chantix - other one is soooo long

Pat in California wrote:

So be sure it is side effect, not allergy for certain.

::nods::

I agree completely. I've been trying to find any of my little information packets that came with the drug, because I'm fairly certain I remember reading the warning of possible allergic reactions, but I think I've thrown them all away by now.

PS Diane YOU are Hot! Cute picture.(no woman seeking woman here)

Trish in Virginia wrote:

Diane: Here's that earlier post to you:
Diane: Are you still doing super duper, post-Chantix? Many (or any) craves or wants? Any sleeping problems? Any irritability? Anything?
You know I'm nipping at your heels, don't ya. I'm (I think) 93 days today.

Trish!

Yes!

I am doing AWESOME.

I feel, finally, completely 100% "me" although a much more cheerful one overall. Zero craves, which I find really really really ODD but that's how it is. No sleeping problems, no irritability (other than, you know, when my husband is being a jackass), no nuthin'.

I think (and I may have posted this) that, in hindsight, that I might have been *slightly* more irritable the first 7-10 days after my last pill, but nothing that I would consider "statistically significant" and nothing that I even remember specifically.

I feel 100% great now and it is SO NICE to have a day that isn't interrupted with those tiny little bouts of irritability and crankiness when a smoke is delayed or the matches are empty or you find you have less cigarettes than you thought. Just this morning, when I was contemplating my 100 days while doing the dishes, I was thinking about what an improvement in *overall**mood* there is now that I don't smoke, now that there aren't those bouts of panic. For awhile there I thought the overall mood change was for the negative -- no more smoking rush!! God how I missed it when I remembered it (which wasn't often), or at least *thought* I remembered it. And there probably *was* a bit of a negative downer. But, I think I've rebuilt my brain and have found rewards in new things and found the new reward in old things.

Now? 100 days and 3 weeks Chantix free? I feel better overall than I did as a smoker and even better overall than I did on the Chantix.

I know you are right behind me! Go go go go!

****
Started Chantix 01/30/07
Quit Smoking 2/06//07
Last Chantix 4/23/07

Congrats on your quit Diane! Yipee for you!

Do you still have cravings since being off the Chantix? I just took my evening dose of the blue pill...I feel yucky right now nausea for the first time since starting the medication on 5/10.

To help you here is the link for the toothpicks: http://www.amazon.com/Thursday-Plantation-Tea...

I found mine at a health food store I am sure that if there is a Whole Foods/Trader Joe's/ Wild Oats they should have them. But as you can see they sell online just google Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Chewing Sticks.They also come in a cinnamon but that one is smoking hot to me especially when you bite them!

Those wasabi nuts are addictive (and I don't even care too much for spicy foods. I got the Emerald (pretty much available at any store)ones in a pretty big bag from a local grocery store.

If you need any more info let me know! Take care Hot Mama and congrats on your quit again!

Stephanie

PS. My Hot Mama comment came from you saying you loved spicy foods! I just read scifi's comment and felt the need to clarify! LOL how funny that we both called you Hot? Heehee :)

blkbutterfly wrote:

Chantix? I just took my evening dose of the blue pill...I feel yucky right now nausea for the first time since starting the medication on 5/10.

Stephanie

Stephanie Hang in there. Drink lots of water. I know that feeling. I didn't get nausea right away either. I still get nausea every morning & I have my granola & coffee before I take my pill. Nausea in the evening only if I don't eat enough at lunch, I take my pill around 4 so I can rest better at night. Welcome to your own little coping group! feel free to ask, laugh, whine but just stay committed to your quit! LOL Listen to me like I have been here sooo long, thanks everyone for a really much better week than when I 1st started on my journey.

I take my first Chantix dose tomorrow morning and want to thank everyone on this board for educating me on what I may potentially experience as I'm a 40yr. 2 pk a day smoker and I'm scared silly.

scifisuze wrote:

<quoted text>
Stephanie Hang in there. Drink lots of water. I know that feeling. I didn't get nausea right away either. I still get nausea every morning & I have my granola & coffee before I take my pill. Nausea in the evening only if I don't eat enough at lunch, I take my pill around 4 so I can rest better at night. Welcome to your own little coping group! feel free to ask, laugh, whine but just stay committed to your quit! LOL Listen to me like I have been here sooo long, thanks everyone for a really much better week than when I 1st started on my journey.

Thanks for the encouragement Suze! I don't care how many days you have EVERYONE here has the power to keep the rest of us strong when we get weak! I appreciate each and every one of you guys...BTW is anyone watching Grey's Anatomy OMG what's going on?!?!?!

Ok - done with my busy day, have time to chat....Still doing great with the half blue pill in the morning and the other half in the evening...have given it a ton of thought, talked to hubby - am going to try my damndest to get the next months scrtpt filled - this is to important to me to risk starting smoking again...and I know I can do it on half the dose, so I can make another months worth last 2 months....which would equal the 3 months ...then somewhere closer to 2 1/2 months on Chantix, start weaning down...

Hubby said regaurdless, the drug is still cheaper then the cigs over the full month..which is true. And we will just tighten the belt elsewhere. Its all good.

Im so dang flabergasted still that I have actually quit, I just dont think its worth taking that chance...I dont ever want to be a stinky smoker again!!!!

I think what suprises me the most is not necessarily the "free" time I have - spent alot of time smoking, but that I find myself more willing to do things I procratinated about before,,,"just one more cig, the I will ..." And that even though I still think I want to smoke, it is so easy to redirect my thoughts and say ah no I dont, not really, its the habit talking...I am truley looking forward to when I feel like a real non-smoker and not just someone quitting

frannie wrote:

I take my first Chantix dose tomorrow morning and want to thank everyone on this board for educating me on what I may potentially experience as I'm a 40yr. 2 pk a day smoker and I'm scared silly.

Join the club. I was scared silly, too. Scared that it wouldn't work. Scared that it would. Scared that I'd still be a smoker. Scared that I wouldn't.

Go figure.

If you read the other, original thread, you'll see that I posted almost compulsively in the beginning and, for myself, I have nothing but good stuff to say about this drug. My negative side effects were few and far between, and well worth the *freedom* this drug gave me to quit smoking.

The standard warning, which you've probably read on here a few times already: Be prepared for nicotine withdrawal while you are still smoking! The drug starts blocking the nicotine before your quit date. I got to experience a very dramatic weepy 'cancel my superbowl party and txt everyone about how my husband is an ass' weekend before I figured it out weeks later.:/ I still blush when I think about it.

But! That bump in the road is long past and I'm feeling really great.

****
Started Chantix 01/30/07
Quit Smoking 2/06//07
Last Chantix 4/23/07

Been reading the threads. A new upcoming job has forced my hand to start attempting to quit smoking (smoking for 28 yrs). I tried 15 yrs ago, but I'm truly very addicted to the nicotine & almost got fired fm a job due to my severe withdrawls. So I'm very nervous about the thought of quitting. My man was telling me about Chantix, so I'm doing reasearch. Since withdrawls are my concern, I noticed some of you had a cigarette while on Chantix. Did you have any reactions? I also notice some of you experienced being tired. My job and school can't afford me being tired. So is your being tired just because of the time you take Chantix? I'm almost there to begin the quitting smoking process, so I would appreciate any feedback you have to offer. Thanks

I started taking Chantix on 5/4/07 and for the first four or five days I was really tired. After that, I was back to my normal self. Even when I started taking the full dosage, I wasn't tired. Chantix really, really works. I smoked for 33 years. And I quit smoking on 5/12/07.

Go ahead and fill that prescription and get started. It's really easier than you might think. The hardest part is starting.

Pat in California wrote:

Well it looks like I'm not the only one in the bunch! I always wondered why so many gamblers are smokers. I think we aren't afraid to take chances, with our health or our money. That is until the doc says you better or else. Then it's a real bad bet to keep smoking. I'm a gambler, but I know when to fold em. LOL. I go to Tahoe every Sept. for our anniversary, hopefully this year too. My husband will be so happy to sit in the non smoking section of the resturants. We usually rent a cabin and they are always no smoking, so I won't have to shiver in the cold outside smoking. I won't have to worry about my smoke going in ppl's faces and them waving it away with a nasty look on their face at the tables. LOL...That will be me now!!! I always thought, HELLO!! youre at a casino, suck it up or move. I gotta get one of those little fans and obnoxiously point it at their smoke. I'm kidding, of course. I hope not to be one of those people, they made me feel so bad before..I would usually put out the cig. I bet if we search, we could find out which casinos have no smoking areas etc..Why tempt ourselves?

Funny i brought this up yesterday. Last night at dinner my husband looks at me and says~ ok now what do we do about the hotel in vegas? Are you going to make it a non smoking room now? lol.

I wouldn't do that to him. He had quit for 3 yrs years ago and i honestly never changed anything i did to accomodate him and his non smoking. When he said that last night to me i saw my chance and said~ I was hoping maybe you'd be smoke free by then.

His reply and nod everyone because this was us a few month's ago.

His reply was~ I'm not ready~ i like smoking. I'm so busy during the day that i need to smoke.

Can we all say deja vu with the excuses?

Pat in California wrote:

Hey all,
I just read the Pfizer's PDF copy of the drug's info. It has results of all the studies and info on percentage of side effects etc. It does say that some people need to take a lower dose than the one recommended for best results. They did studies at the .5 mg dose and 1 mg dose. More people kept not smoking at the higher dose, but there were lots who kept quit at the lower dose too. A lot more kept quit at the 6 months plan than the 3 month plan. I don't know how to copy a link, so u gotta cut and paste to:
http://www.pfizer.com/pfizer/download/uspi_ch...
It does have some complicated science language, but I got the gist of it.

Pat,

That was very interesting and very informative. Had a lot more information than their web page did.

I just skimmed through a lot of it for now but i did read the dosage information. It does say to drop the dosage if you are having side effects! Yeaaa! That would be me. Also ~ did you see where it says they recommend 6 mos for people that stopped smoking at 12 weeks? Looks like they actually think some people may smoke for much much longer than that week quit date they give us. It's early~ maybe i should go reread that.

blkbutterfly wrote:

Hello Everybody!
I am taking a break from work and decided to follow advice and not lurk. Someone asked about quitting on day 6. For me it was day 5 I wound up cutting waaaay back days 1-4 and my system is pretty senstive so I felt like crap and decided (after being stubborn) to quit on day 5. I think that your body will let you know when it's time.
Today I started my second week starter pack (blue pills) and I feel pretty damn good. Had a crave again today but it was fleeting and happened after I got worked up by a foster parent! I was telling another coworker about it but he's using some weird looking contraption that has cartridge refills and often comes into work smelling like smoke. He says he's been quit for 6 months. Go figure!
Anywho I have enjoyed reading the posts here today very informative. As far as the need for spicy things to help with quits, I have some emerald wasabi peanuts that are wonderful tasting and not too bad for the waistline. I also use Tea Tree toothpicks (I used to smoke menthols) and they help give me an oral rush and something to do with my mouth as well! Ok I have rambled enough for now...good going everyone!
Stephanie
Day 5

WTG butterfly on your quit! that's fantastic.

Your co-worker may or may not be smoking. I'm sure i come into work sometimes smelling like smoke because my husband still smokes.

love the doggie picture!

frannie wrote:

I take my first Chantix dose tomorrow morning and want to thank everyone on this board for educating me on what I may potentially experience as I'm a 40yr. 2 pk a day smoker and I'm scared silly.

Frannie!

Welcome! Congrats on your decision to stop smoking and become a non smoker!

There is another thread on here called chantix also and it has pages and pages of information. If you have some time it would be worth if for you to read. It tells of a lot of our experiences before and after chantix.

Again~ keep with the meds~ ask questions here and read and keep in touch!

You can do this!

Chris wrote:

Been reading the threads. A new upcoming job has forced my hand to start attempting to quit smoking (smoking for 28 yrs). I tried 15 yrs ago, but I'm truly very addicted to the nicotine & almost got fired fm a job due to my severe withdrawls. So I'm very nervous about the thought of quitting. My man was telling me about Chantix, so I'm doing reasearch. Since withdrawls are my concern, I noticed some of you had a cigarette while on Chantix. Did you have any reactions? I also
notice some of you experienced being tired. My job and school can't afford me being tired. So is your being tired just because of the time you take Chantix? I'm almost there to begin the quitting smoking process, so I would appreciate any feedback you have to offer. Thanks

chris!

You are from my very favorite city! Las Vegas! We go there every year!

Congrats on the need to quit.

I like to call chantix the Big Guns because it actually is. It quit my 2 pack a day 30 yr habit on a dime.

You are supposed to smoke for the first 7 day's once your on the medicine but as the day's go on you will find that you don't want to smoke as much or the cig's taste off. Chantix took away all my physical cravings~ i have none but we ourselves have to fight the mental ones and those can be worse sometimes than the physical ones. First off~ you have to totally want to quit. You have to want to quit 1000 times more than you want to smoke.

Go to chantix's webpage and see how the meds work.

www.chantix.com

Well crap~ all those post's i just made and i forgot to sign in lol.

Not one person commented on my pretty puppy Molly?

I took only one pill again yesterday and did fine.

I slept like a baby last night! Now that's either because of the reduced dosage or from the last two nights of not sleeping right.

Trish in Virginia wrote:

<quoted text>
But.....you have smoked. Remember telling us earlier today that you were @ a bar? Not smoking means not smoking.

Hi Trish
You are correct I did say I had a cigarette, and I did say I drink at a “smoking” bar.
But I had a smoke on Saturday at home. One cigarette in 98 days, I am OK with that.
I look at smoking in a much different light now. As I also said I now realize the addiction to nicotine is powerful.
I have made it and I will continue to consider myself smoke free.
mark

Mark,

Not to sound like a downer here but that's actually like saying an alcoholic can control their drinking . Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic and one drink is too many and all the drinks in the world is not enough.

I could never be OK with having one cigarette~ even at 98 day's.

I am an addict. My mind is an addict even though my body is thanking me for being smoke free.

I can't play with fire so i'm not going to take even one puff.