Any Way To Reverse Long-term Chantix Side Effects? (Page 5)

My mother took Chantix several years ago in an effort to quit smoking. Well, she quit for a year. During that time, however, she became unbearably depressed. She has no history of depression.

She consulted a doctor several times and tried 3 different prescriptions, 1 of them being Zoloft. She stopped because she said they made her feel like she was just in a constant haze. She hasn't been to a doctor or a psychologist since then. In the mean time, she started smoking again because she thought that it would make the depression go away. It didn't.

Because of her experience with the 3 prescriptions, she is unwilling to go back to a doctor, and dismisses any notion of going to a psychologist. Our family has pleaded with her to keep trying, even if she has to tell whoever she sees that she won't try any drug for fear of the side effects; even if her only option is therapy, we want her to at least see someone. She is reluctant.

This side effect of major depression has persisted for years now, long after she stopped taking Chantix. Does anybody have any advice, or experience with the reversal of such severe side effects? My mother, and the rest of my family, is terrified that this is permanent, and she is terrified of the possibility that another prescription will result in even worse side effects.

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REPORT

I am not a medical professional but I have had my life terrorized by taking Chantix. For me personally it gave me back my life that changed 7 years ago after taking Chantix. Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation. The unit I cured myself with was called CES Ultra.

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To I think I see a light for us...
Hey dude, I am pleased to hear you have had a positive result from trying the Rhodiola Rosea... the thuja, helps with decreasing the negative effects, and the Rhodiola helps to reinforce the brain, seeing that you have become more aware since taking it, you can continue taking just one per day.

I really hope you continue to be the man you have now become, and it pleases me to know someone else has had the success that I had.
THANK YOU SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES.

BLESSED BE.

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I would like more specific information about the rhodiola rosea and Thuja. I have been battling side effects from Chantix for almost 3 years now. I have been to many doctors and tried various different prescription medications. Please post a reply {edited for privacy}

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Could you provide more information about how CES worked for you?

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Update!

Better everyday! :)

I am not a medical professional, just a laid off pool boy in Michigan. I can only speak from my experiences and hope to help others beat the hell I have been through. I just keep reading more and more about everything and reserve a pessimistic mind set on the matter even though I KNOW I am changing for the better. I dont want to be a victim of the placebo effect.

Before starting this "remedy" , I was suicidal, depressed and just to sum it up, a shell of a being just waiting for the end. I would hug my kids and go stand on a chair in the garage with a belt around my neck while I tried to muster up the courage to take the final step forward.

I took that step a few times but thankfully, something always happened to make the attempt for the day unsuccessful. Since 2008, I have hurt myself more and made half- hearted attempts to end my life more times than I can remember.

I couldn't wait to get laid off so I could go into a mental hospital and get every possible prescription to try and get better. I really thought this was the only way to go.

I started taking these adaptogens the week before I actually did get laid off thinking if it didn't work, I would finally succeed by walking a block to the freeway and jumping off the overpass. I knew exactly where I was going to go, how I would make it over the fence, time of day and chose the west bound side because traffic moved faster.

Grim accounts, but brutally honest. I feel even the most embarrassing details are warranted for the poor soles whom think they are far worse than I was.

I have added a couple other things since the start of this regimen, and also removed a lot of my addictions that I could never escape from in the past.

Before starting , I drank almost daily, smoked about an ounce of pot a week but really didn't feel high ( I could smoke joint after joint and bowl after bowl and not fall asleep or get the munchies). Also I was up to almost 2 packs of smokes a day. All of this just "helped" me get through everyday and no matter how hard I would try to quit, the overwhelming urges won every single time. I couldn't even go buy diapers without coming home with 4 24 Oz cans of the cheapest, strongest beer I could find, then after they were gone, getting in my truck to go buy just one more, 2-3 times, every time. That equals 14 ice beers almost daily! I would drink on my drive home from work, during work and believed I functioned fine. Nothing seemed to have the effect it should of. I got pulled over once for not signaling and did so good on the field sobriety check that the officer didn't make me blow into a breathalyzer because he believed I had 1 beer when I really already had 10 in me. Scary!

Every time I couldn't afford pot I would throw fits until my wife produced the money (usually taking it from a bill just to shut me up). I knew exactly how to work her. This woman has never smoked marijuana and hated that I did. She could not handle the monster I would become for more than a day or so. If she tried, I would end up with something around my neck again.

As far as cigarettes, I had never been successful. I could never beat the urge.

All of theses addictions 100% worse since 2008. That was just me. If you didn't like it, I didn't talk to you anymore. I only associated myself with people who could feed my habits and distanced myself from everyone else.

Although I am currently using an e cig, which sucks in itself, I have not had the urge to buy my beloved Pall Mall Menthol's. Not once. I don't know why, but its not even a thought anymore. I have been smoke free for a week and a half. About 9 days longer than I have EVER gone without giving in or being forced by my non smoking wife to "just go buy a pack". I would always throw the same fits every time she " made me quit" till I got what I wanted.

I don't want a beer, and no desire to smoke pot anymore after 22 years of doing it. (Habit and amount of marijuana increased 10 fold after the chantix).

I have learned that all of these addictions create a happy feeling that my brain was not producing by its self. I was a rat hitting the feeder bar, and although I didn't like whom I had became, the disgust was never enough to stop me from getting what I wanted. I had just become a huge spoiled brat that always had to have his way.

OK, so I am irritable and edgy right now with high anxiety. Going through a lot of withdrawals I know. Its all manageable though where it hasn't been in the past. I might blow up for a second here or there but its a lot easier to take a deep breath and continue on. I don't stay mad for days over issues I can not recall anymore like I did. I put myself around temptations on purpose. I still make that walk to the beer cooler when I go to the store, but now I walk right by and think it would be nice to have just one, I no longer HAVE to get it and happily, I have yet to drink.

Another long winded post, I hope you have read this far. I just want every one to know the kind of behavior I presented in the past that's only an embarrassing memory at this point.

I still have a bowl loaded up with the last of my marijuana from a week ago sitting on the fireplace with a lighter waiting for me to give in and "my guy" owes me at least an eighth of an ounce he is still waiting for me to pick up. I have a half pack of cigs from the last day I worked ( November 13th).

All of this still looks me in the face because I don't understand how or why any of this is working. No one else in my life has changed. Kids still brats at times, wife still nags all of the time, house still isn't kept to my standards and I am laid off. How is this possible that I am not going insane and reverting back to drugs and alcohol. I don't know but I am glad that a person with zero self control is feeling as great as I am. I really think I am ready to pitch all of the mentioned. This is awesome and I hope that others can be healed as well.

If only I knew about this stuff before my mom died at 52 with all of the problem that she had. I used to be in pain, everywhere, every day. Back, knees, shoulders and no strength. Most pains have subsided. I am eating again, sleeping great and can just do the daily mundane crap that life entails without the sense of doom that hung over my head.

So this is what I have been doing, again, not a doctor, this is not a prescription, take all necessary precautions and educate your self a little as I have. I will post any negatives as well as update with a shorter post in a week or two. Good Luck! You deserve life, I hope you all get it back as I have seemed to.

Still no visits to the doctor or prescription medication. I no longer feel like that's the only answer.

I am taking at this time........ I am still adjusting schedules to determine whats best for me.... Do the same for yourself. There are many different products and strengths. I have a habit of over doing things to get an immediate benefit but am starting to realize that sometimes less is more in this case. Trial and error.

AM:
Rhodiola extract 340mg (3% rosavins= 10.2mg) 1 capsule
St. Johns Wort 300mg 0.3% hypericin 1 Capsule
B-12 5000 mcg 1 quick dissolve tab with a glass of Naked Green Machine Juice. ( I don't eat vegetables or fruit much so this helps me get the other stuff I need)
Fish oil 1200mg 1 Capsule

@12pm. Fish oil and another St johns Wort

@5pm Fish oil, Rhodiola, more juice.

A couple hours before bed:
Ashwagandha extract 470mg
5-HTP 200mg 1 time release tablet
St. Johns Wort

Then I fall asleep and actually dream waking up feeling great and energized to get on with my daily routine. I also make sure to wake up at the same time everyday for I read this is important. 6.5 hours of sleep has seemed better than 8, But I still like to sleep, so I try to go to bed by 10 or 10:30. Its not hard, the 5-HTP really relaxes me and I am not forcing myself to turn in.

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You can quit with Champix however you have to look at what Champix is to realise the dangers of long term use. It kills the nicotinic receptors in the brain. One has to wonder what the underlying neurons and ion channels are actually for, we didn't evolve "cigarette receptors" so it's possible they actually regulate mood.

The best way to quit with this drug is to only take it when you get a craving.

I don't want to bore anyone with my quit story but I will leave one tip that for me was the difference between relapse and success.

When you go to the pub take a champix with your first drink.

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I too have the same issues with violent anger, depression etc avyear after taking chantix, my life is no longer the same

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How was their brain scan different from an MRI?

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Hello Reigan, I just read your posts about Chantix and rhodiola. Thank you!! You are the first person that has posted something that has given me hope!!!

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You were probably self medicating with nicotine, which is a known antidepressant. This is an effect of nicotine, not from the chantix itself.

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Get a life Monty

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Hi Jen, just wondering if you managed to get a supplement with Rhodiola Rosea in it.
just to update on my experiences, its a good idea to keep taking the supplement, I don't take it everyday, just a possible 2 per week, I'm also taking a dose of Arsenicum Album
200c once a month. The arsenicum album helps with my dark side, as its still there in its minority state.

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There is no recovery from this drug. Eventually my husband will succeed in killing himself. he only took this for less than two months in 2007-2008. His psychiatrist said there are no more drugs for him to try. Its only a matter of time and he will be out of this living hell this drug has made his life.

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To devil drug...
if you love your husband, and theres no doubt you do, please try going to a health store and getting a supplement with the highest dose possible of Rhodiola Rosea. This amazing herb fights the MAO inhibitors that the champix / chantix contains, he will need to take one every morning, keep up with the supplement for 3 months, if you have a homoeopath in your area, ask them for a 200c dose of thuja enough for one dose x3 over 36 hours, morning, night, morning, stop.
there is hope devil drug, you just have to read our comments and take your own steps towards the process.
I, myself still get dark moments, but I combat these using homeopathic remedies, arsenicum album, the dosage for the thuja, 3 doses over 36 hours.
There really isnt anything a psychotherapist can do for your husband.
Another thing that has come about from my path of champix or as its known in the USA, chantix, is that my doctor has realised I'm susceptible to psychosis from some other normal type pharmaceutical drugs, but, it's really a trial and error path.
I bid you much love in the endeavor of helping your husband back to a life of normality.
Blessed be.

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Hi, if you look back to page 3 of this conversation, to note #43, a scientist has replied to one of my posts regarding rhodiola rosea.
please try it, it really is the hope that you are looking for.

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What do I do my bf took chantix he's hit me broke my finger abused me in front of my kids very violent crazy and Not the same person before he took it. Help mrpe

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Get out of there now. My husband started getting violent mood swings and said horrofic hurtful things to me and the kids. He never got physically violent but came close. He stopped months ago but he's not the same person anymore. It's quite sad. Go to a safe place and tell him to stop taking it.

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It doesnt matter if u stop taking chantix / champix, the effects stay within, because they change the chemicals in the brain.
If you want to help your husband, then try following my advice.!!..

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I have spent 4 years of hell from taking champix. I didn't realise the change it at the time but I was severely depressed and mood swings and became violent against my loved ones. I am not normally that temperament. They say smoking is dangerous to your health but in hindsight the massive amount of destruction that I have left over the past 4 years has been a night mare. I finally realised the consequences on boxing day after I violently left my husband and spat the dummy big time. It was the worse thing I did. Over the past 3 months I am finally getting it back together. I stopped taking the champix but have had to go on anti depressants. I am doing a lot of self hypnosis on anxiety and habits and I am finally starting to feel a peacefulness again. Luckily my husband knew it wasn't the real me and has also taken me back. Even my 16 year old daughter told me I had become a psychopath. For all those in the dark. It is hard work, you have to start a gratitude diary and do lots of self hypnosis when going to sleep and then slowly you start feeling like yourself again.

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some of the people's answer is un-INFORMED .
I am about 7 months removed from taking Chantix . 7 months later and still the side effects! I am positive that this was a direct result of Chantix .. its a nasty nasty drug

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