Chantix to Stop Smoking?

I was reading an article in the paper last week that said it has caused some suicides.
Taking lots of B complex can help with the cravings.

Chantix totally works!!! I don't think that anybody is actually going to "like" being on it. Not the easiest med to take. Bust SO worth the results. It will completely block the pleasure from a smoke. You end up stubbing it out in a puff or 2 b/c it jsut tastes horrible. Eventually you don't try anymore. It has worked for everyone I know that has tried it...even long term packs a day smokers.

If it gives him an upset stomach he should take with lots of breakfast in the am. That totally helped me. Crazy dreams are my other side effect but not bad IMO.
IF his previous try drove him crazy it could have been the craving for nicotine still active. It is hard for me to believe the PPs experience with this. I would have to say that this is EXTREMELY rare. I will add that it hurts my heart that people will read such negative results and not give it a try as I really do consider it a magic bullet to quit smoking. I am sure that her experience was a one in a million thing...and I have to say that I wonder about her psychological state before this. I just can't imagine suddenly wanting to cut myself on CHantix. I never even had a close to bad feeling on this....nor did ANYONE that I know. ANd if it would worry you make sure that he is monitered when he first starts.

My personal opinion about Chantix, is it is the devil.

I tried it two different times, and like I said in the other post, it definately works to quit smoking. But it does alot more then that.

When I took it the 2nd time, I blacked out in a sense (I don't remember anything happening), I drove to CVS, bought chocolate and razor blades (I don't even like chocolate) and cut my arm all up. I have 6 horrible scars on my forearm. I should have went to the ER to get stitches, but I didn't know what I was doing. I went into my doctors office a few days later and asked if it was infected. It was. They put butterfly stitches on it, because it was to late to use regular stitches.

My doctor personally talked to the drug rep that deals w/ chantix and said blacking out can be caused along with LOTs of other side effects. Pilots and other occupations are banned from using that drug. So, that should say something.

Not everyone has side effects, but a lot of people do.

I think they should take it off the market and find a different drug that helps.

I have known two people who used chantix. My sister and my husband's co-worker. In both of them, it caused hallucinations and vivid dreams. By vivid, I mean they woke up not knowing what was reality and what was a dream. Needless to say, they stopped using it pretty quickly. From what I've read, this is not uncommon and there are more serious side effects that are too common, for comfort. Suicidal thoughts, being one of them.

It sounds like he's tried everything, but willpower. HE needs to stop, not rely on all these pills, patches, and gums to make him. He's the only one that throw the pack away and never buy another.

Go to youtube and type "how to quit smoking" into their search. There's tons of inspirational vids there.
I tried Chantix last year. It was okay for the first two weeks and I didnt smoke for that second week at all and with no desire to do so, but the third week started some insomnia issues and some crazy dreams that would wake me up.... I got too tired to function at work and went ahead and stopped taking it.
The best thing to do is just quit cold turkey and dont look back. I posted earlier about looking at cigs like they are BLEACH .... if you can get your mind to wrap around that there is no good time to drink bleach then you are on your way. My cigarettes (I have 15 left in my pack for today as I am quitting as well for the new year) are now going to be treated as if they are bleach. Seriously, quitting is ALL in the mind, period. It takes time to begin to hate them (the cigs) but once you hate them you wont even have a craving for them, just as you dont have a craving to drink bleach :)
I hope he has come to his end of the nicodemon's rule over his life.

It did finally work for my husband, who had been smoking since he was 13. He had to do it twice, I think the first time he took it he had unrealistic expectations, and it made him so sick to his stomach that he couldn't stand it any more. It did work about a year later, and he has been smoke free for over 4 years! Good luck!

ive heard it works but it can make you a little nuts.....

I know several people who have used chantix. some liked it and some did not. Alot of the side affects that people blame on the drug are really just withdrawl symptoms from the nicotein. I have never smoked myself, but work in the medical field and see all the people who do. Heart problems, erectile disfunction, COPD, just to name a few. Also, alot of people think that cancer of the lungs is bad, just ask the smokers who get Bladder cancer. Yep, that is a common one with smokers, just not talked about alot. He can stop, but he has to want to. Until he is really ready, it will not work.

I have tried the electronic cigarettes and patches and niether worked for me.

I have never been a smoker, so no personal experience to share. But I witnessed my in-laws have good success with hypnosis, it is certainly worth a try, and no negative side effects! I agree that it is important to figure out ahead of time what he plans to do to fill in the time he spent smoking. That was definitely the hardest part for my FIL. His routine for nearly 40 years was to wake up and light up, he said the routine is harder to break than anything. If he smokes first thing in the morning he needs a new routine to replace that, and all the other typical smoking times. I wish him the best of luck for his sake, as well as his family's.

My husband tried Chantix and it seemed to work okay although he never really quit. When he went off his antidepressant it was awful. He had thoughts of suicide!
The thing that worked the best for him was Wellbutrin! It was prescribed for smoking cessation but is also an antidepressant. He hated the taste of the cig and could only stand 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night. One cig a day was GREAT, until he broke out in hives! Turns out that everyone in his family is allergic to Wellbutrin.

Updated

My husband tried Chantix and it seemed to work okay although he never really quit. When he went off his antidepressant it was awful. He had thoughts of suicide!
The thing that worked the best for him was Wellbutrin! It was prescribed for smoking cessation but is also an antidepressant. He hated the taste of the cig and could only stand 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night. One cig a day was GREAT, until he broke out in hives! Turns out that everyone in his family is allergic to Wellbutrin.

I haven't tried it, but have a friend who has and she says it made her dreams horrible. Bad enough to stop taking it. She has had great success with Wellbutrin though and no nasty side effects.