Anyone Else Using Chantix to Quit Smoking?

[PlutoLuvr]

Greetings

20-year ex-smoker here, 2 1/2 packs per day. My hubby, mother & I all took the plunge on 5/7 and started Chantix.

Smoke free since 5/22!!!

I've been saying for years someone needs to come up with something to make smokes taste and smell bad to smokers. See, I liked smoking. Well, Chantix does just this! Makes 'em taste bad, smell even worse and when you're taking the med and smoking (the first week or two), you get zero satisfaction from a smoke.

FWIW, I've tried to quit dozens of times in the past. Cold turkey, NRT, behavior modification programs, hypnosis. About the only thing I didn't try was accupuncture. Sorry, not a needle person at all.

Pfizer does need to do something about the joint and muscle pain so many of its meds do! The base of my toes on my left leg, the back of my knee on my left leg, and my right elbow have been awfully sore since about day 2 on the med. Very similar to a few of my friends who suffered joint & muscle pain on Lipitor.

Anyone else embarking, going through or disembarking the Chantix journey?

 

[irishbosoxfan]

I've never heard of Chantix. I've been on Zyban but it doesn't seem to work very well. I will take it,set my day,quit for about a week then start smoking again-It's been like this for about 4 months.

Last time I went in I asked if there was something else and he said no and doubled my amount--so instead of 2 a day for a week then 1 a day I now take 2 a day every day and I have to say it doesn't seem to be working well either.

I think I could live with some pain if it meant I quit for good!!

How many a day do you take? How long after you quit do you still take them for?

 

[PrincessPatty]

I have my perscription for Chantix, but haven't taken it yet. There are 2 people that I work with that have used it and are doing quite well (one since Jan. and the other since late May)

They have told me that unless you are really ready to quit, not to take it, it wont work. I do want to quit, and am trying to slow down, but still having some anxiety over quitting - OP: Were you ready to quit or knew that it was time and just let the pill do the work?

How many a day do you take? How long after you quit do you still take them for?

You take it at different intervals, you can get a starter pack, or like me just got the pills in a bottle. You take (1) 0.5 mg tablet once daily for days 1-3, then (1) 0.5 mg tablet twice a day, days 4-7. Then you start into the 1 mg tablets I belive twice a day (although I havent got this one filled yet) And you take them for 90 days.

 

[PrincessPatty]

Also the ladies that I work with haven't said anything about joint pains although they have mentioned vivid dreams/nightmares.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Hi

I'd tried Wellbutrin (same as Zyban) a few years back but without success. Pill made me very, very anxious and made me feel as if my skin was crawling.

I'm surprised your doctor said there wasn't an alternative! Every doctor I've gone to in the last year has been pushing Chantix on me.

It's similar to Zyban in that you smoke while you take the pill initially. You set a date and that's that. You keep taking the med anywhere from three to six months. I do believe this will be amended in the literature, as will the dosages. Right now, it's all in a "one size fits all" dosage/duration category.

What Chantix does is blocks the nicotine receptors in your brain, so if you do have some nicotine, you don't get pleasure from it. It also tastes AWFUL. Imagine licking the bottom of an ashtray. That's what those smokes tasted like the last few days before I quit.

That's the way I feel about the joint pain, too. Considering all the "side effects" smoking has, I'll take an achy knee, elbow and toes.

Joint pain isn't listed as a common side effect, but I've found a few hundred folks just on one website who have it. The most common is nausea, which I had, too. Adjusting my dosage was able to take care of it, tho. (Another reason why I think the dosages will be amended in the future -- the recommended dose is too high for a lot of people).

No matter what the method, good luck to you in staying quit!!!!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

How many a day do you take? How long after you quit do you still take them for?

Sorry, forgot to answer this one.

The recommended dose, once you're finished with your "start week," is 2 milligrams per day, which is two pills. This was much too strong for me (severe nausea no matter what I did). I ended up breaking my pills in half and taking them four times a day -- worked beautifully.

I have my perscription for Chantix, but haven't taken it yet. There are 2 people that I work with that have used it and are doing quite well (one since Jan. and the other since late May)

They have told me that unless you are really ready to quit, not to take it, it wont work. I do want to quit, and am trying to slow down, but still having some anxiety over quitting - OP: Were you ready to quit or knew that it was time and just let the pill do the work?

I felt I "had" to quit. I enjoyed smoking and at times, still miss it. I felt the social stigma from it, felt the health impairments from it and knew how much money I'd been burning for 20 years. But, no, I never had one day where I woke up and said, "I'm ready to quit." More like, "Today's the day I have to begin my quit."

And Chantix was a HUGE help. The worst part of it mentally was the time I was smoking AND on the med. Talk about irritable, anxious, full of dread. It's very common. That's actually your withdrawal during that time as the nicotine is not getting where it's needed for your chemical addiction.

Once you put the cigs down and let the med do its job, the cravings were similar to a hot fudge sundae, a slice of pizza, a funnel cake or something. Would you like one of these things? Sure! Are you going to kill someone for one or will it be the end of the world if you don't get one of these things? Absolutely not!

Also the ladies that I work with haven't said anything about joint pains although they have mentioned vivid dreams/nightmares.

Oooooh, yes, the dreams were LOVELY! I didn't have nightmares, but I usually don't have those, anyway. The dreams were just extremely vivid, like watching a movie every time you go to bed. I also was able to recall so much of my dreams the next day, which I can't say I can do normally not on Chantix. I had no idea how much I dream about theme parks, LOL. And even just the smallest amount of Chantix seems to bring them on. I had to slowly wean myself off (another thing that doctors are now recommending that Pfizer doesn't list in its literature), and the dreams were still there even on just a quarter milligram per day.

Here is a wonderful support group for those on Chantix. It's great since the med is so new, lots of folks have questions that even their own doctors aren't able to answer yet.

http://www.topix.net/forum/law/healthcare/TKUNA4H2J5RVTET0C

Hope posting this link is okay. It's a health-related support group.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

My mother just quit smoking using this Chantix, it was an UNBELIEVABLE MIRACLE! If anyone knew my mother she has literally been trying to quit for over 20 years, has tried everything. I constantly would get on her about quitting, nothing nothing nothing worked, but this did! So far I believe its almost 2 months smoke free. I really recommend this for those trying to quit. My mother has emphysema also, not on full oxygen but really nothing was working for her, I really had given up hope so this is really miraculous!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

That's such great news, Tinkerdorabelle!

Is she still taking it, or has she finished? I stopped taking mine last week after a slow wean, but I still have plenty of "halves" left in my medicine chest just in case. The joint pain just got to be too much for me. I noticed the pain decreased every time I'd decrease my dosage, so I just started slowly decreasing about a month ago. Along with alleviating the joint pain, my cravings weren't any different, so I figured I'd see how I'd do without any training wheels.

So far, so good! I was wondering if I'd be just trading out one addiction for another, but it seems to be okay thus far.

That's wonderful news about your mom. It's worked on my mom, too. She was a three pack a day smoker for about the last ten years; a two pack a day smoker for the 25 years before that (including when she was pregnant with me!). I, too, find it hard to believe that something worked.

I read somewhere studies have begun on other addictions, namely crack and heroin. It doesn't surprise me at all. Both my mother and I have stopped chewing our nails since starting the med. It's like any habit or addiction just goes bye-bye without any real discomfort or anguish.

 

[mamacatnv]

The guy that cleans my carpets quit with Chantix and I told my brother last week who told his Dr. the next day. His Dr. had never heard of it, but took the time to look it up, review the directions and then prescribed it to my brother. We shall see.

I am on my second round of trying the Wellbutrin - My Dr. has me take 150 mg per day for 4 weeks, then will double the dose to 300 mg per day and this is supposed to work better than the single strength. We shall see.

 

[wvrevy]

My doc also recommended Chantix at my last check-up, but I haven't taken him up on it as yet.

It's funny, though, that you mentioned the dreams thing. When I was first trying to quit a couple years ago, I tried the nicotine patch. Well, not only did it not work, but it also caused me to have the most vivid dreams (both good and bad, not to mention surreal enough to make Salvidor Dali happy ). Must be something in the same part of the brain that controls the addiction. They oughtta research it and find out.

 

[C.Ann]

My doc also recommended Chantix at my last check-up, but I haven't taken him up on it as yet.

It's funny, though, that you mentioned the dreams thing. When I was first trying to quit a couple years ago, I tried the nicotine patch. Well, not only did it not work, but it also caused me to have the most vivid dreams (both good and bad, not to mention surreal enough to make Salvidor Dali happy ). Must be something in the same part of the brain that controls the addiction. They oughtta research it and find out.

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DD had the same problem with the patch - horrible nightmares.. Eventually she just quit on her own (she hadn't really been smoking all that long) - then started again - then stopped again - then started again - and so it goes..

I've had the same start and stop issues and wish someone could just cut that section of my brain OUT..

DD wants to try the Chantix now but has concerns about some of the side effects - especially the constipation, bloating, and gas.. She (like me) suffers from IBS and doesn't want to take anything that will cause an increase the symptoms she already has..

 

[PatsMom]

I had done everything under the sun (including accupuncture) to quit my 35 year smoking habit. I smoked 2 1/2 packs a day by last September 12. It has now be 287 days since my last cigarette (but who's counting). PlutoLuvr, thanks for the link - I didn't know about that group. It might help some others. I could have used more support at the beginning.

I took the Chantix for about 3 months. The biggest symptom I had was nausea and that wasn't all that bad. My doctor actually wrote the prescription for chantix so that I could have stayed on the 2mg a day for a year if I felt the need. I stopped taking it when we went on our December vacation to Disney - we were on the Dining Plan and I wanted to be able to enjoy my food. I have had to watch what I eat since everything tastes so good now that I'm not smoking!

I would defnitely recommend trying this drug. I'm trying to get DH to try. He got a prescription but hasn't got it filled yet. One of the good things about this drug is that you don't use a nicotine patch or gum along with it. The nicotine gum tastes yucky and the patches gave me nightmares. I still get a craving for a cigarette once in a while but it is controllable so far. I went to WDW with my Mom and sister last February and was amazed at how much more I could accomplish when I didn't have to stop to find a smoking area every hour or so. And now that the rooms are all non-smoking I am hoping that will give DH that last little bit of encouragement he needs to try to drug. He's been trying to quit cold turkey and hasn't made it past two days yet.

The cost of the Chantix (at least around here) is about $120 per month. Not covered by our insurance. But if you figure that you were spending around $30 per week for a carton of cigarettes, after the first week (when you smoke and gradually increase your dosage of Chantix) you are breaking even. And you won't be on the drug forever. As soon as you feel able to stop, you have extra money every week. I set mine aside in an envelope and when I get a few hundred a splurge on something I think I deserve!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Patsmom, that's incredible! I'm so happy to read another's story who did it successfully with Chantix.

A one-month pack here without insurance was $120. I was going through a carton at $29 every four days. For the last five years, colds that have turned into bronchitis have prevented me from working while I'm sick. I'm self-employed.

So $51 per week on smokes.

$400 on doctor visit for smoking-related bronchitis & meds needed to clear it up.

An average of $2,000, per bronchitis episode, of work I have to turn away because I can't be hacking up a lung during a videotaped deposition or trial.

So $51 x 52 weeks is $2,652
$800 for doctors & meds for two episodes a year
$4,000 worth of missed work for two episodes a year

I figure my smoking habit was costing me about $7,500 a year, or about 20 bucks a day. Chantix was running me about $4.50 a day -- actually a bit less, because I couldn't tolerate the 1-milligram pills. I had to split them in half and found I felt the best taking three halves a day, or 1.5 milligrams per day. A four-week box lasted me five weeks

Even paying for the Chantix, I'm still ahead 15 bucks a day!

It's so funny you brought up park touring as a nonsmoker. We've all always smoked at the parks -- even our parents did. I can remember standing in line for Peter Pan and 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea with it raining outside, everyone covered in ponchos, about 400 degrees outside and everyone smoking in line ... yes, in the queues for the rides. My mom, the guy in front of us, the guy across from us, the guy behind us. Funny what we remember as kids.

DH & I are wondering what our September trip will be like as nonsmokers. How much more ground will we be able to cover without having to plan our days around DSAs? (That's a rhetorical question not necessarily requiring an answer ... just something we're looking forward to )

Re: The dreams.

I had horrible dreams on the patches. It got the point where I wouldn't sleep with one on. Now, those were nightmares!

The Chantix "sleep" effects are definitely a bit different than the patch, IMO. For some, it causes insomnia -- luckily I didn't have this problem, but I did find that the slightest thing woke me up during the night. I've never been a light sleeper, but I was on the med. My only complaint here is it interrupted those glorious in-brain movies called dreams!

Yeah, I too wish Pfizer would figure out exactly what makes the dreams so awesome on Chantix and market just that. I'd buy it

Best of luck to those quitting with whatever method! Stay strong!!!
To those who have quit, you're an inspiration! NTAP
To those contemplating it, the water's fine. I never thought I'd be able to say five weeks smoke-free. Chantix makes it almost too easy.

 

[tinatark]

My husband and a friend of ours both use this - it really works! They both say the vivid dreams are their biggest side effect. Dh will ask his doctor for a rx for ambien the next time he goes in - we think that will stop the dreams.

 

[C.Ann]

This is a very encouraging thread!

DD has to find out of her DH can use it as well because all of the other medications, patches, etc., have serious interactions with a daily medication he has had to take since he was 12 years old..

 

[disneynutt1225]

I had horrible dreams on the patches. It got the point where I wouldn't sleep with one on. Now, those were nightmares!

I had horrible nightmares when I was on the patch. I quit for 9 months a few years ago, and then due to varying things I wound up starting again. I want to try and quit again over the next year (because I want to have a baby in a couple of years) so maybe I'll talk to my doctor about this new drug. Sounds like it could be the answer.

 

[PrincessPatty]

I'm glad to read that so many of you have stayed away from smoking due to Chantix!! I know I 'have' to quit - and would really like to (it's sad when your nieces and nephews ask you why you are smoking and when you are going to stop - they don't want you to die )

I just keep thinking of what am I going to do during those times when I'm so used to smoking (in the car, ect.)

OP (or others who have quit with Chantix) - Did you quit smoking on your quit date, or did you continue till it tastes/smells bad?

 

[C.Ann]

I just keep thinking of what am I going to do during those times when I'm so used to smoking (in the car, ect.)

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Get those fat pretzel sticks (not the skinny ones) - they're about the same width around as a cigarette.. Break them in half (because they're fairly long) and stick one in your mouth when you have the urge..

 

[PrincessPatty]

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Get those fat pretzel sticks (not the skinny ones) - they're about the same width around as a cigarette.. Break them in half (because they're fairly long) and stick one in your mouth when you have the urge..

And they're fat free - so if I feel the need to munch !! Great idea!

 

[C.Ann]

And they're fat free - so if I feel the need to munch !! Great idea!

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Hold it in the OPPOSITE hand that you would smoke with though - otherwise it will keep reminding you of smoking..