Anyone Else Using Chantix to Quit Smoking?

[Laurabearz]

Hi everyone

I am working on quitting smoking for life and some people on my feening thread mentioned they were interested in Chantix and I remembered this thread, thought I would bump/link it for them, hope you dont mind

Hope you all are doing great! I am still craving smokes (see link above) but hanging in there. I wont cave, just tired of craving

 

[disney kid at heart]

There are great people here. Lots of advice.

 

[Patch'sD]

Sunday was five months, 21 weeks at $ 43 per carton = $ 900 Saved. Chantix worked very well for me.

 

[PatsMom]

September 12th was two years for me. I still want smoke every so often but am hanging in there. It helps to do that math on how much money I've saved. When DD went on her school trip to Paris this summer I was able to go with her. It was my reward to myself for not smoking! The Chantix definitely worked for me! And once you stop taking the drug it is all money in the bank! I put the $50 a week I used to spend on cigarettes in my vacation money.

 

[RickinNYC]

LOL! I was JUST about to post a threat about Chantix and saw this one. Cool!

I've been smoking for 23 years now and I had tried everything, from the patch, to the gum, to the lozenge and cold turkey. Nothing worked for me. Sure, the patch did, but for me it was all mental. If I didn't wear a patch for an hour, I immediately told myself I could/should smoke.

In any case, I really and truly want to quit, now more than ever before in my life. We have serious heart health conditions in my immediate family. Dad had a heart attack at 31, followed by a few others, culminating with a quadruple bypass at 45, another quad at 55 and a triple at 64ish. I kept smoking even after his third.

As some of you know, my younger brother had a heart attack and quadruple bypass just a few weeks ago. He's only 35 and seven years younger than me. THAT was a wake up call. I want to quit badly and am afraid of failure. I sat down with Dad and told him that I knew of a couple of friends that took Chantix and wanted his input. He's a retired physician and fully supports it BIG time. He immediately wrote me a prescription.

I started it this past Monday. I know I haven't officially quit until I completely quit smoking after the first week which will be this coming Monday. I actually look forward to it.

Wish me luck gang! I want this badly and this time, I know I'll do it!

FYI, something else I started looking at is the simple fact that a pack of cigs in NYC runs about $8.50 - 9.50 per PACK.

 

[kathymc]

Good luck to all - June 20, 2007 was the day I quit - still not smoking. It hasnt always been easy, but it was easier than I thought!

 

[disney kid at heart]

LOL! I was JUST about to post a threat about Chantix and saw this one. Cool!

I've been smoking for 23 years now and I had tried everything, from the patch, to the gum, to the lozenge and cold turkey. Nothing worked for me. Sure, the patch did, but for me it was all mental. If I didn't wear a patch for an hour, I immediately told myself I could/should smoke.

In any case, I really and truly want to quit, now more than ever before in my life. We have serious heart health conditions in my immediate family. Dad had a heart attack at 31, followed by a few others, culminating with a quadruple bypass at 45, another quad at 55 and a triple at 64ish. I kept smoking even after his third.

As some of you know, my younger brother had a heart attack and quadruple bypass just a few weeks ago. He's only 35 and seven years younger than me. THAT was a wake up call. I want to quit badly and am afraid of failure. I sat down with Dad and told him that I knew of a couple of friends that took Chantix and wanted his input. He's a retired physician and fully supports it BIG time. He immediately wrote me a prescription.

I started it this past Monday. I know I haven't officially quit until I completely quit smoking after the first week which will be this coming Monday. I actually look forward to it.

Wish me luck gang! I want this badly and this time, I know I'll do it!

FYI, something else I started looking at is the simple fact that a pack of cigs in NYC runs about $8.50 - 9.50 per PACK.

Chantix is a great meds to quit smoking. You will find many helpful tips on this thread if you have nausea or other side effects. They are a great bunch of supporters. Since I backslid and went back to smoking I still tell people about it. I will get it again and try harder to stay STRESS FREE BY the way how is your brother doing since the surgery? Hope all is well. we need to bump this thread every now and then so I can find it again. Good luck to all.

 

[RickinNYC]

Chantix is a great meds to quit smoking. You will find many helpful tips on this thread if you have nausea or other side effects. They are a great bunch of supporters. Since I backslid and went back to smoking I still tell people about it. I will get it again and try harder to stay STRESS FREE BY the way how is your brother doing since the surgery? Hope all is well. we need to bump this thread every now and then so I can find it again. Good luck to all.

My brother is doing GREAT, thanks for asking. He's been home at my folks for a couple of weeks, recuperating, while his wife stayed at the hospital. Now, they're both at their own home, slowly but surely getting better, helping each other out. All is good!!!!

And he's the one that sat me down, while he was in the hospital, and told me he wanted me to promise I'd quit smoking. It broke my heart that he was in so much pain at that time, but he still worried that I was smoking.

 

[preb]

Rick,

8/8/08 was one year smoke free for me after taking Chantix. I was a heavy long term smoker, so it really was a miracle drug. PM me if you have any specific questions about it. This is the single most wonderful thing you can do for yourself and those that love you!

 

[PatsMom]

LOL! I was JUST about to post a threat about Chantix and saw this one. Cool!

I've been smoking for 23 years now and I had tried everything, from the patch, to the gum, to the lozenge and cold turkey. Nothing worked for me. Sure, the patch did, but for me it was all mental. If I didn't wear a patch for an hour, I immediately told myself I could/should smoke.

In any case, I really and truly want to quit, now more than ever before in my life. We have serious heart health conditions in my immediate family. Dad had a heart attack at 31, followed by a few others, culminating with a quadruple bypass at 45, another quad at 55 and a triple at 64ish. I kept smoking even after his third.

As some of you know, my younger brother had a heart attack and quadruple bypass just a few weeks ago. He's only 35 and seven years younger than me. THAT was a wake up call. I want to quit badly and am afraid of failure. I sat down with Dad and told him that I knew of a couple of friends that took Chantix and wanted his input. He's a retired physician and fully supports it BIG time. He immediately wrote me a prescription.

I started it this past Monday. I know I haven't officially quit until I completely quit smoking after the first week which will be this coming Monday. I actually look forward to it.

Wish me luck gang! I want this badly and this time, I know I'll do it!

FYI, something else I started looking at is the simple fact that a pack of cigs in NYC runs about $8.50 - 9.50 per PACK.

Best of luck to you. I smoked for over 30 years. I had quit numerous times and like you always went back to smoking. Oddly enough one of the times I quit the longest, the stress that sent me back to smoking was my Dad dying of lung cancer. Taking care of him just stressed me out so much that I was smoking before I knew it. If I were to be faced with a stressful situation like that again, I think I would ask my doctor for medication to help. When I quit, she prescribed a low dose of lorazepam for a few weeks to help me with the job stress until I was over the worst of the "I am going to either kill someone or start smoking again" stage. The Chantix really worked for me. My DH was so sick and it made him clinically depressed too. He had to stop taking it after 3 weeks and is still struggling with his smoking.

If cigarettes cost as much here as they do in NYC, I could justify taking an extra WDW trip every year with the savings!

Hope your brother continues to improve. Best of luck with quitting! I can't believe it has been two years!

 

[disney kid at heart]

My brother is doing GREAT, thanks for asking. He's been home at my folks for a couple of weeks, recuperating, while his wife stayed at the hospital. Now, they're both at their own home, slowly but surely getting better, helping each other out. All is good!!!!

And he's the one that sat me down, while he was in the hospital, and told me he wanted me to promise I'd quit smoking. It broke my heart that he was in so much pain at that time, but he still worried that I was smoking.

I'm so glad they are both doing well. I know that was a nightmare with her having surgery also. Bless all of you.

 

[mrayan]

Hi all, I just joined this forum with the hope that someone here can help me out. I have been smoking for last 10 years and now few days back my friend introduced me to chantix. It has been 2 weeks i have been using chantix. But now I am feeling a bit depressed and encountering sleeplessness and this in turn is affecting my work. Are these side effects normal and will they go ? If anyone here can share some good or bad experience regarding their use of chantix will be highly appreciated and sorry it this is not the right place to post this. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[tiki23]

Hi mrayan!

I'm sorry it took me so long to see this post. I hope you are doing well.

 

[disney kid at heart]

Hi all, I just joined this forum with the hope that someone here can help me out. I have been smoking for last 10 years and now few days back my friend introduced me to chantix. It has been 2 weeks i have been using chantix. But now I am feeling a bit depressed and encountering sleeplessness and this in turn is affecting my work. Are these side effects normal and will they go ? If anyone here can share some good or bad experience regarding their use of chantix will be highly appreciated and sorry it this is not the right place to post this. Thanks in advance for any advice.

mrayan you need to tell your Dr if you are feeling depressed. That is a side effect they are watching closely. Alot of people have nightmares or other dreams that keep them awake. The Get Quit program with Chantix has very good counselors that you can talk to. Did you sign up when you started taking Chantix? There is a phone # on the Chantix box and a # you have to give them to sign you up. They call you 2x's a day and are really good. I have slipped back up do to many worries over health. I know I should be stopping because of my health and I will again. There are many people on this board that have quit so I know it works. I quit for 6months hopefully I will again soon.
Welcome to the board. You can do it but please talk to your Dr re: depression.

 

[C.Ann]

Bumping this back up to ask a question for my son-in-law..

He recently decided to quit smoking - using Chantix - as it's the only aid he can use that doesn't interfere with another medication he has to take twice a day for life..

Anyhow - this thread is pretty long to go back and re-read the whole thing, so I thought I would "bump" it and ask a quick question..

He has just finished his second week of the 1 mg. pill twice a day - having already quit smoking the day he took his last .05 pill..

The past week or so he has been extremely tired - coming home from work, lying down on the bed, and immediately falling asleep.. This is totally out of character for him.. He's a "workaholic" - always has several projects going on here at the house that he works on until at least 11 o'clock at night.. He's been that way since he was a teenager - always busy doing one thing or another - hates "wasting" time..

So - he's wondering if this could be a side effect from the Chantix.. Other than this terrible fatigue, he's been very lucky and has had no side effects and no cigarettes since that last .05 pill..

Did this cause extreme fatigue for anyone else?

TIA

 

[tiki23]

I'm not sure if it's a side effect of the Chantix or of breaking the addiction cycle, but many quitters that I know were exhausted during the earlier part of the quitting process. It truly is a battle, both mentally and physically. I know that I was often tired the first few weeks.

A good place to find out about the effects of addiction (and quitting!) is on www.whyquit.com Tons of good info there.

Continued good luck to your son-in-law!

 

[C.Ann]

I'm not sure if it's a side effect of the Chantix or of breaking the addiction cycle, but many quitters that I know were exhausted during the earlier part of the quitting process. It truly is a battle, both mentally and physically. I know that I was often tired the first few weeks.

A good place to find out about the effects of addiction (and quitting!) is on www.whyquit.com Tons of good info there.

Continued good luck to your son-in-law!

---------------

Thanks! I'll check that out..

 

[Laurabearz]

It's withdrawal symptoms, and it gets better.

I highly recommend deep breathing and taking nice long walks.

 

[mamacatnv]

I too was exhausted and it is better now but I do not have the energy I used to. At the same time I am lazy and not disciplined about exercise which is what my Dr. suggested.

Chantix interferred with my sleep cycles and even now having been off the drug for almost a month (I did a very gradual wean) I am still having trouble with my sleep but it gets better and better every day.

 

[Sleepy]

My husband started taking Chantix in August (I think it was). It took many months, but he finally kicked it! To my knowledge, he has not had a cigarette in a few months. That in itself is amazing, because looking back at photos, he is always holding one. 2 packs a day was his worst. I am so proud of him.

We don't talk about it. He says it is just easier if he doesn't think about it. Says being around other people who smoke is a bit difficult, because smokers are still his friends and he is around them when they huddle on breaks. That must be difficult. He needed to quit. Maybe he has more incentive since he has emphysema. he knows that reverting will kill him. Now, he chews gum instead.

ETA: The only side effects that I can remember was initially, severe abdominal pains. They passed after about 2 weeks. He also had vivid dreams. Our son and I, as those who lives with him, did notice when he would run out of pills and be too lazy to get the refill. He would become easily aggitated. It was like living with a wild cat. You just never knew what would set him off or when. Just very argumentative. I learned quickly to make sure I gave him meds when he was supposed to. He said the physical need for a cigarete stopped after about 3 months, but the worst was the habit of smoking to have something to do.