The Stop-Smoking Drug That Could Make You Crazy

Things were looking good. My doctor had gone through the test results and told me I was perfectly healthy--except my breathing was a little shallow. That didn't surprise me. I'd been smoking for twelve of my 32 years, and my father died of lung cancer in his early fifties. That's why I was having my first physical in five years: I'd decided it was time to stop for good.

I'd heard about Chantix, a relatively new drug from Pfizer that blocks nicotine from attaching to your brain receptors. That way, you stop receiving any pleasure from cigarettes at all--even as the drug, snuggling up to those receptors the same way nicotine does, reduces withdrawal cravings and unleashes a happy little wash of dopamine to boot. Wonderful things they can do nowadays.

Read entire story here.

Comments

[Ramirez]

11:02 AM on 02/12/2008

I'm now in my 8th week of Chantix after smoking a pack a day for forty years. (I smoked the last one on the sixth day. Marlborough red. On the patio, had a smoke with my son. Sunny day, beautiful.) I liked smoking and I miss it but that was then and I'm no longer a smoker now.

I'm eating more and I've gained ten pounds but I'll deal with that in the spring; I've got enought to do now.

Dreams? I got 'em. I go to bed every night and enjoy a seven hour movie starring me. I look forward to it in a perverse way and I sleep like a baby. Fun, entertaining stuff. No nightmares, no disorders.

Anyway, I read the story and I'm sorry about what happened to the author. Tough story. But the drug is working for me and I couldn't have gotten this far without it.

[Mizfitz]

09:07 AM on 02/12/2008

Am on my 3rd week of taking it and am 12 days without a smoke. Side effects are just a little nausea in the evening & some strange dreams. Not really nightmares, just very specific. I remember them in detail, and they are in full color whereas most dreams that I remember (rarely) are always in red. I have been a little short tempered, but have also been stressed out with one of my kids relapsing on his crack addiction - so hey- I haven't killed anyone or thought of doing myself in, but am aware there might be some really bad side effects and I am very concious of that. I am (or hopefully "was") a chronic smoker for 37 years and I am only 48. I love to smoke and enjoy cigarettes very much, but understand that I am getting to the part where it is really starting to fuck with me in regards to breathing, coughing, the expense, the damage to my house and furniture, and it was just time to say fuck it. I swore that if I made it through one day of not smoking, not going off on someone, not being a complete fuckin bitch, that I would never smoke another one as long as I lived, and so far dammit, it's working. I also had about 5 shots of Jim Beam last Saturday night under the influence of Chantix and it didn't effect me any differently. I was concerned that drinking would be a big test on not smoking, cause they go hand in hand (at least with me - when drinking I smoke twice as much).
Just want to say I have nothing to do with this company, not being paid or anything, in fact it's very expensive, but so are the smokes, and it is helping me quit with very few side effects. Good luck to anyone trying to quit. It's not easy - I do have cravings around the key smoking times, like after a meal, and stuff like that, but I try to keep busy and tell myself I don't do that anymore.

[Ramirez]

11:08 AM on 02/12/2008

Good luck Mizfitz. Hang in.

You mentioned cravings around the "key smoking times." I'm quitting too and I know what you mean. Chantix helps you with the nicotine, but breaking the habits and rituals are tough.

I found that every cigarette I was smoking had a name. The First Smoke of the Day; the After Meal Cigarette; the Leave the Building and Walk to the Car Smoke: The Last Cigarette Before Bed... etc, etc.

Everytime on everyday you beat ONE of this rituals you have a win. Keep winning.

[Mizfitz]

09:47 AM on 02/13/2008

Thanks Ramirez - I am hanging for the long haul. Good news too - talked the kid back into rehab - he flies back out today. Hope he stays there a year!!!

It's amazing about those cigarette names. I have found that the "habit" or ritual as you said, is harder than the actual addiction - but then again - that's where the drugs kick in. Best of luck to you also - keep winning.

[aigeanta]

02:40 AM on 02/12/2008

Wouldn't it be nice if the FDA wasn't completely corrupt and allowing these russian-roulette pills on the market? Sorry, anecdotal evidence one way or the other just doesn't cut it. We need independent, double-blind, scientific testing of all drugs, not just cherry-picked shams conducted by the drug-pushing industry.

[monsieur henri]

09:10 PM on 02/11/2008

This drug is one of the deadliest delights to come from Pfizer laboratories in years. Not only does it deliver its grotesque side effects in abundance, but does so through suspect, untested nanotechnology. If you take this drug for more than three days, you will never have a pleasant dream again. The Coup de Grace? $150 for a 30 day supply. You're better off quiting 'cold turkey.'

[Trickywoo]

07:54 PM on 02/11/2008

And despite the horror of this story, I took Chantix as prescribed for 12 weeks, quit smoking after week 1, and remain 100 percent smoke-free three months later, longer than I have gone without nicotine in the past thirty-five years. Chantix saved my life. And I didn't even come home and kick the dog every night.

I suppose the moral is that everyone is different, and you have to be more alert to your body and mind when you start taking a prescription--for anything. Peace, good wishes, and the best of luck to anyone who's trying to quit.