Julie's Journal

I haven’t tried Chantix yet but have friends who have. They said they had nightmares so bad while taking it, they would wake up screaming in the middle of the night thinking someone was trying to kill them. Other friends have said nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts, no energy, loss of appetite, lack of motivation etc.

I need to quit smoking too, but my nightmares are already scary, I don’t need or want to make them worse.

Kat – I have had the lucid dreams side effect also, but mine so far have been very pleasurable dreams.

That definitely sounds scary, Jules. Didn’t Marcus use it to quit? I don’t know, being prone to depression, myself, I definitely wouldn’t want to be taking it. If you don’t have problems, though, maybe it’s ok. I don’t know – sounds scary to me.

But then – there is scary stuff online probably about Kleenex bath tissue – you know?

I guess it would be good if you weren’t both on it – then the one could monitor the other closely.

I hope you figure it out!

Lisa Marie Mary’s last blog post..11 boys trying out for 10 spots on the tennis team

Lisa – Marcus did use it and quit. I will email him, thanks for the reminder

I told my close coworkers, and my blogging friends here, so if you notice me going crazy, call for help! HA!

I don’t get it. Why don’t you just quit? Just quit without any artificial aid. Just don’t ever smoke again. Period. Have some inner strength.

Idenity Theft’s last blog post..Idenity Theft – Basic Steps To Protect Yourself

Idenity [sic] Theft – If it were only that easy. I take it you don’t smoke. Can you just stop spamming people’s blogs cold turkey?

As long as you are aware that these things CAN happen, you won’t freak out if they do. You can then overcome them. Being aware is the key. I hope you have success with this.

Karen’s last blog post..By: TorAa

Karen – very true! Thanks for the comment.

Hey. I did use it and quit. Actually I quit on about the 13th or 14th day. Never had the crazy dreams or nausea. I took it for 11 out of the 12 weeks and will hit my 7 month quit anniversary in a few days.

marcus’s last blog post..First Checkoff today

Marcus – Congratulations!!! Did you stop taking the Chantix after the 11 weeks abruptly, or did you slowly wean off the dosage?

Just wanted to say congrats on deciding to quit smoking. That is awesome and I imagine very difficult.

I haven’t even heard of Chantix before, so I can’t say. When I went off Celexa (antidepressants) though, the withdrawal symptoms were very scary and very real and my doctor never warned me about them before putting me on the med. I didn’t consult my doctor before going off – perhaps she would have told me then, but it would have been nice to know before I even got involved with the drug.

Anyway, you’ve got a good support system with your husband having gone through it. I wish you good luck.

Tee’s last blog post..Finding Happiness Within

Tee – How scary, I’m glad you are okay now Thanks for the support!

Congrats to you and Michael for making a start. That’s the hardest part – making up your mind to quit and then doing it. Congrats to Marcus, too. You’re an inspiration to all of us who need to believe that it’s possible to quit.

I don’t have any peresonal experience with Chantix. I have a lot of experience with anti-despressants. Any drug will cause side effects in a certain percentage of users. That wouldn’t be so bad if you knew exactly what the risks are and could make your decision based on that. There are too many variable from one user to the next for you to be able to do that, though. Drugs designed to alter the way we think and behave are especially sneaky that way. Your best course now is to watch yourself and have others watch you (you’re doing those things!) and get back in touch with your doctor immediately if things don’t feel right.

I hope this works for you and that you and Michael are both successful quitters. Good luck!

skeet’s last blog post..The Postie Carnival is coming!

I have no experience with this, but I did help a few people quit smoking on my mission. However, we didn’t use any drugs.

However, more to the point. You ask “I am going to turn into a raging homicidal and suicidal crazy person in a few weeks, or after I stop taking the Chantix.” I’m not sure why you think you becoming a crazy person would be a change. Are you trying to say you’re not crazy now? I don’t think you can blame the drugs on your craziness.

Hahahaha!! I’m so funny.

Exercise really has helped many people I know get through the hard times.

Skeet – Thanks for your words of encouragement!

Techie – Oh HAHAHA! You are teasing a woman who may go crazy, and knows where you live, and can drive there in 5 minutes.

Hmmm…..

Who’s the crazy one here?

You should blog about your lucid dreams. It might be great for search engine traffic.

Don’t give up on quitting

martin’s last blog post..Who Killed The The Meat Powered Car?

Good for you for taking the steps to quit. My mom smoked for over 25 years, tried to quit multiple times by weening herself and trying different programs, and the only way she finally kicked the habit was by quitting cold turkey.

corrin’s last blog post..Bloggy Giveaways – Valentine’s Day Surprise

I’ve never heard of Chantrix before but I have had a very similar bad experience with Zybam – suicidal, angry, depressed and god knows what else. it cost me a few friends and if I’d kept on taking it I don’t think I’d be writing this now. I’m afraid I don’t ever think I will worry about giving up smoking again. If the government’s/NHS’s way to get me to give up smoking is to kill me off quickly, then I’m quite happy to blow smoke in their faces from here on in.

i have heard lot about chantix , idont think it works well , mentally u get upset

I’m going to sound like such a woman right now… LOL

So, I was watching Oprah the other day and Dr. Oz was on and the entire program was about quitting smoking. I felt so inspired. The number one “drug” he recommended was Chantix. He was all about it. I made a doctor’s appt. for early next week to get on it. And this may sound naive but this is exactly why I don’t research meds online. Everything effects people differently. Pay close attention to how you’re feeling and if anything is “different” go back to the doctor. You also have the support of Michael who will give you that “outside looking in” prospective to make sure you’re doing OK.

At any rate, there’s all kinds of information on Oprah about quitting smoking if you want to take a look. After visiting her site I only feel more inspired and it may help ease some of your concerns as well. > Oprah’s Site.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you!

Katy’s last blog post..Google Might Offer Sponsored Reviews

Martin! I would if I had an X-rated blog! They have been really erotic! HA!

Corrin – Your mother is a strong woman!

Chris – that sounds scary! I’m glad you are here to comment on my post {{HUGS}}

Katy! I wish you all the luck in the world! Did they mention any of these side effects?

Thanks! No mention of side effects other than “minimal.”

Katy’s last blog post..Google Might Offer Sponsored Reviews

You keep telling me you’re going to stop by my house, but never do. Plus, I’ve moved. Do you even have my new address?

techie’s last blog post..Business Intelligence Textbooks for My Class

Yes I do. Be afraid.

I’m shaking in my boots.

techie’s last blog post..WidgetBox to Create a Facebook App

Apparently you were right: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01788.html

Don’t know if you’ve seen that yet.

dew’s last blog post..The toaster’s got my Mountain Dew!

very enlightening.

I am still looking for a aversion drug for smokers/nicotice.

Antabuse is a drug to prevent drinking anything alcohol.makes you nasuea

ed’s last blog post..I chose not to use Chantix

[...] Julie while quiting smoking found that some of medications can cause depression: I had spoken to my doctor about the side effects of [...]

I have a number of friends who have successfully quit using Chantix, and a few others who have failed but are about to try again (and they are going to use Chantix to try again).

I myself managed to quit 2 and half years ago without using Chantix, but I’m excited for others who are using it to quit.

I haven’t heard of anyone personally who had ill effects from the drug.

I do know that the parent company recommends that you do not combine Chantix with the Nicotine patch, and a lot of people wonder about that.

Patrick’s last blog post..Nicotine Patch, Nicotine Gum, Lozenges, and other Replacement Therapies

Hi, I am just wandering if you and michael are still not smoking. I just started chantix a week ago but still smoking. I feel a little confused and just not wanting to do anything..but somedays are just normally like this. Please let me know how you are doing with this…did you become crazy

i don’t think anyone should take chantix, seriousley. it’s so scary. it changed my father in the way that he became very lazy and even thought of suicide. pleaseee don’t take chantix, i cried for a long time after hearing my father was thinking suicidaly.

The superb working mechanism of _Pfizer’s anti-smoking medicine chantix makes it a highly sought after drug in the market and further Chantix information available in the website http://www.chantixmagic.com/ make it apparent that the drug acts as a better quit smoking medication that Zyban and other smoking cessation treatments. So, get hold of Chantix right now and trigger off smoking cessation!

I had spoken to my doctor about the side effects of course, and he did mention a couple cases of depression that went along with the Chantix, but he assured me that their symptoms were more from the nicotine withdraw, than the Chantix. I believed him completely until I started acting like Dr. Julie and Webmd’d my mind into full blown fear yesterday! http://www.levitraportal.com

I ask my doctor for the Chantix so it could help me quit smoking. I also take an antidepressant. After the 5th day on the chantix I felt like I was having a full blown meltdown with severe sadness. I even questioned life which is NOTHING like me. It was horrible along with the all night dark dreams which I never had before. So, please be aware that chantix stops pleasure receptors in the brain and it stopped ALL pleasures for me. I am going to stop smoking without the chantix. I have heard some great success stories but “Buyer Beware”. Its not for everyone.

I have just about quit smoking using chantix. I have been taking it about 3 months now. I am not able to smoke more than one puff, so I believe I am ready. As for chantix, it worked great, until recently. I am just now feeling drepressed for no reason. So I am going to stop taking them and pray I don’t pick up a smoke.

I’ve been on Chantix for a week. It has made me anxious, lightly suicidal, unable to sleep for more than 3 or 4 hours at at time and unable to concentrate but it has killed my urge to smoke. I have developed emphysema so I hope it works in the end. Just hope nothing crazy happens in the meantime.

I can’t believe that intelligent human being would risk their health using a product that admits to having potentially dangerous side-effects when there is a natural and completely safe method of quitting using hypnosis.

Today there are a lot of stop smoking drugs on the market. I use Chantix .
So far I didn’t feel any side effects. But I heard that there are some reports about suicide in result of Chantix consumption.
Masha Coin´s last blog ..Risk of suicide because of stop smoking drugs is overestimated

Congrats on quitting. I took Chantix for 24 days and I stopped b/c of chest pains and it caused me to have gingivitis (which I have never had in my life.). Now I am experiencing the blues and even homocidal thoughts. I am a believer in Jesus Christ and I at least have him to help me through this tough time. I feel bad for those that don’t have the faith that I have and experience these symptoms it is very dangerous. I do not act on these urges but am scared sometimes. I stopped Chantix cold turkey (now 3 days) I have been smoke free for 30 days. I had quit cold turkey 4 days prior to starting Chantix. My point is your not crazy. Ask God to help you. As long as you don’t act on these symptoms I think they will eventually go away ( I hope). May God’s blessings be with you on your journey to being a non smoker.

My doctor told me that people who experience undiagnosed or untreated depression while taking Chantix are the people experience the problems many of you have described, because they are not medicated correctly. Since high school I was afraid to admit to myself that I was suffering from depression and suffered with it for many years and I have ended up wasting over a decade thinking there was just something wrong/broken inside of me that makes it impossible to truly trust or allow anyone into my life that I have not known since childhood, even making it hard to trust the few friends I kept. Not only that but I would have paranoid thoughts that people wanted to hurt me or were talking negatively about me who did not know me at all when I went to social events or just walked around in public or that people disliked me even though I had just or never met them. This resulted in self medicating myself with everything from Marijuana and Alcohol to Cocaine. It got worse when I was unable to participate in team sports anymore in high school due to various leg injuries including multiple ankle dislocations that lead to me using various pain pills such as Vicotin, Perkaset and eventually OxyContin to get through the daily pain. Which mixed with alcohol cost me the rest of my high school sports career due to the trouble I got in legally from drinking smoking budd and taking pills and getting arrested three times before I was fifteen making me ineligible. Later, in my early twenties I started coke but quit that and went back to Oxy-Contin which lead to Smoking Black Tar Heroine as a result of the pills not working and the huge price increase in illegally purchased O.C. around 2005.

I have had success with dealing with depression by taking a drug called welbutrin and have 9 months of sobriety. I am also taking a drug called suboxone that blocks the opiate receptors in my brain stoping with drawl symptoms and cut all the negative people out of my life. I am lucky to have a very strong support system and parents who are helping me through this and have allowed me to keep my embarrassing drug use secret from the rest of my family including my little sister.

My same doctor who has helped me regain my sobriety tells me Chantix works the same as Suboxone by blocking the nicotine receptors in your brain. She say’s that when these symptoms happen to people, it means they have some sort of depression and the symptoms are elevated and aggravated when you take away the nicotine from your brain which helps suppress those feelings.

There is a very negative stigma regarding depression and depression medication, but the new drugs that they have recently developed to treat depression have few to no side effects. I have experienced no negative side effects since I have gotten my medication balanced correctly and even have seen improvements in my energy, desire to socialize and ability to focus and retain information. My short term memory is still recovering from my drug use but has been rapidly improving the past two months. I have never put all this out there at once, but I feel like my story may help some of the people on this thread. Especially the last person…religion is good for some people and I am glad your beliefs help you deal with your troubles, but the symptoms and feelings you are describing sound very similar to the ones I had to deal with during the rare times I stopped using any drugs over the last fifteen years. I dont know you but urge anyone who has the feelings many of you expressed on this thread to at least talk to your physician, usually they can help you without seeing a “shrink” if you don’t want to see one or do not believe in therapy. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, I know that sounds cheesy but it is how I truly feel now that I have taken these steps in my life.

I just started chantix about 7 days ago. i bagan to have some weird suicidal thoughts (not planning on doing it just weird thoughts) but i have not freaked out. the feeling began yesterday and that’s actually why i am googling the side effects. i’m only 17 and i fear that’s a danger since the site says not to even take it till you’re 18. my doctor did prescribe it though so i do not feel it is that dangerous. i recently started getting shakey but i do not have weird nightmares or such. i’m worried what the future may bring and it’s only day three without cigarettes. i understand my reaction may be withdrawls and tomorrow i am going to call and discuss it all with my doctor. good luck on quitting and i hope things go well. i’m sure the drug effects everyone differently just like every drug out there. good luck again and keep us updated on how it goes.