Chantix - Drug Information And Side Effects
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How long does chantix stay in your system? Could it still be affecting me after 9 months?

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I have been on Chantix for over a month and it's helping so much with my resolve to quit smoking but I think it's also giving me terrible, smelly, noisy gas...and bouts of diarrhea, which today has been frequent. I'm very tempted to stop taking it but afraid I'll want to smoke again - this drug is working so well it's making me forget to smoke! But the gas is embarrassing and incessant, and the diarrhea - well, you can guess. I've also been getting heartburn. I had been afraid of the depression and anxiety since I already manage both conditions, and have been pleasantly surprised that they are in check. I have cut out all alcohol while taking this - not a sip - because I believe that consumption of it could logically enhance and possibly trigger that side effect. But does anyone have advice on controlling the digestive side effects? Both of these are listed as possible - but so many things are listed!

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Re: Bebe (# 5)

Just quitting smoking caused extreme anxiety, hives and fever blisters for me. This time I used Chantix and only had mild anxiety. Anxiety can be genetic or just a response to withdrawal.

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Re: Verwon (# 1)

I started taking Chantix 2 weeks ago, and started the 2 mg/day 2 days ago. Today I am feeling a body buzz similar to what I experienced while on Chemotherapy and steroids. It is almost an out of body experience. I get light-headed when I stand up and am nauseated - but I know that is normal. Does anyone else feel this body buzz? I am considering stopping taking the medication, do I need to taper off as you do with steroids?

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Hi. A friend of mine's nephew began taking Chantix several months ago. Apparently, he blacked out and does not remember the incident. He was in the ICU for several weeks and for the last few months has been wheelchair bound and staying in a nursing home type of place.

He admits to messing around with marijuana and some methamphetamine, and his aunt whom he had been living with prior is convinced that it was those drugs that caused his blackout and inability to walk, speak, etc...

However, I have been looking into Chantix and I am not so sure. Has anyone else who is not also taking illegal drugs experienced such a catastrophic reaction to Chantix?

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Hi. I was wondering if anybody could help me with my question. I missed day 5 and day 6 of my chantix. Does that mean I have to restart from day 1 or just continue to pick up and take day 7?

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I took Chantix twice, nearly 10 years ago. I want to say Fall of '08 and Spring of '09. My doctor recommended it so I tried it, and it worked awesome. I just didn't want to smoke - it truly was amazing. I got the dreams, and 9/10 were awesome. Very lucid vivid dreams, most either extremely curious or very pleasurable. The 1 in 10 were very bad nightmares, but I'd wake up and realize (after a while) that it was a dream - primarily because my girlfriend who I just butchered to death with a hammer was still alive next to me. I didn't sleep the rest of that night, nor any of the others when I had the bad nightmares. But... I wasn't smoking, so it was fine. One day, driving to her apartment, I was overwhelmed with the urge to drive my car off the highway into a bridge, and that scared the hell out of me. I went to the doctor, stopped it, and all was well. A few months later I was smoking again, so I figured I'd try Chantix again, thinking it was just a one-time negative side effect. The exact same experience happened a second time - the quitting, the majority of good dreams (anyone else experience "Hollywood dreams"?), and the sudden impulse of suicidal thoughts. Now, I'm not a person with anxiety or depression or history of suicidal thoughts or tendencies. It's been nearly 10 years since then and I'm not suicidal (truly don't think I ever actually was - Chantix just put that in my head), but I've developed mild anxiety that I never really had, and I have "flashback" dreams of which I can only compare to LSD flashbacks (haven't had an LSD flashback, but it sounds like what I'm experiencing. I'll have dreams every few months that are so completely vivid that I can't sometimes distinguish them from reality. I'm writing this today because I had one last night. That girlfriend from 10 years ago? I married her this year and we're very happy together, but these dreams really mess me up some mornings. Last night felt like it was a week long, and we were on vacation and basically fought the entire time. She was yelling at me about stupid things. I wake up genuinely mad at her because of them, and it takes me between 15 minutes and several hours for my brain to "normalize" and sort of compartmentalize dreams and reality. I am truly convinced that Chantix has permanently altered my brain chemistry. It appears as though I'm not alone, and I wanted to throw this out there to see if I strike a chord with anyone else. It should be noted that I still very much enjoy the good dreams. I'm also completely able to eventually compartmentalize reality from my dream world. Also comforting, it hasn't gotten worse. In fact, it has remained completely unchanged, which tells me I'll probably be like this the rest of my life. I'm also a closet smoker.

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I haven't had a cigarette in almost six weeks, however, I would never recommend Chantix to anyone! I also had the vivid dreams, but that's not the side effect I'm concerned about. Has anyone else had problems breathing while taking Chantix, and even after you've been done with it for a while? My doctors can't seem to figure out what's wrong with me, but I believe it's the Chantix. My tongue is also numb/tingly. I never had either of these problems until I started taking the Chantix. Bad drug!!

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I just took my first Chantix pill this morning at about 6am. I didn't eat, but drank water. Around 9:00am I started to feel nauseous and dizzy. So I decided to try to eat, which I did. I still feel nauseous though. Is this common? I now know I should eat before taking it. Another thing that makes me nervous is that it says not to drive without knowing how your body reacts, but the nausea and dizziness came on so fast and hit hard, and I'm only on day 1? I have to drive tomorrow night and I'm scared that I may be hit with a dizzy spell. How long did you wait to drive especially since the dose changes often? How can your body adjust when its uping the dose so often?

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I was determined to quit smoking this time. I started taking chantix 2 months ago all is well so far. no smoking, however I am having irritations daily and I sleep like I am in a coma, I don't dream at all. the first time I tried chantix a few years back I had such nightmareish dreams I couldn't rest at all so I had to quit taking it and continued to smoke. This time no dreams, no smoke, staying very fatigued and tired all the time. I have not smoked since july 26th, 2016 and this is september, so the 26th will make 2 months. I love the way chantix helps with the cravings. I hardly think about smoking but I am gaining weight and need to move more. I just don't feel like it because I am so tired, but I'm gonna hold on as long as I can because I really want to quit smoking.

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I agree with you. I'm bipolar and have been on it before with no side effects except a very painful stomach, probably from not being able to go. This time was a completely different animal. I came very close to killing myself, if my husband had said the wrong answer to a question I asked I would have done it. Also very close to psychotic, stabbed myself in the leg twice with a ballpoint pen and scratched up my wrist with a phone charger (worse than it sounds) due to the rage / depression. I'm now off of it, several weeks, still smoking, and still very irrational. Part of my mind knows I'm being irrational, another part doesn't care. I don't know if the crap changed my brain or not. I'm wondering why it's still on the market!

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I am experiencing the same problems with the man I love. He has become a stranger to me since taking chantix. Very angry at the littlest thing and says hurtful things. I sometimes notice he doesn't even remember saying them and tells me I imagined it or am making it up. He doesn't realize that this started with the drug even though I have told him.

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I'm seriously wondering how you are doing? My loved one had a bad experience with Chantix within the first week and had to stop. Symptoms from brain fog, spacing out, no memory, & completely not knowing what is going on... Even unaware of own actions. Major confusion! Has been unable to work, keep in mind my loved one has a high up supervisor job and has always worked and taken care of things at home. Very independent and now is not able to even accomplish the simplest task due to the brain fog, & confusion. When ask to hand u an item... May come back with something completely out of context and not sure why they have it when they reach u. I'm very worried, as I said only took the medication a short time. Have appointments with a neurologist next week and I am hoping someone can give me a time frame of how long these symptoms will last. My loved one is the only income for this family and hasn't been able to work in a month and now after reading other survivor stories in afraid to leave them alone worried about other dangers. Has anyone had any relief of symptoms?

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Chantix gave me diabetes. You will quit smoking but you blood sugar go through the roof. I wish I would have known. They never tell you about that!

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I'vdejust recently stopped taking chantix cn anyone tell me how long I should or could expect the side effects loss of sleep hostility nightmares to last

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You are SO wrong!! Chantix absolutely changed my brain chemistry. I couldn't stop thinking about how to kill myself and my entire family. Should I start a fire and burn down the house?? Should I get everyone in the car and get hit by a train?? How am I going to kill the dogs?? I started taking drugs to try to stop the insanity, which of course only magnified my symptoms. I am an RN and had my license suspended due to my drug use and inability to function. I was on Chantix for three months and was close to quitting smoking, and I thought, well; if I'm dead, then the Chantix helped. It has been FIVE years and I was given Straterra by my doctor and am just now feeling "normal" again. Through a twelve step program, a counselor, my doctor and loving support from family and friends; I feel like I might get a life back. This poison changed my brain and I've had to work very hard to get it back.

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There is obviously more than one Janice in this conversation. As for me, it's going on 3 years and I am still finding it difficult to concentrate and the mental fogginess has not lifted. I tried to complete my doctoral dissertation but I am not able to focus anymore. I have to read directions over and over before they become clear or refer back to them often to complete the activity. My seizures are controlled with medication, although they have left me with amnesia for periods of my life. I am not the same person I was before Chantix and it is becoming difficult to remember who that person was. (P.S. I finally quit smoking, but only because I was diagnosed with lung cancer.)

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I AM STILL NOT SMOKING, IN FACT I DON'T FEEL LIKE I EVER SMOKED. I DON'T EVEN MIND SMELLING THE SMOKE. IT DOES NOT MAKE ME WANT TO SMOKE....

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Are you still not smoking or was it a waste of time and money

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I took Chantix and have been smoke free for 10 years. I was already on an anti depressant so I expected some side effects... I just beared through it and know that if I had gone another route I probably would not have quit.

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No one tells you about the increase in blood sugar while taking Chantix. You stop smoking but can become a diabetic. I took it for 10 days. I wax doing a pre employment physical and my blood sugar was 1000. What? My usual was 117. I stopped taking it and stopped smoking too after 23 years. Be careful of this drug. Pfizer was sued for not putting this info on their inserts. If you feel shaky, have your blood sugar checked.

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