Sliver/Soleil re: Chantix

[fantine33]

Just starting a new thread so as not to highjack the B4 one.

I've been curious about the Chantix and was going to ask for some more detail when I saw Lady Soleil's post on this. But then Sliver added some pertinent info.

So, Sliv, you're off the demon weed? When was this? Give me some deets!

And for both of you (or anybody else with experience) what is with the nightmares? I don't think they mention that in the ads. If that's the case, then it's a no go for me. I have night terrors as it is (since I was a kid, not med induced), I can't take Ambien or Trazadone because I go into total freakout mode (This is from WENDY'S! It's not flame broiled!! I.... just.... want.... my WHOPPER!!!!11).

[ladysoleil]

Just starting a new thread so as not to highjack the B4 one.

I've been curious about the Chantix and was going to ask for some more detail when I saw Lady Soleil's post on this. But then Sliver added some pertinent info.

So, Sliv, you're off the demon weed? When was this? Give me some deets!

And for both of you (or anybody else with experience) what is with the nightmares? I don't think they mention that in the ads. If that's the case, then it's a no go for me. I have night terrors as it is (since I was a kid, not med induced), I can't take Ambien or Trazadone because I go into total freakout mode (This is from WENDY'S! It's not flame broiled!! I.... just.... want.... my WHOPPER!!!!11).

They sort of talk around that issue in the ads, I think. I think "vivid dreaming" which is listed as a side effect covers it, although not everyone has that problem, if I understand correctly. They just said "vivid". They didn't say if that was bad, or good, right?

I haven't been sleeping well at all, although it is getting better, I guess I'm getting used to whatever this stuff is doing to my brain. On a 1-10 scale of "that was vaguely unpleasant" to "oooh, crap, I just wet myself" I'd rate it about a 6, somewhere around "that sucked and I think I'm going to go read for a while until I calm down enough to go back to sleep". My best friend, on the other hand, is loving it because she says her dreams are now the coolest thing ever. Mileage obviously varies.

I'd say it's up to you whether you want to roll the dice. Some friends who have taken it said it took a few days for the weird skull-TV effect to kick in, I got it on the first day (lucky me).

The first week you ramp up the dosage pretty slowly- you start with one pill a day for the first three days and on the fourth you go to two for the rest of the week, then the dosage goes up to a stronger pill during the second week. I'm almost done with Week 1- I just jumped up to twice a day yesterday. The extra pill a day doesn't seem to be making anything worse so far.

I'm a bit weird with medications though and I usually get hit hard by whatever I'm taking, though. If you're anything like me, I suspect you'd know if it was going to bother you in the first couple of days and could choose to stop taking it at that point.

The only other thing that's bugging the crap out of me is that it makes me nauseous, although that seems to wear off. I find that I really want to hurl about an hour after downing a Chantix and I feel a little green for the next hour or so and then I'm fine. Perhaps TMI, but I have not actually tossed any cookies yet, just felt like I really wanted to.

On the good side, my alleged quit date is Sunday (you're supposed to take it for a week before you quit to give it time to work) and I'm way ahead of that. I haven't even thought about wanting a cigarette today at all. I'm willing to stick with it so far, at least until sleep deprivation starts making me do crazy things, anyway.

[fantine33]

Thanks for all the extra info, Lady Soleil. They should show that turtle having acid flashbacks under truth in advertising. Ha!

As little sleep as I get in the first place and as many meds as I'm already popping, it sounds a little too mind control to be worth it to me.

I've taken Wellbutrin for years and the side benefits of the Zyban effect have me down to a couple a day if I'm in a controlled environment, but I just can't make that little leap over the "I'm a non-smoker" moat.

I'll be interested to hear how you make out, though.

[silvercamaro]

As little sleep as I get in the first place and as many meds as I'm already popping, it sounds a little too mind control to be worth it to me.

I've taken Wellbutrin for years and the side benefits of the Zyban effect have me down to a couple a day if I'm in a controlled environment, but I just can't make that little leap over the "I'm a non-smoker" moat.

Fantine, from what you've said here, I'm not convinced that Chantix is for you. First, from the standpoint of cost, you would not be ahead of the game for a long, long, time. Chantix usually is prescribed for a three-month course, with the price at anywhere from $115-165 per month. A heavy smoker in a high-tax state might save money by buying the pills instead of buying cigarettes, but at two cigarettes a day, you are only paying for about three packs a month. (Your insurance may cover the whole tab. If so, the cost may not be important. My insurance company did not.)

Chantix does not provide a guarantee. The success rate is only a few percentage points higher than Wellbutrin. For me, it worked to make me stop feeling the "need" to smoke, but it never did take away the occasional desire to smoke. For months and months, I couldn't buy gas at the convenience store where I used to buy cigs. I was afraid the temptation to buy more would be too strong. (Sad story: The night Tigger died, I had pneumonia. I could barely breathe, so I couldn't have smoked under any circumstances. Nevertheless, I wanted some comfort, found an old cigarette in a coat pocket, set it on fire by holding a kitchen match to the end, parked it in an ash tray, and sniffed the smell of the smoke. It probably would have been more sane to start drinking instead, but that was not an option.) Those occasional yens still show up, and I remain virtuous (in the air-purity sense) only through gut-check will-power and not leaving the house until the urge has gone away.

Finally, there's the prospective nausea, which affects about 30 percent of people in a greater or lesser degree, and the nightmare thing. As I said earlier, I have loved my dreams, but I know I'm lucky in that respect.

This drug seems to be a good step forward, because it blocks the nicotine receptors in the brain, but it's not a magic wand. At only two cigarettes a day, I would suggest you keep on taking your Wellbutrin, which I assume you'd be taking anyway, in hopes that someday you'll simply forget to smoke again.

[Bob Juch]

I quit smoking 30 1/2 years ago. There are times I still want a cigarette. You just have to have self-control.

[ladysoleil]

Thanks for all the extra info, Lady Soleil. They should show that turtle having acid flashbacks under truth in advertising. Ha!

As little sleep as I get in the first place and as many meds as I'm already popping, it sounds a little too mind control to be worth it to me.

I've taken Wellbutrin for years and the side benefits of the Zyban effect have me down to a couple a day if I'm in a controlled environment, but I just can't make that little leap over the "I'm a non-smoker" moat.

I'll be interested to hear how you make out, though.

I think it would be hilarious if they showed the turtle spazzing out.

I was on Wellbutrin until I ended up being allergic to it and I wasn't smoking at all, so if you're still smoking even on the Wellbutrin, I don't know that the Chantix would do much more for you.

Agreed that it isn't a magic bullet, either. It's making it a lot easier, but I know I'll get to the point where the initial willpower stage wears off and I'll want to smoke even if I'm not getting anything out of it at all. Most of my family smokes, so I get it from all sides even when I'm not, but at least I can not add to it myself, right.

[fantine33]

Fantine, from what you've said here, I'm not convinced that Chantix is for you. First, from the standpoint of cost, you would not be ahead of the game for a long, long, time. Chantix usually is prescribed for a three-month course, with the price at anywhere from $115-165 per month. A heavy smoker in a high-tax state might save money by buying the pills instead of buying cigarettes, but at two cigarettes a day, you are only paying for about three packs a month. (Your insurance may cover the whole tab. If so, the cost may not be important. My insurance company did not.)

I don't have insurance, so that point is moot. But I still wish I had Jesse's Girl. Ha!

I can do two cigarettes a day in a controlled environment (in like 27 different sessions). Unfortunately I can not always control my environment, so I average a pack to pack and half a week (sometimes less). It isn't so much about the money as it is just being done with it. But, I think you're right in your assessment. Because,

Chantix does not provide a guarantee. The success rate is only a few percentage points higher than Wellbutrin. For me, it worked to make me stop feeling the "need" to smoke, but it never did take away the occasional desire to smoke.

You have hit on it exactly! I don't need to smoke anymore, but I just want to. So it sounds like I've pretty much accomplished what Chantix will do in the first place.

Your sniffing the cigarette story makes lots of sense to me. I will occasionally take an old snipe out of the ash tray, light it and wave it under my nose like I'm smudging.

When I am not in my 'safe place' I spend a lot of time playing with them instead of smoking them. I'll pick it up, put it down, pick it up, sniff it, put it down, pick it up, stroke it lasciviously (they're 120's whoo!), etc. etc. People around me get to the point where they can't stand it "Are you ever going to actually LIGHT that damned thing?" "Eventually, but in the meantime the rest of you have smoked 4 cigarettes each." Ha!

At only two cigarettes a day, I would suggest you keep on taking your Wellbutrin, which I assume you'd be taking anyway, in hopes that someday you'll simply forget to smoke again.

Since my raison d'Wellbutrin isn't about the smoking, it stays no matter what, so any continued benefit from that is a happy accident. You're right, though, I do sometimes find myself forgetting to smoke. "Oh, yeah, I was going to go have a drag a couple hours ago..." Ha!

Agreed that it isn't a magic bullet, either. It's making it a lot easier, but I know I'll get to the point where the initial willpower stage wears off and I'll want to smoke even if I'm not getting anything out of it at all. Most of my family smokes, so I get it from all sides even when I'm not, but at least I can not add to it myself, right.

I can say that gets better the longer you practice at it. I can sit in my mom's house and watch her smoke 5 or 6 cigarettes before I go out on the back porch for my two drags. Although she smokes in her house, I won't. It makes it too easy to just light up every time she does. So, there's possibly a trick for you that might help because, by the time you get out on the porch by yourself and away from all the smoking frivolity, you don't really want to smoke anymore.

The one thing that probably helped me more than the Wellbutrin was deciding not to smoke in my new house when I moved 3 years ago. I've broken a lot of habits that way, like the coffee/cigarette or dreaded computer/cigarette marriages.

[christie1111]

Fantine, I asked who your avatar was, but I think you missed it.

Who is it?

[fantine33]

Fantine, I asked who your avatar was, but I think you missed it.

Who is it?

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you actually wanted an answer to that (The ummmm, fantine? part threw me off, I guess).

It is Bret Michaels and his pet armadillo.

This will tell you more than you could ever want to know. Ha!


viewtopic.php?p=23177&highlight=#23177

[Tocqueville3]

Fantine, I asked who your avatar was, but I think you missed it.

Who is it?

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you actually wanted an answer to that (The ummmm, fantine? part threw me off, I guess).

It is Bret Michaels and his pet armadillo.

This will tell you more than you could ever want to know. Ha!


viewtopic.php?p=23177&highlight=#23177

Dude, check out the unit on that guy.

[Bob Juch]

fantine33,

Sounds like the only thing that will work for you is hypnosis that will leave you thinking that cigarettes smell disgusting.

[fantine33]

Dude, check out the unit on that guy.

That's his little armadillo friend. His name is Photoshop. Sit, Photoshop! Good boy!