Any side effects while on Chantix?

[Donna]

I am new on here and don't know where to put this. If it is in the wrong place I do apologize.

I have started Chantix. I was up to the 1MG two times a day when I really had alot of adverse reactions. With the initial amount I was very dizzy, headaches, mild nausea, very hot, fast heartbeat. On the 1MG twice a day I had all of the above plus feeling a very heavy feeling in chest, horrible dizziness, strange headaches, buzzing in the ears, my stomach felt like it was on fire. I took alot of tums. The Dr. put me back on the .05 twice a day yet I have not gotten away from the dizziness, nausea and I notice it appears as if when breathing it seems more difficult or heavy. And now I am getting a down feeling a stiff neck. The Dr. said dizziness didn't go along with the side effects, nor the fast heart beat but the being so hot could along with the bloated feeling. I asked what I could take for the nausea, she said Maalox. Does anyone have these symptoms and I am sure right now I have not listed all of them. I want to succeed at stopping smoking. I don't like this depressed feeling, the burning stomach, esophugus, dizziness, and now at times at bedtime my heart feels too slow. I haven't, knock on wood, had any vivid dreams yet. I hope I don't. I wonder if I should start this whole thing over from the beginning, meaning starting the Chantix, but first let my stomach rest. I have COPD and didn't know it until I had a brutal virus last summer which has made me use ADVAIR along with MaxAir. I need to stop smoking yet I tell people there is this urge, craving or need way down deep inside me for a cigerette. I had noticed I wasn't enjoying them as much when I was on the Chantix at first, now I am beginning to not notice much of a change.

Any suggestions, help, thoughts, opinions, please let me know. I am a person who has a very sensitive chemistry with medications I react the exact opposite as a person normally does. Normal, I am not as I have anxieties and I think an addictive personality.

Someone had mentioned cinnomon tooth picks, where could they be bought? I doubt any of our stores would have them.

[heather]

Donna-
Did you find any answers?

[Smith Mtn Lake Girl]

I took this stuff and I thought I was losing my mind, seriously. I really felt there was something bad wrong with me, like Parkinson's disease or something. Thank God I had enough mind left about me to read the pamphlet that came with this JUNK. I had a lot of the severe but rare side effects.

This stuff had me throwing up a couple of times (i always had a meal before I took this junk), extreme dizziness to the point I fell and broke a tooth out and cracked another. I'm getting permanent crowns on both my front top teeth in September. My hands would shake and my insides felt jittery real bad. I lost my balance a lot and seemed to favor my left side for some reason. I was very clumsy and dropped almost everything I picked up. Memory was really bad, I couldn't remember simple things like what I just opened the refrigerator for. Very scary! Extremely vivid and frighteningly violent dreams every night. I was crying a lot and very snippy with my husband. He would tell me I was acting crazy and it would piss me off to the point I was thinking violent thoughts towards him and that is not me at all! I would dwell on things he and other people would say to me and have violent thoughts. I love him, I would NEVER do anything to hurt my husband. This is very scary stuff to read. Imagine living through it. I can now definately see how someone can be temporarily insane not have control over what they do and that is very, very scary!

Now, I am not a pill taker at all. I hate them! I take powder form of aspirin because I hate pills so much. I've had insomnia for many, many years and never did anything about it until recently when I had only gotten 3-4 hours sleep every night for almost a month. The doctor prescribed Ambien for the insomnia and also Chantix to help me quit smoking. I started the Ambien a week PRIOR to starting the Chantix and was sleeping great, feeling great, no side effects at all. Once the Chantix got in my system things went down hill pretty quick. It did make me not even think about smoking a cigarette, but that's because I was too busy feeling crazy and wondering if I was going to die because I just knew something was bad wrong with me. I took Chantix for a little over a month and it was pure hell.

[Mike221]

Donna wrote:

I am new on here and don't know where to put this. If it is in the wrong place I do apologize.
I have started Chantix. I was up to the 1MG two times a day when I really had alot of adverse reactions. With the initial amount I was very dizzy, headaches, mild nausea, very hot, fast heartbeat. On the 1MG twice a day I had all of the above plus feeling a very heavy feeling in chest, horrible dizziness, strange headaches, buzzing in the ears, my stomach felt like it was on fire. I took alot of tums. The Dr. put me back on the .05 twice a day yet I have not gotten away from the dizziness, nausea and I notice it appears as if when breathing it seems more difficult or heavy. And now I am getting a down feeling a stiff neck. The Dr. said dizziness didn't go along with the side effects, nor the fast heart beat but the being so hot could along with the bloated feeling. I asked what I could take for the nausea, she said Maalox. Does anyone have these symptoms and I am sure right now I have not listed all of them. I want to succeed at stopping smoking. I don't like this depressed feeling, the burning stomach, esophugus, dizziness, and now at times at bedtime my heart feels too slow. I haven't, knock on wood, had any vivid dreams yet. I hope I don't. I wonder if I should start this whole thing over from the beginning, meaning starting the Chantix, but first let my stomach rest. I have COPD and didn't know it until I had a brutal virus last summer which has made me use ADVAIR along with MaxAir. I need to stop smoking yet I tell people there is this urge, craving or need way down deep inside me for a cigerette. I had noticed I wasn't enjoying them as much when I was on the Chantix at first, now I am beginning to not notice much of a change.
Any suggestions, help, thoughts, opinions, please let me know. I am a person who has a very sensitive chemistry with medications I react the exact opposite as a person normally does. Normal, I am not as I have anxieties and I think an addictive personality.
Someone had mentioned cinnomon tooth picks, where could they be bought? I doubt any of our stores would have them.

Best topics for this would be

http://www.topix.net/forum/law/healthcare/T21...

http://www.topix.net/forum/law/healthcare/TVF...

The only problems I had was withdrawal and joint pain in my one hand. The withdrawal came from quiting the Chantix cold turkey and others have had this problem too. This consisted of horrible anxiety and depression but only affected a minority of people. Best thing to do is to discus these problems with your Dr. I know some have cut their dosage in half because of some problem while on the full dosage Again, its best to talk to your Dr about any changes first. Maybe someone else will have better advice but again try the boards. The August one(1st link) above has a lot of Chantix users there.

[Mike221]

Saturday Jul 28

OMG I didn't realize this topic was made over 2 weeks ago but was just bumped up.

[don]

What is Chantix

[Mike221]

Its a stop smoking cessation.

http://www.chantix.com/content/Chantix_Brande...

[Side effects]

My side effects have been very typical. Vivid dreams, insomnia (I always sleep like a rock - 8 hours - never recall my dreams), gas, about 15 minutes of extreme nausea, and most interestingly, the same fuzzy memory/dopiness feelings that the above poster described. I'm a very detail oriented person, very meticulous, and generally very focused, but this stuff sometimes makes me feel disoriented and I find myself losing track of details when performing complicated tasks (PILOTS - TAKE HEED!!). Anyway, I'm into week 5 now and the side effects are not as bad. No cigarettes so that's good.

I skipped a full day + 1/2 (36 hours) just for fun to evaluate the half life and any withdraw effects I might have and there didn't appear to be anything creeping up. All systems normal as far as I could tell.

I also want to mention that I had quit smoking about 8 years ago for 3 years and I used the gum for about 2 months and then was off of everything. I did not experience any of the above mentioned effects.

Kevin

[c ziegfeld]

In the past I would bring a saucepan of water and cinnamon sticks to boil... and then add toothpicks.

[Side effects]

Thanks Deb! That's why I mentioned my previous experience quitting (or stopping as I tend to call it!) with the gum. Somewhat of a control group, if you will. I had very normal withdraw effects such as anxiety and restlessness, but certainly not the same as those I am having with the Chantix. There are certain components of the mental side effects that resemble those my friends have described from anti-depressants.

Kevin

[msjuel]

Hello! I am new to the forums and having been taking Chantix for almost 3 weeks and still smoking! I just started my period this past week and have felt just miserable!! Has anyone else experienced a change in their monthly cycle while taking this? It almost feels as if I have the flu but without the vomiting and diarrhea. Not to mention the wanting to sleep all the time but I can't.

I have skimmed over many forums but have seen nothing mentioned about this. I'm hoping this feeling subsides soon!

[betty]

Did any of you have horrible exhaustion while on chantix? Like to the point where you could hardly move? I am at the end of my rope!

[Mel]

I just took my first dose of Chantix.(Had a bowl of Cheerios and then about 10 oz. of water to avoid the possible nauseau.)
Wish me luck...

[Mel]

Teresa in Tennessee wrote:

Good Luck! to you, Mel.
Many more people are over on Chantix august 2007 part 3 with mucho experience...

I'm not sure what you mean by "Chantix August 2007 part 3". Is there another site I should be going to? Sorry for my ignorance but I'm new to this. Thanks.

[viki]

Mel wrote:

<quoted text>
I'm not sure what you mean by "Chantix August 2007 part 3". Is there another site I should be going to? Sorry for my ignorance but I'm new to this. Thanks.

Scroll down to the bottom of this page and you will see the latest visited Topix forums. If you want to see them all go to the top and click on the word forum.

[viki]

Mel wrote:

I just took my first dose of Chantix.(Had a bowl of Cheerios and then about 10 oz. of water to avoid the possible nauseau.)
Wish me luck...

Best of luck to you...Come here often!

[KELLY]

heather wrote:

Donna-
Did you find any answers?

I AM ON DAY 5 FELL THE SAME WAY SICK FLU SYMPTOMS. SAD. I THINK ITS BECAUSE THE MED IS STOPING NIC TO THE BRAIN AND RELEASING A WHOLE LOT OF HAPPY JUICE. WHY ARE WE SAD THEN IF THATS WHATS HAPPENING

[jayme]

I'm new here. I took a month of Chantix and stopped smoking, which is the great news. I ran out on Sunday (took last dose on Sunday night). I am not very organized and occasionally forget to refill things before they run out. So to make a short story long, I didn't get it refilled. So then I thought I would just hold off and see how I do without it. I haven't taken Chantix for 4 days and I feel like I'm falling apart. I'm crying and upset constantly. I'm driving my daughter and my boyfriend crazy. I'm yelling at everyone. I feel depressed and having panic attacks. I have read so much on the net and I know some people do experience the same thing. I have some anxiety problems, but no mental health problems before Chantix. Today I feel like my world is falling apart. I'm sitting at work and have cried at my desk several times. I'm not having suicidal thoughts, but my world is feeling very, very bleak at the moment. I'm not sure whether to just ride this out or call my doctor.

[MimaM]

Hey everyone - congratulations - IT IS GOOD TO BE A QUITTER! I've read so much about Chantix that I'm afraid to take it - if there's anyone who knows this I hope they answer - Why does everyone get the same dosage - we are all different sizes?
Have you all had joint pain?, gallbladder problems? fluid retention? One forum made me nuts!
Bless you all

[Amanda]

msjuel wrote:

Hello! I am new to the forums and having been taking Chantix for almost 3 weeks and still smoking! I just started my period this past week and have felt just miserable!! Has anyone else experienced a change in their monthly cycle while taking this? It almost feels as if I have the flu but without the vomiting and diarrhea. Not to mention the wanting to sleep all the time but I can't.
I have skimmed over many forums but have seen nothing mentioned about this. I'm hoping this feeling subsides soon!

I have been on Chantix for about 2 weeks and am considering stopping completely because of the side effects you addressed. Thanks for the post...I also couldn't find anything.