So sad to find this thread so old.
I started Chantix in June of 2011. Within about a week I was very very sick. Like major flu sick. Body aches, headaches, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness the whole flu routine. I did however find no need to smoke.
I kept up the Chantix even though I swear it felt like I was being poisoned. 12 weeks was protocol, I gave it 6. Had to stop or I felt like I would die from these horrible symptoms. Still no need to smoke.
However, here we are 6 months later and I still suffer with severe symptoms that my doctors (5 of them now) have no idea what they are about.
I am smoke free after 30 years but I truely fear that my body has been severly damaged. One of my doctors is looking into a new idea of "Stevens-Johnsons" syndrome.
I'm glad to know that some folks didn't have any problems but if I had known what my body would do? I would NEVER have done this to myself.
Bad Bad stuff for alot of people. Scary. I hope no one has to go through this.
He stopped taking chantix a couple days ago - will the side effects stop I wonder??? It is seriously effecting his life.
I was fine while taking it however when I stopped I got REALLY irritable, emotional, non empathetic and depressed - none of which are like me, Oh and spacey too!! It is day 4 without Chantix. Do these symptoms subside?
I completely understand all of the side effects everyone here is refering to and I personally have been taking chantix for 2 months now and have had the same nauseous, weird dreams, lack of sleep, and a headache here or there. I quit smoking 3 weeks in and have not wanted another since, which for me is absolutely incredible as I have tried to quit smoking so many times and have failed every time. I recently had my first child and my father unfortunately passed away (2 pack a day smoker his whole life) at age 58 before he could meet his grand daughter. This is what drove me to try again, and I am lucky enough that is has helped me quit and to me the side effects are worth every pill, otherwise I would probably be dead by 60 and would not see my daughter down the eisle. So I guess the side effects are only worth it if you have something to live for.... but I am guessing that chantix has added another 20+ years to my life.
Sincerely,
Packaday Smoker for 20 years
Is there anyone out there that knows if there is ANY treatment for how bad this drug screwed me up??? i've been searching to find other's real life stories of going through the terrible side effects - hostility, agitation, etc- -from both during taking and after stopping the drug, and how or what they are doing to manage it. I took the drug for the first week ok, or so i thought, got to week 2 stronger dose, and half way through the 2nd day, started crying uncontrollably, literally for 3 days, and my anger and rage developed. Needless to say, I stopped immediately, now here I am 11 months later, and I still am having the worst mood effects I could ever imagine. I have no control over my emotions, I never know how I'm going to react to things, but the slightest irritation may go unnoticed sometimes, and then sometimes my rage is unimaginable. It's obviously affecting my job, I have had to call in more times in the last year I think than I have in the last 10, just because there are days and times that I know that it would not be a good situation at all if I were to encounter other people. And then just how my moods are at work. My job is on the line at work now, 15 years of working for them, and it all counts for nothing with how much this has changed me. I just would like to know if there is anyone out there that has experienced similar, but are now getting any treatment for this. Is it getting any better? Is there any hope at all that I will ever be able to go back to being the person I was before I took the drug??? Or am I stuck like this forever??? I used to be a very happy person, but I can't stand to be around myself most times anymore. Honestly, I think it’s great that this drug has helped people, but now with going through with what I have, and although they say it is rare, I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND ANYONE TO TAKE THIS, as in my opinion, the risk is FAR greater than the risks of smoking. There are other options to quit, use absolutely every other possible way before EVER considering this drug even exists as an option, again, in my opinion! It may not be pretty to have a hole in my throat and HONESTLY cancer scares me. But at the same time, with a hole in my throat, I can still encounter LIFE without living in fear of what might happen next, and if I might actually act out with my hostility, as my emotional roller coaster is literally controlling my life. And even with cancer there are treatments available AND with both of these things, SOCIETY HAS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEM and a general acceptance and acknowledgement of them - I HAVE YET TO FIND ANYONE WHO HAS AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT I AM GOING THROUGH and realizes that I really think this is more of a serious medical condition and that I really am not the person that I have become since ever starting the drug, It may not be physical, but its effects are life damaging!
ANYONE
I should have also mentioned in my previous reply, that I am still smoking, so I'm pretty sure MY side effects are NOT nicotine withdrawal.
Thing this drug needs to be taken off the market. I have exreme bad side effects both while taking and quitting. I got much worse after quitting.
I started taking Chantix Sept 18th and stopped smoking within a week, still taking Chantix 1 month now, but was experiencing breathing problems, shortness of breath and fatique, so I didn't take my night dose or next morning and my breathing problems seemed to return to normal, I'm now experencing a migraine, and will go back on Chantix tomorrow, it was a scarey feeling having shortness breath, I thought I was experiecing a heart attack, but my doctor said the breathing problem is normal because my lungs were getting back to normal having air come in instead of smoke, if I experience the breathing problem again I'm going to seek another opinion from another doctor, I was doing so well on Chantix tilll that happened. I don't want to smoke, I want to quit!