Champix
My experience with champix
Well where do I start.Its been 1.1/2 months since I've given up.not easy since I've smoked since I was 17 I'm now 54.so it was time.
The main problem I'm having is champix itself.i have never had depression or other mental condition.
I'm on to my last mont on champixh and I'm a mental wreck I yell at people I overact to the smallest things and I think my wife hates me at the moment.im hard to live with and feel sad most days.
I have been to my go and he suggested just one tab in the morning and forget the nighttime one.Anyone else had similar issues would be keen to hear .
Hi Macca 63. I have quit now for over two and a half years. I started at 14 and quit at 65. Although I didn’t use Champix and went cold turkey I initially had the same experiences as yourself. Morning depressions and snappy moods were common and I wondered often if I was doing the right thing.
However , I realised that for over 50 years I had masked some feelings I had forgotten I had using nicotine.
Ultimately it has proved to be a fantastic decision on all levels. I realised that I could experience life without dampening it with drugs ( nicotine ) and enjoy it for what it is.
To help with the initial trauma of quitting the external rewards kep coming. More money. Didn’t smell. Good appetite. Appreciation of family etc etc etc.
Good luck and keep posting.
What happend after I took Champi
Well for the first two weeks of taking Champix, I decided I would need to remove all stress from my life. So i went took a house out in the country by the beach where i could just relax for the next few months, while I FINALLY quit smoking after being a pack a day addict since i was 18years old. i was now 31 and sick of the habit.
I had tried:
patches which helped (mostly - but i would still have about 5 a day)
hypnotherapy (didnt work)
Cutting back to benson and hedges 1mg (white) cigarettes - kind of worked but i still smoked the whole pack in a day but obviously i was getting my levels down.
Cold turkey - with herbal cigarettes - no nicotine - after 5 days woke up in bed in tears and HAD to have a cigarette - couldnt take it anymore
After all that i was sick of it and decided to finally give up and go on Champix.
Within the first 3 days I noticed I wasnt enjoying cigarettes and cut back to about 10. Within the first 7 days of Champix, d cut back to about 5 - but now the side effects were kicking in:
Incredibly lazy, could barely get off the couch, falling asleep all the time. Nausea straight after taking the tablet even if taken with food
Spaced out head - short term memory loss, i would forget what i was doing from the kitchen to lounge room in a matter of seconds.
Completed the two weeks dose and stopped for a month and a half or so.
Then thought Im still smoking- now only 5 a day - Im going to try this again and went back on Champix for another 2-3 weeks.
This time the side effects were even worse. I became incredibly depressed, felt sick to my stomach and the sucidial ideation kicked in along with long term memory loss - barely knew what my name was or what i was doing half the time
Being a yoga student, i know how to battle with my thoughts and kept a zen like these are just passing thoughts attitude to the whole thing. But theyve never gone away. I still feel bad ALL the time and continue to battle with these thoughts and depression that i cant control. I eventually just became numb, both mentally and physically.
I dropped a very heavy LCD tv on my stomach when it fell out of my car - while moving house - ended up with a giant black and blue bruise on my stomach - but didnt feel a thing.
It would take a lot for me to be able to feel anything physically to the point it was dangerous.
I thought this wont last its just while Im taking the drug - once its out of my system everything will return to normal. NO IT DIDNT.
In 2013, within around 5 months after completing the two courses of Champix, I tried to go back to my normal life in the city but being so forgetful, out of it and literally stupid - I just couldnt.
Well at this point my breasts had also enlarged to DDs, my periods had become regular to 28days after previously being irregular and scattered anywhere from 30 to 32 to 37 day cycles and a small pea sized lump appeared at the bottom of my left nipple. Apparently just an adenoma and nothing to worry about. But it wasnt.
Champix had messed with my endocrine system and i was now having estrogen overdose and dominance that was not being controlled.
Its now 2018 and in January i was diagnosed with Breast Cancer Stage IV, DCIS invasive that has apparently spread to my bones.
Im still stupid, lazy, tired all the time with memory loss along with a breast cancer diagnosis. AND IM STILL SMOKING. I cut back but at what price?
I swapped lung cancer for breast cancer?