Insomnia with champix

Hello,

I used CHAMPIX over ten years ago. I took it exactly as per instructions twice a day. I remember having some nausea If I didnt take it With meals. I dont recall having insomnia, or suicidal thoughts, although some vivid dreams did pop up. I admit the first few days were tough. But I did get past that and accepted the fact that Smoking was a thing of the past. I thought it was a wonder drug! But here's the twist. I was super determined! I was busy enjoying my job with a decent salary. I was quite fit with muscle mass and had a very good diet. I left out all alcohol for many weeks. Life for me at that time was going along just fine. After about a week I had no cravings or debate in my own mind. I had no want or need for it.

After a few weeks I tentatively allowed myself to have a few beers and found that I could do that without any cravings for a cig arising. So I continued Champix for the next 2 months without any problem. Even when I stopped taking Champix. I had no problem at all. I was free from the habit! I remained totally free of smokes for the next 2 years! It was easy. A wonder drug.

It worked for me.

After those completely smoke free years, for some strange reason I thought I could have one puff of my previously new girlfriends smoke. Had that and the next day I had two more puffs from her smoke. The next day I had half of her cig and then have been buying my own cigs ever since.

( I have had some smaller quits since, But possibly not significant)

Thats why we have the saying:

NOPE,,,NOT ONE PUFF EVER

Good luck Siobhan

PS to all my friends who were concerned about me .

WE had rain and the bush fire threat is over for us now.

Had just a few houses lost in the whole district and luckily no lives lost

Life is almost back to normal. xoxoxox

I took it with evening meal. I normally would eat half of my dinner, stop and then take the tablet, then eat the rest of my dinner. It is the only thing that helped the nausea. I would do the same at breakfast. Nightmares are part of it and sometimes you get them without taking Champix. It is part of withdrawal process. I will never smoke again. I took them 6 and a half years ago and have not looked back. I have no desire to smoke, it is compromising your life, your breath. To breathe. Breathing deeply in oxygen helps calm the nervous system and body, with no smoke you will be giving yourself that power back. Iv now am part of a Crossfit community and I also part of a running community and yoga, embracing health, I feel more in control of life stresses now from doing these things than any cigarette ever did, in fact it made me more anxious smoking. Keep looking forward , keep fighting for your health.

Good luck !!!

Yep

One thing that converse is saying is to take your Champix in the middle of your meals. We are blokes so eating a large meal was good to infuse champix with alot of food to eliminate the side effects of champix.

If you eat very little, you may need to drink a lot more water or milk to negate the side affects or talk to your doctor about lowering your daily dose.

We have discussed the merits of taking Ginger for nausea , and it is also believed to reduce cravings. Turmeric is also a super spice which also provides antioxidants and has anti-bacterial properties. Tastes good and is super good for you. A bit of each in a glass of warm milk or almond milk with honey can't hurt.

Hi! Siobhan..

Welcome and all the best on your quit.

I dont know anything about Champix.

I used 15mg patches to start my quit.

With the support from friends on this website I am on Day 34 now, so 1 month!🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️

The big turning point for me wad reading the Allen Carr book.

I got rid of the patches as I didnt need them

Reading the book gave me an understanding of the nicotine addiction and a clear mindset which I have embraced.

I think if in doubt, talk to your Doctor. Maybe the dose is too high.

Keep on your QUIT. It's so worth it.

🐟

Congratulations on your decision to quit Siobhan, I was on Champix at the start of my quit, in 2019. I could't sleep and had nightmares so eventually about 2 weeks in I just left the evening dose off. This worked for me, for others it worked with taking it with food, in the evening, maybe straight after dinner. This is one of the downsides of Champix, in the early stages, but they will ease off eventually. I informed my GP after I made this decision and she wasn't overly concerned. I had tried patches before and they didnt work for me but Champix was my best quit aid along with this Forum. Keep on going along with plenty of rest to begin with.

Just to clarify you will experience insomnia the first few weeks or so as part of your notice withdrawal ( you’re body was used to have it inhaled so it’s just stressing out about leaving your system ) I would suggest speaking to your doctor/pharmacist about giving you some melatonin tablets (our bodies naturally produce this but it will enable your body to get back into its natural sleeping cycle) - side note they take roughly 1-2 weeks to work.

Hi Siohan. I hope your question has been answered to your satisfaction and that you are making some tweeks in adjustments that help. If you are still smoking remember to see through the haze to clearly see what it really is. Taste the poison and view the need for one as needing medication, for in a sense it is. No one wants to stay on a medication that seems to have more side effects than what it cures. Cigarettes and Nicotine do nothing for it except make us feel good for an effect that it itself causes!

Nicotine Addiction is just a vicious cycle that needs to be broken and CAN be broken.

It is so nice to see people with experience come forward and offer support and advice. They may be the strong , silent type but there when one needs them. It is great to know there are so many out there making our community even better!

Anyone can quit smoking. We are proof! :)

Hi Siobhan

I have been on Champix since October. I'm not a great sleeper anyway. I noticed that if I woke through the night, I would have far more difficulty getting back to sleep on the tabs. I don't take any medications, other than my morning vitamins, so I was really hit and miss on the evening tablet with no real detrimental effects. So I stopped taking it about 4 days ago. The super-vivid dreams have toned down, and things have returned pretty much to my wierd form of normal.

I will finish the morning tablets in the next week, and I wont be taking the option of continuing the tablets for the next 3 months. The literature with the tablets says they work by destroying the dopamine connection when you have a smoke. It is logical to me then that if you are not smoking, the tablets don't have a job to do. This is only my opinion, and I am not a doctor.

Good kn uou Lamdo.

You have got this!

Its good you are able to provide help to others starting out on Champix.

There are many ways to quit and we are all reaching for the same star.. 🐟

Good on you Lando.

You have got this!

Its good you are able to provide help to others starting out on Champix. Its not my area of expertise.

There are many ways to quit and we are all reaching for the same star.. 🐟

Lando would be right in her assumption that the second round of Champix should not be needed. As I understand it as well, the nicotine receptors shut down in about 21 days. These are what the drug adheres to so that nicotine does not give a person pleasure while smoking, and makes smoking tastes so bad. I can only imagine that it tastes like we remembered it tasting on our first very first try, when we wondered what all the hype was about these things that tasted bad and made us gag. While champix may unmask the true taste, it does not teach about nicotine and the rest we have to learn so that we don't relapse.

The second round might be needed if one didn't quit within the normal set period which would probably indicate that they were not grasping the mindset either. I think that it is just a placebo to give your mind more time to accept being a non-smoker. Those who embrace the journey should be safely out of nicotines reach with the first lot. I do believe the second round is optional, so that makes sense.

Remember that it takes 3 weeks to shut down those receptors, so if you fired them up in the mean times...start over counting. However, most nicotine is out of your system after 72 hours of your last cigarette.

I am not the product manufacturer wanting to sell more...nor a doctor wanting you to get the results that you expect. I am not a not ever smoker who has no idea what smokers feel and perceive. But I have quit smoking and seen others step off early with no backslide. Only you know you best. Every quit is different. All I know is that you can quit smoking if you want to. Remaining free also takes work to that end, and the mindset can not be unlearned. As long as we remember that we are ADDICTS to nicotine and obey the NOPE, we should be fine.(Not One Puff Ever!). RESPECT NICOTINE.

Like a bad relationship....you only really remember and get melancholy about the good times...you forget the bad times...

Nothing GOOD about smoking🐟