The Stop Smoking Megathread [ including Champix]

[Jabberwocky]

I've been looking at this page for hours, trying to find the desire to write. I haven't had anything to eat today and I spent about an hour huddled in this chair, wondering if I should cook a potato in the microwave. I know it sounds strange but I'm now wondering if I should eat it.

 

Champix has done something to me. I was depressed before Champix and now it is worse. I am lonely and isolated and have just begun to cry. Sorry. Perhaps I will feel better tomorrow.

 

I went through something very similar when I was on them.

 

Theyre brilliant pills for the ones they dont affect but for people like us theyre potential killers.

 

Been quite a while now since I took my last one (I was ordered to stop taking them by my OH who watched them turn me into a monster) and Im still affected by them.

The bad effects as well as the good ones seem to last for life.

 

 

My advice to Anyone getting exceptionally bad reactions to these pills.... stop taking them and bin the lot! Its all well and good stopping smoking, but if the cost is your sanity and family life then its best to wait until they invent something else that helps us to quit.

[Jabberwocky]

Hi Truthinus

I can't answer your questions as I'm not a medical person but what I do know is that with your history of depression your doctor should NEVER have prescribed Champix to you in the first place and having done do now needs to give you the support which you desparately need. If it were me I'd be tempted to report him / her.

Keep us up to date on here and I'm sure we will support you where we can. Please go back to your surgery and try and speak to someone else and get the help and support you need

Jabber if you're about perhaps you can offerwords of encouragement to Truthinus

 

xx

 

Im usually sniffing vilely around the thread, I take an interest even though its been a long time since I took the pills!

There are a few unfortunate reactions to the pill but on the whole everyone is doing brilliantly and youre all being incredible with helping each other!

 

I do a little bit on Facebook, I have a few friends on the pill and occasionally people join me and use me to shout at and ask advice and stuff so Im never far away!

[Truthinus]

I went through something very similar when I was on them.

 

Theyre brilliant pills for the ones they dont affect but for people like us theyre potential killers.

 

Been quite a while now since I took my last one (I was ordered to stop taking them by my OH who watched them turn me into a monster) and Im still affected by them.

The bad effects as well as the good ones seem to last for life.

I hope not. I used to listen to the radio a lot (I don't have TV) but now I cannot bare it for more than a few minutes

 

My advice to Anyone getting exceptionally bad reactions to these pills.... stop taking them and bin the lot! Its all well and good stopping smoking, but if the cost is your sanity and family life then its best to wait until they invent something else that helps us to quit.

My advice is to not take them at all. Why play Russian roulette with our sanity and our lives?

 

It had me thinking that there is no point in thinking and I may as well disappear into the Cosmos. It had me walking on the main road where I could have got run over and be killed. Since then, I have been in bed again thinking "what is the point?" Then I have hardly been able to eat for weeks and get faint when I get out of bed. However I have been drinking Ribena which helps a bit because of the sugar content.

 

Though I suffer from depression, when out I was friendly and used chat with anyone I met if they wanted to chat. I have met some lovely people around here but now I find it more difficult to put on a smile and be friendly. So now I'm more isolated than I was before. Writing on here is one thing but meeting face to face and communicating with people is another. Champix has changed me and I do hope that the change is not for life. Otherwise, what is the point in living?

 

I am feeling better than I was before but only because I just drunk a quarter bottle of Vodka.

Edited October 25, 2010 by Truthinus

[Karen_]

I hope not. I used to listen to the radio a lot (I don't have TV) but now I cannot bare it for more than a few minutes

 

My advice is to not take them at all. Why play Russian roulette with our sanity and our lives?

 

It had me thinking that there is no point in thinking and I may as well disappear into the Cosmos. It had me walking on the main road where I could have got run over and be killed. Since then, I have been in bed again thinking "what is the point?" Then I have hardly been able to eat for weeks and get faint when I get out of bed. However I have been drinking Ribena which helps a bit because of the sugar content.

 

Though I suffer from depression, when out I was friendly and used chat with anyone I met if they wanted to chat. I have met some lovely people around here but now I find it more difficult to put on a smile and be friendly. So now I'm more isolated than I was before. Writing on here is one thing but meeting face to face and communicating with people is another. Champix has changed me and I do hope that the change is not for life. Otherwise, what is the point in living?

 

I am feeling better than I was before but only because I just drunk a quarter bottle of Vodka.

 

Drinking is not going to help. It is awful that the pill affected you this way. You need to go to the doctors right away and maybe get booked into the hospital. It sounds like you should not be left alone. Is there any family you can call? Maybe someone can stay with you. How long have you quit the pills. Hopefully it will not be long until you feel better. I had side effects as well, but nothing like what you are having. Please keep typing and letting us know how you are. It will get better. Try and force yourself to do something and eat something every day. Drinking really is not the answer and will just make everything worse. I hope you are feeling better today.

[*Wallace*]

Yes you do need help Truthinus please go find it.

[Truthinus]

Thanks guys, after that drink I went to bed and when I woke up I'm feeling better and more positive. I have eaten more today and that's a good sign. I have an appointment with a GP in the morning (not the one who gave me the pills!)

[Lyn.]

Thanks guys, after that drink I went to bed and when I woke up I'm feeling better and more positive. I have eaten more today and that's a good sign. I have an appointment with a GP in the morning (not the one who gave me the pills!)

 

That's great news - both that you're feeling better and that you're seeing your doctor. Please let us know how you get on.

Good Luck

xxxx

[Karen_]

That is wonderful news. I'm so glad you are feeling better and seeing another doctor sounds like the best thing to do. Please let us know how it goes. Good luck.

[Truthinus]

Drinking is not going to help. It is awful that the pill affected you this way. You need to go to the doctors right away and maybe get booked into the hospital. It sounds like you should not be left alone. Is there any family you can call?

I have two sisters but they live miles away and one of them is a snob and she won't talk to me at all. The other one will talk to me if I phone her but she hasn't phoned me in 15 years. I have no family as such.

Maybe someone can stay with you.

I have only one bed, want to share it with me? jk. Anyway this place is a mess and you wouldn't like staying here. Champix made it even harder for me to tidy up - at one point I didn't have the will to do anything at all.

 

How long have you quit the pills.

Not sure, about two to three weeks.

 

Hopefully it will not be long until you feel better. I had side effects as well, but nothing like what you are having. Please keep typing and letting us know how you are. It will get better. Try and force yourself to do something and eat something every day. Drinking really is not the answer and will just make everything worse. I hope you are feeling better today.

Well, I 'forgot' to mention that I'm alcoholic but I don't get drunk or turn into a nasty person, even after a full bottle of Vodka. I am due for help with the alcohol because if I don't stop it will eventually kill me. If I try to stop without medical supervision that can cause brain damage (or even kill me.) Who wants to have brain damage? Not many! That's me in there!

 

Then I'm given Champix which apparently alters the brain. What the hell are they trying to do to me? Alcohol itself is a depressant and I was depressed before I started drinking, so why did 'my' doctor prescribe the Champix for me? When I'm well enough I might be having words with him.

 

I cannot afford to drink and smoke so I thought it would be a good idea to stop smoking while I wait for a Detox but that was a big mistake.

 

I have to go to bed now before I drink and smoke too much - I cannot afford it.

 

Thanks so much for your concern, kind regards,

John

Edited October 25, 2010 by Truthinus

[Truthinus]

Thanks Lyn, Karen, Wallace. Goodnight.

 

Well, I couldn't sleep tonight because I'm worried about getting to my appointment (amongst other things)... but I will try again.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Truthinus