Chantix Sucks
2009 August 6
I quit smoking using Chantix. But, if I had to go through it all again? I’d still be a smoker. In my opinion, the side effects of Chantix are far worse than cigarettes.
If you’re considering taking such a controversial drug, at least read about those of us who are allegedly the “rare” cases. Pfizer is paying big money to put a positive spin on this medication. There is no advertising on my site, I pay for it myself to educate people about the dangers of Chantix/Champix.
Have a Chantix/Champix story to share? Mail it to me at info@chantixsucks.com
I can relate to Debbie’s story. I took Chantix for 3 weeks. After the first week, I began to have severe joint pain all over …shoulder, hips, hands. I quit taking Chantix at 3 weeks and things got worse, not better. I started having muscle pain in addition to the joint pain. I went to see the doctor. She finally diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia. I still have not found any relief. I barely sleep at night I’m so uncomfortable. I’m taking Lyrica, an anti-epileptic that was supposed to help, but it hasn’t. I’ve been smoke free since my first week on Chantix, but at what cost? I would not recommend this drug to anyone. You never know what you’re going to get!
I am a hypnotherapist, and people come to me as a ‘last resort’ to help them stop smoking. Within the last year, I would guess around 25-35% of stop smoking clients have specifically mentioned Champix and its worrying side effects. They’ve either tried it and felt awful or have serious concerns about it.
Apart from the very unpleasant side effect, success rates for staying quit 12 months later for Champix/Chantix are surprisingly low – 22% is the max that I’ve seen in any published research. Pretty pathetic compared with hypnosis that starts at 30% for simple audio recordings and can go up to 94% depending on the skill of the therapist. A big study was conducted and reported in the New Scientist in Oct 1992 that looked at over 72K smokers. It concluded that hypnosis was street ahead of anything else on the market, include pharmaceutical treatments. Check out the stats on my site http://katieglen.com/stop-smoking/94-per-cent-success-rate-with-over-1000-smokers/
If this information was freely available, smokers would be able to make the choice between a natural, safe method that actually works and a drug treatment with potentially fatal side effects that doesn’t deliver for most people. I know which one I’d go for.
Katie, I never tried that technique to quit smoking, so I cannot vouch for it personally. I *can* tell you that Chantix/Champix worked. I quit smoking using it. I have not touched a cigarette or any other nicotine source in well over 2 years. HOWEVER, I feel sure the reason I have never relapsed is largely because of what I went through. It took so long to recover, and all that time (especially in the early days) all I could think was, “If I’d just been strong enough to quit on my own….” There are still days I crave a cigarette and would like to have one…. but I hope I never go back to that bad habit. I have gone through too much to come out of this. Please stay in touch. Thanks for your comments.