New York Magazine Article Drew Attention To Chantix Problems In February 2008

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration mandated that Chantix, an anti-smoking drug, be required to carry its strongest safety warning due to side effects including depression and suicidal thoughts.

While this may be big news in the pharmaceutical world, the story was in fact broken nearly a year-and-a-half ago by New York Magazine. In a February 10, 2008 article, Derek De Koff detailed the disturbing psychological changes he underwent while taking Chantix, including self-destructive thoughts and the feeling of being "temporarily lobotomized".

Pfizer began making the drug, which blocks nicotine receptors in the brain, in 2006. According to AP, the FDA began looking into Chantix's side effects last fall, a number of months after De Koff's story was published.

Read De Koff's article here.

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Comments

[Epijim]

I took for but 2 months as I had no urge at all to continue smoking. So I saved $125 for the 3rd month, the recommended length of time to take. It has been 18 months.
After FIFTY years of smoking two packs per day I've never felt better.

[Tenley]

Okay, not to burst any bubbles, but the fact is that the article/news organization had apparently zero impact if the piece came out a year and a half ago. I understand someone from the magazine wanting kudos but come on.

[Ramirez]

I smoked a pack a day for forty years. Now I haven't had a smoke in 18 months; don't even really think about it.

Chantix worked for me. No problems, no side effects.

[jalowe1957]

Perhaps the best remedy is to abstain from using tobacco products in the first place, which I'm glad that I did.

[Jazz88105]

I took chantix never had a problem worked like a charm been smoke free two years this past may.

[Ramirez]

Good for you. Now do something about that smugness.

[hopeforchangenow]

I used Zyban. I got down to two cigs a day and could not go any farther. The doctor gave me Zyban for three months. It was amazing - every time I thought about a cigarette the thought was immediately vanquished from my mind. I thought that it also made me feel calm. Have not had a cigarette in ten years. Yahoo!

[Emerald1943]

I have been weighing the possibilities of taking the drug but had heard about the side effects. Now, you guys are giving me hope. I can stand a little nausea and bad dreams if it will help me get off cigarettes. I've tried everything else without any luck.

[schatsie]

I took it for 2 weeks and the nightmares and insomnia stopped me from taking it any longer...then when i had a checkup, for the first and only time in my life, my liver enzymes were out of whack...

Be careful, be very careful.

[Pema]

I took it and became depressed, it stops all pleasur ein the brain not jus tsmoking receptors. i was never told any of this by my doctor. i got off of it due to depression. for me it just was horrible. glad others had sucess tho. good for you guys!

[brijit]

Well, it helped me a lot. There was some depression but I attributed it to no longer being able to smoke. The medication took care of the physical cravings but not the psychological ones and I had some adjusting to do. I rather enjoyed the dreams since some of them were quite entertaining. The real problem was the gastric upset but I took the drug long enough to stop the cigarettes and it's been almost two years since I've had a smoke. Patients should be warned about the possible adverse reactions but the drug can be so helpful that it would be a shame to get rid of it entirely.

[grf67]

However, the drug is very effective.

[minneapolismn]

Ironically, in February 2008 I was taking Chantix. First came the severe upset stomachs, followed by irratability (I'm normally a very calm and rational person) which lead to me leaving my job that I loved.

The past year and a half have been a nightmare for me financially. I knew not long after doing what I did that it was the Chantix. My best friend had similar issues as she was taking Chantix at the same time.

[NKR]

New York Magazine was hardly the only one to cover this a year ago. It was all over the media I think about 8 months ago. The alleged link between suicidality and varenicline was not a new revelation when it came out a few days ago. Do some research...NYM did nothing special.

Besides, let's be scientific here. Varenicline may elicit or exacerbate mental health problems in rare instances. Other studies, however, have found it didn't cause any change among depressed patients. It's simply too early to say this is a bad drug. Its helped thousands of people quit. People should be cautious because there are some warning signs, and this should be investigated, not cause a scare.

[evekendall]

Ashton Kucher, Ellen DeGeneres, David Blaine, Sir Richard Branson, and Sir Anthony Hopkins used this method to stop smoking:

http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/

Wellbutrin/Zyban also helps.

[dandypuddin]

Stay away from Wellbutrin and Zyban too.

[Layman23]

Geez, i was trying to start this weekend and now this news breaks out ?

[fabricnthreads]

So glad I never started smoking. My husband quit cold turkey after 25 years, on July 2, 1998, and has never looked back.

Good luck to anyone out there trying to quit. You can do!!!

To folks on this drug, please be careful. This article scares me to death. Please have your friends and family looking out for you.

[WinterParkMom]

I KNEW I'd heard something about this since last year. I was thinking about asking my doc abt Chantix but had heard about the suicide thing and changed my mind.

[somethingworthsaying]

if you're a dennis kneale fan you'll be interested to know the man who said the recession was over also made fun of this writer when he came on CNBC.
http://www.mbbike.com/lowrider-videos/video/iamldkOfk1o