Champix/Chantix
At the very end of the book, 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 was that the number of smoking clients I was used to getting was about to drop by around 60%.
People want magic pills. They want to believe the doctor can just 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!” - my phone went dead, didn’t it? Now all the smokers are waiting for the magic pill.
Champix is supposed to work by ‘blocking the nicotine receptors so that smokers no longer enjoy smoking’, which is nonsense because habitual smokers don’t smoke for enjoyment anyway. Some may believe they do, because habitual smokers tend to smoke at moments of repose, which are usually pleasant moments because they are no longer stressed or exerting themselves. So there may well be pleasure in the moment, but it isn’t coming from the cigarette - smoke is. 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.
Since last May, I have been hearing reports from the only people I really trust these days when it comes to quit products: smokers themselves. These reports have, so far, all fallen into the following categories:
“It doesn’t work at all, didn’t seem to do anything.”
“It made me feel so ill I couldn’t carry on taking it.”
“Managed to keep taking it, but felt too ill to smoke. I didn’t want to smoke whilst taking it, but started again once I stopped.”
All this is anecdotal, but so far no-one has told me that it simply worked for them, although one person did report that it apparently worked for someone they knew.
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, 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 medication 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 apparently took 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? 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 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. Ok - 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 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.
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? 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’re covered 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 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 y