has anyone had side effects from stopping chantix

i took chantix from march 08 till aug 08.i tried to commit suicide in sept.I did not succed.i also have severe anxiety,so bad i have a hard time leaving the house.also have major anxiety attacks,and severe depression. i have never had anxiety or major panic attacks before this.I belive this is al do to chantix.I also am haveing some health problems,but docs can not figure them out yet.I go to a physciatrist on Nov 7. this drug really messed up my life and i thought i was going crazy.Now i no that chantix maybe the cause.I am now looking into the lawsuits and everything i can find out on chantix.If you would like to get a hold og me you can email me at _[removed]_

I was on Chantix for 2 months and was having trouble in several areas that were mentioned,but did not relate them to the drug.about a week into the program I developed trouble with my hip. To make it short,I am no longer taking Chantix.I still have hip trouble.My Doctor never connected the drug and wants to do hip surgery.2 weeks ago I started having seizures. They only last a second and only on 1 side or the other.I thought I was going nuts.Only tonight did I find out about the down side of Chantix from a friend. Tomorrow I will go to my Doctor with this new info and see what he thinks.I really don't want surgery and I'm tired of spazing out with these seizures and picking myself up off the floor.(it's like being hit with a stun gun.)anyway... thanks for the info,I now know I'm not going nuts...(I think.)

hi , anyone else having a problem stopping the chantix? I cut my dose in 1/2, but can not get lower than that. When I tried, the mood swing to
drastic. Any ideas where more information can be found on line?

i took chantix longer than the 90 days. While i did not have the urge to smoke, the chantix seemed to improve my feeling of well-being. Now, i am having a difficult tilme stopping the chantix. i only took 1 bue pill through out my time of quitting smoking. I have been able to get down to 1/2 a pill, daily. When i tried to wean to less, like 1/3 a pill, i experienced severe mood swings. Very , very scarey. It has been a year seince i smoked. I am appreciateive for that. but, now, i am at a loss for a cure to the cure. I just keep taking 1/2 the dose, for the mental mind set
seems like alll the sad things in the world have landed on me with out this
pill. I was o k prior to the time i thought i should stop the chantix.
Any one else having a problem with the cure after they stopped
smoking for real for i could use some other input.

Sorry, hex, i was trying to reply to you and another writer about
stoppin the chatix. While it did successfully allow me to become a non
smoker, i am having dilfficulty stopping the chantix. I tried, as hez suggessted, goiong to 1/2 and the 1/3dose over a time period, but perhaps i did not go slowly enough. I am successful at 1/2 dosage, but
experienced wild, quick mood swings when i attempted to go to
1/3 dose . how are you doing? Has anyone else had a negative experience getting off the chantix? Any success or tips to share ?
Again, i am sorry that i am not so computer able. i did not mean to have my name appear in your quote, just wanted to ask how you were doing with your weaning off, and i agree, the doctors do not have enough
information about this. Hence, i am asking folks here who live it how to successfully lick it.
thanks folks and good luck to everone.

I have been off Chantix and nicotine for three months and I still feel like Im about to have a nervous breakdown, when will it stop?

Karlin, it's been 2 months since your post-how are you doing? I've been on Chantix 6 wks and from the 1st day it worked as an antidepressant for me also. I've been on and off worthless antidepressants for most my life and this stuff worked like magic from the 1st dose. Quit smoking, too, which was a plus :-) I feel I can handle not smoking if I quit Chantix....but am scared to death of the depression I KNOW is coming because of it's antidepressent qualities it held for me. I was depressed most my life and this is the most normal I've ever felt. I just don't want to give that up :-(

Did you ever quit taking it?

I would like to write and let you know of my experience with Chantix. I met a GREAT guy August 2008 and we immediately hit it off. After about a week and a half of knowing each other, he told me that he is sure we were together in past lives. I felt it too and thought this guy was the one. We got along well and enjoyed each others company.

He was a smoker when I first met him and he had smoked since he was 11 years old and he is now 53. He knew I didn't want to date smokers and told me that I gave him the "extra" motivation to quit. He went to the doctor and got a prescription for Chantix and began taking it. He started tapering down and smoked his last cigarette 8/30/08. He couldn't believe he made it through the whole day without smoking. He was so happy and so was I as well as his friends and family. They were in shock that after all these years of him smoking, he finally went ONE day without cigarettes. It didn't take long for him to start having vivid, crazy dreams each night. They worried him but he knew that was a side effect of chantix. He kept telling me how "crazy" the dreams were. I began seeing changes in his mood a few weeks into the Chantix. He seemed agitated, and would complain about his coworker. His coworker didn't seem to bother him when I first met him as his supervisor paired him with this coworker as other people found it hard to work with this guy. My boyfriend gets along with everyone and things didn't normally bother him. The normal things he seemed to enjoy before now seemed to get on his nerves. When he come over to stay the weekend at my townhouse, something as little as a neighbor parked in my parking space would upset him and he would call them names. This is not the guy I knew and loved. Then the day before Thanksgiving 11/26/08 he didn't call me all day long and that was so unusual. I called him and asked him what was wrong and he told me that he "just didn't have feelings" for me anymore. This is the man that always told me he loved me before he hung up the phone or just as we were leaving each other and always hugged and kissed me goodbye. When I asked him why...he told me he thought it had something to do with the medication. He went on to tell me he was DONE with me. That was so harsh and not like him at ALL. I'm still in shock.

Does anyone have anything to offer?? Similar experiences?? I am leaving my ex-boyfriend alone for now and hope that he calls me someday. I want all who read this that there was NO fight, NO arguing, we simply adored each other, prior to him deciding this. It's very hard.

Thanks for your time....Deanna

:-| :-| i've been on chantix for a week and a half and on my 3 day of not smoking. the 2nd day i was nauseous but followed my normal cardio routine and felt great as soon as my heart rate raised a lil. I suggest that everyone who is trying to quit smoking try some form of cardio(cycling is best for smokers) just keep that heart rate up for 30 min to start. Its great for fighting the metabolic slow down quitting gives you and gets a new high to be addicted to. as far as side effects i follow the directions to a tee and have only noticed the weird dreams, not scary but def. vivid, i think its kinda cool though

Be very careful coming off of Chantix. I quit using it 3 months ago and the anxiety attacks are horrible. I'm waking in the middle of the night scared to death. There seems to be a heavy cloud of dread hanging over me most of the time. Normally, I'm a pretty upbeat person. I quit using chantix because of the insomnia. BTW, I never took more than 1/2 the dosage and had stopped smoking completely from day 1. If you stop taking this drug, make sure people around you are aware of these effects. It's pretty scary. Unfortunately, I'm smoking again.

azeman wrote:

Guest wrote:

Be very careful coming off of Chantix. I quit using it 3 months ago and the anxiety attacks are horrible. I'm waking in the middle of the night scared to death. There seems to be a heavy cloud of dread hanging over me most of the time. Normally, I'm a pretty upbeat person. I quit using chantix because of the insomnia. BTW, I never took more than 1/2 the dosage and had stopped smoking completely from day 1. If you stop taking this drug, make sure people around you are aware of these effects. It's pretty scary. Unfortunately, I'm smoking again.

I am so glad to read this. I was on Chantix for almost 2 weeks, and had trouble sleeping due to the nightmares. I stopped after two weeks cold turkey. The second day the panic attacks began. I thought I was having a heart attack, but I was just having panic attacks. I feel so much better after reading this. Thanks so much!

Well, I am on my fourth day of not smoking. My quit date was Friday, the 16th. I bought a pack of cigarettes the previous Monday and I was literally forcing myself to smoke them because they tasted horrible. As a matter of fact, they tasted like coffee that had sat in the pot for a week. The first week of taking the medication I experienced a dry mouth, and extreme tiredness. I can not be sure to say that those first couple of days I could not sleep, because I have problems on a normal basis anyhow. When the medication went up the second week to 1mg, I still have the dry mouth, and now nausea although, it only occurs with my nightly dose. I do not feel overly tired tonight, but if I laid down I could fall right to sleep. Tonight is the first night that I did not have that experience, so maybe my body has taken it in now. There were a few times that I thought about smoking after my quit date, but I honestly believe it was because I knew I could not smoke since during the time I could, I had no urge. I cannot say that my dreams have been any different than normal, because I have always been a precognitive dreamer. I do have a sore throat right now, and I am not sure if that relates to the medication either. I thought that maybe since I quit and my body is getting back to normal that my sinuses are draining. I feel great about myself, and my kids actually think when I am wearing my perfume that I smell pretty instead of cigarettes. I believe that if you really want to quit, and do not have any skepticism about Chantix, then it will really work. I honestly have no idea how anyone can smoke after taking this medication because as I stated the cigarettes taste bad. I wish everyone good luck, and I think I will go take a breath of fresh air.

This is my 3rd day on chantix and the only side effects Ive had are the really bad nightmares, they last through the whole night and pick up where they left off. Ive had vivid dreams before, but these are way to realistic and very violent. If things are not better tonight, Im stopping the chantix and doing it cold turkey. Ive smoked 32 years, and I think that we all have the will power, its just of matter of using it. Good luck evy1.

I have been on Chantix for almost 1 year. I am into my 3rd day of weaning myself off of it. I too had the worse effects by stopping cold turkey. I was so weak, my glucose shot up like a rocket, dizzy, angry, panic attacks, just shear mayhem! But, this is what has helped me tremendously. I have cut out all processed & refined sugars frm my diet, almost treating myself like I was a diabetic, but I'm not. Because smoking raises our glucose levels to the extreme highs, sometimes reducing our intake of the bad sugars will aid in stabilizing ourselves more quickly. Also, I am taking Omega-3's, Folic Acid & B-Complex and I sure feel alot better then I did before. I think you need to allow yourself 4 - 6 wks. to wean off of this drug at the very least. There's no written law as to how long you need to wean yourself off, just go at your own pace that makes you comfortable. If you can, near the end, try to take 1/4 tablet every other day for 7 to 10 days then stop completely and see how you feel. You'll get there, We all will get there. Just stop worrying today and you will get your life back quicker!

I forgot to also add that I also take Vitamin D3, in addition to Omega 3's, Folic Acid and B-Complex. This has really helped me and I found myself not needing to take 1/4 chantix everyday. Matter of fact, I am on my 2nd day of not taking the 1/4 pill a day and so far so good. Feeling good. Not depressed and constantly eating something healthy every 2 hrs. I think what really helped me was to eliminate all caffeine and the white sugars and bad carbs from my diet. No anxieties since and for some reason, when I was having anxieties when I first tried to quit Chantix cold turkey, a banana helped stabilize me real quick. Maybe the potassium? I don't know, but this is what helped me get over the negatives so much faster.