Chantix - Snake Oil or cure?

[OLDERNWISER]

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[lisa123414]

is it unwise, to post to an alt's thread?

 

[Dragonlipz]

There are now commercials on TV for Lawyers here in Texas that have a class action suit against the makers of Chantix for the severe side effect it causes in some people. There evidently have bee several suicides involved with the drug and they allege that Pfizer has been hide this fact.

How dare you accuse a corporation of international stature of trying to 'hide' facts. Pfizer has plenty of good data to back up their drug. You're a nincompoop for trying to besmirch their reputation. They devote vast resources to drug safety and deserve more than your shallow attempt to smear them........
If you don't like their drug, don't take it. That's what the free market is all about. Or aren't you for the free market? What are you, a communist? You have to accept responsibility for your actions, that's what accountability is all about. You can't rely on the nanny-government to keep you safe.....

 

[stephen55]

Only go through it once....

For what it's worth, here is some advice I would give to patients who wanted to quit smoking.

Because nicotine is such an addictive drug, going without it for as little as an hour or so brings on symptoms of withdrawal. That is, you get this serious urge to light up. Going without a smoke for six hours can leave you desperate, edgy and what do you do? You light up, get a hit of nicotine and your craving goes away for a while. (Nicotine receptors in your brain get a nicotine molecule and your brain gets a hit of neurotransmitters that make you feel good.) That is, you are reinforcing your addiction. Because withdrawal is so miserable and you feel so much better after a hit, you are simply reinforcing the behavior of taking a hit.

Cold turkey sounds hard but is it really, that is, compared to going through withdrawal many, many times? My advice was slowly cut back the length of time between cigarettes until you start to feel that edginess. It's going to be different for different smokers. You are now going about as long between cigarettes as you can without going into withdrawal. Then quit. Quit. Quit. Go through withdrawal once and don't go through it again. It takes time for your brain to start getting used to no more doses of those neurotransmitters from a hit of nicotine. Any more hits and you are going to have to go withdrawal again.

 

[MagicaPractica]

MagicaPractica -
thinking of you, are you well? I remember being pregnant with such fondness....

myself, I am trying to hang on

tonight is very tough, i feel like i could dig around in ashtrays or garbage cans, I want a puff so much - shoot, it's like "how low will you go?"

I can't say I will look back on being pregnant with any sense of fondness - too much morning sickness and then I fell on the ice. I'm finally getting rid of some of the discomfort I've been going through. I'm taking it one day at a time and looking forward to the end result.

Have you had a cigarette while you're using the Chantix? From people who I know that used it, they found it oddly unsatisfying. Since Chantix blocks the receptors in your brain, you don't get the pleasure you once did out of it.

Best wishes.

 

[kromen]

I went cold turkey over a year ago. A couple of relapses, but no major backlash. I think it was the rising of the prices around the time I quit that helped. Now, the smell of tobacco turns my stomach to the point I can't believe I use to partake. I used toothpicks and dollar store lollipops to help oral fixation, but really had to watch my weight gain the first month.

 

[OLDERNWISER]

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[OLDERNWISER]

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[Guest]

kromen - I am totally in awe of you, and people like you, who had the emotional backbone to kick this habit. I should have given up 30 years ago, and did not. My hat is off to you
xoxo

How is the quitting going? Relapses? Progress? Problems? You have my best wishes and I hope that you can remain quit.

 

[OLDERNWISER]

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[Guest]

Thank you for asking. I am still quit, its been eight weeks. I had so much trouble with the side effects, i did not get the last month's refill. I really felt like i was losing my mind. So now I am off the medicine, have been for about a week. The cravings are hitting pretty hard but i keep getting through it. I have come too far to give in, and i really don't want to relapse.

Now I have to get to work on the weight I have gained

When I was quitting (for the first couple times) I got irrritated at all the advice that I was getting on how to lose (or avoid gaining) the weight. What worked for me was starting a healthier lifestyle and cutting out some of the processed foods at the same time. HO-ho's got replaced with celery and such. It wasn't as drastic a change as it sounds, I didn't change everything. But when I bought juice, I made sure it was "no sugar added", and ate a banana or two for lunch, snacked on oranges... it worked for me, but your mileage may vary. Good luck and stay strong.

 

[OLDERNWISER]

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[Guest]

men - dammit

a friend of mine lost a bunch of weight - he also bought a serious rowing machine at the time. I asked him, how did he do it, he told me

"eat less, exercise more"

shoot, guys are tough

Actually, I have a habit of turning hunger or cravings into frustration. Then burning it off through exercise. I have to work out once a day, or I feel like I haven't accomplished something. Even if it's only 50 push-ups and sit-ups, I still have to do something.

That may be part of what helped me quit smoking. I don't know. It was a combination of a lot of things all at once.

 

[cantdog]

I could NOT take Chantix. It made me less than myself. Bizarre stuff, altogether. Pity, because I'd really like to kick.

Not tht this thread is much related to that any more...

 

[Guest]

I could NOT take Chantix. It made me less than myself. Bizarre stuff, altogether. Pity, because I'd really like to kick.

Not tht this thread is much related to that any more...

I think that for the number of us that can take it, it has proven to be something that enables people to quit. It certainly is not snake oil. Now, mostly, I see this thread as a way to keep up with OLDERNWISER's status. Obviously the pill worked for OLDER.

If you need help quitting there are other resources out there besides CHANTIX. Regarding anti-smoking pills, Have you tried Zyban?

 

[OLDERNWISER]

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[OLDERNWISER]

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[TxRad]

Just so y'all know, I did, in fact, fall off the wagon

fuck

I just climbed on about 4 days ago so it all evens out. Good luck next time.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Just so y'all know, I did, in fact, fall off the wagon

fuck

You could say I'm in the same boat with weight but I intend to keep trying until I figure it out,

 

[OLDERNWISER]

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[squarejohn]

I followed the disclaimers on Chantix television commercials and was left wondering how a drug with so many untoward effects could have been approved for marketing. My feeling is, that if you actually have a real, personal reason to quit smoking--as opposed to being nagged into it--you will simply quit. People who try quitting smoking because of peer pressure will have a difficult time of it.

I started smoking 59 years ago. During that time I was forced to quit smoking because of financial pressure. i reasoned that I could afford to pay my wife's medical bills and put food on the table if I stopped smoking. So, I stopped. No problem. When the money situation improved four years later, I started smoking again.

"Why did you start smoking again, squarejohn, after four years? You were doing so good." A lot of people asked that question. My answer was that I enjoyed smoking. It afforded a sense of contentment and relieved stress.

The worldwide anti-smoking propaganda blitz was triggered by the 1964 surgeon general's report on cigarette smoking. Any sane person with a little knowledge of statistics smirks at the "findings." It had always been a commonly accepted belief that smoking was, "not good for ya." When I started smoking, cigarettes were called coffin nails. Yet, at least 50% of the population enjoyed smoking.

The surgeon general's report had a chapter entitled, "The Beneficial Effects of Smoking." It was a short chapter to be sure, but it makes interesting reading. The gist of it is that stress is the root cause of DISease, and to the extent that smoking relieves stress, that is so much to the good. Also mentioned was that nicotine is not addictive.

The most frightening thing to me was the last sentence in the report that goes something like this: Cigarette smoking is generally harmful and the Government should take action to prevent it. Well, the Government certainly stepped up to plate there.

The first thing the Government did was to change the definition of the word "addictive" so that subsequent surgeon general's reports would be correct in stating that nicotine was addictive. An addicting substance is one which requires the user to take increasingly larger doses to achieve the same effect.

Cigarette smokers have a daily limit to the number of cigarettes they smoke. A pack a day, or two packs a day, whatever. They also have a limit to how far down they smoke each individual cigarette. It occurred to me to measure the length of my cigarette butts as I was about to empty an ashtray. All were exactly the same length. That is hardly addictive. Good or bad, cigarette smoking is simply a habit that can be easily broken with a good enough reason to quit and a little willpower.

Anyone who takes the trouble to do deep research into the subject will find many interesting and enlightening facts surrounding the anti-smoking campaign that have nothing at all to do with your health.

 

[Handley_Page]

I'm still off the fags (smug looks all round).
But after 10 months or so, I still get the feeling that a ciggie with a drink would be nice, or even after a meal in the evening.
But I have stopped coughing crap up.
And that means a good deal!