I have decided to use Chantix to help me quit smoking. Everyone that I have talked to (2-3 people) have had nothing but good comments about the use of the drug. I have read many of the reviews here regarding the side effects and have seen that the most common is nausea, along with vommiting. While doing some research I came across this website, http://whyquit.com/pr/082506.html which has a video. It disucsses how Chantix users experiences cases of depression, suicide ideation and even users who had commited suicide! Has anyone using the drug ever had these experiences? I am getting ready to start my prescription for the first time and am concerned. I would really like to get some feedback on this before I start taking the drug. Please help.
whyquit.com/org is run by a guy who gets paid to give quit smoking seminars. Interesting that a guy who makes a living teaching quiting smoking seminars, oh and doesn't have any medical training, (I called the SC Department of Health to ask), choses to endorse the one way to quit that has the lowest precentage rates of people acctually being able to quit. I have read through and reviewd his site as well as contacting the SC department of Health and the SC Department of Corrections medical division (They will not pay for any smoking cessation materials). So a guy who has no medical training and is paid to give smoking cessation classes by organizations that do not provide any medications for quiting smoking endorses the one method of quiting with the lowest success rate. Not a real good endorsement for his website. Another bit of information for you. If any person takes a medication and then does something it is reportable to the FDA. So an example would be that you now have to have a prescription to get a car, well people wreck cars, people commit suicide in cars, people make out in cars. If the same rules were followed, then cars cause suicide, premature death due to trauma, and pregnancy. I included a post that was posted to another discussion group in Chantix-ERS, so some of the discussion wont seem to fit. but the general idea is what I wanted you to read. The information about Chantix varies. You can get all the information and read the reports from this website by Pfizer www.chantix.com or go to www.fda.gov, and search Chantix. As far as the information goes, it is still very mixed. The latest trend is to report that people become suicidal on Chantix. Well the truth of the matter is that three people who take Chantix described suicidal ideation. Since a rather large stink has been made about other anti-depressant medications leading to an increase in thoughts of suicide the reporting requirement for certain issues is one incident. In the initial study ALL side effects reported by participants had to be disclosed. If you want there are several books about how to interpret medical research which will generally bore you to death. Or speak with your doctor. The truth of the matter is that do to other medications taken, absorption times, possible underlying medical disorders, amount of stress, amount of food in stomach, amount of hydration can all effect how a medication works. In the particular case of Chantix ONE opinion is that it takes 6 months to clear dopaminergic receptors in the brain, any neurology text will tell you this is not true, but that enough about the brain is not known for all situations. Anyone who tells you it takes six months to clear a neurologic receptor should really look at Narcan on the web and attempt to explain that one, since Chantix and Narcan work in the same receptor area. So, how do you get information? Well you would hope that people would provide true life experience information here, but from experience you should know that every blog you ever read regardless of the reason for the blog is 100% accurate and truthful. And if you believe that I have some great ocean view property for sale really cheap in Phoenix. What you should do is take all the information into account, review the medications website, and review the FDA's website. Both Pfizer and the FDA have 1-800 numbers you can call if you have further questions. If you have Kaiser Insurance you are able to e-mail any further questions you have to your doctor. When in doubt use this site for mental and psychological support and other peoples related (true or not) experiences with medications. But when it comes to your specific medical conditions, medications taken, and any effects you are having you should speak with your doctor. I will tell you that the information reported on the Chantix website has to be accurate according to FDA regulations, and that all reported side effects during the study, and any new FDA warnings have to be posted on the website. Also the FDA reports are fairly easy to read, if not boring. I, being a Registered Nurse working on a Masters in research can tell you that the only information I would take away from this blog is relation to other people’s experience. I will say that my doctor has recommended I take Chantix for a full year. Six months minimum, but he would prefer a full year. His reasoning behind it is that smoking is more of a psychological addiction than a physical addiction. The addiction to nicotine only lasts for a week at the outside most and that would be due to liver and kidney clearance issues. The mental part of smoking, the reason why you smoke and drink coffee, or smoke and drive, or smoke instead of get in an argument is much harder to break than the nicotine addiction. Having the Chantix for a longer period of time only allows you not to get pleasure from smoking if you do slip up, and gives you more time to have experiences in various situations that would normally make you want to light up. Remember this is according to my doctor. Yours may agree, think it's a reasonable idea, or think it's total BS. Once again everybody is different, and has the potential to respond differently to medications. When in doubt, or if you have any questions contact your doctor.
