My father and my family have become recent
victims of the rare but severe adverse
reactions linked to Champix in which my
father had accidentally taken his own life
during what appeared to be a major
%u201Cpsychotic event%u201D. He had been
drinking in combination with taking
Champix which appears to have resulted in
hanging himself in the garden shed. I had
spoken to him only hours before and he was
his usual happy self, just settling in for
the night to watch some TV and have a few
drinks. He was a contented happy man with
everything going for him and everything to
live for. He was happily married and had
recently become a grandfather and was
about to become one for the second time.
With no financial worries and his working
life nearing an end he was positively
looking forward to his twilight years of
watching his grand kids grow up and share
his retirement with my mother, family and
his wide circle of friends.
He had began taking Champix in
early February and had reported to the
family that he had suffered from some of
the more common side-effects including
vomiting, headaches and disturbed sleeping
but did not elaborate on why he thought
his sleep had been effected. On the 23rd
of March 2008 his body was discovered by
my brother at the family home. There was
no note and there appears to have been no
premeditation to the events. The
authorities so far are treating his death
as a %u201Cterrible accident%u201D in
which they believe there was no intent to
end his life. In my opinion with the
evidence that has been explained to me, he
appears to have behaved completely out of
character including damaging our home in a
way that would be totally alien to my
father given the pride he had in his home.
In my mind there is no doubt that these
pills, which are designed to mimic the
%u201Chigh%u201D from smoking by releasing
dopamine which effects behaviour, had a
huge part to play in my father%u2019s
premature death.
I implore people who are thinking of or
actually taking this drug to inform your
family, friends or those closest to you to
keep an eye out for unusual behaviour.
This has cost my family dearly because we
didn't know about the potential for side
effects such as this which was excluded
from the packing information.
|
UCanQuit
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 109 Location: SEATTLE
Posted: 05-06-08 18:04pm
Hi Mark,
I am really sorry to hear about your
father. No one should have to die to quit
smoking.
What you are bringing up is a very
serious matter. More and more people are
coming forward with serious side effects
from using Chantix.
We all have to remember that it is still
a fairly new drug. It only came out in
2006.
There was a famous musician that went on
a rage rampage a while back while on
Chantix. You might have heard about it. He
was the guitar player for the New
Bohemians. He was drinking and went into a
fit of rage and ended up getting killed.
I'm not bringing this up to prove that
Chantix has some serious nasty side
effects, because he was also drinking, so
there was probably a combination going on,
but after that incident did happen, there
was a website set up for people that may
also have had adverse reactions to the
drug.
Within one week, there were 55 reports
that people had commited suicide while
taking this drug and many many more cam
forward talking about having suicidal
thoughts and either extreme depression and
or uncontrollable rage.
Phizer says there are 6 major side
effects to the meds, but they have a list
where there are actually 164 side effects
people have experienced while on the
drug.
Everything from vomiting, to nosebleeds,
to arthritis, to liver damage, to
depression, rage, etc.
A lot of people have used Chantix without
these side effects. that's great. The part
that isn't great are the people that are
experiencing these side effects.
See, here is the problem. The 6 major side
effects that people experienced when
taking the drug, were done in studies.
Controlled studies.
This means that people with high blood
pressure, low blood pressure, heart
disease, over weight, under weight,
depression, etc. weren't allowed to
particpate in the studies.
So guess what happens when Chantix was
released to the general population? All
these people that were omitted from being
able to partcipate in the controlled
studies, essentially became guinea pigs
for this drug.
This is why now, there are more and more
people experiencing symptoms than before.
The FDA released a suicide warning video
recently on Chantix and it was
mysteriously removed almost as fast as it
was aired.
Personally, I take serious issue with the
pharmaceutical industry as they instill
fear into people trying to quit smoking
and I especially take issue with Phizer
for rushing out a drug like this, so that
they can profit.
Again, I am sorry about your father. No
one should have to die to quit smoking and
up until Chantix, no one did.
I don't come by here often, but if
you're trying to get the message out there
on this information. I have access to
quite a bit information on Chantix and the
FDA video.
You can send me a private message and
I'll get back here and respond.
Take care
Eric
|
markh1979
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 5
Posted: 06-28-08 03:49am
Thank you Eric,
I am aware of
the airing and posting of the FDA video,
It's amazing the power that these big
pharma companies have over their own
regulators. I have researched this
product heavily as I am a scientist
working within drug discovery and find a
frightening indication of the problems
associated with Pfizers Champix (Chantix).
At some point these frightening accounts
of serious side effects will cause a lack
of confidence in their product and the
medical profesion will follow suit, at
least the ones that like to continue with
their oath of helping people.
Unfortunately Pfizer will always have the
ability to say that quitting smoking alone
can cause behavioral alterations.
Unfortunately
for me and my family this will of course
be too late. But if I can help to force
change in the monitoring and the control
of the over-prescription of this drug, it
will go some way towards satisfaction at
our end.
Any info that
you have please feel free to contact me
through pm.
