Chantix Dilemma: to Live Longer, Everyone Else Must Die? Posted: 12-12-07 00:11am
After my first 2-1/2 weeks on Chantix, I
can personally report no vivid dreaming,
no nausea, no insomnia and no cramping of
legs. But, unfortunately, I can also
report NO smoking cessation, NO decrease
in the agonizing DESIRE AND NEED to smoke,
and a really bad attitude!
Well, I must confess that I did get a
couple of things out of taking this
medicine: 1) an unrelenting, nagging
headache from the very first day I began
the drug (that has yet to cease); and 2)
knowledge that my attempts to quit smoking
is a serious risk to the health and safety
of anyone near me! When family members,
friends and co-workers - who had
originally encouraged me to stop smoking -
are suddenly begging me to smoke, I
believe it is time for me to re-evaluate
the pros and cons of continuing this form
of treatment.
Perhaps, after more than 35 years of
smoking around 2 packs a day, I've already
done irreversible damage to myself. I
must now decide if I want to alienate
myself from everyone around me or possibly
end up in jail for assault!
Hmm, I think I am leaning towards writing
off the headaches and loss of money to a
lesson learned: Chantix doesn't work - at
least not for me.
|
UCanQuit
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 109 Location: SEATTLE
Posted: 12-23-07 10:24am
Hi not4me,
I see that you were taking Chantix and
having serious anger issues.
While this can be a symptom of quitting
smoking. It is usually more of just an
edginess and not explosive anger.
While Chantix has, I believe around six
major side effects. The truth is, doctors
actually receive a list of side effects
that top over 100.
What is now coming to light are some of
these other side effects that people are
experiencing.
One of them, is uncontrollable rage.
Not anger, but a rage. People are now
reporting that they are worried about
their anger, because they feel that it is
not part of their normal personality to be
as angry as they have been.
Other serious side effects are people
experiencing severe depression and
feelings of despair and gloom and doom.
The FDA is now looking into 55 reported
suicide deaths from people using Chantix.
While that may not seem like a lot of
people compared to the amount of people
using Chantix. It is important to
understand that people have been quitting
smoking for many decades and I have not
personally seen one report where a person
commits suicide from just quitting
smoking.
I have been to another quit smoking site
where the majority of people are using it.
I saw a number of complaints from people.
Ranging from constant nose bleeds to
anger, to arthritic joint pain, to muscle
pain, to depression, to severe nausea and
the list goes on.
I'm not against anyone using quit smoking
aids to quit smoking. I am against the
pharmecutical industry for instilling fear
into people trying to quit smoking. So
that they feel that they can't quit
smoking without some sort of "quit smoking
aid."
The pharmecutical industry has been so
successful in it's propoganda machine.
That people taking Chantix and
experiencing symptoms such as severe
nausea or joint pain still say, " Well at
least I'm not smoking."
The person quitting would rather
experience one of these uneccassary
horrible side effects from Chantix than to
experience the natural withdrawal from
quitting smoking, because they have been
brainwashed into thinking that the
quitting smoking symptoms are worse.
I personally don't think that if I would
have experienced any of these horrible
side effects from this "medication" that
I could have quit smoking.
I have tried everything under the sun to
quit smoking. From the patch, to cold
turkey, to the gum, to zyban and nothing
ever worked for me. Why? Because I was
missing one important element. I didn't
change how I saw smoking.
This is the downfall to any "uit smoking
aid". It doesn't change how you see
cigarettes. It doesn't change how you see
smoking.
Most people that quit smoking feel as if
they're giving something up. They feel
deprived.
That is what makes quitting smoking so
hard. Not the withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawaling off nicotine can feel like
having a cold, BUT we all have had colds
and we got through them just fine.
We just have been brainwashed into
thinking that we will be withering junkies
lying on the floor if we just quit
smoking.
Within 72 hours most nicotine is out of
your system. This is when withdrawal
usually peaks and then starts to decline.
Within 10 to 14 days withdrawal usually
ends, but in reality, it is the first few
dyas when it is noticable.
Most of quitting smoking is psychological.
Quitters may experience association
triggers that can cause thoughts to smoke,
but they are only thoughts. It is only
because the subconscious has built up a
lot of memories from when we smoked.
So maybe the first time we drive our car.
We may get a thought to smoke or during a
break at work etc. BUT people confuse
those thoughts with a physical need for
nicotine and act on it and then go back to
square one. Once again addicted.
My advice it to educate yourself about
this addiction and you'll see how much
undue credit you have given cigaretttes.
Quitting is hard for a lot of people
because they don't want to let go of
something that though it is slowly killing
them. They still believe on some level
that smoking does something for them. It
doesn't. It only does TO them.
Also, read Allen Carr's book. The easy way
to quit smoking. i think you can find a
free online version somewhere. Just google
it.
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