Tag: FDA | TruthWillOut

Champix Chantix: Alyson and Nick Need Help

“How can somone go from a normal man working as a carer to this for no reason and the only thing that changed was that he took champix, we are now on 8 months and things are still not getting better, if you met Nick you would think he had learning difficulties.
I am so frustrated that no one will admit what has caused it and because they will not or cannot diagnose it we can not get any allowances to help look after him. I work full time and betweem my family and myself we look after him.”

by hypnotherapist Chris Holmes

*Update: If you or a loved one has suffered a bad reaction to Champix and you are based in the U.K., you can report it to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) here. The more people do that the clearer the true picture will become. Protect others! Report it.*

The only reason Champix Chantix was passed by the FDA as if it were safe enough to unleash on the public is because the manufacturer, Pfizer, submitted some trial data showing serious side effects “through the wrong channels” which caused them to be missed in a crucial safety review. Shortly after this news hit the headlines at the end of May 2011, the French Health Minister stopped public funding for the drug citing safety concerns. The trouble is, the range of side effects is so wide and unpredictable with this drug that many symptoms are not being attributed quickly enough to the actual cause, which has helped Pfizer to avoid a ban on the drug for far too long. This heartbreaking story is only one of many, but it is a classic example of damage that has never been offically attributed to Champix:

“Hi,

I have read your website several times and even given doctor and Psychiatrists printed off copies to show the effect that this drug is having on people. Nick my 54 year old husband took Champix for 10 days in March 2010, he could not get anymore tablets as the nurse was off sick so decided to do without.( he had stopped smoking). 4 days later I had to ring an ambulance at 4 in the morning as he was going in and out of consciouness, the treatment at the hospital was not good but they kept him in for observations at my insistance but could not find anything wrong so sent him home, I told them about champix but they were not interested.” [Oh, you can’t TELL them anything, Alyson! You’re not QUALIFIED! This means your words/opinions count for nothing, it’s part of their medical training to just assume we’re all deluded idiots – Ed.]
“Over the next few weeks things got a lot worse, Nick found it difficult to walk, talk, write… he had severe muscle spasms and involuntary muscle movements, he had balance problem and short term memory problems, his behaviour became quite childlike and his brakes were off, he said exactly what he thought. Things came to a head when it was raining and Nick was in the garden in his underwear. I rang our doctor and asked to go private to see someone, she arranged for us to go to hospital, they did all the tests blood, urine, scans, spinal tap but still could find no reason for this to happen, they suggested that Nick saw a psychiatrist, he has been seeing him since June this year, he has said that he can find no reason for Nick’s problems and has passed it back to the hospital.”
“At present Nick suffers short term memory loss, a change in personality and cognitive ability, he takes everything you say literally, he has no awareness of danger and has developed tourretism and obsessive behaviour (touching dotes) he still has balance problems and difficulty walking and gets tired easily.”

“At our last doctor’s appointment I told the doctor I believe that Nick is having fits between a few seconds and a minute we are trying to get a diagnosis and have an appointment with a senior neurologist at the end of this month. Our Gp has told them our suspicions so perhaps this time someone will listen. How can somone go from a normal man working as a carer to this for no reason and the only thing that changed was that he took champix, we are now on 8 months and things are still not getting better, if you met Nick you would think he had learning difficulties.
I am so frustrated that no one will admit what has caused it and because they will not or cannot diagnose it we can not get any allowances to help look after him. I work full time and betweem my family and myself we look after him.”

“If I could turn back time I would but as its not possible I will just keep going and hope someone will take responsibilty and try to stop this drug harming anyone else. I will always be here for Nick but this company hid certain results to get this drug licensed they need to be stopped.”

Yes. Pfizer need to be stopped, Doc.

14 Days on Champix ruined my life

Champix/Chantix 6

the book that blew the whistle on the nicotine scam

Champix review: 14 days on Champix ruined my life, Doc.

“Further to my post (number 87, posted in June 2009) I’m still suffering the same symptoms two and a half years down the line, I’ve been through over 2 years of tests, have lost my job, almost lost wife and children and now, the doctors finally say that they feel that it was Champix that has caused all this. In the very next breath they also said that proving it will be almost impossible and that getting any legal recourse will be even harder, so there we are – 38 years old and basically on the scrap heap until they can hopefully figure out a way to deal with my symptoms. So where do I go from here, I don’t know, the doctors don’t know either, I’ve used all my savings just to live the last couple of years and I can’t function day to day, legal action would be futile and I cant fund it, so all I can do is sit and stare out the window and watch the world go by…

Chantix Champix Reviews: How long does the suffering have to go on?

*Update 1: If you or a loved one has suffered a bad reaction to Champix and you are based in the U.K., you can report it to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) here. The more people do that the clearer the true picture will become. Protect others! Report it.*

**Update 2, 4th November 2011:

The American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) were recently reported in the Business section of the Washington Post as reassuring smokers that Chantix (known as Champix everywhere outside the USA) “does not increase psychiatric problems”, according to two small studies involving 26,000 smokers. Since this flies in the face of everything else they know about Chantix already, it is surely irresponsible to say such a thing at this time, because the caveats added to the story further down do not carry anything like the weight of the inevitable headline. Meanwhile, this article in the Daily Mail reports a study which states exactly the opposite.

Why? Because the Daily Mail is not bending over backward to assist the pharmaceutical industry – even at the expense of smokers’ lives, if that’s what it takes – whereas the FDA very clearly is. The testing and approvals system is corrupt as hell, using every possible means of dragging their feet so that Chantix/Champix stays on the market and remains ‘approved’ regardless of how many individual smokers’ lives are ruined by the drug.

The Truth Will Out Campaign has been trying to alert smokers (and doctors) to the dangers of this drug since Autumn of 2008 – so these unnecessary delays drive me pretty crazy – but just imagine the frustration of this commentator on the new Daily Mail report:

“Oh now they make this a huge statement. My mom used it in mid 2007. She ended up in a mental hospital. Thanks Champix. This stuff shouldn’t even be on the market!!! I still can’t understand why it is, with all these accounts of suicide! I read horror story’s back then after this happened to my mom about people killing themselves or having illness such as bi-polar disorder activated in them. My rule with all drugs is, if it hasn’t been on the market for more then 10 years…DO NOT take it. You never want to be the guinea pig. Sorry for all those who ended their lives because they were manipulated this drug.

– Danielle, USA,
3/11/2011 6:08”

***Update 3, 21st October 2012: Pfizer settle first Chantix suicide case out of court http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-18/pfizer-settles-first-chantix-suicide-case-set-for-trial.html?cmpid=yhoo

14 Days on Champix Ruined My Life, Doc

by hypnotherapist Chris Holmes

I just had an update from Andy, who took Champix (Chantix) for only 14 days. That was two and a half years ago, and this update is the latest reason I believe this medication should be withdrawn immediately. This was the original message from Andy in 2009:

“I started taking Champix on December 1st 08 and took them for 14 days, during the time I took them I felt progressively more and more ill, I contacted my doctor twice and was told its normal to feel ill on them and to keep taking them. On 14 th December 08 I was admitted to hospital with chest pains, 1 week later and a lot of tests I was discharged, no diagnosis, just sent home, since then I have been diagnosed with Diabetes and Reynauds Syndrome, have balance problems, problems with my endocrine system and have been off of work (now lost my job), so how do you go from healthy to feeling ill and being admitted to hospital in 14 days, then 6 months later have the same mystery symptoms, my guess is that as Champix works on receptors in the brain it messes with a whole lot more than just dopamine receptors.

“Can I prove this? The answer is no. I’m a layman and the doctors tell me it isn’t the case, they know because they looked on the manufacturers website, so coincidently within the 2 week period I was using champix I turned diabetic, suffered circulatory problems, endocrine system problems and lost my balance and gained vision that comes and goes as it wants, lost the ability to work, drive my car and generally do things that normal people do, also I dont know where the end of this is, nor do the doctors.. If you google Chantix lawsuit you will find that in the US there are a whole heap of people with similar problems to those I’ve suffered, and am suffering now, find another way to give up smoking, I wish I had….”

So how has Andy fared since then? Has it all worn off, is he back to his normal self? Did the advice to stop taking Champix if you suffer any ill effects save him? After all, he was only on it for 14 days. Here’s Andy again:

“Further to my post (number 87, posted in June 2009) I’m still suffering the same symptoms 2.5 years down the line, I’ve been through over 2 years of tests, have lost my job, almost lost wife and children and now, the doctors finally say that they feel that it was Champix that has caused all this.

“In the very next breath they also said that proving it will be almost impossible and that getting any legal recourse will be even harder, so there we are, 38 years old and basically on the scrap heap until they can hopefully figure out a way to deal with my symptoms.

“So where do I go from here, I dont know, the doctors dont know either, I’ve used all my savings just to live the last couple of years and I cant function day to day, legal action would be futile and I cant fund it, so all I can do is sit and stare out the window and watch the world go by, happy days 🙁 ”

So I thought that Andy’s dreadful outcome deserved a post all to itself. After all, it originally appeared on the thread of comments following my “Champix Chantix 4 – Enough Already” post back in 2008, when I was suggesting that too much suffering had already resulted from this horrible drug. Evidently Pfizer and Andy’s doctors did not agree: they had to ruin his life as well, and many others all over the world. Perhaps Andy’s doctors have finally started to get the message but it is way too late for Andy, and now they are suggesting that nothing can be done legally. Actually I beg to differ Andy, let’s not assume that. Failure to withdraw this drug immediately has to be negligence. Every single victim deserves compensation when the dangers were known YEARS AGO. Andy is not the only one to develop diabetes after taking Champix, despite being perfectly healthy beforehand. Check this little lot:

And that was published in May 2008 – six months BEFORE the drug was given to Andy. This killer drug is still being aggressively marketed and there are still doctors and “quit counsellors” handing it out with scarcely any warnings at all. It’s CRIMINAL.

Sufferers: report it. Doctors: don’t prescribe it. Smokers: don’t take it. Pharmacists: don’t stock it. BMA, NICE, MHRA, FDA… you are all responsible for this rogue drug ruining innocent people’s lives. For Christ’s sake, STOP IT NOW. Personally I think that YOU are the ones that should be sued… along with Pfizer, let’s not forget them. They know it hardly works for anyone in the long run anyway, only in the short term. 86% failure at one year. Do you think Andy would have ever taken it if he had known THAT? Do you think ANYONE would? Champix is just the latest fraudulent “wonder drug”, but in terms of the damage it is probably the worst yet. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these drug giants has another nasty little concoction all ready for the hype train that turns out to be even worse, because the testing procedures are no longer looking at the long term effects or results of any new medications now: if it shows ANYTHING that looks like a positive effect, that’s it! That’s all you need, stop the trial right there, get out the big rubber stamp of approval and off we go again.

Alarmingly quick to approve, criminally slow to withdraw – that’s the FDA and the MHRA for you, and that’s why I’m calling them all lackeys of the pharmaceutical industry. And it’s people like Andy and his family who are paying the price for this global drug profiteering.

Nothing we can do, Doc? I’ll tell you what we CAN do, for a start: lose all faith in your ill-informed ‘advice’ – which is no more than drug company hype – and don’t take the tablets. It has really come to something when it takes two years for the patient to get their own doctor to realise what is wrong with the pills, hasn’t it? For shame, Doctor.

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Chantix Champix 6

Many of the rave reviews of Chantix (Champix) are posted early on in the smoker’s use of the drug. Short-term smoking cessation with this drug is quite common, but the success-rate at 6 months is much lower. Bad reactions often happen after many weeks, not always straight away, so some of the sufferers of serious side effects may have already posted rave reviews of the very drug that then went on to damage them, innocently encouraging others to decide to try it. Some sufferers report only becoming ill during a second course of the drug.

Chantix Champix Reviews: How long does the suffering have to go on?

**Update 2, 4th November 2011:

The American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) were reported in the Business section of the Washington Post as reassuring smokers that Chantix (known as Champix everywhere outside the USA) does not increase psychiatric problems, according to two small studies involving 26,000 smokers. Since this flies in the face of everything else they know about Chantix already, it is surely irresponsible to say such a thing at this time, because the caveats added to the story further down do not carry anything like the weight of the inevitable headline. Meanwhile, this article in the Daily Mail reports a study which states exactly the opposite.

The Truth Will Out Campaign has been trying to alert smokers (and doctors) to the dangers of this drug since Autumn of 2008, but just imagine the frustration of this commentator on the new Daily Mail report:

– Danielle, USA,
3/11/2011 6:08″**

Chantix Champix 6

by hypnotherapist Chris Holmes

Recently a couple of contributors to this blog – who have started to take Champix or Chantix themselves and feel fine on it – have commented that the page they are reading here “seems very negative”.

This is my sixth blog post on Champix/Chantix. I check all comments that come in, and with the obvious exception of spam each comment is added to the site, which means that what you read here is exactly what I have received. If I suspect a comment is bogus I will still add it to the site, and then say why I think it is bogus. Even when it seems I’m mistaken about that, I leave the whole exchange up there for everyone to read, I don’t cover it up. Sometimes it is hard to tell what is genuine and what is not.

So if someone suggests that it seems too negative, I suggest that they read all the comments that follow all six blog posts, the majority of which follow the original post entitled “Champix/Chantix” and the fourth one “Champix/Chantix 4: Enough Already”.

Now look at this:

Review Centre

You might reasonably ask the question “Why do these reviews mostly seem very positive when the ones on some other blogs like Truth Will Out mostly seem pretty negative, often alarmingly so?”

The answer seems to lie in the fact that many of these ‘rave’ reviews are posted very early on in the Champix users experience. The fact that they feel no urge to smoke at that stage makes a very big impression, and if side effects are minimal at that point it is not surprising that the review they post is bordering on ecstatic.

But we know from the trials that at least half of those smokers will start again when they come off the medication, so this kind of early assessment is premature. We also know from the comments that have come in to truth Will Out that although nasty side effects can kick in quite quickly, it is more common for them to happen with prolonged use beyond the six-week or eight-week point.

Now read the latest comment to pop up in my mailbox:

Sheanin wrote:

“I’m so glad I found this website – I only wish I had found it a little sooner.

You have confirmed what I had started to suspect myself as a user of Champix. Although I had only smoked on and off for about 6 years, I was prescribed the drug to help me quit a few weeks ago. As I was desperate to quit once and for all, I went for it. I soon wished I hadn’t.

Last week, I had to admit to myself that I was quickly becoming ill on so many fronts that I had to see my doctor again – and fast. I was told to stop taking Champix immediately. I had spent just over a week feeling as though I had been locked into a tiny little cocoon somewhere in the furthest corners of my mind while a robot took me over.

Sure, I got little waves of euphoria here and there each time I reached a milestone – but with each milestone that euphoria would crash to an even deeper low. In addition, my body was going to pieces; I was constantly nauseated, constantly wishing I could curl up and sleep, suffering from aches and pains absolutely everywhere – it was never ending. As a single mum to two small children, one of whom is disabled, I knew – even from the depths of that little cocoon – that I couldn’t let things continue.

I grew up around depression and mental illness and I had always sworn to myself that my children would never be exposed to those things. So, upon seeing the doctor, I was told to come off the drug immediately, which I did four days ago. And even now, I am suffering the consequences. Since that day, I have gone through what I now know to be terrible withdrawal; every side effect suffered during those few weeks has returned with a vengeance. I have been almost permanently locked in my bathroom, unable to eat, unable to look after my children, permanently in pain. At one point, I felt like I was dying.

All I can say is that I am so relieved to have come off this drug, even if I am still suffering now. I’m sure this sickness will pass and I’m positive that I need no crutches whatsoever to stop me from smoking at this stage, I haven’t had a smoke in almost a month and now associate cigarettes with the sheer torture I’ve gone through during the last few days. If I’d never started smoking in the first place, I’d never have been introduced to the absolute terror that is Champix and I wouldn’t be sitting here now clutching my abdomen with tears in my eyes. This drug should be banned completely; the government slaps scary pictures on cigarette packets but continues to sell them – while nobody gets thoroughly warned about Champix and what it’s highly likely to do to your body.

I’d sooner spend the rest of my life licking tar from the footpath.”

Not Worth The Risk

My point about Champix is really very simple: why risk a hideous experience like that if you have not already tried all the methods that CANNOT POSSIBLY do that to you? Especially when hypnotherapy, the Allen Carr method and acupuncture all produce better results anyway! (See Evidence section.)

To save money?

And to all those sweet innocents who have suggested brightly that if they feel a bit funny they’ll simply stop taking it, over to Sheanin:

“I was told to come off the drug immediately, which I did four days ago. And even now, I am suffering the consequences. Since that day, I have gone through what I now know to be terrible withdrawal; every side effect suffered during those few weeks has returned with a vengeance. I have been almost permanently locked in my bathroom, unable to eat, unable to look after my children, permanently in pain. At one point, I felt like I was dying.”

And some people have. Take risks if you want, people, but don’t kid yourself this could never happen to you. I mean even with Russian Roulette, if there’s six chambers and only one bullet, the odds are very much in your favour that you won’t die the first time you pull that trigger. Wanna play?

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Posting Comments 2

Internet “pharmacies” are unregulated drug shops that make a mockery of the role of the medical doctor and the whole concept of prescription drugs. As an outlet it is a dream come true for the pharmaceutical industry and the biggest threat to the very existence of the medical profession it has ever faced in its history, and they don’t even know it.

by hypnotherapist Chris Holmes

Out of the 13 comments awaiting moderation today, only 1 turned out to be real. The other 12 were mainly long lists of porn video titles, the strange variety of which makes me feel really normal, as I scroll down to the Spam button which prevents these things from getting on the site. One has to be impressed to some degree, though, by the determination of porn producers to cater for every taste, as evidenced by one example today, entitled “Grandmother Incest Stories”. I mean, whoever made that film cannot have been expecting to sell a lot of copies. Most inexplicable title so far has to be “Cold Hands and Feet”. What the hell is that? A fetish? Or is it a euphemism for necrophilia? Either way, I don’t think I really need to know.

The other unwanted contributions were from internet sites pushing pharmaceuticals. One was peddling Zoloft, a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) originally approved by the FDA in 1991 as an anti-depressant along with Prozac, and other drugs in the same class. As it is now public knowledge that SSRI drug trials actually showed virtually no useful success and did indicate some dangers, but the drug companies were selective about what they told the FDA so they got approved anyway, why anyone should choose to buy it now might seem to be a mystery. Especially after they read the warning attached by the people selling the stuff:

“Care should be exercised if this drug is prescribed as prolonged use to treat depression through antidepressants carry the risk of suicidal behaviour especially in the younger generations”.

So, who wants to buy some of this chemical compound that sometimes makes sad young people feel like killing themselves? Form an orderly queue now, no pushing and shoving, I’m sure Pfizer made enough for everyone. If you’re over sixty five though, the suicide risk is described as “significantly lower”, probably because once you are approaching ‘three score years and ten’ as the Biblical term has it, there hardly seems any point in hastening your demise anyway. The patient might as well just be… well, patient.

Perhaps still more mysterious is the fact that Zoloft received approval in 2003 “for use in paediatric patients although it carries a warning about suicidal tendencies in younger patients.” What kind of stupid approval system did that then?

Most astonishing of all is the phrase: “Care should be exercised if this drug is prescribed…” Clearly this phrase has been lifted from another place – another time, in fact. A time when drugs like this had to be prescribed. Care should be exercised? By whom? You are selling it over the internet, you stupid, stupid bastards! And somebody, somewhere is going to end up killing themselves as a result, it’s inevitable! Is no-one going to stop this madness? Is no-one even going to try?

These ‘Internet Pharmacies’ are just unsupervised outlets for old, and sometimes discredited medications to be dumped on the public when their exclusive patents run out, which in the case of Zoloft was 2006. Just an unscrupulous way of squeezing a little bit more money out of them before they are abandoned utterly, to help pay for the next generation of unnatural and risky chemical concoctions. And if you are inclined to think I’m being too critical – an extremist, perhaps – and that these people are not just greedy, irresponsible drug-pushers posing as responsible professionals, just consider this: there’s a special offer attached to Zoloft on this site, which you would never have been offered by any doctor. If you buy 60 Zoloft pills, you get 2 free Viagra tablets! If you buy 90 or more, you get four. This is, quite obviously, an attempt to sell thirty more tablets by giving away a few tablets of a completely different medication!

Was Zoloft ever tested in clinical trials in combination with Viagra, to see if there’s any reaction or risk associated with taking them together? No, of course not! And should it not be illegal – because it is certainly unethical – to try to shift old stocks of one medication by offering other tablets – for a completely different condition – for free?

Surely you don’t have to be a radical thinker to recognise that what is happening here is insane. And don’t say: “There’s nothing anyone can do, it’s international, it’s the internet, there are no controls…” I notice they aren’t selling heroin or LSD, so someone is controlling it, aren’t they? Heroin happens to be a very effective painkiller, so it’s not because it doesn’t have a medical use. And no-one takes the attitude “There’s nothing anyone can do” when it comes to child pornography, do they? International laws may vary, but they still manage to bust people, don’t they? These drug peddlers should be hunted down and busted, because they are selling drugs without any restrictions that were only approved for supply on prescription. Can you imagine how alarmed you would be, if a shop opened up in your town centre called No Questions Asked, with hundreds of medications just sitting on shelves, self-service checkouts and people just milling about putting one medicine after another into their shopping basket? That shop is closer than you think. And it delivers packages that are discreetly wrapped.

Nobody should be able to buy prescription drugs over the internet. Nobody should be selling drugs that way, profiteering from the vulnerability of people whose doctor might not have prescribed those drugs for a very good reason. It is blatant drug-pushing, and anyone involved in selling prescription drugs without prescription is directly responsible for any harm that comes to people as a result. So are the manufacturers. If new laws are needed they are well overdue – too many people die from drugs that were prescribed by a doctor – remove that restriction and the fatalities and dependencies are bound to rocket.

The Truth Will Out Campaign is essentially about blowing the whistle on the Nicotine Replacement Poisoning Scam, but that raised questions about the system that approves such things as if they were a useful medication, which naturally leads to us noticing when other examples crop up, because it is yet more evidence proving the pressing need for change. And we never have to wait long: only the other day I was listening to a report on BBC Radio 4 about an ‘atypical anti-psychotic’ drug which is reckoned to have killed seven hundred people in the UK in the last five years (conservative estimate). And that’s just the fatalities, it does not include all the non-fatal strokes and pneumonia cases the drug causes, which led to a warning about that being attached by the National Institute for Chemical Excess (N.I.C.E.), as well as a specific guideline that this drug should not be prescribed to patients who just have dementia, because it is inappropriate, they are not psychotic. That was in 2004, but unfortunately some doctors thought it was worth the risk to go on doing that anyway, because it keeps dementia patients pretty quiet by knocking them senseless. The estimate of the experts is that of the 150,000 people in the UK currently being prescribed that drug, about 100,000 would not be if the guidelines were being followed.

I had barely finished shaking my head in disbelief over that one, and already there’s another story about N.I.C.E. all over the front page of today’s Daily Mail: SUICIDE FEAR ‘FAT PILL’ GETS GO AHEAD is the headline, and the story is that Acomplia, also known as rimonabant, has just been approved by N.I.C.E. for use by the NHS in the UK, despite being banned in the United States because of a risk of suicidal thoughts, low mood and depression, anxiety, irritability, nervousness and sleep disorders which apparently occur in 10% of cases. This risk is reckoned to be acceptable by N.I.C.E. because, according to the Daily Mail: “Trials have shown that it could help two out of five patients lose 10% of their weight”.

That’s a pretty poor show. And anyway, for how long? I work with weight issues all the time, and I know that diets and drugs only cause temporary weight loss, which usually goes straight back on again because no-one is addressing the real causes of the behaviour that put the weight there in the first place. By the end of the drug trial, they managed to demonstrate up to 10% reduction, although three out of five patients did not even achieve that. That’s all they have to do to get the damn stuff approved! No-one is looking at the long-term outcome, so this is not really evidence of efficacy. All it really indicates is that a minority of those taking it lose a bit of weight whilst they are taking the drug, but tells you nothing about what happens when they stop taking it.

This is how the drug companies are getting a lot of drugs passed now, as if they are genuinely effective when actually they only looked at the short-term effect. Same thing happened with Nicotine Replacement products, didn’t it? Once it gets rubber-stamped by approval bodies like N.I.C.E., it looks for all the world as if it was an “evidence-based medicine”, when it is really nothing of the kind. After that, it will not lose its ‘acceptable’ status even if it kills hundreds of people!

And that’s how the cynical bastards can still manage to sell Zoloft to some poor, unsuspecting fool who doesn’t realise just how much of a sleazy scam all this really is. That, and the free Viagra. All of which is almost enough to give anyone the odd suicidal thought occasionally, even if they do have more sense than to take any of these unnatural and dangerous concoctions themselves.

Hypnotherapy is brilliant for weight loss. No risk. And with results that last, too. Read more about it here. Now can I have some opinions about internet drug shops, free Viagra and whether those pharmacies should be allowed to sell LSD and heroin too, perhaps? Don’t be shy, say what you like! Perhaps you own an internet pharmacy, or maybe you’re a small-time street drug dealer who is worried about the competition… We’re getting good contributions to the Champix (Chantix) debate, but so far no-one has said anything at all about Webdealing.

N.B. In order to post a comment, you need to use the “Leave a Reply” facility which should appear at the end of each of my posts here on the blog. If it does not appear, click on the “No Comments” below the post. Obviously some posts do have comments already, so if it says “35 Comments”, click on that and the Reply facility should appear. If any of this does not appear top be working, please let me know through the “Contact Us” page.

Nicotine: The Drug That Never Was

Central Hypnotherapy

** Update 22.07.09

Any further comments should be uploaded to the site within 48 hours. If you are seeking information about Champix/Chantix please read all the comments attached to the numerous posts in the Champix section.

This site is really about the Nicotine Replacement Poisoning scam, and we believe that the post entitled ‘The Great NHS Lie Exposed’ says all there is to say about that. We have proved our claims entirely true with scientific reports eventually prised out of the clutches of the Department of Stealth. NRT simply doesn’t work at all and not a penny more of public cash should be squandered on it. Q.E.D.

***2nd update 16/07/10: This week on UK television there was a documentary investigating mail order drugs, and that included the shocking news that even heart medications were being sold with free Viagra tablets, which is particularly dangerous as a combination or it would be if any of these tablets actually contained what they were supposed to contain. Some do, some don’t – but even some of the ones that do were found to vary alarmingly in strength according to this documentary.
What I found particularly ironic in this programme was that one of the experts they turned to for a scientific commentary on the dangerous aspects of these criminal practices was the head of Pfizer’s fake medicines department, if I heard it correctly. Pfizer make Champix, which they know damn well is currently killing people and destroying lives and relationships and damaging people’s health all over the world but they’re making so much money out of it that they won’t withdraw it, and they’re commenting on the reckless profiteering of the pharma-pirates? What’s the difference, really? It was like watching that old TV clip of Harold Shipman being interviewed by an unsuspecting reporter years before he was discovered to be a mass murderer. Of course I’m not comparing the woman concerned to Shipman, I’m sure she’s very professional in that post – but Pfizer as a company. They are killing people with that medication right now, and they fully intend to go on doing that until somebody else forces them to stop.

Champix/Chantix

**Update 2, 4th November 2011:

The American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) were reported recently in the Business section of the Washington Post as reassuring smokers that Chantix (known as Champix everywhere outside the USA) “does not increase psychiatric problems”, according to two small studies involving 26,000 smokers. Since this flies in the face of everything else they know about Chantix already, it is surely irresponsible to say such a thing at this time, because the caveats added to the story further down do not carry anything like the weight of the inevitable headline. Meanwhile, this article in the Daily Mail reports a study which states exactly the opposite.

Why? Because the Daily Mail is not bending over backward to assist the pharmaceutical industry – even at the expense of smokers’ lives, if that’s what it takes – whereas the FDA very clearly is. The testing and approvals system is corrupt as hell, using every possible means of dragging their feet so that Chantix/Champix stays of the market and remains ‘approved’ regardless of how many individual smokers’ lives are ruined by the drug.

– Danielle, USA,
3/11/2011 6:08″**

Champix/Chantix

by Chris Holmes

At the very end of the book Nicotine: The Drug That Never Was, in the final section called A Pause For Breath which you can read here on the site, I mentioned the announcement of the coming of a new magic pill to stop people smoking, which coincided with my completion of the book in May 2007. What I didn’t know at the time I was writing that last section was that the number of smoking clients I was used to getting every week was about to drop by around 50% as thousands of would-be quitters raced off to try the new medication instead.

People want magic pills. They want to believe the doctor can make their problems go away, just by swallowing a little tablet and then getting on with their day. So as soon as the headlines hit – “New Pill to Stop Smoking! Available on the NHS within weeks!” – hypnotherapists like myself who specialise in smoking cessation encountered an unexpected drought that went on from June 2007 right through to the end of the year. Now we’re pretty much back to normal, as everyone has learned that the latest magic pill isn’t magic after all – surprise, surprise – in fact it has turned out to be a horrible nightmare for some.

Champix is supposed to work by ‘blocking the nicotine receptors so that smokers no longer enjoy smoking’, which is actually nonsense because habitual smokers don’t smoke for enjoyment anyway. Some may believe they do, but if you ask any smoker to focus on the pleasure of smoking, and then describe it to you, they will find themselves unable to do that. Then ask them what their first cigarette was like – most smokers remember that it was disgusting. So, if there is a pleasure in smoking, how come none of us noticed it straight away?

The truth is that the pleasure is all in the moment, none of it is coming from the cigarette. Only smoke is coming from the cigarette, which we all found nauseating to begin with, but it’s amazing what you can become accustomed to. Simply because habitual smokers tend to smoke at moments of repose – which are usually pleasant moments because they are no longer stressed or exerting themselves – many smokers adopt the idea that they enjoy smoking. Even so, there will be moments when that illusion falters, and the original nausea and disgust becomes noticeable again. Nicotine itself is not pleasant in any way, as all smokers noticed on the first day they ever inhaled the smoke – and apparently, neither is Champix.

Only a few weeks after Champix became available on prescription in the U.K. I began hearing reports from the only people I really trust these days when it comes to quit products: smokers themselves. The most common remark about the drug was that it caused quite severe nausea, but there have also been much more severe reactions too. If you have taken Champix yourself, or someone close to you has, feel free to add comments at the end of this post.

Some reports I have heard suggest that although the urge to smoke seems to disappear whilst taking Champix, it returns once the drug is out of your system.

The course of nausea-inducing tablets is twelve weeks, which is a long time to put up with nausea. Not everyone is nauseous for that long apparently, some only reported that for a short period after taking the tablet, but others seem to be regularly heaving or actually vomiting. Since when is medicine supposed to make you ill? Does it really just ‘work’ by making you feel too rough to face smoking, rather like a hangover does? That’s a bit unsophisticated, isn’t it? Sounds a bit dangerous, too. Hypnotherapy – by contrast – isn’t nauseating or dangerous, and the whole process usually only takes a couple of hours. For the majority, that’s it: you’re a non-smoker again. No cravings, no willpower needed, no bad moods and no weight gain. That’s one hell of a lot better than taking tablets that make you ill for weeks on end, isn’t it? Not to mention safer, and with a much higher success-rate, when it’s done properly.

Champix Scary Side-Effects

The scariest Champix reports were those that involved unexpected changes to mental well-being, including one woman who told me that she stopped taking it because she was having time-lapses in her day she could not account for, including whilst driving. A five-minute journey seemed to have taken twenty-five minutes, for no reason she could remember or explain, and she was deeply concerned. A report published in The Telegraph (24.10.07) warned that people taking Champix had been told by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) not to drive when taking the medication, following two accidents blamed on the drug. Dizziness and sleepiness are two side-effects of Champix, made by Pfizer.

Okay, so how is that going to work in reality? Smokers are put on this for twelve weeks, or even twenty-four weeks if they are still smoking after the first twelve. Does the GP say: “By the way, don’t drive for the next six months”? No, they are much more likely to just say: “Don’t drive if you don’t feel well”, but the trouble is, most people on Champix feel unwell daily. Still got to get to work, haven’t they? So the MHRA have issued a warning that few working smokers can possibly heed in practice. How many people are driving about under the effects of a drug that is known to cause dizziness and/or sleepiness – and even memory loss – for anything up to six months? Given to them by their doctor.

Recent Updated Warnings by Pfizer

At the beginning of 2008 Pfizer added more warnings to the medication suggesting that users should be monitored for erratic behaviour, suicidal thoughts or personality changes whilst on the drug. Okay – by whom? Since the only people likely to see that warning at all are the user and their GP, how is that supposed to work in practice? The people most likely to notice those changes are family and work colleagues – all of whom will probably be unaware of Pfizer’s warning and some of whom may be subordinate to the user in some crucial way which makes swift and effective response unlikely or impossible if indeed any sudden erratic behaviour occurs.

What if the user is a police officer, or in the armed forces? What if they are an air-traffic controller, a crane driver, a rail signalman or a pilot? **Update: Pilots and air-traffic controllers have now been banned from taking Champix** Memory lapses, sudden personality changes or suicidal thoughts take on a whole new angle in such cases, and even the driving issue makes Champix a potential threat to anyone even trying to cross a road. The mass-prescribing of Champix to smokers is actually a gigantic experiment, and what that updated warning from Pfizer really means is this:

“We’ve covered our asses now, you’ll just have to chance it in practice unless you can afford to quit work for a few months… and if anything terrible happens to you or your loved one, and you try to blame the medication, our well-paid legal team will create just enough uncertainty to make sure you get the blame for the disaster, sucker!”

If you have a story to tell about Champix, let us know. If you would like to know more about how hypnotherapy can help with smoking, or any other issue, visit the Central Hypnotherapy Website.

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