Chantix Sucks

Time to start making New Year’s resolutions.  People usually start around this time making plans about things they are seriously wanting to change for the coming year.  I know for me it’s getting back on Weight Watcher’s and losing the rest of my weight that I want to get rid of.  For a lot of people, it will be to quit smoking.

Quitting is a great idea.  Over four years smoke-free myself, I really enjoy the freedom.  No worries about going on long car or bus trips and “Jones’ing” for a cigarette.  No fears about missing a connecting flight because I had to find a way in and out of an airport just to get my nicotine fix.  No funky smells in my clothes or house, and, no apologizing for that icky hacking cough that always seemed to disrupt classes, speeches, and other events.  It’s downright liberating to be smoke-free!

But, it is NOT liberating to feel like you’re losing your mind.  It is not liberating to be so volatile, angry and hostile that you damage–sometimes irreparably–valued relationships.   It is not liberating to go to the emergency room having a break down that you can’t explain.  And, it’s certainly not liberating for your family to have to plan your funeral because the depression you felt was so severe that you decided it would be easiest to take your own life.

These are all side effects that people who took Chantix experienced in the past, and, continue to experience today.  These are real people with real stories, some of who have filed a lawsuit against Pfizer.  Still, others may just be suffering in silence trying to put their lives back together because their story wasn’t “bad enough” for a lawyer to take their case.   Think very carefully before taking Chantix, and also be very leery of any doctor who won’t acknowledge that these are very real side effects.

There is a doctor in Denton, Texas, who treated me and my family for almost 15 years.  He is one of those doctors who believes everyone should quit smoking, no matter the cost.  When I had a bad reaction to the Chantix that he prescribed for me?  He wouldn’t even return my calls to ask what happened.  He didn’t care.  Two years later, he was still trying to get someone I know to take Chantix who was known to have depression issues–a group of people that this medication is definitely contraindicated for!  He loves Chantix, to be sure.

I suspect that Pfizer has helped him make up his mind about Chantix.  Big pharma companies are known to warm the hearts of doctors with gifts that might include office supplies, dinners, and even sweet little vacations now and then.   All the companies do it, it’s not just Pfizer.  But, he has definitely proven to be a prostitute to the companies because he rarely pays for anything in his office.  This is a known fact, by the way.  The pharmaceutical industry practically furnished his new office that he built and moved into a few years ago.  He had one entire room dedicated just to Viagra, with a Viagra clock, Viagra paper on the exam table, Viagra tissues, etc.  That’s because, as his nurse told me, the makers of Viagra asked him to do that, so that he could put male patients in there.  While they waited, they could start thinking about Viagra (because it’s written on everything in the room) and then maybe they would be more comfortable asking the doctor about it.  What a great plan.

Don’t think for a moment that your doctor is too ethical to be influenced by the pharmaceutical industry.  I’m not bashing doctors, I just realize how financially stressed many of them really are.  With reimbursements from insurance companies getting tigheter, employer-provided benefit plans getting less-generous, and the country in the worst recession in history, doctors are hurting just like the rest of us.  A family practitioner nowadays might make $150,000 a year.  That sounds like a lot to folks who make $40,000 a year, but when you consider how much medical school costs, and, how long the doctor is there (4 years of college, plus 4 years of med school, plus internship, residency, and, additional years of school if going into a specialization), plus the long work hours, the challenges of running and owning a private practice…I really don’t think $150,000 is too much for them to make.  And, I don’t even like to think about the bodies of most strangers, much less touch them.  Ewwwwwwwwww!  No way I’d do that for $150,000.  NO WAY.

But, I still expect my doctor to do what’s in my best interest.  After said doctor wouldn’t return my call, I found a new doctor who did not allow pharmaceutical representatives to come into his office.  Sure, he didn’t have free samples to give out, but, he also didn’t have his opinion swayed by free gifts and fancy perks.  I trusted his judgment a lot more than I did that of my previous doctor, who I grew to truly dislike after I realized just how much he cared about his personal bottom line versus my safety and well-being.

My point is this…. just because your doctor is prescribing it for you, that doesn’t make it safe.   So, think carefully before you take this medication.  And, if you have any history of depression, bipolar disorder, or other mental illness, just don’t do it.  The jury is still out on how bad this stuff really is, but there’s enough of us who can definitely say it caused major problems that you should at least consider you might not react well to it, either.

Try hypnosis, acupuncture, nicotine gum, nicotine patches…. and if they’ve failed you before, TRY AGAIN.  You can do it if you really want to!  Best of luck….