any wonder that some of them struggle to be positive?
The amazing thing is, single session hypnosis for smoking will still routinely have a success rate of over 60% despite all that, and many of the others can still achieve success if only they come back for another session. If people came to us FIRST, it would be way higher than that. In other words, by recommending the wrong methods the medical profession indirectly damage our success rates too, yet we still prove better than any other method. Now imagine just how useful hypnotherapy will prove to be once all the cynicism, skepticism, lies, prejudice and ignorance have been swept away.
So Jane, once you’ve decided Champix hasn’t worked, just forget all this for a few weeks and smoke as usual. Then just go along to a smoking cessation specialist hypnotherapist with an open mind and let your subconscious mind do the rest. (I’ll update shortly on how to find one.)
thanks thats very kind of you
Hi All,
Back again…did my hypnotherapy session and quit smoking for 3 more weeks and started again. The good news is I do get a free session to go back and get a “booster” session. I smoked my 1st cigarette a 4 years old (I am not kidding) and started smoking regularly at 8 or 9, so at 42 I am not surprised that I would need to back for another session.
Quitting smoking for 3 weeks paid for my hypnotherapy session (cigarettes are outrageously priced in Canada), so it really hasn’t cost me anything. So anyone who is not trying it because of the cost, I would rethink your position.
The session has provided other side benefits; I am much calmer (even while not smoking), much less stressed at the office and generally have a very positive outlook on my life. I look forward to my next session.
I do need to comment again on Champix. My GP and discussed the drug again a couple of days ago. She has had many requests from patients for the drug so she has done further research and has come to the conclusion that she will not recommend the drug to any patient. What her research consisted of and how she came to this opinion I do not know, so I was reluctant to post that information here. However, based on my own experience and stories of other on this site I add it for what it’s worth.
By the way, I noticed Chris mentioned not being familiar with laser therapy. I am considering the “Goldfinger High Intensity Laser Therapy for MI6 Spies” (just kidding!). You can check out this website for Laser Therapy. I have had 2 family members and 3 friends recommend it highly. This is a commercial website so don’t expect an unbiased portrayal of laser therapy but you can at least get the basics of their claims: http://laserconcepts.ca/quit.html
Thanks for sharing my journey with me folks!
Hi Wayan, I was just wondering what had happened to you!
Thanks for all that, including the laser thingy. I must find out more about that. Maybe they fit a little laser gun to your forehead, and if you put a cigarette in your mouth, it just blasts it right out of there before you can even light it! Brilliant!
Eating might be a problem though.
Now folks, just compare Wayan’s reasoning about needing another session of hypnotherapy with Sarah’s reaction (post no. 39). We can often wipe out a smoking habit in a single session but sometimes further time is required. Most people understand that and are prepared to invest time and money in getting rid of it, because they are, after all, investing in their health, their future and their quality of life. Also, once you achieve success you save all that money back quite quickly anyway, then you become steadily wealthier as well as healthier. Well worth investing more than one session into that quest, surely?
THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESS IN ANYTHING:
You decide that you are going to be successful, because that’s what you want. Then you do whatever is necessary to make it happen. With hypnotherapy, that usually doesn’t take very long, but it might take more than one session! And of course, you need a good therapist. Good luck, Wayan!
I took Champix for 2 months, been off it for one and have not smoked for 3 months. This really works - but the willpower must be there as well. I never thought I would/.could quit smoking but Champix made it easy.
Well done Marc! That makes you an official success, if you did that through the NHS Smoking Cessation Services. In fact you would already have become part of their official ’success’ statistics if you were only claiming to have stopped for four weeks so far.
It might seem unbelievable, but from 2001 to 2005, no-one at the Department of Health seemed inclined to wonder what happened to the brand-new ex-smokers after that, and they confidently broadcast their 4-week figures as if they were real outcomes which therefore justified spending vast sums of public money on NRT and Zyban. Then in 2005 they did a “pilot study” looking at long-term results, which found that one year on from joining the NHS programme, the vast majority of smokers were back on the fags. The question is, will it be the same with Champix?
NRT products originally won approval from medical authorities based on short-term results alone (six weeks in that particular case). So did Champix (twelve weeks). No-one was looking at the long-term results at all, which makes it a bogus evaluation system. I’m not suggesting every smoker will relapse, and I wish Marc well, but it is clear from some of the other comments above that early confidence can prove to be misplaced, so his vote of confidence in the medication is certainly not conclusive at this stage.
Before governments commit precious resources to a huge programme like the Champix exercise, and doctors put thousands of people on a new chemical concoction it should be thoroughly tested for safety and LONG-TERM effectiveness. Failure to do this is irresponsible in every way, turning smokers into lab rats with little hope of proper compensation if it all goes horribly wrong.
Let us not forget that Zyban was hyped as a wonder drug, but we now know its long-term success rate is about 12 or 13%, which is rubbish. Many people have had to stop taking Zyban early on because of alarming side-effects, and it has been linked to suicides. Was it dropped by the NHS when all this became apparent? Incredibly, no! Doctors are still prescribing it now, even though it would never have been approved in the first place if the true facts had been known then.
It was claimed that Champix had achieved a 44% success rate, but that was in short-term trials so they will have to revise that sharply downwards when the truth is finally out. And it seems to be proving even more dangerous than Zyban for some people. Doctors are now aware of this, yet most of them are still quite willing to put their patients at risk of severe mental and physical reactions! Why? What are they going to say to the family if that patient freaks out and commits suicide?
Well the truth is, they won’t be called upon to say anything. Individual doctors are never held to account for the damage done by medications they are licensed to prescribe, which might account for why some of them are still prescribing that atypical anti-psychotic drug that they already know has killed about 700 patients in the U.K. alone over the last five years. That’s even more than Shipman killed, but no-one’s in the dock over that and they all know that they won’t be over Champix either. 700 people - that’s like a numerical anagram: Doctor 007, licensed to kill. Whatever happened to “First, do no harm”?
Hypnotherapy and acupuncture have never killed a soul AND have better success rates for smoking cessation, but most smokers don’t know that because all the public money goes into chemical products. And as long as government and medical authority can still state that smoking kills even more people than the chemicals do, they can pretend they’re doing the right thing! Which kind of makes us suspect that the case of Harold Shipman was only really a difference of degree. I mean if all these thousands of deaths from medications these days are now the norm, and I should just shut up and we should all just be okay about it - as the deafening silence from the B.M.A. seems to imply - why all the fuss over Shipman? Did he just get a bit too enthusiastic about dishing out dangerous medications? And then we remember: Oh yeah - it wasn’t until he forged a will that he got collared. If he hadn’t varied his standard M.O. by trying to branch out into property-related crime, he’d probably still be quietly prescribing away in Hyde, just up the road from me here in fact.
To be fair to ordinary doctors, though, none of this mess is originally their fault. They are not responsible for the appalling farce that now stands in place of what used to be a properly scientific, independent testing and evaluation system. It wasn’t them that let it slide into corrupt ways, and get taken over by the pharmaceutical industry. But it is the reputation of the medical profession as a whole that is at stake, here, so they are the people who will have to demand change. To solve this problem, it’s no good appealing to the better nature (ha!) of the big drug companies. In the end, they will have to reinvent the medical profession as being clearly distinct from the pharmaceutical industry, or else the damage they are collectively doing will end up destroying them both. But not before millions of innocent people have been killed worldwide… by their doctors.
Sorry Marc, got a bit carried away there! Thanks very much for your post, and could you please give us an update nine months from now, so we can get an idea of the typical results at one year?
I have done quite a bit of research before deciding to use Champix and have decided to give Champix a go.I had caught bronchitis for the umpteenth time and decided that I had had enough of smoking and all of its downsides. I asked my GP to give me a few options as I have attempted to stop smoking 4 times before going cold-turkey but lasted the most of 2 weeks. I have only been on Champix for 5 days thus far and have to admit that I am only suffering from gas. No vivid dreams yet or headaches and such, but it is yet early days… I have already cut down from 30/day to around 10/day because of the vile task left in the mouth from smoking and very little cravings. I am very scepticle about taking drugs and rarely even take headache tablets unless I have developed a migrane so I am sure to monitor myself regularly. So far so good, but I shall keep everyone updated on new developments…
Thanks for joining the debate, Luis!
I find yours an intriguing post, as I would have thought that anyone who was “very scepticle about taking drugs” to begin with, and then did “quite a bit of research before deciding to use Champix” would have avoided it like the plague. Presumably your research didn’t include the article CHAMPIX/CHANTIX LINKED TO DEPRESSION, AGGRESSION AND SUICIDE (see link at the end of blogpost ‘Champix IV, Enough Already’.
Did your GP actually give you a few options? Or did he just prescribe Champix because it’s the latest thing? Did he warn you about the possible side effects? I’m not talking about ‘gas’ by the way, I mean the mounting evidence of sudden and severe personality changes, mood swings, anger and totally out-of-character suicide attempts in some people. If not, that’s irresponsible. If so, then how exactly do you take those risks into consideration when you decide to “give it a go”?
The standard pro-Champix answer is that lung cancer is a worse risk, as if those are your only two options! Hypnotherapy involves NO RISK, works straight away for most people and takes about two hours. Also prevents the weight-gain most smokers are afraid of… I think people should start demanding referrals to specialist smoking cessation hypnotherapists through the NHS.
Champix obviously doesn’t make everyone ill, and I hope it doesn’t cause Luis any real unpleasantness. I’m very grateful when those who have decided to go down the Champix route promise to keep us updated, so we can get a sense of how these things typically progress. We look forward to hearing from you again Luis, and of course we wish you well. Thanks for your contribution to the debate.
To be honest, my GP just prescribed it for me. I had never heard of it until prescribed so that’s why I decided to research them a bit further before throwing them down my gullet.
I did indeed read up on the articles and warnings from the FDA and other forums / webistes, including this one. It is down to shear desperation that I opted to at least give it a try…
After discussing it with my wife and asking her to keep a careful eye on me during my course, we agreed to give it a go. Should I see that I am being affected negatively by the drug, I will then discontinue to use it, and should I fail to see the warning signs, which can easily be done when monitoring yourself, she’ll stop me continuing with the drug. Should Champix help me in successfully and permanently kicking the habit, my wife has agreed to also attempt to quit. Due to the fact that neither one of us want one of our 2 children to learn this dirty habit from us, we will try just about anything to stop at this stage.
With regards to Hypnotherapy…I have a good friend that went for hypnotherapy a few months back to stop smoking and she hasn’t touch another cigarrette since.
I haven’t tried hypnotherapy again since about 5 year ago after a very close friend of mine that practiced hypnotherapy professionally tried to hypnostise me, not to stop smoking by the way, and was unsuccessful. He told me that I fight it too much and will not be successful unless I relax more, but too me, I felt that if I were to relax anymore, I would fall into a coma…
With regards to the updates…, today pretty much the same but I did feel slightly “spaced” most of the day and tired but I suppose I could perhaps put that down to taking my neighbour to the airport at 05:00am this morning…
Yes, that might do it! That’s very neighbourly of you by the way.
As a hypnotherapist myself I know that working with close friends (and family members) can involve subconscious complications that are simply not there when I work with my other clients. I have sometimes had success with friends and family members in the past, so I know it is achievable, but nowadays I would usually recommend choosing a therapist you do not already know well in some other context.
If you were “fighting” against the process, that would be because there was some fear involved - it is up to the therapist to explain in detail why those fears are groundless in reality. Such fears originate from seeing Stage Hypnosis or a similar demonstration which created the impression that entering a trance state implied some “loss of control”, or handing control to the hypnotist. This is totally false, but it is part of the general illusion of Stage Hypnosis!
Some people also fear losing consciousness and never waking up, but that is completely impossible. No-one loses consciousness in hypnosis, it is a waking state. As for going into a coma, well! You might as well be afraid that little pixies might also appear and carry you off to a magical land where you will be made their King. Apparently your friend didn’t explain these matters well enough at the time.
Whether your friend realises it or not, relaxation has nothing to do with it. Trance and relaxation are quite separate things, and I have done lots of hypnotherapy sessions in which relaxation is never mentioned once. Only beginners or people whose training is limited will emphasize the ‘importance’ of relaxation. The success of a hypnotherapy session does not hang on whether the client was relaxed or not, but only the real experts will understand that. Relaxation is an optional extra.
So your fears blocked easy response at the outset, and your friend wasn’t experienced enough at the time to know how to work around that, so you were left with the wholly false impression that you ‘can’t be hypnotised’ because you were ‘unable to relax deeply enough’. Luis, you weren’t the first and you won’t be the last, but all you really need is an expert in these matters, and preferably NOT a very close friend, but someone you know only as The Hypnotherapist!
Your other friend, who has not had a cigarette since the day she went for hypnotherapy, simply demonstrated by example that what I am saying about hypnotherapy is true. Complete success, no risk, all done! So I ask you all this, folks: What happened to her ‘nicotine addiction’? How could she just walk out of there a non-smoker and never touch one since?
The answer is simple, and it destroys the credibility of Champix as well as NRT: it never was a ‘nicotine addiction’. Smoking is a compulsive habit and hypnotherapy shuts it down. Nicotine is just one of the many poisons in the smoke. Smokers’ cravings are not withdrawal symptoms at all, they are motivational signals from the brain which are felt in the body as an impulse, prompting the usual habitual behaviour. They have everything to do with the smoker’s usual daily routine or state of mind, and nothing whatsoever to do with nicotine. (For more evidence, click on Read The Book.)
Nicotine is, in truth, the biggest case of mistaken identity in medical history. It’s not a drug. It is a poison, and no-one “needs” it. I will prove this to the world, and destroy NRT in the process. There is no such thing as “therapeutic nicotine”!
In the meantime, Luis, I admire your motives and determination, wish you every success whatever the method and please keep us posted.
Hi i’ve quit taking Champix now- just stopped taking it. I’ve only had one ciggie since I quit and that was while I was on Champix and not after I stopped. At this moment in time I am not interested in taking up smoking again nor do I think about it too much. I feel ‘out of touch’ with reality though.
Chris can you possibly update me on hypnotherapy practices that you would recommend in case I need on in the future. Also what are your views on acupuncture regarding quitting smoking.
This ‘out of touch with reality’ feeling is cropping up again and again in many blogs about Champix, and the fact that it often continues after coming off the tablets (some reports say for months) must serve as a warning to those in the prescribing role.
Let’s face it, the long-term effects of taking Champix were never researched, were they? Regardless of the short-term impact of the clinical trials, the fact that no-one at Pfizer concerned themselves with any long-term risks made the practical application of Champix into an experiment on a massive scale, with smokers as guinea pigs. This gives the lie to any description of these as “evidence-based medicines”.
Hypnotherapy
Jane, if you don’t personally know someone who can recommend a particular hypnotherapist, then the next best option is to look up one of the national hypnotherapy associations - or maybe two or three of them - visit their websites and search by region for a few therapists in your locality. Then contact them to make enquiries.
There is no substitute for talking to the therapist personally on the telephone, so you get a sense of their personality and general confidence. My advice is not to book a session during any of these enquiries, but always to ring back later to do that. A good therapist will answer all enquiries without pressing you to book a session. If you do feel pressured by any of them, my advice is to book with someone else.
You are seeking someone who specialises in smoking cessation and seems confident, understanding and helpful. Trust your gut feeling in making your final decision, then just go for it!
Acupuncture
In the meta-analysis of all quitting methods undertaken by the University of Iowa in 1992 acupuncture was the second most effective method after hypnotherapy. Both clearly beat nicotine replacement methods. If the government really wanted to help smokers, they would stop wasting taxpayers’ money on poisons and dangerous chemicals and start funding hypnotherapy and acupuncture now. Using real experts please, not hastily trained doctors who have done a weekend course on how to ‘hypnotise’ patients, because they would be virtually useless!
Failure to do this is Wilful Neglect
Since that study by the University of Iowa was published, according to the government’s own estimations about one million, seven hundred and sixty thousand smokers have died in the U.K. from tobacco-related illness and disease.
Since 2001, many of those people would have been through NHS Quit programmes, prescribed the poison patches and the poison gum, and some of them even boasted as ’successes’ according to the fraudulent ‘4-week self-report’ account of outcomes. A poison posing as a medication. I cannot think of a bigger medical scandal occurring in the whole of my lifetime, and it is still going on. I am absolutely determined to stop this dangerous, unnecessary, unsuccessful mass-poisoning of smokers though - and if you would be glad to see the Truth Will Out Campaign succeed, please spread the word!
Hi,thanks for that Chris.
.
I am not smoking still and dont want to either.
I do think about ciggies- but not to smoke them.
I still feel ‘out of it’ and not in touch with reality-in actual fact there have been few times when there have been lapses in my concentration at work and when driving etc.
I have been having great difficulty in sleeping lately aswell but I cannot put that wholely down to stopping Champix as there are other issues involved-only the fact that my O/H has developed a severe cough that goes on for hours during the night and quite alot in the day-he smokes heavily and I believe he has got what my mum has the early stages of COPD.His cough has been going on for about 4 months and is getting worse and worse-but smokers wont quit will they ? unless they want to
I have read your issues about NRT and I have been on these in the past-they never did anything for me-I was addicted to the chewing gum and still smoked (just less).The patches gave me sleepless nights and I just used to smoke as normal with them on.
Oh well must go now-catch up later.
janexxxx
I forgot to add-Chris -the last 2 times I had hypnotherapy I think the first therapist was okay-but I wasnt really ready to quit.The 2nd time the therapist was okay I suppose -offered me another session if it didnt work FOC-I quit 2 days LOL and just started smoking again as normal on day 3-it seemed easier to smoke.So I can say that Ive never been 100 per cent wanting to quit on these and other occasions I have quit.
Chris-As you are interested in Champix and what it does to people-I came across a good thread/blog-google search CHAMPIX SHEFFIELD and find SHEFIELD FORUM I post on their alot.Theres loads of people who have quit/some with horrendous side effects etc.
Ref. Post 59:
Chewing the gum is an activity, so it can become a compulsive habit just as the activity of smoking cigarettes can. If the smoker has already been persuaded by the medical authorities that they are a “nicotine addict”, then it is easy for them to believe that their new nicotine gum habit is also an “addiction”, when in truth it is not, it just seems like an addiction because of the compulsive urge to do it. But using the patches is not an activity, you just stick one on at the start of the day, and that’s the end of that. So no-one develops a compulsive habit of ‘patch-wearing’, seemingly unable to stop. Quite the contrary, it is really easy to stop sticking nicotine patches on - smokers commonly forget to do it. Can you imagine a heroin addict just forgetting to take heroin? “Oh silly me, it just slipped my mind completely! What kind of a rubbish addict am I?”
The fact that you still felt the urge to smoke whilst using the patches and using the gum clearly indicates that the urge to smoke is NOT an urge to ‘take nicotine’ - you were taking nicotine already.
Nicotine has nothing to do with it, it has never been a drug. I challenge any scientists out there - see if you can take a normal person who has never smoked and create a nicotine addict using nicotine patches alone. If it really was an addictive drug (the most addictive drug in the world, remember?) you could easily do that, couldn’t you? In reality you would find it is utterly impossible to do that.
Any TV documentary-makers out there? This would make a brilliant subject for a documentary, and blow the nicotine theory apart. About bloody time, let’s establish the truth about this once and for all. This isn’t just an important matter for hypnotherapists, millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are being wasted on this fraudulent NRT crap, and 120,000 smokers’ lives are hanging in the balance every year that goes by.
Ref. Post 60:
The outcome of any hypnotherapy session will be entirely in line with what the client desires as an outcome. It is normal for many smokers to have mixed feelings about quitting, but a good therapist will deal with those matters along the way. For success to be the outcome, though, the client’s general preference overall must be to be rid of the habit by the time we start talking to the Subconscious about it. If your general preference at that point would be to smoke again, then you probably will. Sounds to me like you weren’t ready to quit that first time. For hypnotherapy, that does not count as a failure: you weren’t ready to stop so you chose to carry on. You got what you wanted at the time.
The second therapist offered you a back up session free of charge. That suggests a lack of confidence - who gives away their professional time for nothing? Doesn’t that suggest that it’s worthless? Now consider the very opposite: a therapist with a six-week waiting list who charges twice as much as everyone else. Who do you have more faith in? These matters can affect both your expectations and your responses on the day.
Once you have decided that you really do want to stop smoking anyway - which you probably have by now - it is then just a case of finding the right therapist. I’m not suggesting that the most expensive therapists are the best, by the way, but I would have doubts about the confidence of anyone in the field of private therapy who gives away their time for nothing.
Thanks for the Champix blog reference Jane!
Hi Chris,
Im finding the whole subject fascinating.All this time I have believed that I have been a NICOTENE ADDICT .I feel I have been hoodwinked by the medical profession and ’simple’ so-called smoking counsellers .Ive read your previous reply and find as I unravel it it all becomes crystal clear especially the part about NRT patches and gum.
I suppose someone who comes off ciggies ‘cold turkey’ would experience some discomfort-I nearly knifed my ex when I did this-perhaps I never wanted to quit-Champix though did take the edge of the cravings-whether this was because most of the time you were to preoccupied with the side effects-I dont know.While I have took Champix I have had side effects,but Ive managed to stay smoke free-so far except one time where I lit a ciggie.BUT weeks before quitting I have changed my whole routine and lifestyle-so perhaps that helped.I dont want to smoke at moment and have no desire or urge to want to either-big question is has the last three or so months enabled me to stay smoke free for good. ???
You’re right: if you just try to ignore cravings they will drive you up the wall! The signal is prompting you to pick up a cig and light it. If you do that, the urge instantly vanishes - you don’t have to smoke it to get all the nicotine out of it for that to happen, it vanishes the moment you light up, which is why smokers sometimes put the lit cig in the ashtray and forget all about it!
But if you don’t pick up a cig, you get another signal, and if you keep ignoring them they get stonger. The Subconscious assumes you haven’t noticed so it sends a stronger signal. Eventually they drive you to distraction, and the people around you might well get it in the neck!
Don’t forget, people have got off murder charges due to the influence of hormones alone - no drugs involved! We are emotional creatures, and sudden aggressive outbursts (such as your impulse to knife your ex) do not have to have anything to do with drugs. But nicotine isn’t a drug anyway, it’s just a poison. And the wrong explanation for the smoking habit, which hypnotherapy can wipe out - cravings and all - in one go. With no reference whatsoever to ‘nicotine receptors in the brain’. The scientists have got it completely wrong, because their little analytical conscious minds don’t know the first thing about the almighty Subconscious. But I understand it very well because I work with it all the time, and I wrote the book for anyone out there who would like to understand it too.
Hi still not smoking.Last few days I have started to feel normal again.Im sleeping okay now and am still sleeping apart from my O/H till he gets himself sorted.
I still feel like I have been artificially induced to quit smoking by the Champix.I have no urge or desire to smoke at the present time-i dont feel like going to the shop and spending £5.50 on 20 ciggies.
One lady I know who smokes she is 73 and smokes 5 ciggies per day lol.She was on Champix and stopped her 5 a day habit for the 3 months she was on it-when she stopped Champix the next day she carried on smoking as she had done before she quit as the urge to smoke came back.
At least she didn’t attack anyone or top herself, so that’s something I suppose. Maybe the aggression and suicidal tendencies are worse in the under-70s.
Hi there. I’m 32 and i was a smoker for 11 yrs and i’ve been off the cigs for 2 wks now. Well 2wks 2moro.. I am a lone parent and my children are aged between 14 and 8 yrs old and i have a bf who i’ve been with for about 15 months and he doesnt smoke so i thought i’d do this for them and they dont know how bad i am really feeling i always put on a smile for them because i dont want them worrying about me. I started takin champix the 4th of sept and my quit day was 18th sept. At first i was doing great just few mild headaches and really weird dreams and really tired was going to bed at 9.30pm and gettin up alot thru the nite but i could live with that and when i had the urge for a ciggy i would chomp on a tip top which was good because i didnt really want to turn to junk food as a comfort
and was doing great up until i started my 3rd week of champix i wasn’t feeling my self i would feel fine one minute and really down and low the next min and by wk 4 i stopped them because i knew in my self something was seriously wrong with me i’ve started to believe every1 will be better off wiv out me in there lives and i dont like what i see in the mirror i feel really ugly and unattractive and i’m very irratated and i just havent got the go i just wanna hide away and not do anything i’m often in my own world i’ve found my self quite paranoid bout my health etc i’m not me and i realise i’ve got a problem becuse i write a diary and from when i started it to the quit smokin side there has been a huge change in how i’m feeling and see things
i have good days and bad days and i aint got no one i can turn too. My bf just doesnt seem to care he just keeps starting on me about my ex(my kids father) and i have had enuff he just keeps pushing me well thats what i think he’s doin but then i dont kno becus he says i’ve been horrible and nasty to him and he’s had enuff and i just aint sure wot i am to believe any more. I just know i have been off these tablets since 25th sept and im feelin really really low.. Spoke to da nurse bout it 2day and she said i’ll be fine nothin to worry bout.. Spoke to my mum and friend and they could tell straight away i wasnt me and they are really worried
about me and so am i. I am feeling as if every1 is against me and everything i do is wrong.. Does any1 kno how long i will be feelin like this? Cus i have had enuff of feelin so low i wanna be me again.
Jane, hang on in there. You can see from the diary it’s the medication, don’t believe the negative thoughts. You need to explain to your boyfriend, the way you’ve been is out of character and you are not the only one - there are many people reporting the same reactions to Champix, I’m glad you’ve stopped taking it.
The fact is we don’t know how long it takes to fully get back to normal, would you please let us know? Thank you for your comments, hopefully they will prevent other people going through the same thing. This stuff is leaving your system right now, you will get back to being your old self in due course, just look after yourself in the meantime - there are people who need you and love you, this will pass.
Well folks, doesn’t that prove Pfizer are a bunch of liars? “At first I was doing great…” proves that the distress isn’t ‘nicotine withdrawal’, because that would be immediately at its worst, then gradually get easier. And this person was not ‘prone to depression’, the diary is written evidence of a marked and obvious change for the worse some weeks into the course, which is consistent with many other accounts. Yet again we have evidence that symptoms persist after ceasing the medication: anger, irritability, paranoia, aggression and serious depression.
Doctors, it’s up to you: look at the terrible complacency of the nurse - “You’ll be fine, nothing to worry about…” It is obvious there is a great deal to worry about. First do no harm. Champix is dangerous.
Hi Chris.
I kno i only posted last nite but i thought i’d share wot i’m feeling wiv every1, My mum lives bout 4 hrs away n my friend bout 1hr away by car but i dont drive so i’m hoping that by sharing wot i am goin thru wiv you it will help me get past the side effects i am suffering and help any1 who has considered taking champix..
As i’ve said in my previous post i write a diary and have dun for a long time so its not a recent thing.. And my diary tells me sumthin isnt right my whole attitude to life and everythin has changed alot..
When i first started taking champix i was fine really happy n on a high.. Had feelins of wantin to b sick n sum proper weird dreams and wakin thru the nite n mild headaches but i cud live with dat becus i’d be a none smoker at the end of it and i would have a healthier life.. I cut down alot durin the first wk of takin the pills which was great set my date etc n stuck by it.. It was when i started on my 3rd wk i realised summat wasnt right and by the time i was due to start my 4th wk i stopped taking them becus i just didnt like wot i was feelin…
I’m usually a very happy outgoing sorta gal.. I am a ppl person ya kno n love makin new friends etc.. I love getting the kids to bed n chillin infront of tv wiv bf n watchin my programs but not of late i really hate the tele right now i cant bare the noise… I hate the thought of having to go out 2 the shops or kids school i just dont want to be around ppl n i’ve becum quite paranoid about my health and about everything around me i feel sum1 is watchin me and i sumtimes think i am seein things n i am losing track of time… I’ve neva been late to collect my kids from skool but 2day i got to the kids school 10 mins late and i dont kno why becus i am always there by the time they come out..
Here is just a few things i am livin wiv right now and i hope to god they dont last.. My skin has gone very dry and horrible i am gettin spots and i’m 32 feel like a teenager again.. I’m very irratated i sumtimes wanna rip my skin off, My mouth has becum very dry n i’m always thirsty, My headaches are gettin slightly worse, I’ve becum very paranoid about my health and every1 and everythin around me, I’ve becum short tempered and anger easily and i’ve becum so emotional i cry n laff bout da stupidiest things and i aint sure why, I’ve becum distant i dont want no one sharing my space and i dont want to be around ppl, I’m really tired all the time i just want to sleep i’ve got no energy to top it off, And i’m feelin spaced out like i aint in my body i’m pretty much feelin like a zombie right now and i dont even like zombie films lol.. Also last few days my whole body is hurtin.. my arms n bak n my boobs lol n legs etc i’ve tried hot radox baths but they aint helping
i feel like i’ve ran a marathon n lifted weights etc… Also i love coffee and have loved coffee even b4 i smoked but since commin off champix it leaves a vile taste in my mouth n i dont like da smell much either and i dont like tea either so i’m drinkin either water or orange juice..
I pretty much hate life at the moment and i want to be me again becus i am hatin wot i’ve becum.. If i had of known the full truth about champix i would neva of used them.. I urge any1 considerin to take them think about it alot and do yr research first :).. I know tablets affect ppl in different ways.. but like i said i was happy n feelin great in the start it was the 3rd wk i noticed a change…
My bf is commin round later for the first time dis wk i’m goin 2spk to him n hopefuly make him understand so may not be round for few days cus he’ll be off work from fri - sun.. will post asap…
Jane x
ILL CALL MYSELF JANE NO.1 AS I POSTED ON HERE REGULARLY.
I cannot believe there is someone else like me.Id drank coffee for years and since been and coming off CHAMPIX -coffee makes me GAG.
All Janes welcome.
Jane No. 2, please feel free to post here whenever you like - with your mum and your friend not exactly on your doorstep, if you need to talk don’t hesitate… talking helps.
Jane No.1, are you feeling more normal yet? I think Jane No.2 needs some reassurance that she will get back to normal in due course.
Any other comments about coming off Champix/returning to normal? We need more info on this please - how long does it take for the weirdness to go away?
HI yes I feel better-but I WANT TO SMOKE AGAIN-BADLY.Prooves Champix is load of B*****S.I feel exactly the same as I did before I took Champix-EXCEPT I DONT SMOKE ! BUT I WANT TO.Feel like Im cold turkeying now except ive got no bad symptoms except desire to smoke.I am just abstaining now.I will have to resort to this till I decide what to do.An elastic band around the wrist works-you snap it when you think about ciggies.
Im still amazed that someone else has gone off coffee-I still cannot drink it-yet I used to drink loads.I love tea now -but never used to like it.
Hi All.. Well went to the docs fri and she looked thru a book and she said i’ve got the flu?? Yet bp was fine n temp was normal no flu symptoms but i got the flu?? Well i decided i want to see a diff doctor and mon i wasnt able to see one but i got to see my doc today which was great.
Explained everything to him and he said ive deffo not got the flu.. He said i am suffering from sum of the side effects and i should hopefuly be over them soon. There is no time limit on this he said it differs from person to person.
Anyway…….. He said i do feel really hot to the touch but my temp is normal and he said bp is normal n checked my throat to see if there was any sign of viral infection etc..But none
Anyway he still cant explain some of what i am going thru so he has booked me in for sum blood tests - Full blood count n thyroid n diabetes n iron n he has even said i may need to go on the pil due to bleedin on n off for 2 wks
He also asked if i was pregnant becus i have gone off tea n coffee lol i said no i had my tubes cut n tied n he said its very weird.. I miss coffee n i keep tryin 2 drink it but i wanna gag so i tip it
Anyway will keep ya posted on how i feel n what the results bring back
I just want to be me again
Jane
Even doctors dont seem to know whats going on-they appear oblvious to what Champix is doing to SOME people.As its a new drug nobody is sure of the long term effects.Im not an expert-but im learning LOL.
If you hadnt flu you wouldnt be able to get out of bed :(.
I think you will feel better soon when this stuff is out of your system.I feel better-but I want to smoke.I still hate coffee aswell-Im addicted to tea now.
Jane no2 Have you managed to quit smoking ?
Hi Jane no1 its been 3weeks today (thur) since my last cig i’ve not craved or had the urge for one. I’ve not just gone off coffee now.. Had a sip of my sons cola n i spat it out cus the taste made me feel sik n i’m not likin tea n i stil feel down …
Hi all,
I’ve read some interesting articles on the potential side effects of champix and was very concerned before taking the drug. It has worked very well for me with a few minor side effects. One bit of advice I would say for taking champix is that taking the pill with or after food greatly reduces any nausea. A side effect I did get was headaches. I also noticed somebody mentioned back pain, is this common in relation to the drug? I have had some back problems but just put this down to an old injury.
I actually stopped taking the drug around the end of 9 weeks. Could this have any implications? I have felt no urge to smoke since stopping the medication (2 weeks ago). The headaches have stopped!
Good luck to all,
Thanks,
Rob
Thanks for that, Rob! This post reminded me of Luis’ post (No.52) because I can’t help being surprised that anyone who had actually read up on Champix side-effects would still risk taking it! Come to think of it - what happened to Luis? He said he would keep us posted. Are you ok Luis?
Anyway, looks like you got off lightly Rob, and yes, it may well have something to do with stopping early. Although Champix can make some people ill immediately, there are a number of posts here that started out all enthusiastic because it didn’t, then later on down the line it all got rather nasty.
It is my policy to allow all posts whether positive or negative, provided I believe them to be genuine. What this post demonstrates is that for some people, Champix works. Given the side effects many are suffering though, I wouldn’t risk it until I’d tried everything else first, because hypnotherapy has the best success rate by far, and also because hypnotherapy, acupuncture and the Allen Carr method all have no risks or side effects. They cost more, sure - but at least the risk is only financial, you’re not risking your mental or physical health. And if you’re successful, you soon save the cost back anyway.
Hi all, still not smoking-the urge to smoke has gone at moment or I have suppressed it very well.I actually have moments where I dont think about smoking.I feel normal again now (well for me anyway).I’ll put the alternative methods to use soon anyway-Im having a bout of acupuncture to see if it will help me with a phobia I have had for long time-not smoking related.
Hi
Still not smoking and don’t have the slightest inclination too either. My partner has not had any either and feels the same. So it appears to be working post-meds. The vague feeling has lifted and feel completely normal.
I think a lot of this is will power. I have only once in the last month thought about a cig - and that was a situational thing - so as long as you recognise your triggers - AVOID them.
Will keep you updated as the months progress.
ANYONE HEARD OF AN ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE ?
MY O/H HAS ONE NOW.
Do they do an electric pipe? I could get me dad one for Christmas…
I thought what the hell in gods name is he smoking.An artificial ciggie-battery powered with a flashing red end and an atomiser that produces vapour-NOT smoke when you draw on it.Complete with nicotene ! lol.
Google electronic cigarette.
You can ’smoke’ them in bars etc LOL- no need for real ciggies.
Im still smoke free.
Now im charging batteries for electronic cigarettes.
Am i missing out on this madness.?
I”ve read all the above posts and I sympathise with everyone whose life has been changed as a result of taking Champix. I know mine has. It’s 4 months since I stopped smoking and 2 months since I last took Champix. I may have become a non-smoker (which of course is good) but I now feel a completely different person to who I was, a person I do not like at all, with all sorts of physical and mental health problems which did not exist before, among them depression, extreme anger, constant fatigue and exhaustion plus a lack of interest in absolutely anything.
I ,too, would like to know when I may expect to get back to normal. Does anybody know how long these efffects last?
Would just like to say that my first serious attempt at not smoking was at an Alan Carr one-day session.
It worked. It was painless and I felt great afterwards. It was 10 months before, foolishly, I started smoking again. This time, I was determined that if I managed to stop, I would not start again. However, I think my determination played as big a part in my quitting as the Champix . In hindsight, I obviously wish I had not taken it. I certainly wish I had read the information on this site before I did..
I think everyone should read up on Champix before deciding whether or not to take it.
Why oh Why do people in the medical proffesion advocate champix as a wonder drug, I have to give up smoking due to COPD visited the fag ends nurse………… how long have you been smoking…… 40 years……….. how many a day……….. 60……..right wonder drug champix for you………… at no time did she ask are you under any stress………… yes my dad died in august…… is everything ok at home……….. well no actually wife and i are going thru a bad patch at the moment………….. I did actually give up cigs for 3 days this week (mainly by attempting to stay drunk) this morning I decided I would rather be a smoker than a drunk………… had a cig but………. the anxiety never left……….. rang up NHS quitline about as much use as a chocolate fireguard………… they passed me on to fagends in Liverpool who told me to ring my doctors immediately………… spoke to the receptionist who told me to stop taking champix immediately………….. I thought that was a bit strange………….. so did some research on the net………………….. OH boy that really frightened me suicides depression…………….. disconnected from reality………….. I had to pick my son up from football training tonight and was quite frankly terrified…………… I just dont have the confidence to drive anymore………… it was a relief to get home………………. I have tried to start smoking again but I have a puff or 2………….. realise its doing nothing and put it out…………… I honestly feel I would be happier as an unhappy smoker than the way I feel right now…………. maybe if i got a nicotine rush again i would feel better,,,,,,,,,,,, but that just doesnt happen with champix………… will my mind ever return to normal?…………. I dont want to smoke but I do not want this either as Chris said Lung cancer may kill me but suicide may kill me a damn site quicker
For the 1st week I felt tired constantly. By the 4-5th day had cut back from about 35 smokes per day to 5. No nausea at all. Just a few weird dreams. All good until: On Day 13 I tried to completely stop. Within 12 hours of stopping I was feeling extremely agitated, couldn’t concentrate and was battling intense cravings - they were worse than going cold turkey. Within 16 hours, I felt like I was going to explode. I was ready to rip my kids and husbands heads off, punch the walls; I couldn’t stand feeling like this any longer so I had a cigarette and had a dramatic improvement in mood almost instantly. There’s no way I could have continued like this. I have stopped taking Champix and am starting on NRT tomorrow - It worked for me last time - stayed quit for 9 months, without the violent rages. I’m not one of the 1 in 5 that this drug works for.
Thanks for your comments, everybody. I have now made publicising the horrors of Champix an express aim of the Truth Will Out Campaign, which was originally all about discrediting NRT, of course. The purpose of this addition is to protect smokers who have not yet taken Champix, and to warn those who are taking it but were not made properly aware of the dangers. We are also letting people know that hypnotherapy, acupuncture and the Allen Carr method ALL have better success rates than medications, and they involve no risk. Medical authorities don’t want you to know that, so they claim such methods are “unproven”, which is a bald lie (see Evidence). They don’t want you to consider more natural methods of healing in case you start to wonder if always using chemicals to treat illness was ever such a good idea in the first place. Especially since it became known that one in six hospital admissions is caused by nasty reactions to pharmaceutical drugs. Quite a lot of those people die, too (see blogpost Daily Mail article).
Just a couple of comments on the latest contributions to the debate:
Rocky is evidently convinced that it was ‘nicotine withdrawal’ that caused the agitation, the cravings and the violent temper. But if that were true, why did it not happen when you cut back dramatically from 35 cigs to 5? Why did it not happen to Mary after her Allen Carr session? She says: “It was painless and I felt great afterwards.” Doesn’t sound like drug withdrawal to me. Allen Carr group sessions end with a bit of hypnotherapy, by the way. They don’t spend as much time talking to the Subconscious as they should, so it doesn’t work for everyone but independent assessments have given the Allen Carr method a success rate of 53% which beats all the medical products easily. Hypnotherapy scores even higher when it is done properly, and it should be noted that the people running Allen Carr groups are not professional hypnotherapists, and they are also a bit confused about the addiction notion, as Allen Carr was himself. How do I know? Because I have discussed these matters in detail with John Dicey, Worldwide Director of Allen Carr’s Easyway (International) Ltd.
Finally, if we are going to look at long-term quit-rates, there’s no way Champix works for one in five. It might have one in five suffering, or it might be even more than that - but hang on in there, guys - we have had reports that you do get back to normal in due course. I certainly hope you all do, and if you can update us on that, it will reassure others too.
Well an update, after 3 very dark days, the effects of champix seem to be wearing off, the quit smoking nurse said it would probably take another 24 hours, today I was able to drive with hardly any anxiety and I feel that things are returning to normal.
Rather alarmingly I was told that 20% of patients have a bad reaction to Champix, this seems a very high number for them to still be prescribing it almost on demand. I am still smoking occasionally just to reassure myself that the drug is getting out of my system, which is in reality a very stupid reason but I never wish again to experience the feelings and emotions of the past 3 days
Thanks very much for that, Brian! Glad to hear you are feeling a lot better.
See folks? 20% is one in five - not succeeding, but having a bad reaction! Don’t forget, that’s only the ones that report back, too. So it is bound to be higher than that. Some will never report back personally, either to the doctor or to Truth Will Out, because they are dead.
As Brian says: “…this seems to be a very high number for them to still be prescribing it almost on demand.” Actually it is worse than that - they are still recommending it! Already there are class actions against Pfizer under way in the States, and I sincerely hope that Pfizer get sued out of existence for this reckless and murderous experiment - not to mention their callous and wholly insincere denial that Champix is the direct cause of all this. It should be permanently withdrawn immediately. But what I want to know is this: why don’t the FDA and the British Medicines Controls Agency and the Department of Health get sued as well? And N.I.C.E.? They are useless institutions that are easily manipulated by the drug companies, and this is the result! It’s not just Champix, there are other killer drugs out there as well, still being prescribed. It’s not as if they don’t know. It would be much more accurate to say that they are so well-rewarded personally that they simply don’t care.
Don’t get killed, people - get wise! It’s not just that “the drugs don’t work”, THE DRUGS AIN’T SAFE. Doctors - rebel! Don’t prescribe killer drugs! Smoking is unhealthy, suicide is one hell of a lot more fucking serious, get your priorities right.
Not visited for quite a while.Im still not smoking-possibly as a result of using champix-but i dont know.The drug in my opinion is dangerous-from my own experiences-changes in behaviour/depression/anger/anxiety/time lapses and other bizzare symptoms-that detatch you from reality.
My advice to any smoker is not use it or nrt.Everyone I know who has used either of these has started smoking again either during treatment or afterwards.I had acupunture not long ago-not for quitting smoking but for a phobia ive had for years-somehow whilst been treated for this phobia(fear of travelling in a car as a passenger)-something clicked -connected to the not smoking.?My mind at last feels clear of the muddle it has been in for ages and I no longer feel that im just abstaining from smoking,but im free from its clutches.All Champix did was artificially prevent the need to smoke-when you stop taking it the urge to smoke returns within days-abstaining/depriving yourself is sheer torture-you need to cleanse your mind.Hope this helps potential champix users not to be drawn in to this crap dished out by doctors.
Hi all.
Im still not smoking~neither is my O/H and he has quit with NRT !..
On a more negative note-
A close friend of a relative of my O/H committed suicide last week after been on Champix for 4 1/2 weeks.The change in personality started to change after 5 days on Champix-he developed physotic symptoms/paranoia and had bad nightmares.He apparantly became violent and short tempered aswell.There was no suicide note.I did not know this person very well as I only met him once at a barbacue in the summer of 2008.He seemed mild and even tempered.The symptoms started after he began to take Champix.No other cause could be found as to why he killed himself…..Was it Champix ????
He had reported these symptoms to the nurse at his local stop smoking clinic-but was told these symptoms would go away after a while and he should continue to take 2 mgs per day for the duration of the course-he reported feelings of wanting to commit suicide.
How many more are out there ??
Pfizer claim that there is “no evidence” that Champix is to blame for these deaths, which are steadily increasing in numbers all over the world.
They suggest that “nicotine withdrawal” may cause suicidal depression - yet no-one commits suicide after quitting with hypnotherapy, acupuncture or the Allen Carr method, nor as a result of just kicking the habit by themselves.
Pfizer have also cruelly tried to suggest that all these suicides have previous history of mental illness, when in fact many of them have not. Pfizer’s spokespersons are well-paid, ruthless professional liars.
Since Jane added this post we have exchanged private messages about this horrible turn of events which it would be inappropriate to reproduce here. The event speaks for itself, and is not an isolated case - as Jane says: How many more out there?”
Just one more thing, though: Jane says her O/H quit with NRT… actually he’s doing that himself, the NRT is just acting as a placebo. Allow me to quote directly from the British Medical Association’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Dorling Kindersley 2002), p.401:
“Nicotine replacement therapy, such as the use of nicotine skin patches and chewing gum, can be effective in aiding withdrawal from nicotine.”
Seriously, can you imagine a dumber sentence? What the B.M.A. are telling you is that taking nicotine can help you to withdraw from… nicotine! Even if it was a drug addiction, that suggestion would be madness. The fact that cravings have nothing to do with nicotine anyway makes it madness with a silly hat on. We get lots of cravings, they’re not all about smoking, are they? And they can all be eliminated with hypnotherapy, with no reference to nicotine or ‘nicotine receptors in the brain’ or any of that hogwash.
Now all we have to do is wait about half a century for the B.M.A. to change the official line - during which six million more smokers will die. That’s in the U.K. alone. Around the world, it would be 250 million. Don’t wait for any medical authorities to apologise for getting this hopelessly wrong, though - that would be like waiting for Pfizer to admit that Champix kills people, or SmithKlineBeecham to admit that Nicotine Replacement Poisoning should never have been passed as if it had any kind of long-term success on the basis of its performance at six weeks.
Tonight I asked my O/H this question ‘Do you think that you did quit using NRT (nicorette inhalator) ? He replied ‘To be honest Im too f***k*** scared to smoke again as if the smoking doesnt kill me it will be the asthma that I now have from smoking that may well kill me’.I asked him ‘Are you pleased that you didnt take up your doctors offer in October to take Champix ?’ He replied ‘Yes I am glad as you or I will probuably be dead or split up by now-if I didnt love you so much and hadnt read alot about Champix.Too be honest Jane I used to cry sometimes and I know it was that bloomin Champix you were taking that turned you into another person.I was relieved when you said you were packing it in.Id rather you be a smoker than on that drug.You were evil,violent and vile whilst taking it and it wasnt just PMT ! .You are now the person I fell in love again.But now D***D is dead and that evil drug is still been pedalled around the world.I now see where your concern comes from regarding Champix’.
I myself had never dreamed that this drug I had regarded so highly in December 2007 would turn out to be a complete living nightmare.One year more or less to the day this poor guy took his own life cos of this drug.Im sure if I had took it for 6 months I to may of gone even madder than it had already made me.All the time Ive been smoking I have believed I was a DRUG ADDICT not a HABIT ADDICT.
I would love to know what has happened to alot of posters on this blog as alot of them have vanished.
One question I would like to add is how many more suicides will there be before this evil drug is outlawed ???
I will say this now without hesitation-I recieved acupunture quite recently with a phobia I had-I had this phobia for 10 years-it was travelling as a passenger in a car.I am pleased to say that I am now travelling as a passenger in a car quite confidently-but not gone very far yet.
PLEASE THOUGH DONT TAKE THIS DRUG CHAMPIX/CHANTIX.IF YOU DO BE ON YOUR GUARD.IF YOU FEEL AT ALL ‘NOT YOU’ OR FEEL WEIRD-STOP TAKING IT.
SMOKING KILLS AND SO DOES CHAMPIX.
The blurring of the line between “habit” and “addiction” suits the medical authorities, because it helps them to avoid having to admit that smoking has never been a drug addiction, and all this emphasis on nicotine is DEAD WRONG.
“Nicotine: The Drug That Never Was” - available for purchase through this site - is the first book ever to prove, by clear logical argument, all of the following:
Smokers cravings are not withdrawal symptoms
Smokers are not smoking for the effects of nicotine
Nicotine has no useful or pleasant effects
Tobacco smoking is not a drug addiction
Nicotine does not qualify as a drug by any definition.
Compulsive habitual behaviour is easily shut down with hypnotherapy PROVIDED the client is happy for that change to take place. This is usually done in one session and there is no evidence of any kind of withdrawal. I have been doing this kind of work for almost a decade and I’ve helped thousands of smokers quit this way WITH NO RISK. It’s no mystery, I know exactly how it works and my book explains it all. The final chapter, called ‘The Compulsive Habit Structure’ is the first formal definition of compulsive habits AS DISTINCT FROM drug addictions ever to be published, so far as I’m aware.
In case you are thinking: “Who are you, to define such things? You are not a scientist, a doctor or even a psychologist!”
It is precisely because am none of those that I am able to define the differences, because it is essential to understand the Subconscious mind very well indeed in order to know what is really going on with Compulsive Habits. Scientists, doctors and psychologists do not work with the Subconscious mind, and probably know little more about it than the man in the street. Only hypnotherapists routinely work with the human Subconscious mind as well as the conscious mind. And so, when I define ‘cravings’ as distinct from withdrawal symptoms, and as a key part of the operation of a compulsive habit, this is not mere theory: the truth of it can be easily demonstrated by shutting them down during a single event, simply through a specialised communication process called ‘hypnotherapy’.
Scientists, doctors and psychologists can’t do that. They may even try to tell you that it can’t be done by anyone, when the truth is simply that it can’t be done by them.
Jane’s right: DON’T TAKE CHAMPIX. Doctors: DON’T PRESCRIBE IT, it’s not worth the risk. Instead, take a little time to look into hypnotherapy, the Allen Carr method and acupuncture, which all involve NO RISK and score higher long-term success rates than Champix, Zyban, Nicotine Replacement Poisoning or any other unnatural chemical concoctions cooked up in the laboratory. All in the interests of making vast fortunes for global corporations. And if some of you go mad and kill yourselves in the service of that end, they are quite prepared for you to pay that price. Then they’ll blame you.
I was tipped off about Champix by my mum late last year who, having smoked 40-60 for 40+ years had been prescribed this new wonder drug and hadnt smoked for 2 months, so a couple of weeks before xmas i got a recomendation later from my local Stop smoking group for my GP.
I had already Googled Champix and found that in a minority of cases there had been feelings of depression and in extreme cases attempted/ actual suicide among other effects.
My GP seemed reluctant to prescribe and insisted that if I felt any side effects whatsover I was to stop taking the course immediately - which I took as him being a bit over-cautious as it seemed to me that these effects would only affect people who had either prone to or had a previous history of depression.
This couldn’t possibly happen to me as I’ve always been a very positive, outgoing and level headed type. Not to mention that I also started a new job last november which is going really well, have no massive money worries, a beautiful 2yr old daughter and another baby due later this year.
I started the course of Champix a week before xmas - Day 8 was xmas day - so i picked the 27th Dec as my stop day although I started feeling that smoking was a waste of time and throwing away 1/2 smokied cigarettes from about the 23rd. I had also cut down from c.35 to 25/20/15 etc
Apart from a very occasional craving, which was fairly easily resisted, I have no interest in smoking whatsoever and have been recomending Champix to others.
Side effect wise, I noticed a very minor feeling of nausea just after taking the tablet and i wasn’t sleeping quite as well as normal - sometimes waking up a couple of times in the night but these seemed a fairly small price to pay for a smoke free existance and could equally be put down to giving up nicotine as Champix.
So far so good, then on Monday it went very very wrong. I’d had a minor row indoors and sulked off to the pub on Sunday evening - not exactly a regular occurrance but something that will occasionally happen in any relationship. When i got back, we made up and all was ok. Seemingly.
When I woke up Monday it was as if a black cloud had had descended. I called work with an excuse (odd in itself as i wouldnt normally go sick unless i was really ill, especially so soon after joining a new firm). Then deciding that i’d had enough, emptied all the tablets in our medicine cupboard into a plastic and stormed out of the house mid morning.
From here it gets a bit blurry, apparently i found a pub open and hit the double whiskies (i only ever drink lager with a lemonade top) for a couple of hours then found a quiet corner and swallowed all the tablets.
I must of “come to” because again apparently i called my partner, told her where i was and what i’d done. So she called an ambulance.
By the time it arrived, i’d left the pub eventually to be found collapsed in my front garden around 2pm.
My partner has some medical experience and says it was almost like there 2 of me - one wanting to commit suicide and the “real” me trying to fight it and get help.
I’m now back at home, having had my stomach pumped and a psychiatric assessment (which could find no find reason at all for me to do this other possibly Champix).
Obviously i’m not taking Champix any more, and have only had 2-3 cigarettes in the last few days (it has been just a bit stressful) but i’m now going to give by willpower alone.
All I can say is that Champix definately works in terms of giving up but be careful as the warnings are there for a very real reason.
Actually Steve, you can’t even say “that it definitely works in terms of giving up”, only that whilst you were taking it, the urge to smoke wasn’t there. According to many accounts it returns with a vengeance when you stop taking Champix, and as I’ve said before, the drug was passed on it’s short-term results only, just like NRT.
Did you report this horror-story to your GP? Please, please do that everybody - any bad side-effects, make an official report, protect others. Steve is lucky to still be alive, why is this mad stuff still available? One slightly good sign was that your GP was apparently reluctant to prescribe it - only not quite reluctant enough.
If willpower doesn’t do it, Steve, have a look at: http://www.centralhypnotherapy.com Good luck my friend!
There you go folks-this poor guy Steve could of been another suicide statistic and his family could of been joining my O/H friends relatives in a very happy new year.Thank God Steve had been found in time.Just like my O/H relatives friend-no history of depression or suicide-no reason to want to kill or harm others till they took this drug.Unfortunetly we were unlucky as ours was a successful suicide.
It just prooves how unpredictable this drug is and it should be outlawed without hesitation.After going through hell myself on this drug I feel only right that newcomers to Champix should be warned about it more.Its just not worth the risk.SO PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS DRUG.
Just a quick update.
I obviously stopped taking the tablets 2 weeks ago but i’m now having a lot of problems sleeping (however tired i am) and have also started getting really bad headaches!
I’m hoping its just an effect of Champix coming oput of my system and will soon pass although i’ve been told it can stay in your system fior up to 3 months - seeing my GP in the week so hopefully he can give me more info.
On the bright side, just to confirm how lucky my escape was, we had the 1st baby scan last week and in July we will be having twins so I suppose i may as well get used to having no sleep !!
Oh Steve that is brilliant news well done and good luck !
Hey Chris,
Just thought i’d chip in my H’appenceworth. It’s my first day on Champix, not quit yet, but ill let you know how it goes.
But I’ve quit a few times in the past, the last two sucessfully with Hypnotherapy. It’s the only thing that really worked for me properly
But I like a bit of novelty, and have heard good (and bad) reports, but mostly good, so i’m giving Champix a shot.
Just a note on the nausia, anxiety and wierd dreams: I had ALL those when I quit using hypno. Actually the weird dreams were rather fun. The angry outbursts were less so, especially at work.
Ill let you know how it goes. Ill be combining it with the CD and exercises my Hypnotherapis gave me the last time (i’d be back there now, but i moved overseas: curse these foreign bars and lax attitude to smoking, and curse my weak will
But if it DOES all go horribly wrong, or horribly right, ill post it here.
Well this is a curious one. You had “nausea, anxiety and weird dreams” when you quit using hypnotherapy? You’re on your own there my friend! I’ve worked with thousands of smokers, and discussed this topic with dozens of other hypnotherapists, as well as reading huge amounts of literature on the subject… you are the first person ever to report that combination of symptoms after hypnotherapy in my experience.
Actually it would make a bit more sense if you said the hypnotherapy didn’t work - because when it does, you should be feeling absolutely fine. Your reference to “angry outbursts at work” certainly indicates that the job had not been done properly, because that is more in keeping with trying to quit the hard way. Also, we do have a bit of a clue when you refer to a CD and “exercises” given to you by your hypnotherapist: Why? I don’t give anyone a CD, and I certainly don’t give anyone “exercises” to do! I use hypnotherapy to wipe out their smoking habit, usually in one session. End of.
Looks like your hypnotherapist wasn’t very good, Mikemystery! But here’s the funny thing about hypnotherapy: even when it is conducted rather badly, it can still work, because the outcome is not controlled by the therapist anyway, but by the subconscious response of the client. I once saw a video recording of a tooth extraction with hypno as the only anaesthetic, and the therapist’s performance was certainly not slick - probably because it was being filmed - yet it was completely successful.
Finally - and since we have had some really horrifying reactions to Champix being reported here - I confess to feeling gobsmacked by mikemystery’s willingness to brave the possibility of things going “horribly wrong” with the expression: “I like a bit of novelty”! Jesus Christ Almighty, mate! Don’t mind a bit of risk myself - I’ve done bungee jumps and abseiled down large drops - but I draw the line at Champix and Russian Roulette.
Hope you’re one of the lucky ones, we look forward to the updates and thank you for your post!
I finished my Champix course (UK) over a month ago now. I can say that it has been a success and I have given up smoking after trying every other method including hypnotherapy.
Champix had various side effect for me, the worst being the nausea, difficultly to sleep, waking at odd hours in the night, VERY vivid dreams, aggression, memory loss. The others have now stopped since I finished the course but it is only recently that i have realised it may be the Champix that caused the aggression and memory loss and this is still happening now.
I am happy that I have finally managed to give up smoking after 16 years but I hope these other side effects will soon disappear.
Hypnotherapy has no side effects, apart from reducing stress and improving sleep. For it to be effective though, you need to find a therapist who specialises in smoking cessation and preferably NOT one who hands out tapes or CDs as part of the therapy, or sets you ‘exercises’!
Thanks for your post Charlotte — hope you recover from the side-effects soon.
Presumably this is what mikemystery is looking forward to when he says he “likes a bit of novelty”… what happened to him, anyway? He sounded all jovial and full of an enterprising spirit on Champix Day One, but that was five weeks ago now and we haven’t heard a thing. Perhaps he’s suffered some of that memory loss too, and has forgotten who he is, or that he promised to keep us posted, or that Truth Will Out warned him not to risk taking that freaky stuff in the first place.
Just occasionally I hear one of my clients remark that after quitting with hypnotherapy, they feel like they have never smoked, or that it seems as if they “have forgotten that they were ever a smoker” - but they don’t mean that they literally have no recollection of it, obviously! They just don’t want it back.
Hi folks. I’m after some advice if possible……
My gp has put me on champix which i am generally happy about so far (only day 4 ) as i’m rather keen to kick my 30 a day habit. My give up day is 3 days away and thus far i have had no real side effects other than a feeling of slight displacement (although this could be put down to me tired from work). My question is, when do these things start working? Thus far i’m feeling absolutely no different towards smoking. My habitual smoking hasn’t declined in the slightest. In fact i’m smokin whilst typing this !! feeling a little underwhelmed…………….
If all you are feeling is “a little underwhelmed”, Richard, you are actually one of the lucky ones. Did your GP warn you about the risks involved? Did he mention the suicides and the suicide attempts, the uncontrolled bouts of aggression, suicidal depression and totally out-of-character behaviour these tablets are causing in some people? The car accidents? Did he mention that air-traffic controllers and pilots are banned from taking it at all, because of the unpredictable side-effects?
If your GP did not explain these things, stop taking it immediately and read around the Champix side-effects blogs where Champix victims and their families are telling their stories now. No-one should be given this drug unless they have been told the full facts, and have decided to risk it anyway, in full knowledge that they might end up killing themselves, even if they have never in their life had any previous thought of doing so.
In most of the cases, none of that happened immediately. Sometimes it doesn’t happen until weeks into the course, and usually the sufferer has no idea that Champix is the cause.
When does it start working? Well, the truth is that for most smokers it doesn’t work anyway. Some don’t stop smoking at all, some stop while they are taking it only to start again when they finish the course.
Some don’t finish the course at all, because Champix finishes them. Don’t be one of ‘em, Richard. Don’t take my word for it, read around. And then go ask your GP if they knew about those risks, and the fatalities that have already occurred. And if so, why were they prepared for YOU to take those risks without telling you the truth?
When it comes to quitting, hypnotherapy, the Allen Carr method and acupuncture ALL have better long-term success-rates than Champix, Zyban or NRT - and unlike those lousy medications, have no side effects either so there’s NO RISK.
Hi Have just started taking Champix again for the second time.Like many others have stated it was really easy to give up smoking whilst on the drug.I quickly became anti smoking and was not tempted to even have a ‘crafty’ cig even though my OH was still smoking.
On the plus side apart from very vivid dreams(often bizarre but not unpleasant),nausea and occasional insomnia .I did not get many of the unpleasant side effects that others have experienced.
However I srarted smoking again as soon as I stopped the champix.So, this time I realise that willpower also has to be factored in when I stop the drug and really hope to be smoke free for ever.
“However I started smoking again as soon as I stopped the Champix.”
In the clinical trials, the best result they got at 12 weeks was that 44% were not smoking at that point, but a follow-up trial showed that 28 weeks later, half of them were smoking again.
Does that sound worth the risk, 22%? Now get this: in the same trials, the placebo control (dummy pill) scored 18% success at twelve weeks anyway. Some “wonder drug”!
Sam is now pretty much resigned to resorting to willpower in the end, but if none of that works out, Sam, do have a look at the alternatives that I’ve mentioned at the end of comment 104 above. Good luck, and please do keep us posted!
Hi i took Champix around November 2007 came off it in January 2008. back smoking again, but the depression and abdominal problems have not gone away. In May 2008 was taken into hospital with breathing problems, have been seen by a specialist for my stomach problems and am still very emotional. Up until taking Champix i was fine. Do the effects ever wear off, please say they do. I would never go back on them and would not want any of my family to take them. I thought it was going to be a wonder drug, but it turned out differently
I have been on Champix for 8 weeks and I have noticed that I have changed. I just feel weird most days, very lethargic, and the craving for a cigarette is still there, although very dulled. I also have rotten dreams, sleep pattern out of the window, hedaches and occasional joint pain. I have given up smoking before and I never ever experienced such side effects.
So all in all, if I could go back and not take this drug. Its dangerous.
Gill thought it was going to be a wonder drug because she was TOLD it was a wonder drug. Look what happened in reality.
In creating these unrealistic expectations, the newspapers have a lot to answer for, and journalists generally. Mazzy is right: it is dangerous - not to everybody, but no smoker has any idea before they take it whether they will be one of the unlucky ones, and cases like Gill’s prove that the harm can be ongoing more than a year after ceasing the medication.
Gill, I’d love to be able to reassure you that it will all wear off, but I simply don’t know. One thing I will say, though - one element in drug reactions is rejection by the Subconscious, so it is worth investigating whether the emotional/physical reactions can be reduced or removed by hypnotherapy. If that sounds implausible to you, that’s only because most people do not realise the extent to which the mind is involved in these things. I have personally used hypnotherapy to remove extreme allergic reactions in clients, and reactions to chemotherapy drugs too. Your Subconscious mind needs to be reassured that the drug is now out of the system, and will never return, so there is no need to react any more. Some physical reactions go on longer than they need to, just as some emotional reactions do.
I would not be at all surprised if that improved matters considerably, though it might not reverse it entirely - I honestly don’t know. Also, you would need to find a hypnotherapist who is experienced in dealing with those matters.
I started taking champix with out being told by the docter or the smoking docter of the side affects. After the 14th day i started getting headaches and very bad moods i started having ago at my partner for no reason and he was also on them. We have two children and if we had known the side effects would never have started. Im disgusted that this is not well known in the uk i only found out after weeks of taking them because a friend looked them up. Im not happy that it has affected my mental state. I dont know what to do i would love to give up smoking but not at that price!!!
I started taking Champix a couple of weeks ago. I had some of the usual side effects but the one that forced me to stop taking it (just over a week ago) was the severe constipation. Also, (and I would really like to know if anyone knows about or has experienced this), I have had severe pains in my gums, that shoot up my face and down my neck. They started when I was taking the Champix and I’m still getting them now. I have been to see my dentist in case it was a dental problem and he has given me antibiotics as he said I have a loose tooth at the back that may have infection under it, but personally I don’t feel that this is the cause of the pain and it worries me that the pain shoots up the side of my face and into my head.
I’m thinking that I should make an appointment to see my doctor.
Hi Christina, thanks for your comment. I too am disgusted that this is not well known enough yet - not in the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada… the list goes on. Hence this blog, and I have contributed to a number of other smoking blogs and medical blogs, and you would not believe some of the abuse I have been subjected to for doing that.
There are vested interests here, and those people absolutely hate me for trying to warn everybody about Champix. They won’t stop me. Lives, mental health and relationships are at stake - and the damn stuff only works temporarily for most smokers anyway, if it works at all!
As you say, not worth the price. Some people have paid with their lives. All because of drug company hype, and corruption in the medicines approvals systems.
The best methods are hypnotherapy, the Allen Carr methods and acupuncture. All risk-free, better success rates than the medications anyway.
So, I was a heavy smoker for 13 years, and have been taking champix for 9 weeks now, to be honest, i’ve had a little nausea, when i took champix on an empty stomach, had a little ringing in my ears once, few bizarre dreams, but i haven’t smoked. i keep forgetting to take the tablets, and am thinking of coming off them,
one funny thing is, i actually was abit prone to depression before taking them, but whilst i’ve been on them i’ve been fine, great even.
I’ve got about 4 weeks pescription left, but i think i’m going to stop taking them sooner
I am on day10 of champix and have had enough. I am not taking them anymore. In the last few days i have become sad, angry irritable and feeling like i want to cry. I decided to look at reviews of the drug from different sites and was shocked at the amount of people with the same side effects, some were more extreme than mine but some people didnt experience anything and think that champix is great. Well they must be the lucky few!! Im not willing to risk anymore side effects and will try another method of quitting that doesnt invole pills.
I am a repeat offender and it is my 2nd time on Champix and I’ve used Zyban and Alan Carr’s method before.
I’ve just finished the course about one week ago.
I’ve had very low tolerance levels and aggression and I have done and said harsher things than normal.
Just in the last 3 or 4 nights, I’ve had terrible insomnia and things a definately darker than normal for me right now.
On the upside I am not smoking at all!
And I’m sure that a lot these emotions would still happen if I went cold turkey.
I’ve stopped smoking completely and I’ve managed it with 2 kids under 3 years old and a high pressure job where I’m doing great work.
I could not possibly have achieved this going cold turkey.
Yeah, some of the side effects are an issue, but lets not forget… SMOKING KILLS YOU!
If I had been on this site before hand, I might not have taken Champix again
and I would still be struggling to breathe at night and wasting time, money and life on a horrible slow train to really big health problems or even death.
Champix will get you through the hard parts, but you will still need willpower at the end and avoid those “cheeky” social cigarettes, they’re the ones that start the habit again.
Matt, you seem to be suggesting that this site is doing something irresponsible, inviting people to tell other smokers of their experiences with Champix.
You also seem to be suggesting that if you don’t take Champix, then you have to die a horrible smoking-related death… like as if those were your only two options!
That is exactly the kind of suggestion I have seen from bogus contributors on other blogs, and it is pure drug-company bullshit hype. People have been successfully quitting smoking for decades, using all sorts of methods. Champix has only just been invented, and the main reason for inventing it was to make a truly obscene amount of profit for Pfizer.
You say: “I’m sure that a lot of these emotions would still happen if I went cold turkey.”
Mazzy said (post 108): “I have given up smoking before and I never ever experienced such side-effects.”
You said: “Yeah, some of the side effects are an issue, but let’s not forget…. SMOKING KILLS YOU!”
I say: “Suicide isn’t ‘an issue’, it’s a fucking tragedy. None of the side effects are necessary because the medications themselves are not necessary and shouldn’t ever be prescribed - because hypnotherapy, the Allen Carr method and acupuncture ALL PERFORM BETTER, WITH NO RISK WHATSOEVER!
And let’s not forget… Champix is killing people, by twisting their thinking and ravaging their emotions to the point that they want to harm other people or throw themselves off a bridge. Far too many have killed themselves already, and you know what, Matt? You are quite right, if they had only read this site beforehand, they might never have taken the damn stuff so they would still be alive today.
I could easily knock out their smoking habit for them in a couple of hours, perfectly safely. Any decent hypnotherapist could, but if you ask the British Medical Association about that, they will trot out their little mantra: “A number of systematic reviews found no evidence for the effectiveness of hypnotherapy in smoking cessation…”
Or in other words: “Systematic drug-company hype carefully put together by scientists employed by those same drug companies is then presented to the world as if it were real evidence which (perhaps not surprisingly) suggests that only medications made by those drug companies should be approved. They also specialise in bogus reviews that undermine the credibility of alternatives, and they’ve been doing this for decades.”
Matt, I’m not altogether sure if you are a genuine person who has just swallowed Pfizer’s sneaky suggestion that your only choices are a). Champix, or b). slow, horrible smoking-related death…
…or if you are part of the problem, posing here as an ordinary Joe Smoker. I suspect it is hype, but it doesn’t really matter either way because from a logical point of view, your argument has no validity. Champix isn’t the only way to quit, is it Matt? In fact it fails to deliver lasting success in at least 80% of smokers, so by my standards it’s a really crap method anyway!
So if you are just an ordinary smoker, I’d say that stuff has twisted your thinking, and I hope you get better soon.
**Update, 23.07.09:
Okay, it is obvious I’m just repeating myself now so I’m not posting any more comments or replies - say what you will, people! The floor is yours. I’m retiring from the debate, I’ve said all I care to say. This site is really about the global nicotine replacement scam, so please do read the final two blog-posts that sum that up: ‘The NHS Lie Exposed’ and ‘The British Press’.
Finally, don’t have nightmares: we do still officially live in The Free World, according to all Western governments. That’s why we were able to prise that damning information about the abject failure of NRT out of the Department of Health eventually - because they knew we now have a Freedom of Information Act. So then we tried to share the information with the rest of the public, only to find we don’t have a Freedom of Access to the Media Act, do we?
So knowledge is not power. The control of information is power, and I’ve had enough of this bullshit. I’m allowing the Truth Will Out site to stand as it is, and leave the public to make of it what they will. Feel free to add comments, but I will not reply or comment further unless I am asked a direct question. My opinions are already stated and I will not repeat myself further.
In the end, we get the governments, the media and the services we settle for, and the things I have learned about the medical authorities, the pharmaceutical industry, those dodgy antics that are laughingly called ‘drug testing procedures’ and the Department of Health have truly horrified me. I have written all I am going to on those subjects, mainly here on the site but also in the book.
I have reached the point where I can clearly understand how campaigners can become bitter, angry and so disillusioned that they start to become dysfunctional and obsessive, and even find themselves daydreaming about… oh, I don’t know… kidnapping Pfizer’s Champix spokesperson for example, and forcing them to take a full course of Champix themselves, until they too start acting “completely out of character” and admitting liability for all the damage caused by the drug, before - ah, tragedy! - hanging themselves from the nearest tree, despite all my efforts to prevent them from doing such a worthwhile thing.
Then I suddenly remembered: I’m a really happy person with a lovely wife and family, the best job in the world and a bunch of other books to write. My campaigning days are done.
All the way through this seventeen-month period I have invited and encouraged people to link up, and spread the word. We don’t have the ear of government, you see. We don’t have control of the media.
But we have the internet, and the powers that be cannot prevent smokers - who number in their hundreds of millions, don’t forget - and all those who oppose current smoking policy from talking freely to each other.
We don’t have the internet to ourselves, though, so in the end smokers will have to decide for themselves who to believe when it comes to the smoking issue. They already know - for sure - that nicotine gum is not the answer, though they were once told to believe that it was. They know that Zyban is not a wonder drug, yet they were assured that the drug-testing procedures indicated that it was, and that it was safe. Neither is true. They were recently told that Champix was a wonder drug too, and tragically some of the people who heard that, and got all excited and hopeful, are now dead.
Those who decide to heed my cautions will be skeptical about what the drug companies are telling you - through the media, the Department of Stealth and the medical profession - many of whom do not know how much they are being manipulated themselves.
Those who buy all that bullshit reassurance about “controlled, randomised trials” - as if such things still operate like they once did - and prefer to trust Big Pharma’s version of Sci-Earns, will probably end up one day taking pills to keep their blood flowing and their eyes blinking stupidly, just like all those people from the land where medications are advertised on the telly with happy songs and dances.
By the way - ten years ago, I was told that my cholesterol level was ‘too high’. I think the figure mentioned was 7.8, and I was told it should be no higher than 6. Now, I believe, the official pharmaceutical opinion is that it should be brought down to under 5. I ignored all this, and I always will. If you want to know why, read The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr Malcolm Kendrick (John Blake Publishing Ltd. 2007). Obviously I hadn’t read that ten years ago, when I judged for myself that the cholesterol story is bullshit, but it was nice to hear that confirmed by someone who could explain why the evidence proves the hype completely untrue. Cholesterol medication is big, big, big business. It is a business built entirely on fear, sneaky suggestion and misinformation. And the side-effects… well, I refer you to Dr Kendrick.
Then two years ago, I was told that I had a “borderline under-active thyroid gland” and should start taking Thyroxine tablets - which I would then be staying on for the rest of my life.
The thing was, I wasn’t ill. At all. I had just gone for a routine set of blood tests, I wasn’t feeling under the weather or anything.
So I decided to love my cholesterol, and just read ‘borderline’ as ‘nothing to worry about’, or just a case of a ’slightly lazy - just like the rest of me - thyroid gland’. Perfect, in fact. If it were more active it would be out of sync with the rest of the organism, I decided. (You see, I have medical opinions of my own. So I asked for a second opinion and gave myself one.)
I then thanked the nice medical people very much for the offer of a permanent ‘Not-Well’ status and a lifetime of dodgy ‘preventative’ medicine, and never went back.
That was a couple of years ago. I’ve never felt better in my life. You’re welcome, NHS Budget. Ta-ra.
i have been taking champix for a while now and it hasn’t helped me cig’s taste funny now but not enough for me to stop. i find myself moody now which i never was and finding hard with day to day life. my dreams are very far fetched like sleeping with random people from the past and present, also getting chased and attacked this is very scetchy as i never even seem to have dreams normally. my wife and kid must love living with a moody person not, they have never seen me this way. mental home here i come i think.
Unknown to me, my husband started taking Champix four weeks ago , he is not the person i knew and the pills are now destroyed . I only found out a couple of days ago and was angry that he hadnt told me because I had heard that they could affect some people and oh boy, have they affected him . He sleeps the moment he sits down, he is irritable, nasty tempered , depressed and is suffering from bad dreams . He shouts out in the night and during the daytime, he seems unable to perform even the smallest task, he has become an awful person to be around and I just hope and pray that these effects will wear off .
Hi Kate, thanks for contacting us.
First of all, the effects are likely to wear off steadily - can you please let us know how that goes? We’ve had varying reports so the more feedback we get the easier it is to advise/reassure others.
In the meantime please try to remember that he did not mean to do himself - or you - any harm, and if he had known what we now know about Champix he probably wouldn’t have risked it. Try to bear in mind, whatever he says or does: it’s NOT HIM, it’s the medication.
Finally please, please report it. Make sure the doctor that prescribed this is fully aware of what it has done to your husband and your homelife, and make sure that complaint is officially registered with the relevant authorities. It is the only way we are going to stop this. It seems that quite a lot of doctors are still genuinely unaware of the scale and seriousness of the adverse reactions.
I started taking this a few weeks ago, and i wish i had never laid eyes on it. The first week was great, second week started to get really angry with everything and everyone, then the bad dreams started, that was of course when i could actually get to sleep ! I was paraniod that something really bad was going to happen and actually worked out how i was going to end it all ! Only i realised what was happening and stopped taking the tablets, that was 4 days ago and i have been out on sleeping tablets by my GP and although feeling much better, i still feel Panicky and worried all the time over silly things.
I just hope that i have not been left with a mental Health problem. These tablets should be banned !
My husband was also on them and he has had a bad back for over a week, Nausea, and really bad tempered, he has also stopped taking them !
I have started to smoke again as i thought that it might help these feeling go away quicker !! I was wrong !! So now im smoking again and ill !
It works. Weird dreams, but no drowsiness and no nausea. It totally took the cravings away. That bunk up there about not smoking for the pleasure/ can’t describe the pleasure– if that aint proof there is a brain chemical (pleasure) involved I dont know what is. You don’t need Houdini– you need Champix. My experience was 100% positive and I would recommend it to anyone.
Hi Larry, welcome to the suicide pill debate.
Oh, I’m sorry - that’s all cleared up now, isn’t it? No-one’s killed themselves because of Champix, because it didn’t happen to you. So it’s safe.
Of course it doesn’t do that to everybody, that’s why the trials passed off without incident. Trouble is, if you then give it to hundreds of thousands of people, instead of just a few dozen, you start seeing some of those people reacting in ways that didn’t show up in the little trials.
Why do they use small numbers of people in trials? Simple: because when you convert small numbers to percentages, it makes the success rate look bigger, which is exactly what you have done with your “100% positive” figure here. Yeah, that sounds great - only the test sample was ONE. So for you to assume that the same will apply across the board, making you comfortable recommending it to “anyone” is unsafe, to say the least.
Re Brain Chemicals and ‘pleasure’:
Everything the human organism does, thinks and feels is regulated by the mind, which operates its mental and physical faculties through a nervous system using chemicals and electrical impulses. So absolutely everything you do - not just smoking, but including that - and everything you think and feel about doing it too, involves chemicals. This is true whether or not you judge that ‘pleasure’ is involved.
The perception of ‘pleasure’ is not fixed. Think about the things you like to eat at the moment. There will probably be things you enjoy eating as an adult that you would have spat out or objected to when you were a little child. The thing itself hasn’t changed, its chemical composition hasn’t changed - only your perception has changed. Could it be that the brain chemicals involved in your perception of the eating experience are now different from what they would have been when you didn’t ‘like’ it? very possibly, but notice how that happened WITHOUT MEDICATION.
In hypnotherapy, we adjust these perceptions all the time - in eating experiences for example, so people who want to stop stuffing their face with chocolate no longer feel moved to eat it, or in the case of smoking so that they no longer feel any impulse to reach for a cigarette. This is totally different from using conscious efforts (willpower) to try to resist the urge to reach for a cigarette, which what most quitters are trying to do.
Larry got all excited - not just because he wasn’t hit by black depression that made him leap from a bridge, but also because the urge to smoke disappeared. yeah, I do exactly that for my clients, but without the medication. Risk factor zero. Success rate MUCH higher than Champix. For proof of that I refer you to the Evidence section of this website.
Back to Being Thirteen
Most smokers recall their earliest smoking memories as revolting, disgusting and sickening. So I ask the very fair question: If there is truly a pleasure in smoking, why didn’t we notice it straight away? Whatever made us pick up the second cigarette, it certainly wasn’t because we enjoyed the first one! It was the same thing that made us pick up the first one: the influence of others, devilment, because we were dared to, because we imagined it would make look cooler or more grown up. (All this is in my book, by the way - so if it is making perfect sense to you, why not read the rest of it? No unnatural chemical concoctions involved!)
So if we later came to believe we were ‘enjoying’ inhaling toxic gases, what changed was our perception of it - the smoke itself didn’t change a bit. During the hypnotherapy process we change that perception back to what it was in the first place - because our initial impression was correct: smoke is unpleasant and so is the effect of inhaling it. It’s just amazing what you can get accustomed to.
Introducing alien chemicals into the brain alters the normal activity of the brain. So we shouldn’t be surprised if it alters perceptions or behaviour, but since everyone is different we shouldn’t be surprised if that affects different people in different ways. In hypnotherapy, the only adjustments are made by the mind itself, so it is natural. For the client’s mind to respond, the proposed change has to appeal to that individual, which is the perfect inbuilt safeguard. The therapist can suggest whatever they choose, but the only suggestions the client’s mind will act upon are the ones that the client is personally interested in. Without that internal approval, nothing changes at all.
If that is different from what you perceived hypnotherapy to be, your perception is wrong and you can upgrade to an accurate one by reading more about hypnotherapy for free on my practice website.
Finally: Houdini was an escapologist. No connection to hypnosis or hypnotherapy whatever. This is unfortunately the level of ignorance we hypnotherapists face on a daily basis. It is a bit irritating, yes. Ten years of that, I’ve been putting up with now. What’s that? Do I ever feel like strangling people like Larry? No, no - I’m a therapist, so I use sophisticated self-hypnosis techniques to calm myself down… such as digging my fingernails into the soft part of my wrist whilst repeating in my head “I am a professional therapist, I have the patience of a saint, I’m a professional therapist…”
Usually works.
Hi - just thought I’d let you know that I took Champix and although it made me slightly nausias after taking the tablet it had no other side effects. I stopped smoking I also stopped drinking alcohol (which was a problem) I no longer craved chocolate or sweet things - lost weight and generally was a much nicer, happier person. I’d like to stay on the stuff forever if I was positive it wasnt going to have long term effects. Then again what long term effects did the cigs, drink and chocolate addiction have on me??.
Wow, Kellie! You’ve sold me on it! Where can I get this wondrous potion?
Oh, wait a minute - your repetition of the tired old marketing suggestion that your only choices were: 1). cigs, drink and chocolate, or 2). Champix …is rubbish because all those cravings can be easily wiped out with hypnotherapy anyway, but with no unpredictable chemicals and therefore no risk whatsoever.
Also, you haven’t mentioned how long you’ve been off the medication. In the trials, half the people officially counted as ’successes’ were smoking again at 28 weeks anyway, so they weren’t successes really.
This is partly because drugs like Champix only meddle with the operation of your behavioural systems, they cannot do anything to address the ideas and beliefs that led to the habit developing or support the habitual behaviour, nor can they address your personal feelings about smoking, drinking or chocolate. Such drugs cannot address the ongoing problem of how to avoid being led back to the old ways by the influence of other people either.
These are all key factors in preventing relapse, and I deal with all of those matters during hypnotherapy sessions. In other words, we do the job thoroughly and safely, whereas Champix just fucks with your brain. It made you all happy-clappy, well… good for you. I think maybe you should take the stuff forever. It makes some people destroy themselves. Absolute worse-case-scenario with hypnotherapy is that nothing changes. Same with acupuncture, same with Allen Carr method. NO RISK.
Much higher success rates than Champix anyway, if you look at the long-term results. If you want proof, consult the Evidence section of this site.
Is ‘Kellie’ for real? Well, make up your own minds, readers - but her claims for Champix go way beyond anything Pfizer ever claimed for it in the original trials. Since it clearly does affect different people in different ways, maybe this sort of thing is possible too, but it is clearly not the norm, just as suicide is not the norm. Could go either way, but we do know that for at least 80% of Champix users, there will be no long-term success anyway. Compared to hypnotherapy that is rubbish.
Hey there, I started taking Champix 9 weeks ago! I have to say that they do work, but and there is a big BUT… I had a heart attack in Jan 08 and almost died, I was 35, I decided that for my health and family that the smokes had to go. I heard about Champix and thought cool, I will give them a go. They worked, I suffered from feeling sick and that was ok, just like morning sickness, it will go away soon and it did. The nightmares are horrible, so real, really freaked me out. I woke in the kitchen one time, not knowing what I was doing there. My husband has said that I am really active in my sleep, tossing and turning all the time. I have also gained about 10 kilo’s on weight. I am watching what I eat and when I eat, but still the weight gain…Almost like I am taking antidepressants! My doctor never told me about any of the side effects, all she said is that I might feel sick… What a crock!!! I have had massive mood swings, back and neck pain, nightmares, sleep walking, erratic thoughts about taking my own life and feeling like a space cadet. What is in these drugs?? There is no info in the box or anything, I have done some research and people have killed themselves, but Pfizer still make them and doctors still hand them out to who ever because the doctors get paid for prescibing them. I am not taking Champix ever again. I have never felt so alone and detached from life. Like all the happiness has been sucked out of me. I am trying to rebuild my life after my 9 weeks of hell. I have never had thoughts of suicide before and after surviving a heart attack last year, I died and was in an induced coma for 5 days, lost my memory and had no idea what had happened, I am not taking the risk with anything. Say no to Champix. I decided last Friday that I would not take them any more, I still feel like crap and I am hoping that it will end soon. My doctor told me to keep taking them and it would all pass, I would be fine!!! I think I need a new doctor. I smoke still, but one or two a day and that’s it. I would rather smoke occasionly than have all these horrible thoughts and side effects. I feel numb and thats not a good thing. After my heart attack, I decide that I would live life to the fullest and the past 2 months, I have withdrawn from my family and friends, feeling spaced out and having angry out bursts, thats not living to me. I have said no more Champix ever. I understand that Champix has worked for other people. I think that’s great, but it hasn’t worked for me. Just for the record to, my heart attack eas not cause by bad diet, smoking or heart diease, my cardilologist has said that, it was a freak thing, I had one attery that was partly blocked and the plaque broke off and blocked my attery. He seems to think it was from another medication I was taking at the time for weight loss. My cardiologist smokes and make no secret of it either. I think that all the medication handed out today mayby doing our bodies more harm than good. I hope that I have helped someone with my story. I will pop back in a few days and let you know how I am doing with not taking Champix. Good luck everyone… Cheryl from Australia
Hi there again,
Does anyone know how long this takes to get out your system? I am so tired of feeling like shit and hate PFIZER for putting this crap on the market… All it is is a huge money making scam and it looks like money is more important than human life. PFIZER know that Champix cause mental issue’s, yet they still put it on the market. Pills are not miricle cures, I will be trying hypnotherapy in the near future, and a good old dose of will power. It makes me really sad to think that money is worth more than human life to these big companies. What has happenes to the families of the people that have suicided….. I bet a big nothing….. That makes me even more sad, it would be put down to some prior mental condition or depression, I bet. No way that Chapix would cause somone to take their own lives. WHAT A BIG FRIGGIN JOKE!!! I am so glad that I have a great husband and good friends that kept check on me, other wise I might have been one of the suicide victims. My best friend was also taking Champix, we did it together and she has been ok apart from the bad dream and a bit angry, but she has stopped to. She has had depression problems in the past aswell, and her GP was aware of this (Her depression) but still prescribed Champix for her. I have to wonder what the pay off is for the doctors, must be pretty good. Again money is more impotant than human life…
Cheryl said:
“I think that all the medication handed out today may be doing our bodies more harm than good. I hope that I have helped someone with my story.”
You just summed up the entire Truth Will Out message. Thank you Cheryl, hang on in there and I hope you feel better very soon. Please keep us posted, because many sufferers have asked when they will be back to normal, so the more feedback we have on that the easier it will be to reassure them.
Hey there back again….
It’s been a week now since I stopped taking nasty Champix, I am still having side effects from this awful tablet. I am still really depressed and angry, I am hoping that it will end soon, without having to go back to the idiot doctor that gave me them, and knowing full well that I had a heart attack, that really pissess me off because there have been cases of people taking this shit who have heart attack from Champix. The more I dig the more pissed off I get, so many cases of really bad side effects and doctors just keep giving them to people and when you go beck to the doctor and tell them whats happening,, they say “oh that’s ok, it will pass” My doctor won’t even prescribe me birth control because it may effect my heart, but is willing to give bloody Champix, awesome!!!
I have never been a rude person, but my god it has really brought out bad my side.
On the up side the 10 kilo’s I have gained in the past 9 weeks is starting to go now, my thoughts are becoming a bit more rational and slowly I will be ok. I am still having nightmares and time lapses, but I know there will a end to this, that I am sure of.
If anyone out there is thinking about taking Champix, PLEASE DON’T because they really stuff you up. I will keep ya posted on how I am doing, I am glad that there is a website like this where people can go to share their feelings and thoughts about this horrible drug, which I think should be banned. I have even started a Facebook page “Champix should be banned” So if anyone wants to join or tell their story, please go there. Thank you Chris for this website, it has saved me by knowing that I am not the only one who is suffering. I will check back in in a few days. Cheryl from Australia.
Hi there, i have been taking champix for 3 weeks and although i have stopped smoking i found the side-effects of the tablets really bad, and so have stopped taking them altogether last sunday. I felt detatched and in a world of my own, was really sharp with my kids and partner and so stopped taking the tablets as i thought i could manage to stay off the cigs. Since having stopped on Sunday i feel even worse, my brain feels like it is on fire and i am even more stressed and anxious, am snapping at everyone and am struggling to hold it together. I hope these symptoms go away as i could not live like this, has anyone felt the same way after stopping champix?
Champix is the devil…i stopped it a week ago when i started having horrible thoughts…i thought i was going crazy, i went to my priest, started counselling and alienated my friends…which is not me…please let me know when i will be back to normal…as i hate this feeling, i cry at the drop of a hat,have started having panic attacks which i never had before this drug fromhell…andim pissed that i had to g othru this…and oh yeah i started up again only about 2-3 a day…so this drug is shit and i hate what its down forme i have a great life, 2 kids wonderful husband but this drug makes me not care..go figure…i hate this drug and do not recommend, please dont take it….
Hey there Olga, listen it does get better, I understand how you feel and I know first hand what it’s like. I stopped taking them suddenly, but in the long run it was the best thing I ever did. I think I have been off them for 5 or 6 weeks, even though i don’t feel completely normal, I am better than I was when taking them. I am smoking too, I think that hypno is the way to go. After all the crap I went through, I am glad that I stopped taking the shit. It should be banned.
I even went back to my doctor who tried to get me to take them again, what a bloody joke.
You will get better, it takes a little time, as long as you have a great support network and they understand what’s going on, you will be fine, hang in there love!
Keep on letting us all know how you are going too, cause everyone is different, but all our stories help.
Thanks Cheryl, yes all stories help us to build up a picture of what to expect and most importantly how we can safely reassure people about the process of recovery from bad effects.
Of course not everyone suffers from serious side effects, but I have noticed again and again that the majority of these experiences do not result in an official complaint about the medication - people just stop taking it.
What this means is that the official version of how many bad reactions there are is only the tip of the iceberg. I also wanted to point out that the chap Jane told us about who killed himself had been back to his doctor to complain about the medication, but was told to persist with it - ignorant advice which cost him his life.
What we don’t know is how many other people - like Cheryl - are being given this extraordinarily stupid advice from doctors and quit counsellors. This is putting people in grave and unnecessary danger. It also goes against the current guidelines, which advise quitting the medication if there are bad emotional reactions. THIS MEDICATION CARRIES A SUICIDE RISK FOR GOD’S SAKE.
I quit smoking 22 Apr 09 using Champix, did lots of research and came to my own educatedonclusion that people who have had bad side affects will tend to blog more than those who have had a positive experience… I’ve been off Champix for 3 or 4 weeks now and still have no cravings or desire to smoke.
I smoked for over 20 years and tried laser therapy, NRTs, and Hypnotherpy (with an accredited smoking cessasion therapist) and with the help of Champix this is the first time I’ve felt positive of the success I have thus far and am positive that this will not change in future.
Hi Debby, welcome to the debate!
Yes you’re quite right, I have no doubt that people with no complaints don’t complain, and maybe don’t read the blogs or feel compelled to return to them later to post a comment. Likewise, the people who commit suicide don’t post their review of Champix… a small, but highly significant omission in the overall picture.
With regard to “accredited smoking cessation therapist”: even the most gifted, highly qualified smoking cessation hypnotherapy expert will not be able to get their success rate much higher than 80% UNLESS they screen clients, i.e. assess them beforehand and reject all the ones that may pose a challenge for some reason.
I think that’s a selfish practice because it involves pre-judging and rejecting people in the interests of the therapist, and inevitably prevents some people from being successful which could - potentially - cost them their life.
I work with everyone who walks through the door unless they are mentally ill, stone deaf or hardly understand English. And I have sometimes been surprised when people I thought might need more than one session for some reason turned out to be immediately successful, or people who appeared to be the perfect client hit a stumbling block that neither of us realised was there at first.
There’s usually a way around a stumbling block but if the client abandons hypnotherapy at that point, the therapist never gets a chance to identify the problem and nail it.
So congratulations Debby! Might I just ask two questions:
Did your doctor inform you beforehand all about the risks you now know you were taking with Chantix Champix after reading this blog?
Did you read blogs like this beforehand? If so, I’m surprised you took the risk - but as we know from other contributors here, some do! On the other hand, if you only found out about the dangers after you came off the medication, how did you feel when you learned of some of the horrible things this drug had done to others?
Thank you Cheryl and Chris for reading my story…ive been off Champix now for 3 weeks and feel soooooooooooooo much better…told my doctor and he felt soooooooo bad..like he failed me, had to go counselling get a mild anti-anxiety pill and all because of this pill from HELL!!!im just glad tht i caught it in time…i have agreat life likei said before but wanted to end it?????makes no sense..thats what this drug will do…unfortunately i didnt notice anything while on it…that much it was when i stopped that all hell broke loose…like i said to my doctor …whats the point of living longer if im cuckaroo???lol…im actually laughing again…hanging with friends,a totally different person..the counsellor even said allthese thoughts and emotions were “DRIVEN BY THIS DRUG”..really wierd pill this is i would have thoughts like “just end it, who cares?go ahead and do yourself in” and id be thinking “no i dont want to i love my kids and husband and friends. what the fuck is happening to me? i have a great life, i dont want to end it..” and then i read the side effects and went oh okay this crap is causing all this …unbelieveable….i love this website and thank you for your support..its nice to know im not alone..thank you..:)
also Cheryl i joined your facebook page…have to get the word out…luckily i caught it in time….and Chris is right you just want the pain and thoughts to stop so thats where the horrible thoughts come in…thank you again…i feel very comforted knowing im not alone..:)
Yes, I read several blogs just like this, as I said I felt there was a bias in reporting/blogging as only those who had problems with the drug would be doing the majority of posting.
From health canada’s website: Since the introduction of CHAMPIX in Canada, in April 2007 through April 30, 2008, a total of 226 Canadian cases of neuropsychiatric adverse events have been reported. For the same time period, there have been 708 534 prescriptions filled for CHAMPIX in Canada (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/medeff/advisories-avis/public/_2008/champix_pc-cp-eng.php).
I did ensure, my friends, family and co-workers were informed I was taking this drug and asked them to let me know if there were any changes in my behaviour. Had I had any adverse affects I would have stopped taking the drug (is this not common sense?).
I had none and am smoke free, with no desire to smoke going on 8 months next week. A sucess. My girlfriend quit at the same time, she did have a harder go of it at first dealing with cravings and nausea (however, managed to curb the nausea by taking it with food) such, but we are now both smoke free coming on 8 months - she too smoked for over 20 years… We’re already planning our 1 year clean celebration…
What a contrast, eh readers? I have no doubt Debby is telling the truth about her experience but there is clearly no way to tell which way it is going to go. This means that in reality, smokers are playing Russian Roulette with their mental health if they take Champix.
But I’m not buying the ‘reassurance’ about the relatively small number of officially reported bad reactions, because I bet you anything, if you were to ask all the people who posted their replies on this blog about bad reactions: “Did your doctor file an official complaint against the medication?” the answer in nearly every case would be “No.”
The fact is, very few people will even complain to their doctor, because it seems like criticism - they’re the ones that gave you the medication! A lot of people have a high regard for doctors, so to go back to them and tell them that their medical decision was wrong is kind of embarrassing for them, because they are embarrassed FOR the doctor. They would rather be able to report success so that both doctor and patient can be comfortable with the outcome - it’s only human nature. So many people just stop taking it if they have a bad experience, and anxiously pray they soon get back to normal as we’ve seen in a number of posts here.
Some will complain to their doctor, but I wonder how many of those incidents are officially reported?
No, the reason Debby feels none too concerned about those few hundred official cases is partly because she was assuming that’s the real measure of the problem - and who wouldn’t? - when it’s really just the tip of the iceberg, and partly because she took it herself and nothing bad happened to her, or anyone close to her. We only have to look at the contrasting posts here to see just how different Debbie would be feeling at this point if she hadn’t been so lucky.
again, thank you for this site, i regret the minute i took these pills…i couldve saved myself alot of tears and pain….i mean this is 4 months ill never get back.:(…but at least, its almost over….now just waiting to get back to normal, slowly but surely, i WILL get there…
Olga, hang on in there - yes, you will get there. Try to look forward rather than back.
All these reports are valuable because they show a very mixed picture, and that is the main reason I think Champix should be withdrawn. Debby sounds very sensible when she says:
“I did ensure, my friends, family and co-workers were informed I was taking this drug and asked them to let me know if there were any changes in my behaviour. Had I had any adverse affects I would have stopped taking the drug (is this not common sense?).”
But when Olga tells us (post 130):
“Champix is the devil…i stopped it a week ago when i started having horrible thoughts…i thought i was going crazy,”
and (post 135):
“…all because of this pill from HELL!!! im just glad tht i caught it in time…i have a great life like i said before but wanted to end it?????makes no sense..thats what this drug will do…unfortunately i didnt notice anything while on it…”
That’s the scary bit, you see, Debby. Common sense doesn’t seem to count for a lot when the suicidal feelings hit. Olga DID stop taking the medication. That didn’t fix it - it carried on for weeks and it STILL hasn’t gone away completely yet.
That’s one damn dangerous and unpredictable drug.
Now, if Champix were the only known way to quit smoking, that might give all the smokers out there a bit of a dilemma. But can I just remind everyone at this point that the vast majority of ex-smokers alive today quit without using any of the medications being pushed at smokers now by drug companies via Health Authorities?
If you can’t manage to ditch the habit yourself - and many smokers do find that difficult, of course: old habits die hard - then hypnotherapy, the Allen Carr method and acupuncture are all more successful than any of the meds, and they’re all safe - no-one needs to be risking their mental health here.
You hear that, Doc? I SAID NO-ONE NEEDS TO BE RISKING THEIR LIFE OR THEIR MENTAL HEALTH AT ALL.
again i thank you for this site…feeling alot better..a panic attack here and there but nothing i cant handle…anxiety still hasnt gone away but at least im not depressed or suicidal for no reason anymore….what a trip being on that pill was…i thought i had terminal illnesses..got all sorts of tests that showed i was in awesome health but that wasnt good enough…that was the paranoia part…theres all sorts of levels to this pill from hell…my dentist told me his patient was taking this pill and woke up in the middle of the night with his hands around his wifes neck…isnt that insane???i pray every night that i go back to the confident, happy,blessed woman i used to be, not this paranoid,suicidal,weepy wimp that this drug made me into…damn that fucken drug…in due time..its been about a month and half and still not 100% but im sure 85% is pretty much where im at…thanks for the stories and kind words…
Hi Olga, glad you’re on the mend, do keep us posted and thanks for your contribution to the ongoing debate.
This post once again shows up why the suggestion that people can monitor their own behaviour for signs of strangeness - or get those around them to do that - is useless in practice… who is monitoring you when you’re asleep? What if that guy had strangled his wife - do you think Champix would have got the blame in a court of law?
This drug is very unpredictable and very dangerous. It should never have been passed as if it were safe and no amount of complacent ‘warnings’ on the packaging are going to stop things like this from happening. It has to be withdrawn, and the best way hasten that day is for ALL the people who suffer bad reactions to tell everyone else, and especially their doctor, and make sure he or she makes an official report about it, and confirms to you in writing that they have done that.
Better still: Doctors - Don’t prescribe the suicide pills. That’s what I call common sense.
chris, i read previous posts and i would like to thank you for your efforts in helping the people that have taken this horrible pill…your website is a comfort to me, when i feel the anxiety or panic attacks that these pills have caused since i NEVER had this problem before i come here and feel better…:)…i still have sad days but not like before…i pray the day will come where i will wake up one day and this will all be a thing of the past…its a living hell…it really is..you are a GOD send…
Hi everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!l I have not been on Champix for about 3 months or longer, I have lost track of the daze. I am much better, but still having a lot of trouble sleeping without sleeping tablets. I am still having nightmares too, I still smoke, but I am glad that I have my sanity.
I have been still struggling with the day to day stuff, like no motivation. My doctor tried to give me antidepressants, I refused to take them because Champix has put me off everything. I had a huge fight with my doctor about Champix and asked her how could she give them to me after I have had a heart attack??? She said that there was no warning about that with them!!! I can’t even get birth control pills!!!!
I am still really angry about the whole thing and want to blame someone for all this, I want to make some noise for all the families that have lost someone due to Champix.
Debby, I understand what you said about having a bad experience and a good experience, I wish I was the one that had a great experience on Champix and I could tell everyone about it, I would have still come to a blog and let people know it was good. But instead I now have lots of problems. I think it’s like everything, some people can handle Champix and others just can’t. My X husband took Champix for 3 months and says they are the best thing since sliced bread. He had no problems with depression or angry outbursts, he was himself and is still smoke free.
Olga, Thank you for joining the Facebook page, hey l will add you as a friend on mine too, like you said it has helped knowing you are not alone, it has been great for me reading your story, knowing we have gone through similar things. I am glad to read that you are on the mend now. I am sure I am too, but it will take time. I still have my days too, day where everything is way too hard, but I try and suck it up and go on.
I am worried about my best friend who is still taking the shit pill, she has depression and it has come back full force, I have been keeping my eye on her, She has been trying to get herself off them, but has had a break down everytime. Like me she is too scared to go back to her doctor because they keep telling us to take them and it will all be ok. I have lost faith in the medical sysytem now, I have to see my cardiologist soon and I want to skip that too, but knowing I shouldn’t.
Chris, thank you soooo much for this website, I hope other people find comfort in your words too like I have, and reading other people stories, good or bad have helped too. Will keeep in touch..
Cheryl
i have been taking champix 2months now with no nauesa dizzyness tirdness but what i have found is my dreams are more vivid seem so real that when i wake up sometimes cant tell if i dreamt it or actually happend also i have noticed myself missing short term memory not severe as hours but im upstairs and cant remember what i came for or in living room and step into kitchen but what for meere seconds and i forgot but other than this amazing drug for stop smoking
Thanks to Olga and Cheryl… it’s funny how a website that was originally designed to alert everyone in the world to the sheer farce of the ‘Nicotine Replacement’ scam has now been partially hijacked by the Champix scandal, but that’s the way things happen.
If I’ve ended up being quite hard-line about Champix it is entirely because of all these horrible reactions I’ve been hearing about over the last couple of years. I honestly don’t care if some people are fine with Champix, it still won’t stop at least 80% of them in the long run, so why run the risk?
Thanks also to Scott for this latest comment, and it reminds me of the account from one of my own clients who called her friend to say she was popping round, got into her car for a five-minute drive to her friend’s house, only to get a phone call twenty minutes later from her friend asking where she was? She was still sitting in her car and could not account for the twenty-minute gap at all. No memory of it.
Not normal, is it? So when Olga mentioned that:
“there’s all sorts of levels to this pill from hell…my dentist told me his patient was taking this pill and woke up in the middle of the night with his hands around his wife’s neck…”
I wonder what he was dreaming?
“Amazing drug”? “Pill from hell”? Might depend on how it ends, Scott. Please keep us posted.
Did another smoking session today, by the way. I’ve done thousands. Cannabis, as it happens - but it’s the same principle exactly. The guy walked in with a smoking habit and walked out without one. Took about an hour and a half. He spent the entire time lazing around in a comfy chair. No-one getting strangled, Doc. Meanwhile, in complete contrast Cheryl says:
“My doctor tried to give me antidepressants, I refused to take them because Champix has put me off everything. I had a huge fight with my doctor about Champix and asked her how could she give them to me after I have had a heart attack??? She said that there was no warning about that with them… I am worried about my best friend who is still taking the shit pill, she has depression and it has come back full force, I have been keeping my eye on her, She has been trying to get herself off them, but has had a break down every time. Like me she is too scared to go back to her doctor because they keep telling us to take them and it will all be ok. I have lost faith in the medical system now…”
See how Pfizer’s lies and deception are destroying your credibility, Doc? Drug company money, lies and deception are destroying the medical profession. Ben Goldacre was right to raise concerns in the British Medical Journal about drug companies ‘engineering’ drug trials - this is the sort of nightmare it leads to, and to call that “evidence-based medicine” is a travesty. To call it science is an insult to everyone’s intelligence.
i’m with you on this Cheryl, my doctor wanted to put me on WELLBUTRIN but i’m too terrified to take anything anymore…prescribed from doctors…Chris, please know that your website has helped so many people…and like Cheryl i wish i could blame someone…i still have my panic attacks and worry if i did some kinda damage…with these pills…but whats done is done i guess…but i am better..A LOT better…still have my 5 cigs a day…and im okay with that for now, because i never want to go back to those dark days again….thank you again Chris… and Cheryl even though we’ve never met i feel we have something in common obviously since we both had similar experiences and i’ve made a new friend..which is good…:)
I just finished my 2 week starter pack and so long as I don’t come close to breaking down and looking for a cigarette (which I doubt at this point), I don’t think I’m refilling my prescription. I never had any nausea problems (by the way, my pharmasist said drinking lots of fluids will reduce this if it’s a problem). It made the first few days quite easy for me which was great. I quit once before cold turkey and now that I made it a week, I’m starting to feel kind of crappy - could be cig withdrawal, could be a cold or flu, could be champix …. I decided to eliminate the variable I had control over.
Its both a little scary to stop taking Champix as well as scary to stay on. You think to yourself “what if this pill is the only reason I am not smoking” as well as “am i just replacing one addiction with another and is it going to be hard to let the Champix go later”. I’m also curious as to how much we convince ourselves its the pill doing the work and not really just ourselves. Reading a lot of the earlier comments as well as comments elsewhere, quite a few people have been on this drug for an excessive amount of time - certainly they are not nicotine addicted after all that time! I’m wondering if Champix is their crutch.
Hi Lennea, thanks for your post!
“am i just replacing one addiction with another…”
No! The whole point of this site is to prove to smokers that tobacco smoking isn’t an addiction in the first place, it is a compulsive habit.
“…could be cig withdrawal…”
There is actually no such thing, because the urge to smoke is not nicotine withdrawal, never was. Cravings are not withdrawal symptoms, as I explain in the book. If you go to the homepage and click on the “Read the Book” option, then when the chapters come up click on Section 3, “Cravings are Not Withdrawal”, you can read some of it there.
If you are starting to feel crappy I’d ditch the Champix if I were you. There are much safer and more successful methods of stopping smoking. Think of it as a simple test: If Champix really is the only reason you’re not smoking then what is the point of it anyway? You can’t take Champix for the rest of your life!
Hypnotherapy is the real solution, but the U.K. Department of Health don’t want to adopt a real solution. They prefer to promote methods that have poor long-term success, because it makes it look as if they’re doing something about it, but it changes very little in reality.
Why would they do that? Simple: They take in about 9 billion pounds every year from tobacco taxes, the extra cost to the NHS in smoking-related diseases runs to about 1.5 billion so the net gain is 7.5 billion pounds a year. They need it. They’re skint.
If they dropped NRT, Zyban and Champix in favour of methods that really worked, that income would steadily disappear and fewer smokers would die, so they would end up with more people living to retirement age when there are too many people doing that already.
Now I’m not going to credit the government with the kind of intelligence it would take to devise that politically convenient situation in advance, they are simply not that bright. Early attempts to address the smoking problem as a health issue were probably well-meant. But having found themselves in this situation, it really isn’t in the interests of any government - Labour or Conservative - to change it. It is only in the interests of smokers and their loved ones. And political expediency says that the fate of smokers and their loved ones ain’t worth 7.5 billion a year. Sorry. Especially if it means upsetting the drug companies because they’re big employers, they have a lot of political clout. They’re global corporations, so they can threaten to up-sticks and run their drug-pushing operations from some other country, which would be more British jobs gone. See how it all works? This isn’t conspiracy theory, this is hard political and economic fact.
Of course smokers can always take their fate in their own hands and call a decent hypnotherapist. Screw the Department of Health!
By the way, if anyone would like to read the whole book but don’t really want to pay £16.95 for it, you can buy the download version for only £5. Just follow the “Buy the Book” option from the homepage then look for the little bit that says “Also available as a Download” and click on that when you get to the publishing site ( which is called Lulu, by the way. Don’t ask me why.) They kind of hide that option away because they are printers and they want you to buy the paperback copy really! But you don’t have to.
For reviews of the book either go to Testimonials on this site, or Amazon.co.uk. This is the first book ever to prove - simply by logical argument - that there is no such thing as nicotine addiction. Read it, and liberate yourself from the lies!
i have been on champix they worked ok for me and i have not smoked for over a year with no side effects
hi all. i started taking champix yesterday. by yesterday evening, i was a nervous wreck. i dont have a bad temper, but i did lastnight and today. my partner has said i have been so nasty and said some nasty things to him and i dont remember. i never shout at my kids, and thats all ive done today. i feel ever so weard. im forgetfull. and feel so damn sick its untrue. if im like this on day 2, what the heck will i be like in a week. whoever is planning to take this poisen, dont. please dont. lisa
I stopped smoking 8 months ago after taking champix. (had tried for 25 years to stop but it never happened) have not had or wanted a cigarrette since. I didn’t complete the course of tablets because my Wife told me my mood and attitude had changed for the worse. Over the months since stopping Champix I have rarely slept for more than a few hours a night, the only times I have had a full nights sleep have ben alcohol related. I have become increasingly down to the point where I have noting to give. I have upset friends and family and it has got to the point that they are properly worried about me. I have never felt like this before but all I know is the first day I had a tablet and had a peculiar dream about my dear departed mother, not a bad dream, it was actually quite nice but since then it as all gone downhill. Is there any evidence that Champix has any long term mental health issues because I was ok before this and now I’ve had enough. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
First of all, sorry guys for not being able to post the last three comments on the site until tonight (2nd Feb)… tech problems, all sorted now.
Julie: you were lucky, some are thank god. Lisa, get off this shit it is bloody dangerous - read all about it on this blog and other warning sites, it will become obvious you are not alone. It is really unpredictable. People have topped themselves, even with NO previous mental problems.
Neil: hang on in there mate, sufferers have reported that the problems often gradually fade away and you recover- can you keep us posted? We need more feedback on this.
Did you get any warnings from your doctor? Did you report the bad reactions? Doctors need to be told, AND they must report the realities, or else Pfizer can pretend it’s a minor problem when it certainly is NOT.
Help out people: link up, spread the word!
hi, just want to know if you know of any long term side effects. My husband started his 1st lot of champix october 2008, he quit for 6 weeks, stopped taking it in december 2008 i think, and started smoking again, then he treid again in oct 2009 (had to wait a year?) didnt even quit and stopped in dec 2009 because he said he felt like he was going crazy, while on it he had - nose bleeds, insomnia, headaches, nausea, very short temper, blackouts, alcholisim (at least 10 beers every day), depression, and generally a different person. i call him angry man… In the year he was off it and since he has not been himself. still has a very short fuse, and if i say the wrong thing to him i see a *snap* in his eyes and he rages saying things like ‘i’ll put my ciggy out in your eye ball’ (dont worry he has never been violent). It has put a huge strain on our relasionship (almost at breaking point) but i know this is just not him…. Oh and the insomnia has continued too, gets up in the middle of the night to watch tv and usually falls asleep on lounge at like 3am. Im planning on going to see a doctor with him about it but would like a bit of info from others before i do as the dr didnt even go into his hisory or anything before giving him the 2nd lot… thanks heaps
roshanne…
Roshanne, be prepared for the possibility that the doctor has never been warned about reactions like this. So far, the feedback points to a steady gradual recovery once the person is no longer taking it, but there is not enough feedback yet for me to guarantee that, so will you please keep us posted?
Also please make sure that the doctor makes an official, detailed report of the bad reactions - this is the only way to protect others. Stick by him, you are quite right that it IS the medication, it is not him. Too many relationships and families have been shattered by these personality changes and some smokers are now facing prosecution for out-of-character, violent outbursts which have ruined their careers, ruined their marriages, ruined their lives. Thanks, Pfizer. You have a hell of a lot to answer for, you heartless bastards. Still denying it all, are you? Still trying to suggest it’s ‘nicotine withdrawal’? Funny how none of my hypnotherapy clients ever react like that.
This is a genuine comment from someone who has packed in smoking once before for 4 years me and my wife went on Champix 3 weeks ago a week ago my wife had to stop because of the suicidal effects on her and the vomitting it was inducing and is going on the patches I was alright at the time but I have just gone on the second course and I find my personality is changing it would have destroyed my marriage if I had not realised that this drug altered your perception of things a little like LSD used to do but more subtely I will not be taking any more of these tablets,but I wonder if any of these headline suicides that we have heard about have anything to do with Champix I would not recommend these to anyone.
Hi George, I noticed you sent three messages in, possibly because you assumed the first one didn’t get through because it didn’t appear immediately on the site.
When messages are sent in, they drop into a file for ‘moderating’ or checking to make sure they aren’t spam. Usually, they will appear on site within 48 hours.
Thanks for your warnings George, and I hope you and your wife make a full and speedy recovery. As the second and third messages were really just shortened versions of your first message, I have reproduced the first one above. If you wish to comment further, please do so and also please keep us informed about your recovery.
Can I also remind people who have had these terrible experiences to make sure your doctor is fully informed and insist that they file an official report about the medication. That is the only way we are going to force Pfizer to face the facts and withdraw Champix before it kills more innocent people and wrecks more lives.
That, and the lawsuits. If you want to find out more about that avenue, Google ‘Champix (Chantix) Lawsuits and Class Actions’.
i told my doctor and he suggested i see a psychiatrist…i dont think doctors believe us to be honest…and even though im not on them anymore and feel much better, its been about 4 months..im really scared these pills have fucked me up, ive never had this much anxiety in my life, and i worry about my health even though i ve had all sorts of tests telling me im in awesome health…im scared, honestly and truly scared…:(..but i will get thru this…i have to i have kids and a wonderful family…damn pills, is there any way someone can be held rsponsible for this horror..please people do not take..i cannot stress this enuf…my issues started when i stopped, during me taking them i was okay, not the greatest but okay…damn pills..thank you for this website, i dont know who else i can talk about this too….
Hi Chris, just giving you a bit of an update on my hubby, his rages seem to have gone now, which is great and he is sleeping again which is great too. I did try to get him to the doctor to report his reactions but he wont go. Im hoping maybe in a few months i can talk him into it because these side effects need to be published. At the moment he is still smoking and while in the past it has always been a sore point for us, for now i dont mind that he is smoking cos he’s not acting like a psycho! We were at a wedding about a week ago and champix came up around the ’smokers table’ and ive never seen him so dead serious about no one going on it, hopefully people will start hearing all the bad side effects (and that for most people it doesnt even work) and wont even think about taking it.
thanks for this support, roshanne.
Olga, sorry about this delayed reply… can I just reassure you that your anxiety reactions are quite normal Subconscious emotional reactions and although they are very unpleasant they are not dangerous to you. Many times I have seen these reactions develop after sudden illness, whether caused by a medication or a natural cause, and I have been able to eliminate them quickly with hypnotherapy.
Let me explain: all emotions and emotional reactions are controlled by the Subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is already aware that the illness was caused by the medication, so logically, now that the medication has been stopped recovery should follow. No-one has told the Subconscious, which has been so alarmed by the experience that it has kicked off the ‘fight or flight’ reactions (anxiety, panic attacks) which are designed to help you avoid danger but unfortunately the Subconscious mind doesn’t understand where the danger came from or that has now gone, so it is firing off a continued or recurring general state of alarm over the whole business of ‘not feeling right, not feeling normal’ which unfortunately adds to the sense of physical disturbance considerably.
I’m not sure where in the world you are located, but if there are any decent hypnotherapists within reach, any one of them should be able to reassure your Subconscious mind that the threat is passed, and it doesn’t need to keep reacting like this because the cause is now known and has been eliminated, then ask for the state of alarm to be calmed back down to normal, because while that is still happening it is impossible to assess whether there are still physical symptoms that are nothing to do with the anxiety reactions.
If you need any further guidance on this let me know. You’re not alone, stay in touch.
Roshanne, I’m so glad you got your husband back! As a smoking cessation expert, my advice would be to let him have a couple of months grace before bringing up the subject of quitting again. The three safest methods are hypnotherapy, acupuncture and the Allen Carr approach, and the best version of that last one in my view is Carr’s original book The Easyway to Stop Smoking. Hubby can be reassured that all those methods work better than the meds and are completely safe - SO THEY SHOULD BE WHAT THE DOCTORS ARE PRESCRIBING REALLY, SHOULDN’T THEY? YOU HEARING ME, DOC?
hi Chris..thanks for your reply, i am in Ontario,Canada..would self hypnosis work???damned pills..ugh!!!
Do you have any local hypnotherapists? Self-hypnosis certainly wouldn’t do any harm but most people would respond much better to a decent hypnotherapy session. However if you are already pretty good at self-hypnosis, make yourself a recorded tape and do that first. If it is something you’re not familiar with you would get far more benefit from a proper session.
If you do decide to see a hypnotherapist, print off my previous comments about reassuring the Subconscious mind and show them to the therapist, check that they know what I’m talking about. They probably will.
im not sure i guess ill look in the phonebook, under hypnotherapy???not sure…ive never done self-hypnosis..i was just wondering..:)…who knew all this?????from stupid pills yet…thank you soooo much for your help..i appreciate everything..:)
I suggest contacting ARCH and ask them how to locate a hypnotherapist near you who specialises in anxiety reactions. Let me know how it goes.
Hi all,
I’ve been taking champix for 5 days now abit of nausea first day but hadn’t eaten if you eat first then take it its fine! If I have a cig after ive taken it then I feel sick! I know people who have taken it finished it and come off it! Hardly any side affects for any of them except 1 had some funky stomach cramps but then she does get bowl problems anyway!
I’m not saying that people haven’t reacted this way but there are also many people who have had success and been fine with it! Yes I have read the comments good and bad on this page but Chris you just seem to be pushing for the bad putting down the good and pushing hypnotherapy on to everyone that comes whether with a serious complaint or with a little bit of nausea! Personally your comments are just there to big up your business!
I searched quit smoking cold turkey in Google and pages and pages came up! I had a read and found when comparing with the champix enclosed leaflet that they are pretty much the same give or take! You get used to that nicotine feeling and rely on it so when you are not having your body does not cope all that well! As said by my smoking nurse! She also advised me that the side effects could be bad advised me to speak to friends on them, read up on them and asked about my past health and any history of depression!
Yes the pill may not work for or with everybody but you cannot say it is ineffective and will not be beneficial because people are seeing results or it would not be so popular!
If this pill does cause me any problems I will inform you but so far so good! Life is what you make it and I would personally rather spend a few months been a cow than keep increasing the risk of getting cancer!
Chris a few questions for you.
You say Paul McKenna is a fraud out to make money but isn’t that what you are doing with your book? Do you donate the profits too a charity? If not then you are doing the same as him in exploiting a talent you possess!
Have you ever smoked? If so when and how did you quit? I don’t have time to be scouring the site any more today!
And lastly and quite personal how much is your fee for the hypnotherapy sessions you claim work so well??
Thanks
Lou
I did not call Paul McKenna a fraud. I did point out that he did not become famous by being a hypnotherapist but by performing as stage hypnotist, an entertainer. He later wrote books and recorded CDs that are supposed to be therapeutic. The suggestion is that if you buy the book called “I Can Make You Thin” (for example) and listen to the CD that comes with it then you will lose weight.
My book is NOT a self-help book. It is a book about hypnotherapy, it is not supposed to function AS hypnotherapy. I have never suggested to anyone “Buy my lovely book and you will stop smoking!” because that is not what the book is for. It is blowing the whistle on the whole nicotine scam, and the book is for smokers who want to know why willpower and nicotine replacement products never worked for them.
Do Pfizer donate the profits from Champix to the families of the poor smokers killed or seriously damaged by Champix? Do you really know ANYTHING about this Lou? 5 days on this drug, you’ve been. Can’t be bothered to read the rest of the site, clearly haven’t bothered to look at my practice website which tells you what my professional fees are, it’s no secret…
Yeah, I’m just out for myself Lou. You’ve got my number all right. Wish I was more like them altruistic drug companies, but I’m just too grabbing and selfish - you’ll find all therapists are like that. You stick to the pills Lou. Least you know what you’re doing, eh.
Getting a bit weary now folks - does it show?
Ok, that was my knackered response on Tuesday after eight hours of doing therapy sessions. Now for a proper response.
Lou said:
“Chris you just seem to be pushing for the bad putting down the good and pushing hypnotherapy on to everyone that comes whether with a serious complaint or with a little bit of nausea! Personally your comments are just there to big up your business!”
Lou, this is a global audience reading this. The smokers among them are being advised by doctors to use a drug that has killed too many people already, and some of those doctors are not telling them about that, so I am. I recommend NOT JUST hypnotherapy, but also the Allen Carr method and acupuncture too as better first choices, for the dual reasons that they all have better success rates than Champix, Zyban or NRT (see the Evidence section of this site) AND because they cannot harm you. It’s safer, and frankly I think that’s what your doctor should be telling you too.
I have no connection with the Allen Carr people - who don’t like me anyway because of what my book says about Allen Carr! - or any acupuncturists. So the accusation that I’m just out for myself is plainly BOLLOCKS. Also, the vast majority of smokers reading this live so far away from me that even if they did decide to try hypnotherapy they wouldn’t be coming to see me anyway, would they? Use your head.
Next bit:
“I searched quit smoking cold turkey in Google and pages and pages came up! I had a read and found when comparing with the champix enclosed leaflet that they are pretty much the same give or take! You get used to that nicotine feeling and rely on it so when you are not having your body does not cope all that well! As said by my smoking nurse! She also advised me that the side effects could be bad advised me to speak to friends on them, read up on them and asked about my past health and any history of depression!”
Your smoking nurse just contradicted herself then, didn’t she? Maybe these were the sort of side effects she was talking about:
“…me and my wife went on Champix 3 weeks ago a week ago my wife had to stop because of the suicidal effects on her and the vomitting it was inducing and is going on the patches I was alright at the time but I have just gone on the second course and I find my personality is changing it would have destroyed my marriage if I had not realised that this drug altered your perception of things a little like LSD used to do but more subtely I will not be taking any more of these tablets,but I wonder if any of these headline suicides that we have heard about have anything to do with Champix I would not recommend these to anyone.”
That was from George, post 156. Try telling him that stopping smoking with willpower will do that to you. These are the lies Pfizer have been spouting for the last couple of years, and they have already been dismissed by the US Surgeon General as utter rubbish on the grounds that the vast majority of ex-smokers alive today quit without help, but did not have these severe reactions.
Next:
“Yes the pill may not work for or with everybody but you cannot say it is ineffective and will not be beneficial because people are seeing results or it would not be so popular!”
The pill has been hyped to hell and is recommended by the medical profession despite the fact that at least 80% of those smokers will not succeed long term. Same thing happened with Zyban - how ‘popular’ is it now that everyone knows it was all a load of drug company bullshit?
Finally:
“Have you ever smoked? If so when and how did you quit? I don’t have time to be scouring the site any more today!
And lastly and quite personal how much is your fee for the hypnotherapy sessions you claim work so well??”
I smoked regularly from the age of 12 until I was 36. I stopped several times just out of choice. I did try using nicotine gum, and later the inhalator, but neither of those brought any long term success. I now know that they hardly ever do, and if I had known that fact at the time I wouldn’t have wasted my time with them. The final time I quit seemed the easiest of all, I would say I just drifted away from tobacco without making any big decision about it. I have never wanted to smoke since.
The following year I began my training to be a hypnotherapist, but there was no connection between those two things. At that point, I had never had hypnotherapy myself for anything.
Nowadays I charge £120 for the Stop Smoking session, which takes about two hours. Most smokers do not need a second session, but if a smoker does need further help within 1 year of the first session, the back-up session is only £40. After 1 year a further session would be charged at £70, which is my standard charge for all hypnotherapy session that are nothing to do with smoking.
It is not just myself claiming that these sessions are very effective. Between 2003 and 2005 I had a corporate client, a big firm of solicitors in Bolton called Keoghs. What began as a “Well-Being At Work Week” turned out to be so successful that it ran for two and a half years, by which time I had done sessions with about 150 Keoghs staff members, working with people from all levels from the cleaner to the Financial Director. What follows here is a part of the reference they gave me at the end of that programme, which the then HR Director Frances Cross monitored carefully throughout (you can see the whole of the reference reproduced in the Evidence section of this site):
“The programme has been a resounding success - we sought feedback from all who have attended and the results have been phenomenal. There have been numerous complimentary remarks made about Chris and his ability to convey confidence in the whole process. We have received many notes of thanks from employees who claim the session to have been a life-changing experience.”
Best of luck with the pills Lou.
Hi, i may be wrong but you seem to suggest there is no such thing as nicotine addiction and that smoking is just a habit.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/nicotine4.htm
May be right may be wrong but i do think its more than just a habit.
Hi Oisin, welcome to T.W.O!
That is exactly what I’m saying, there is no such thing as nicotine addiction… but the thing is that it is a COMPULSIVE habit, and the compulsions have been wrongly identified as withdrawal symptoms because they are a bit similar in some respects. The nicotine addiction theory is a wrong interpretation that has only made the situation worse!
Click on Read the Book, have a read of that and feel free to question further! Only don’t bother sending me links that say it’s an addiction, there are millions of those. The medical people have got it wrong, although to be fair to the REAL medical people, not the medical AUTHORITIES, The Dept. of Health and the various medical institutions that are grimly sticking to the dumb official script, many doctors and nurses already know this (especially GPs) but they aren’t allowed to blow the whistle on it. I can, because they can’t sack or discipline me, I don’t work for them.
Thanks for the 2nd response were not going to reply to the first as quite honestly it was abit arsey!! The reason I could not look further at your site was due to work commitments nothing to do with not been bothered!
I have stopped the tablets, not due to any side effects either before you ask. I would hold my hands up and say I was wrong if it was due to any!! Unfortunately the restlessness while sleeping was not working for me, I could not keep my eyes open at work!! Not good in front of the boss! I would be on day 11/12. I took the last pill yesterday. I have managed in that time 11 or so days to cut down from 20 a day habit to 6/7 a day!! Going to do the rest by myself!!
And as for my nurse she was speaking in general in regards to the side effects of quitting!
I never denied that people can have bad side effects to these tablets but surely when starting this blog you knew you were going to get two sides to the story! Nor did I criticise what you practice or at least I didn’t mean to!
I was honest in my opinion and don’t think that you can start something like this take a side and not appreciate that others will have a difference of opinion!
If you were to take these pills (which I doubt you would) you may not be affected in a bad way but could work for you! I just don’t think that you can criticise something that you haven’t tried for yourself regardless of the reviews that it has had!
For example. A meal someone ate got food poisoning as a result and chose never to eat it again. You go for dinner with this person they don’t recommend it you get it anyway, eat it, enjoy, and feel fine! Same restaurant, same chef! Lame example but what I’m saying is that everyone reacts differently!
“At least 80% of those smokers will not succeed long term”
In regards to this well if your going to take something to aid you in stopping smoking and at the end of that you cant do it, then obviously a little more self belief is in order and start treatment with the correct mindset! You have to actually want to stop! Know your reasons and work towards them! No point stopping something you actually enjoy it would be like giving up chocolate! I smoke out of habit!
And lastly if I at all offended you in my first post then i’m sorry that was not my intention! I was just stating my opinion!
louie
I’m never offended by honest opinions and I welcome them all and post them all. I do sometimes take issue with people and yes, sometimes I get a bit irritable - sorry about that, I was knackered! People get arsey with me too, and that’s okay.
I’m glad Champix didn’t do you any serious harm, but isn’t sleeplessness a side-effect anyway? Isn’t that one of the reasons that pilots and air-traffic controllers are not allowed to take it?
Were you driving to work? Cycling? There are a number of ways in which Champix can cause serious harm, and not only to the person who has actually been taking it. Did your doctor warn you it could affectr your driving ability? Was it even mentioned?
Guess who would be held responsible if you were so tired (”I could not keep my eyes open at work!!”) that you caused an accident in which someone was killed or seriously injured? Not Pfizer. Not your doctor.
You.
Because there’s a warning somewhere on the packaging that it may affect your driving, which officially makes it your fault for driving anyway. Their arses are covered by the small print, and off you go to jail.
Mean old world, ain’t it?
You’re right Louie - sack the pills and find a safer, more natural way to get free. Best of luck!
I have been on champix now for 5 weeks. I am on day 6 of the first maintenance pack. The past 5 days I have felt increasingly aggitated, have been constantly snapping at my partner and yelling at him, I am getting extremely frustrated and aggitated when I am sitting in traffic and feel like ramming cars out of the way. Today has been the last straw for me, I am not taking these tablets any more. All I feel like doing is crying today, that is after feeling like I could take someone’s head off for the first part of the day today. Up side is I have not had a single smoke in 22 days but I can see my partner is at the end of his teather with my mood swings so that’s it for me. I’m going to have to go the rest on will power alone
Hey, all..:)…been off Champix for quite a while now and feel sooooo much better….yes i am smoking again but only 5/day and i have my sanity and am happy….i just wanna say to those that have suffered like me…there is hope….just give it time…i look at my previous posts and wonder who that person was…me??paranoid,scared,anxiety, sooo not me…luckily im getting back to that happy, outgoing,confident woman i used to be before this horrible experience of this pill…this affected me mentally not physically other than some nausea…so please do not take this pill it can affect you on so many levels…take care all…:)
Welcome back, Olga!
This is what we need to hear, there’s light at the end of the tunnel! This is very important, the more feedback we get like this the better. Keep us posted please my dear! Glad you’re feeling more like your old self!
Hey guys,
I was a 20-year-plus smoker. My husband hated it, so I did the Champix treatment. I only quit in the final few weeks of the 12 week course, so I took another course after talking to my GP. I haven’t smoked now for about 6 months, BUT, my life since then has been hell. Today I found out my Blood pressure was high, never ever had high blood pressure before. At one stage today it was 161/102. My weight, and my eating habits are exactly the same as before has ballooned. I get sick all the time, that never happened before. This drug has done some serious damage to me. I was happier and felt healthier as a smoker. Is anyone else suffering these long term side effects?
I’m on my 5th week of Champix. I haven’t had ANY nausea at all. The dreams have been vivid and kinda cool, and only one has been bad in 5 weeks. My blood pressure has dropped dramatically and my doctor is delighted.
I was a 25 yr smoking veteran. I’m now clean! You have to give these things a go to see if they work for you. If they don’t - stop. Don’t let someone elses opinion stop you trying something that might work for you. Of course a hypnotherapist is going to say Champix won’t work - he wants to charge you to treat you! Do what you want, make your own mind up and give things a go!
Remember, i have had NO nausea side effects.
Sorry L, you’re not clean. You’re on your 5th week of Champix. I’m glad that you’ve had no worse experiences than one bad dream thus far, but you cannot assure other smokers that they won’t either, because you don’t know that. What if someone followed your cheerful advice and had a bad reaction, ended up killing themselves like too many people have already? It’s no good saying: “in that case, just stop using it” because it twists people’s thinking and personalities. Very often they don’t realise it’s the drug that’s doing it, THEY JUST CHANGE.
I realise that you probably haven’t read through all the horror stories that I’ve read through during the last two years, so if it seems to be working for you then you might well feel inclined to defend the drug, I understand that. But before you recommend it, you should a) have completed the course with no serious side effects and without starting again when you stop taking Champix, and b) be aware that many of the people reporting sudden bad reactions felt absolutely fine on it for the first four or five weeks. Some people only developed a bad reaction when taking a second course of Champix.
Your accusation of pure self interest here is probably something you didn’t really think through. The vast majority of smokers reading this don’t even live in the same country as I do, and even the few that do probably don’t live anywhere near Stockport, so if they should decide to consult a hypnotherapist it won’t be me, and there won’t be any commission coming my way. Also, that suggestion is disproved by the fact that time and time again on this blog I recommend not only hypnotherapy, but also the Allen Carr book and acupuncture despite the fact that I have no connection with either of those approaches, I just know that they work well for some smokers and involve NO RISK.
Good liuck with your chosen method, and thanks for contributing. Feel free to report back anytime, especially after coming off the drug.
i started champix 5 wks ago ,i was scared stiff after reading a lot of bad comments but really want to quit for my two sons 7 and 19 who are so proud of me so im going to finish the course…i have never incresed my dose i take 0.5mg morning and night i made a point not to drink alcohol to take pill with a full glass of water after i eat to hopefully lessen the side effects, i have started exercising eating healthy i feel a lot better than i did ..i am sill scared even thought the only side effect i have to date is the dreams ..the sudden onset and the after effect is what scares me but as yet can not comment on them…hopefully none…
Hi all,
Unfortunately, hypnotherapy only works on a limited amount of people, as you will all agree, despite hypnotherapists claims that everyone is within the centre of the ‘bell curve’, it also a well known fact that hypnotherapy CAN NOT deal with the dependency on any drug within the system, it merely looks for alternative ways to deal with the physical cravings (i.e. the holding of a cigarette in a social situation). If hypnotherapy worked in this respect there would be substantially less drug users on the street! I am in my 1st week of Champix and all appears to be well, small amounts of nausea 30 mins after taking tablet but other than that, it’s all good!
p.s. I understand this is a hypnotherapy based web-site but I will say my piece… the reason people prefer to try medicinal routes before hypnotherapy is because of 2 reasons, 1) Your prices - over £50 for a session with 4 to 5 sessions needed to be completely successful? 2) It can’t deal with the body’s addiction to drugs.
Good luck Sarah.
As for you, Pete, if you want to talk bullshit about hypnotherapy go somewhere else to do it. Nothing in your post is correct. You simply know nothing about it, but if you prefer to go the medical route you go right ahead.
This is from Wikipedia’s info about hypnotherapy, which proves Pete didn’t even do the slightest scrap of research:
Meta-analyses
In 2003, a meta-analysis of the efficacy of hypnotherapy was published by two researchers from the university of Konstanz in Germany, Flammer and Bongartz. The study examined data on the efficacy of hypnotherapy across the board, though studies included mainly related to psychosomatic illness, test anxiety, smoking cessation and pain control during orthodox medical treatment. Most of the better research studies used traditional-style hypnosis, only a minority (19%) employed Ericksonian hypnosis.
The authors considered a total of 444 studies on hypnotherapy published prior to 2002. By selecting the best quality and most suitable research designs for meta-analysis they narrowed their focus down to 57 controlled trials. These showed that on average hypnotherapy achieved at least 64% success compared to 37% improvement among untreated control groups. (Based on the figures produced by binomial effect size display or BESD.)
According to the authors this was an intentional underestimation. Their professed aim was to discover whether, even under the most skeptical weighing of the evidence, hypnotherapy was still proven effective. They showed conclusively that it was. In fact, their analysis of treatment designs concluded that expansion of the meta-analysis to include non-randomized trials for this data base would also produce reliable results. When all 133 studies deemed suitable in light of this consideration were re-analyzed, providing data for over 6,000 patients, the findings suggest an average improvement in 27% of untreated patients over the term of the studies compared with a 74% success rate among those receiving hypnotherapy. This is a high success rate given the fact that many of the studies measured included the treatment of addictions and medical conditions. [In other words, Pete is WRONG!] The outcome rates for anxiety disorders alone, traditionally hypnotherapy’s strongest application, were higher still (though a precise figure is not cited).
A warning.. I had been a smoker for 28years. Started Champix 10 weeks ago and I have not had a smoke or single puff for 8 weeks. However i HAD to stop taking it 10 days ago. Why, I am a 42 yr old Police Officer and have spent most of my life investigating crimes against kids. So have fairly much experienced the worst of life, and managed to remain effective. Now i can not even speak to friends family colleagues without bursting into tears.I was paranoid no one liked me, i was doing everything wrong, i was going to die, insomnia, when i do sleep i awoke in a fright. Nausea, wind (bad), indigestion, palpitations and panic attacks. Ten days later i am still to a degree having most of these symptoms but still not smoking, i have had the odd craving. I have personally spoken to others that have taken Champix and none have finished the course due to extreme side effects..mostly nausea, wind and very very weird dreams…Oh and i guess it might have been useful had my GP mentioned the makers warn about using this with particular types of Beta Blockers..which as it happens i take two types of…..good luck to anyone trying to give up, but please give some serious consideration to taking this drug.
My husband & I have successfully given up smoking with the help of Champix. We both never really suffered any effects straight away and my husband I suppose never really did. I nearly managed to get through the whole course without any nausea until about the last two weeks of the tablets. It started to make me feel very ill very quickly but it would pass very quickly also. Without the help of this drug we wouldn’t have been able to quit, especially my husband as he was a heavy smoker for many many years.
), I can breathe better and overall I feel soooo much healthier, not to mention the kids no longer breathe in second hand smoke!!
My reason for stumbling across this site is I have been searching for long term effects of the drug but I can’t seem to find any listed. I believe I have changed as a result of the tablets in ways I find hard to explain. A good friend of mine has also reported that her husband has decided to not to drink alcohol anymore as he seems to now become aggressive unlike his quiet and calm nature before being on Champix. I must admit if I had found this site earlier I probably wouldn’t have gone on the tablets! I nearly didn’t try them due to all of the other negative comments I’ve read on various sites but decided that ‘hey if it doesn’t work for me I can quit them’. We are both coming up to 12 months smoke free now. My health is better (there has been weight gain though
So it brings me back to Champix - love it or hate it it can and does help some people but at the end of the day you have to want to give up smoking- end of story! IT’S UP TO YOU!!!!
Hi Everyone,
I’m a 25 year old female who had been smoking 20/day for around 10 years. I’ve been on Champix now for 2 weeks and my quit date was yesterday, just over 24 hours in and I’ve not smoked so far! I’ve read some of the comments above but there are so many that it would take a lifetime but I thought I would give my experience of Champix:
Days 1 - 4: 1 x 0.5mg tablets
No effects whatsoever, continued to smoke as normal.
Days 5-7: 2 x 0.5mg tablets
Similar to above, vivid dreams started as did nausea & constipation. Continued to smoke as normal.
Days 8-14: 2 x 1mg tablets
WOW! This is when you realise you are on medication!!!
Medical Side Effects:
My most common side effects continues to be constipation! Which I’ve not really had before being a vegetarian & fussy eater meant that I never had digestion problems in my life so that’s not the best! Other side effects for me personally were - constant headache, tiredness, insomnia, vivid dreams, constant nausea, increased appetite, increased sense of smell, dry mouth, feeling bloated, constomach ache. I was off sick from work and barely got out of bed on evening of day 8 and days 9, 10, 11 and 12.
Mental Side Effects:
Yes, this does have side effects to your state of mind, which I as I’m sure alot of other people thought “oh I won’t get them” - you probably will. If the pill has the ability to stop you wanting to smoke then it is strong enough to mess with your mind!! I only really felt a big difference on days 11 and 12 where I felt depressed, helpless, didn’t know what to do with myself, over sensitive, lonely, convinced myself I had bipolar/mental health problems!! etc, etc. This situation wasn’t helped by a petty ex who decided to take advantage of this fact & make me worse! In fairness, this was probably the main driver of the feeling perhaps?
THEN - I got up on day 13, went back to work & completely returned to normal, looked back and thought to myself…what the HELL was that about!!
I am a very strong person emotionally & have dealt with some big things in my past including moving 150 miles away from all my friends & family, death of an immediate family member, big falls out with friends I’ve had my whole life, I have a very high pressure job& demanding job, etc! SO I think I was able to pull myself through this as I’ve dealt with so much more BUT i can see how this drive people to depression and even suicide as they DO have an effect on your mental state of mind.
With regards to some of the comments I’ve read about vivid dreams, anger, mood swings, road rage, hyper periods, etc - I’m like that anyway so it was no different to me! I just have one of those type of personalities!
Effect on smoking:
Days 8-14 I smoked 2 or 3 cigarettes a day, the only reason I did was because a friend told me that the nore you smoke whilst you can the more your brain learns that it is not a nice experience. You literally do NOT want to smoke, you realise that you are only smoking through habit and feeling like you should smoke at whatever time in the day because thats what you always do. Almost like you have to smoke for the day to follow the normal routine!! Weird aye!! It makes you realise how much this addiction is ALL IN YOUR HEAD!!!!
Giving up:
So, then 15 hit which was the quit date and all of a sudden because I knew I couldn’t smoke if I wanted to, I then wanted to smoke!! Not massively but definately had cravings, this didn’t help that my appointment to see the docs for more pills wasn’t until midday and by the time I’d waited at boots for them narrowly avoiding murdering a few other shoppers & setting myself on fire - I didn’t take my first pill until 12.30 ish. So, now I’m on day 2 and I’m feeling ok and very positive about my ability to quit.
To Summarise:
Yes, Champix has side effects but what do you want? A magical cure? Not possible, it’s your fault you started smoking in the first place so take the pain when you quit! Yes, the side effects are harsh and you MUST have a) WILLPOWER and b) THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO QUIT because without that you’ll get nowhere. I’m glad I took Champix as I wouldn’t have gone even a day without smoking using willpower or patches or gum - I needed the pills! It’s all about mind over matter & self belief. I’ll check back in with you guys in about a week to let you know if I’m still not smoking/have murdered my ex & buried his body/committed suicide/planted a bomb in my local Boots (Manchester so avoid all Boots for a while).
That’s all folks
Hannah says:
“Yes, Champix has side effects but what do you want? A magical cure? Not possible, it’s your fault you started smoking in the first place so take the pain when you quit! Yes, the side effects are harsh…”
The suggestion is: “Stopping smoking must always be horrendous but actually we smokers deserve it.”
I say that suggestion sucks, and although hypnotherapy isn’t “magical” it IS a cure. I just spent two very agreeable hours helping a guy who had already tried most things (including Champix - he started again after the course of tablets) quit smoking the hypnotherapy way. No suffering or risk involved.
Maybe that’s the problem for some smokers! After all, Hannah also says:
“With regards to some of the comments I’ve read about vivid dreams, anger, mood swings, road rage, hyper periods, etc - I’m like that anyway so it was no different to me! I just have one of those type of personalities!”
…perhaps some smokers prefer the drama of the nightmare ordeal, and that’s why they ignore hypnotherapy and go for horrible routes like this. So good luck, Hannah! Hope it doesn’t get too dramatic.
If you are not really like Hannah and just want an easy way to avoid illness and unnecessary expense, call a hypnotherapist who specialises in smoking cessation. And yeh, avoid Boots. Poundland are much, much cheaper.
I”m kind of amazed by people’s ignorance. People report ‘rages’ when they stop smoking and blame it on Champix….could it not possibly be a reaction to coming off one of the most powerful, nasty drugs available to man, nicotine?
I would recommend Champix to anyone. I was smoking nearly 50 cigs a day and have been nicotine free for 4 months. I could never have stopped without this drug.
There is no pain-free solution to giving up smoking - and it would be no help to us if there was. Of course it hurts to end an addiction. If it didn’t how else would we become addicted in the first place?
Many of my friends have also quit using this drug. I cannot recommend it enough. Before you bleat about how ‘evil’ it apparently is, think about the thousands of people who will quit and be saved from a disgusting, cruel death at the hands of nicotine.
It is your choice not to take this drug, but please do not attempt to deny other people the chance to make the same choice as you did because of the hysteria on this website.
And if you are struggling to give up smoking, and you are considering Champix but have been scared by this website, please forget what you have read and give it a go. It could save your life. I’m pretty sure it has saved mine.
Oh, and of course, this website has an axe to grind.
It’s here to promote hypnotherapy treatments for smoking.
I’m not going to denigrate that solution. If that works for some people then BRILLIANT. It didn’t work for me.
I know that I had to push my GP to prescribe me Champix. Incredibly she had never given it to a patient at our surgery. They try and foist nicotine replacement therapy on people instead. A useless non-solution, in my opinion.
Just a thought, if more and more people started successfully quitting through Champix, and word got around, a lot of expensive stop smoking therapists would be out of work.
Shame on you if that is your motivation in denigrating Champix. Lung cancer is hideous and we should all be working together to help and support nicotine addicts using the best possible methods to quit their addiction - whatever they may be.
Just on my way out right now, haven’t time to answer in detail - just to point out, since you probably won’t have read much of the content of this website aside from this Champix post - the website is actually campaigning for the abolition of NRT primarily, because:
“They try and foist nicotine replacement therapy on people instead. A useless non-solution, in my opinion.”
I entirely agree Andrew. And if Champix hasn’t maimed or killed anyone you know, but helped you quit, I entirely understand your enthusiasm. It’s just that I’ve been hearing some absolute horror stories in the two years since I first asked for smokers’ personal stories to be sent in, so before you dismiss all of them at a stroke, maybe you should read not just this page but all the other Champix pages and the comments that foillow them.
Of course if you really can’t be bothered because none of that affects you personally, I fully understand. But my “motivation” is entirely to do with all that.
Ok: Andrew said:
“I”m kind of amazed by people’s ignorance. People report ‘rages’ when they stop smoking and blame it on Champix….could it not possibly be a reaction to coming off one of the most powerful, nasty drugs available to man, nicotine?”
No, it cannot be because if it were, all my hypnotherapy cases would exhibit the same feelings and experiences after the hypnotherapy session. None of them do, which is how I figured out that all this “drug addiction” talk was in fact bollocks.
Then Andrew said:
“Oh, and of course, this website has an axe to grind.”
You bet your sweet life, buddy. Smokers are being systematically and cynically lied to, and many of them are dying as a result. In the ten years since I became a hypnotherapist about one million, two hundred thousand smokers have died as a result of smoking in the UK alone, and that’s reckoned to be about 50 million worldwide. Most of those in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia were told to try to save themselves with Nicotine Replacement Poisoning which Andrew reckons is:
“a useless non-solution, in my opinion.”
Bang on correct. That’s the axe this website had to grind originally (see home page). Champix has been building up into a big deal alongside of that issue, and now most of the attention and interest in the Truth Will Out site is centred on the Champix Chantix issue, since that is the thing smokers are seeking more information about. My view of Champix has been formed by the hundreds of reports from smokers that have been sent inhere. So when Andrew sneakily suggests:
“Just a thought, if more and more people started successfully quitting through Champix, and word got around, a lot of expensive stop smoking therapists would be out of work.”
He is of course trying to suggest that I don’t really care about smokers, only their money. This despite the fact that the vast majority of people reading this don’t even live in the same fucking country as I do, and even the ones that do wouldn’t come to see ME if they wanted hypnotherapy unless I happened to be the nearest hypnotherapist to them geographically, which two facts rule out virtually the entire readership of the site when it comes to picking up new clients… seriously Andrew, does this site look like a fucking ADVERT to you?
This site is all about EVIDENCE. If you have any doubts about me being “hysterical”, just Google “Champix side effects and bad reactions” and read about it all there. There are plenty of smokers’ blogs collecting Champix accounts - read those.
Meantime, here’s a snippet from Wikipedia:
“On June 4, 2009, the FDA announced it was evaluating varenicline for additional potential side effects, including angioedema, serious skin reactions, visual impairment, and accidental injury. [11] On July 1, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration required varenicline and Zyban (bupropion) to carry a black box warning, the agency’s strongest safety warning, due to side effects including depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal actions. [12]”
So when Andrew says: ” if you are struggling to give up smoking, and you are considering Champix but have been scared by this website, please forget what you have read and give it a go.”
…what he is actually suggesting you should ‘please forget’ is:
“…the agency’s strongest safety warning, due to side effects including depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal actions.”
Shame on ME, Andrew? I help people quit smoking just about every working day of my life with ZERO RISK and with a high success rate. No pills, no side effects, no suicides, no mad rages, no nausea even. And I’m going to keep on telling the world about it even if it doesn’t suit you.
Finally, when Andrew says:
“There is no pain-free solution to giving up smoking - and it would be no help to us if there was. Of course it hurts to end an addiction. If it didn’t how else would we become addicted in the first place?”
Wrong on all counts mate.