Champix aka Chantix/Varenicline

evs

Well guys, I had to stop taking the medication last week as I hit rock bottom on St Patrick's Day and it was actually scary how depressed I felt. To give you some background on my current situation, I was made redundant in October last year and my Dad died suddenly a week before Christmas, so when I said I had things going on in my life at the moment, it definitely wasn't me making excuses. I will definitely be going back to Champix at some point in the future, although I think starting to take it so soon after everything happened was crazy on my part in the first place. I'll probably give it another 6 months or so and get back on the horse then!

DonnieL

Evs, Sorry to hear the bad news. My heart goes out you. I lost my father the same way. I really had a hard time dealing with it. As far as Champix, only you know when you're ready. But now that you're "family" you can still keep in touch and let us know how you're doing..:)

DonnieL

Greetings to you all and Happy Monday. Just started my "last week" on the medication. I'm on Day 71. (you should be too Celt) I received the attached from the GETQUICK Support this morning. (which is note worthy);)

Poutbutton

Hi Donnie wow you're almost there and not one slip! How is your breathing now? Do you notice a big improvement? Are you still on one tab a day or did you go back up to 2?

Ev's, I'm so sorry to hear you've had such a hard time of it. I lost my Dad suddenly too, a long time ago, 18 years ago & it was Mother's Day. It's something only time can heal and it will get easier. You will get stronger & more able to accept it as time goes by. Dont beat yourself up over the Champix anyway, as you say, you can always come back to it.

Well, I never made it to the party. I was quite sick for 3 days and only feeling better today. I got some mystery virus and had fever & flu symptoms & could'nt stop falling asleep. It seems to be passing thank God as I have a mountain of Law lectures to ge through for my exam on Saturday. 4 days and counting!

No slips this past weekend, dont think I could have stomached a cigarette anyway I'm still taking one tab a day, some days I forget it but I dont mind, the last pack will drag out too but at least I'll feel as though I have my crutch a little longer

DonnieL

Hi Poutbutton, Yes, I'm still on one a day and I seem to be doing fine. I still haven't had any cravings. But did have a couple of new dreams of being oh so naughty and smoking those dastardly things!:D:pac:
My cousin and her husband are coming down for Easter Weekend. She's the one that wants to start Chantix but wasn't quite ready. So it will be interesting to see how I react to her smoking because we were "smoking buddies".
Glad to hear you're feeling better! And you didn't even blame the Champix! L.O.L.:D

Poutbutton

I think you have been lucky to have avoided smokers all this time, my sister, her husband and my brother all smoke, then almost all of my friends do too, so yes you will have a little challenge ahead of you.
LOL I went to a library this morning & by the time I was ready to drive home I got shaky, I blamed it on low blood sugar as I'd gone 5 hours without even water without realising & with not being in the best of health I thought I might faint but Champix did get an accusation of "well, it could also be the champix...."ha ha.
Turned out to be hunger! We nipped into the cheese tasting section of the grocery store & voila I was fine in a few minutes.:D
We then bought some yummy crusty bread and cheese to make lunch at home.
I had some dreams over the weekend too, I'm not remembering them but I was aware of one being not so nice. Other than that no symptoms really.
Oh forgot to mention, ireland had a victory in the 6 nations cup Rugby tournament on saturday, it's been 61 years since we won it. The country went mad celebrating! Our current boxer, a young guy, Bernard Dunne, who lives not far from me also won his match on saturday night so we forgtot the recession for a while

Poutbutton

Hi Guys

It's been a Mother of a day
I have wanted to smoke almost every hour on the hour! I am still in this frame of mind.
I know it's because I'm cramming or at least trying to cram, not getting much done, I cant seem to get focused, there's an awful lot of noise around me & I'm used to studying in a really quiet environment.
I plan to get up early for the next 3 days & go somewhere I wont be disturbed.
This obviously got on my nerves and I thought about going up on top the closet upstairs where I threw the remaining pack of cigarettes from my handbag after my recent slip over Paddies weekend. I did'nt succumb
I think I need to go up there tomorrow & get those cancer sticks & throw them out!
It could be exam stress but I think it's more the fact that I cant get any quiet to get my reading done grrrrrrrrrr. I'm still recovering from the virus & I'm tired, grumpy & irritable. My head feels like it will explode!

pinnyoshea

Hi All,

Evs Im so sorry to hear about your loss. We never would have thought you were making excuses. Fair play for stopping taking them when you did. Many would have kept going and got worse. As Donnie said keep in touch and let us know how you doin. We all use this to blow off some steam from time to time.

Great weekend for the sport, grand slam in the rugby and dunne being world champ. Couldnt celebrate properly because was workn but had a few sneaky pints before. Dont tell .

Tomorrow gona really see how stopping smoking has affected my fitness levels. Tryouts for a "Friendly" lecturers vs students soccer match. Havnt played in years but gona give it a shot for a laugh. Besides one of the lecturers marked really tough last semester :mad::mad::mad:. Only joking:D.

Donnie, you'll have no prob with not smoking the easter weekend after being so good for so long. I live with smokers, a lot of my friends are smokers and the temptation just isnt there with champix, unless a copious amount of alcohol is involved

Poutbutton, I blame stuff on champix too, like my total lack of motivation when it comes to study at the moment. Funny I have motivation to do everything else :rolleyes:.

Poutbutton

I know the only reason I did'nt actually smoke is the Champix
If I was finished the programme I'd say I'd have smoked 10 by now!

DonnieL

Ha! Ha! Love your "Bear" Poutbutton! Hey I still have 8 1/2 packs of Benson & Hedges Menthol in my freezer if you'd like me to send them over! L.O.L. :pac:

Hey Pinnyoshea! Good luck on the Soccer Match.. Kick some butt! You should be in shape now that you off the smokes!!:D

DonnieL

Just had to share this with my Irish friends!:D

Irish Alzheimer's


Murphy showed up at Mass one Sunday and the priest almost fainted when
he saw him. Murphy had never been seen in Church in his life.

After Mass, the priest caught up with Murphy and said, Murphy, I am so
glad ya decided to come to Mass, what made ya come?"

Murphy said, "I got to be honest with you Father, a while back, I
misplaced me hat and I really, really love that hat. I know that
McGlynn had a hat just like me hat, and I knew that McGlynn comes to
Church every Sunday. I also knew that McGlynn had to take off his hat
during Mass and figured he would leave it in the back of Church. So, I
was going to leave after Communion and steal McGlynn's hat."

The priest said, "Well, Murphy, I notice that ya didn't steal McGlynn's
hat. What changed your mind?"

Murphy said, "Well, after I heard your sermon on the 10 Commandments, I decided that I didn't need to steal McGlynn's hat after all."

The priest gave Murphy a big smile and said, "After I talked about
'Thou Shalt Not Steal' ya decided you would rather do without the hat
than burn in Hell, right?"

Murphy slowly shook his head and said, "No, Father, after ya talked
about 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery', I remembered where I left me
hat."

Poutbutton

Ha ha good one Donnie.

I have 2 days til my exam I got into an almighty ball of stress the other night I allowed myself to get completely overwhelmed by stress so yesterday I decided that if I felt the same I would just let myself have a cigarette. Simple as that. So I did. I did'nt take my champix tab. :eek:
I got that remaining pack of fags from 2 weeks ago and I went out the back garden & lit one like a bold teenager.
I smoked it as if I had never given up. It tranquilised me almost instantly, I went indoors and was able to focus & study all day.

Today I am not planning to do the same thing but If I do, I do. My exam is on saturday & if this is what it takes to get me through so be it. I will take a chapmix now though & see how I go.
I went out to a birthday celebration last night & the funny thing is, all my buddies and cousins were in & out smoking throughout the night but I never once felt like one.

DonnieL

My heart goes out to you Poutbutton!:( I think if I was still in my old work enviroment I wouldn't find it as easy. Even then I didn't take my smokes with me to work. But when things got stressful I ususally bummed one and slipped outside.:eek: Hope you do great on your exam! And keep up the battle.;)

tattoo man

folks 2 weeks of the killer smokes and champix is doing good,now i need some advice,i done a course last year of champix and suffered no side effects exepct bein sick in the morning,this time around i take a mmotillium in morning to prevent this,but im feeling real tired all or most of the time,id fall aslepp on top of me dinner...lol
i know this can be conbination of bein of smokes and champix,any one the same????

DonnieL

Hey Tatoo Man .. Nice work. Are you taking your champix with food? I always take mine with my meal and I drink plenty of water. I've never had a problem with nausea. Now the sleepy part I can relate to. I never really connected it until I started hearing people bringing up about being tired and sleepy all the time. Fortunately I'm retired and can catch a "power nap" in the afternoon if need be. Keep up the good work. I'm now on my 12th week and last pack of Chantix. (U.S. Name):D

tattoo man

DonnieL wrote: »

Hey Tatoo Man .. Nice work. Are you taking your champix with food? I always take mine with my meal and I drink plenty of water. I've never had a problem with nausea. Now the sleepy part I can relate to. I never really connected it until I started hearing people bringing up about being tired and sleepy all the time. Fortunately I'm retired and can catch a "power nap" in the afternoon if need be. Keep up the good work. I'm now on my 12th week and last pack of Chantix. (U.S. Name):D

yeah id take me first tab with breakfast in morn,i do be great,then id take me other one at 7ish in the evening,im a single father,so like you i can sneak a power nap aswell,but im over sleeping at times.like id go to bed at 9 pm,have the best dreams ever,and id sleep all night,then id sleep for an hour or 2 during the day,so im putting it down to champix??he thats great for you donniel,may i wish you all the best off them smokes..

alimo

hi everyone , been hiding under the bed all week trying not to give into temptation and hide from the kids ....... doing ok with the not smoking cravings seem to be bad after eating but no cravings with coffee !!! as for sleeping just call me bagpuss , im not much of a sleeper normally , body clock bit messed up as i had the last 4 kids in 5 years one after another so i didn't get much sleep and what i did get was broken so the body got used to it , but not on the champix , im only out of bed and i want to go back the other night i went to bed at 6pm as i couldn't stay on my feet any longer , now this is a woman who normally goes to bed around 2am and reads half a book . every night this week latest i was in bed was 9.30 pm , also if i sit down for any length of time im falling asleep , never been able to sleep during the day unless ill ....... has to be the champix though im not complaining think of all that beauty sleep im getting for a change , god knows i need it ;-) for the glamorous granny contests of course ..... was my grandsons first birthday on sunday grrrrr that means im getting even older lol but will look younger with not smoking:D

chasm

I was on Champix at the beginning of 2008. I found them great. Had a bit of a crappy year, as i lost my lovely nan in April, and surprised everyone by managing to stay off the smokes. My sister and I were with my nan when she passed away,and my sister said she thought that i was going to start back on them.

In June I went on holiday-and what did i do? Bought 20 fags, then another 20 etc.
I managed to cut right back when i came home, but was really annoyed with myself for starting again. It got to the stage where i just couldnt give up.(goes to show that it isnt necessarily a stressful event that can put you back on the fags) I read the Allen Carr book and gave up for about 5 days, then recently bought an e-cig which was great but the fact that i was smoking again was really depressing me .
I considered going to my GP but kept putting it off as i thought she would tell me i couldnt have them a second time as im on a medical card.

Bit the Bullet yesterday and visited my GP,who was really supportive about it and I am now giving it another try- As the Doctor said Last time i made a mistake that i can learn from.

I will be giving up the fags on Day 9- April 3rd. WOOHOO Im gonna be a non smoker again-and this time there will be no mistakes!!

From talking to my GP ive found that they prefer you to keep trying to quit rather than just stop trying-I heard once that the more times you try the better chance you have of staying off them- once you've found the method that works for you.

DonnieL

Good for you Chasm. I haven't slipped yet, but here in the States the GETQUIT Support plan calls every evening to see if you've smoked and if you do they tell you to just keep taking the medication. I'm actually in my 12th week and tappered my self off to 1 pill a day. That way I'll still have some left after the 12th week should I need them!:eek::D God forbid..:pac:

Alimo come out from under the bed! You're doing great!! But I'm still not baby sitting!! LOL!

Trollness

Hi All,

I am from Ireland.I am now taking Champix for 7 days. I am hoping to quit on day 14. I have had no side effects to date. I smoke between 30-35 a day however from day 2 my consumption was cut in half. I relapsed yesterday and smoked 25 but i guess that is still considerably less than what i would normally smoke.

To be honest i am extremely nervous about quitting. I have been smoking since i am 14 and have used them as a crutch when i am happy,sad etc.

I have had no dreams whatsoever. I have had some slight feelings of nausia.

I would like to thank everyone for your comments as they have helped me over the last week. If i am feeling anxious or just need some guidance i have come to this forum. Thank you for your help!!

DonnieL

Hi Trollness,
As I said earlier on in this thread, I'd been smoking for 50 years + anywhere from a pack to 2 packs a day. The thing that was so amazing is that on my 3rd day when I was ready to start the 2 1MG pills my desire to smoke had already diminished. I quit on day #8 and haven't had a smoke since. Unfortunately it doesn't work the same way on everyone as you've probably read. Just hang in there as long as you don't have any major side effects. Again the most significant side effect that I had were the dreams. And has Poutbutton would say, "they were Epic"! L.O.L. (Getting Ready for Easter):)

Trollness

Hi Donniel

Thank you for your response. I have not had any major side effects so far. I am starting the 2 1mg tablets tomorrow so hopefully that wil cut the number of cigs even further. I have only smoked 5.5 cigs today which is absolutely fantastic!!

Poutbutton

Hello folks
The prodigal smoker is back I did my exam yesterday so fingers crossed I get to the pass grade. It was'nt easy to study following a house move. I got very stressed last Wednesday so I "allowed" myself to smoke since thursday :eek: I had about 3 a day since. This morning I took my champix again, no desire to have a smoke all day

Welcome Trollness & best of luck on your campaign to quit, I'm on my 10th week of champix and only take one a day as it made me queasy, so i'll be "on it" a lot longer than normal but my G.P. says thats fine as long as I'm doing ok.
Now that I have finished my Law course I have no excuses for stress so I hope to really try hard for no slip ups. I stank like an ashtray the past couple of days YUCK.

So how's everyone doing? The clocks sprang forward last night, lots of long evenings ahead for us now. Smoke Free!:p

DonnieL

Congrats! Poutbutton on finishing your Law Exams.. Wishing you good luck on hopping back on the wagon..;)
It's funny they changed it here in the States. Our clocks spring forward the first Sunday of March.

Trollness by the sounds of it I think you'll do great! Good Luck!!:D

pinnyoshea

Hi guys,

Hope all had good wknd. new week about to start. Intent on no slipups this week as smoked 2 on fri nte while drunk. It seems to happen every 2 weeks that i have a faux pas. Startin to wonder if ill manage to give up this time.

There is still a cigarette in my jacket pocket from fri nte and part of me has been screaming to light it up the last two days and just start back smoking but cant get myself to throw it away either. Blaming my complete lack of motivation for studying or even completing my projects that are due soon on it but I kno its all in my head. Just need to get my concentration back.

Spent the last 2 days lying on my bed reading random boards threads and eating junk food till all hours of the morning. AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH only a month left of college and I need a good kick up the arse. Throwing the last four years down the drain at the final hurdle would be rather stupid.

Terry

Flush it.
Do it now.

Trollness

Hi Everyone,

Yes today is day 8 and i am still smoking. I am going to take my first 1mg tablet in an hour or so!!I will keep you all posted.

Hi
Donniel,Poutbutton,thank you for your words of support i really appreciate it.

Poutbutton,what law course?? I studied both the LLB&BL!!

Trollness

Donniel i was just reading through the threads and i noticed that you were diagnosed with malignent melanoma i am so sorry to hear that!My mum was diagnosed with it in April 2008, it was thick! However they have removed it and i am happy to say it has not spread!I now call myself an expert on melanoma because i got an awful fright when my mum was diagnosed with it! My mum has never gone on holiday to the sun nor has she ever sunbaded so you can imagine our horror when the doctor told us the news.

My mum is of a bubbly character so i guess that helped her to get through it. Mums was on the lower part of her leg which meant she could not walk properly for a few days after they removed it. She has to return every 3 months for a checkup and has to have a full body scan once a year. The good thing is that once you are diagnosed with it they watch you like a hawk which in turn is fantastic as it can be caught in time.

SMK

Trollness wrote: »

Hi All,

I am from Ireland.I am now taking Champix for 7 days. I am hoping to quit on day 14. I have had no side effects to date. I smoke between 30-35 a day however from day 2 my consumption was cut in half. I relapsed yesterday and smoked 25 but i guess that is still considerably less than what i would normally smoke.

To be honest i am extremely nervous about quitting. I have been smoking since i am 14 and have used them as a crutch when i am happy,sad etc.

I have had no dreams whatsoever. I have had some slight feelings of nausia.

I would like to thank everyone for your comments as they have helped me over the last week. If i am feeling anxious or just need some guidance i have come to this forum. Thank you for your help!!

Hi Trollness,

No negative talk!! You did not "relapse" when you smoked 25 on Day 6! You are allowed (if that's the correct word!) to smoke when you start taking the tablets. I actually took the tablets for 3 months before I was brave enough to trust them completely and stop smoking and I will be two years off them on 15 April next.

Best of luck

DonnieL

Pinnyoshea.. Listen to Terry! Flush it! You've been doing great overall! You can do it! Hang in there buddy!

Trollness, thanks of the input on the Melanoma. Yes, I've been referred to a Melanoma Specialist plus I have to go in for a full body exam in May. I'm just so sick of all the poking, jabbing, cutting. Take care and good luck on the Champix! You can do it..