Chantix

I am having the same symptom and have had two brain MRI's and have been tested for everything and on my second neurologist, who also thinks it is an early sign of ALS..

I too got depressed with my first time on Chantix, night sweats, etc. I smoked for 35+ years. People, the depression and side effects can also be Nicotine withdrawal. I think the mind and body kinda goes into shock from smoking for most of your life. You are saying goodbye to a way of life, smoking........I think the smoking hides other symptoms of problems going on in the body and when you say goodbye all these other conditions surface. NOT A Doctor, I'm just saying and sharing my experiences. Three years ago when I went the first round with Chantix there wasn't as much information out there as now.......

Same story here, went a whole year and half without smoking and chantix. Got the urge and started right back up. on my 3rd time with it. I'm female in my 50's and it kinda gives me early menapause. I get hot flashes and hyperventilate. Everytime I've used it, same side effects. WIERD

Face is beat red, ringing in ears, head feels like its going to pop. its only day 3.

i have tried to stop smoking many times without success. using chantix i have been smoke free for six months. thank you

I've been on Chantix for about a month.. no real problems .. however; I have been very cautious to take it with a full glass of water and never on an empty stomach. Had some gas at first.. a few weird dreams.. nothing scary or gross. The only thing I notice that seems to be noticably different is if I am outside in the heat (and I live in the deep south) I tend to get exhausted faster. If I walk a lot I tend to get tired a lot sooner than I did even when I smoked.
I also have had a flair up of my carple tunnel syndrome. Wheather or not these are side effects of Chantix is still open for debate. I have had these problems before due to alergies and increase guitar playing etc. I plan to finish out at least one more month and taper off the chantix by reducing my dose to 1 tablet a day.
I do know that my doctor advised me to always take Chantix with a full glass of water and right after a meal or a snack. So far so good but the jury is still out.

I have been off Chantix for about a year - I took chantix for 2-3 months and quit smoking - the side effects came about two months after taking Chantix. - Sever nerve and muscle disorders, complete loss of all b12 and D in my body - no strength in my upper arms and legs - severe nerve damage in my feet now unable to grab and hold objects, I have seen doctor after doctor and I have been tested over and over for every thing from Lyme to Lupus - No one can find anything wrong. Not sure what to do now. :-E

depression, anger, inability to concentrate

I have been taking Chantix on & off for 2 years. It took a few weeks longer than they said it would to stop smoking, but I finally stopped. Then soon after I went off Chantix I had incredible urges to smoke & started to smoke again, So I went back on Chantix. I have to stay on it or I will smoke again. I feel like I am addicted to the Chantix now. I am  on my 3rd time on the drug & I want to stop it

Oh and 1 more thing, it enlarged the left side of my heart. Payback is a bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memory loss. gas so bad it hurts. VERY abnormal behavior. This fuking meds almost killed me. Get it off the market or I will. U scammin assholes, this med comes from China. And u wonder y it kills people........

Ive been off chantix for over 2 years now but i keep having the most horrible dreams...they leave me physically and emotionally drained, and so depressed i can hardly function. I keep waiting for them to stop but they only seem to get worse and id like to know if the drug has permanantly changed my brain chemistry. If not how much longer will this go on...and if so...who can I sue?

I have only been on Chantix for 6 days...only side effects are odd taste in my mouth, keen sense of smell, and I burb alot more! I've only took 2 doses for 2 days now, but I knew well ahead of time not to take my night dose close to bedtime bacause it hyped me up some during the day...maybe some people would feel that as being anxious, who knows. Anyway, as far as dreaming, not much yet. They are different, but I've always been able to wake myself up from nightmares so I'm not scared if they get bad.  Just keep myself away from movies and books that bother me before bed.  I'm sure alot of these effects talked about by others may be somewhat true, but I also think there are ways to prevent side effects...eat before you take the pill! that's what the directions say! Don't take it right before bed, and be very truthful with your doctor about your past health and mental issues. Also don't take it if your doctor isn't scheduling follow up appointments with you! This needs to be monitored! Find a doctor who will follow up with you and your progress. Ok..that's all i have to say while still on my first week. I think I will be fine. Quit date is in two day!!!!

I began taking Chantix two weeks ago. I began feeling depressed and sad, but I attributed it to the winter weather. I felt bloated also. When I began the night doses, I had a horrible nightmare about my deceased mother. I remember every single thing in that dream very vividly. It upset me so much, I could not go back to sleep. I never want to have that type dream again. I do dream anyway, but not nightmares, and this is what it was. I also felt moody, anxious, not "myself." I stopped taking it. Its not worth it to me to be afraid to go to sleep.

i have been on champix for two weeks an am really suffering with bad indegestion apart from that i am good and have not had a cigg for a week now is it to early for me to come of them

Heart failure tongue swollen feeding tube so I don't choke to death

I am diabetic on insulin. diabetes was under control. Took chantix (1)month and face started itching and the worst is that my glucose level is very high and nothing  I do is bringing it down. Any solutions?

I too was not completed honest with physician about depression I have never been diagnosed but believe I probably am bio-polar.  Took the chantix for 3 months with no depression had all the other side effects crazy dreams, drolling but kept with it because it was working.  I developed a skin irritation all parts of my leg looks horible little bumps everywhere and itch man about drove me insane but still took the chantix and started using hydrocortisone cream and benadryl for the itching.  I have not smoked at all so decided to quit taking the chantix at 3 month mark immiedately got severly depressed suicidal just want to die or kill anything that gets in my way.  Husband has had it so now he wants to leave so that is not helping situation at all been off the chantix about 3 weeks now and the leg are not getting better I fear this itching and rash could be permanent I should have stopped taking the chantix when I first got the skin irritation instead of treating it.  And the depression isn't getting better either actually getting worse.  I have never been to a psych. or admitted for this but if someone makes the call I will go problem is it won't be be and my husband isn't even talking to me stays in another room at the other end of the house he is scared of me and says he doesn't care at this point if I kill myself

chatix was the only way for me and my wife now 6 months and kicking the pig . not all was rosey though me and my wife had very bad problems with depression worse for the wife. we started cutting pills in half after 4th week should have done this by the 3rd week really.i was off after about 6 weeks wife went on to more meds instead to help with stress . would i do it again to quit hell yeah recomend to every one that whats to quit just after 3rd week cut pills in half to stay sain. Tony davis lake city fl

A couple of my friends quit smoking using Chantix, and suggested I give it a try. It worked for them. One of them said they had strange dreams and I might too. The doc who prescribed it told me to have friends keep an eye on me and watch for mood changes. I felt safe using it but I was wrong.

The first week I took the drug, I had weird dreams. No problem. But after a week, I woke up in the morning and the left side of my face was paralyzed. I looked a lot like I had a stroke. Despite freaking out, finished my daily Sudoku puzzle in the paper. Thank God I didn't have a stroke. What the heck happened? Stopped taking Chantix that day.Hoped my face would return to normal.

It didn't, so I visited the doc who prescribed Chantix and showed her what happened. She and her associates been treating me since then for facial palsy attributed to Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. That was almost two years ago and my face is still paralyzed on the lower half of my left side. I lost my job and cannot get a new job. Every once in a while, I get an interview. The last one asked me if I was healthy enouygh for the job. I might be, but we'll never know.

Two years into it now and still no recovery. My face is destroyed. There are so many ways that it affects my life.  Facial palsy is what Chantix did to me. Anybody else get this?

I started Chantix and wasn't honest with the doctor about past depression issues.  Two weeks later I went back to the doctor for my check up and told her how I was feeling, I literally felt like I wanted to walk away from my life and everything in it and never come back.  She prescribed Wellbutrin with the Chantix and OMG what a life changer.  I felt completely the same as pre-Chantix except I didn't want to smoke.  This was the best solution for me and it worked for my husband too.  I know it may not be right for everyone, but it's worth a shot if you are dealing with the Chantix induced depression side of it. 

I took chantix for almost a year and now my speech is slurred.  I have had numerous test and now they are telling me they think I may have ALS.  Did anyone else experience slurred speech after taking chantix? 

I started Chantix Oct 25 ,5mg am and 5 mg pm. (prescribed dosage) I was able to cut down my smoking and quit on Nov 1.  Then dosage increased to 1mg am and 1 mg pm. At the same time I started having sleep problems.  I would only sleep around 4 hours.  Finally on Nov 11 after 10 days with less than 40 hours total sleep I quit taking Chantix at night.  Finally I slept.  Also during this time I was crying all the time and felt so depressed.  (I've got a lot going on in my life and blamed this depression on that) But then it occured to me that if the not sleeping was Chantix side effect , so too might the drpression.  So I quit taking it completely!  And the depression is gone, or at least the deep deep depression.  Life probllems are still here but at least I feel I can cope. I still haven't smoked and even though I have some urges I am able to resist without the Chantis.  My conclusion is that Chantix did help me quit but the side effects are way too bad to keep taking it!!!!!  Besides, I really don't seem to need its help now that I'm this many days along. If you already suffer from depression I suggest that you do NOT take Chantix. 

I've had a very positive experience with Chantix.  It is the only thing that has ever helped me quit smoking.  While the withdrawal is certainly not easy, even with Chantix, it has made the withdrawal tolerable.  The only side effect that I have experienced is the embarrassing flatulence and rumbling tummy.  People are affected in different ways by medications.  It should be common knowledge that because a drug causes extreme side effects in one person, does not mean that it will in another.  If you want to quit smoking, I highly recommend this drug as an aid. 

I took chantix for 6 weeks & weened off due to extreme agitation & deep depression. Now 6 months later I am on xanax & having extreme anxiety attacks that are horrific. I am searching for help with this tii. Already had an EKG & ready for anything that will help.

Chantix caused me to have seizures I would not recommend anyone to take this drug find a different way to quit smoking that is safe.

I too am going through all the things you are Im 48 and an active mom and wife. I keep being told it takes 30 to 60 days to get the meds out of you system. Im scared to take the xanax that the Dr prescribed because that too is very addictive.
Hang in there. If your medical doctor and your psychiatrist have not heard about these side effects they need to go to web md or here or anywhere on the net. I researched it last night and saw where many young and old have had heart attacks coming off this drug.
just remain as calm as you can. Talk to your better half (if there is one) keep a suicide watch on you as well as a medical watch and let the stuff wear off.
Good luck to you. I know you will be just fine.
Thank you for serving.
I had a military support program I closed last month but we exsisted for 4 3/4 years. You and your fellow military brothers and sisters are always in my heart.

My name is Dawn I am 48 years old. I have been smoking 33 years. I started Chantix a few months back. Sure I went through slight nausia when I didnt eat before taking the chantix. I only had one really trippy dream. But my horrer story goes like this.
I knew I could possibly get depressed or even want to commit suicide but had no idea how bad I could get. I did get that bad. I do however have a very supportive Husband and 2 sons 19 and 16. I got over the suicide watch. but now I cant get off the Chantix. Im a CRAZY woman. I scream and freak out at the drop of a dime or a snap of a finger. Sharp noises are the worse or someone telling me what to do instead of suggesting. My doctor just prescribed Xanax. Im not sure I want to go that rout. I have been reading up on xanax and omg it scares me.

These symptoms are some of the common symptoms.  Stop the Chantix now!  It may take a little while for it all to get out of your systam but by the time you are ready for discharge you should be fine.

I have quit smoking with the Chantix but some of the side effects are almost too much to take. I have vivid dreams (this is the least disruptive side effect), I am SICK ALL day long. I have nausea, and just really cannot get myself motivated to do ANYTHING. Constipation with bloating of course. In the begining I experienced agitation but that seems to have passed. I get massive headaches as well. I figure the short term side effects are worth it in the long run. I am only on my 6th day of taking it and am thinking of stopping early and going on shear will power. As I can barely take the headaches and not being able to function like a normal human being.

I quit taking Chantix 11 days ago and have been on it since last April.  I quit smoking which is nice but I have completely changed.  I am no longer me.  Since I have quit, I have been having anxiety attacks at least twice a day, suicide ideation, and an overall feeling of being completely lost.  I've had an MRI done on my brain yesterday and found no problems.  I have made
two trips to the ER for some sort of panic attack where I just feel like the world is being taken away from me and I am going to die.  I am supposed to get out of the Marines in about 3 months, but they think I'm going to be a medical hold.  I have no past history of mental or psychological disorders.  I am looking for anybody that has experienced this, I need to know if this is permanent.  I can barely function now.  A psychiatrist here has me on anti anxiety meds.  The doctors here don't really think this is from the Chantix because they haven't really had any experience with it yet.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I  have been taking chantix for the last four day as 0.5 mg /day . As dizziness was too much so i didnot increase dose on the fourth day . slight feeling of falling .As regarding orgasm , the time of orgasm is incresed by masturbation . As we see when we take zinc tablet or selenium . erection is full . Brain seems to be stunned .sleep is good. There is slight forgetfulness. Appetite is also good . no effect on urinary tract and intestines . Symptoms are just like withdrawal symptoms of benzidiazipines eg dizziness and feeling of falling

My husband is 38 and our Dr. gave his chantix to help him stop smoking, he started taking them for about 2 weeks the first week still smoking, and then he went out of town so stopped and he at the time of taking them had thoughts of Suicide die to financial problems which we have always had, and he did not know why. he then just recently started taking them again for anout 3 weeks now and is just so angry and disconnected to me and the kids not himself at all, says everyone is just not working with him and everything we do just angers him so much, he stated that maybe we just need to be seperated and that me and the kids would be better off, that he is not happy here and cannot stay, he has never been this way and just is not himself at all. do not know how to address with him since he says it is us and not him... I do feel it is the pills and will find away to get him to stop. any advice????

I began taking chantix because my bf was a non smoker. Although I must admit that I love smoking and never have tried to quit before, I love my bf more and decided to surprise him when he went away to afghanistan so when he got back i wouldnt be smoking anymore. First I want to say I used my mothers prescription because money is tight and I had already talked to my doctor about it, there was just no need to spend money on what I already had. What I wasnt aware of was that she smoked all the beginning first week pills until I was on week two. So i started my first week on 1mg pills. This was not good. I slept mostly the entire week, thank god I was off work for that week. And everytime I smoked that first week I got sick to my stomach and drank a lot of water. I even vomitted after smoking a cigarett. I did stop smoking on Day 5 of starting the pill because of the side effects. Along with this plan to surprise my non smoker bf I started working out, but I felt like I looked pregnant with a big belly :( Then it hit me, since I started the pills I havent had a bowl movement and this is a side effect. So I will continue the pills and look for a laxative until I no longer am on the pills. But the other side effects I have had, I had nightmeres where people were trying to kill me. I would wake up from a nightmere to fall asleep back into another one where yet again I was running for my life. Not exactly what I call a good nights sleep. But Chantix had definately made the cravings barable, and for me I havent felt any severe nicotine withdrawals. I have gotten upset over stupid things in the past two weeks, and even cried for no reason at all just for looking at a computer screen. Weird. But in the last few days I have felt normal and I am still smoke free. The pill is definitly a good way to stop smoking but dont fool yourselves, you will still be tested to smoke. I for one have a routine for everytime I light up a smoke and its hard to break these I just have to keep telling myself its for Dan and i move on.

I took Champix in March of '08 and I am still suffering from most of the side effects of this poisonous drug. To name a few Psychosis NOS, Major Depressive Disorder, suicidal, Emotional instability, agression, rage, Somatoform Disorder, Delusional Parasitosis (bug crawling sensations all over my body), Hyperacusis (sensitivity to certain frequencies of sound causing severe pain and pressure in my ears), Severe Insomnia, Memory Loss, Hair was constantly hurting all of the time and lost lots of it (27 year old male), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (started as extreme constipation and farting, fatigue, Severe Eye pain, unslightly puffy bags under eyes, weight gain, prostate pain, black out and become out of control when drinking, decreased sexual pleasure and ability to maintain erections. I think that is everything!!! I just got out of the mental ward a few weeks ago where I was treated like scum and given brain damaging neuroleptic (anti-psychotic) drugs against my will. I have made some small improvements since taking champix but it looks like the nightmare will never truly end. If you are one of the many that gets burned by this medication be warned that the doctors will probably not be able to help you and will most likely deny that anything is even happening to you or that it is related to Champix and the side effects may be permanent. I just got out of the mental hospital where I was treated like scum and given brain damaging neuroleptic drugs against my will which caused me to have trouble breathing amongst other things. It seems as though my Champix nightmare will never end!

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

I am on Day 4 of Chantix.  I've had a tolerable headache for 2 days, but my desire to smoke has almost disappeared.  Had some strange dreams last night, but so did my hubby, whos is not a smoker or on Chantix.  This morning when I smoked I felt nauseated and put the cigarette out before I finished.  I'm feeling very confident I will kick this disgusting habit and won't die like my father did, from lung cancer.  I'll continue to post my progress.

Drinking like the world will run out of water.  Maybe blurring of eyesight, going to check (also had change in bp med').  Was not having a regular BM.  However light laxitive seems to to have put me back on track.  Of course the drinking might be effecting the eyes?

My 51 yr old husband has been on and off chantix for over 2 years. He has COPD and needed to stop smoking for a lung transplant. Having used steroids consistanly also, it would have been very difficult to distinguish between behavoiral trends from steroids or chantix. However, hed came off steroids and chantix around the same time for tests, and has not been the same since. His Dr's have all blamed coming off steriods too quickly, but he tapered slowly, I now think the problem was not taping the chantix. He is a mess emotionally and mentally, and his blood sugar level is way too high, which it never was.
It is so sad to see someone who needs drugs to survive and live another day, that theor side effects have a worse effect on them than the illness itself. It is criminal that these drugs are handed out like candies to people, without a more in depth look at what can possibly go wrong. We were told the orginally, Chantix was an anti-depressant?? So get your head around that fact.
annie

Jack, Same here. Resting pulse went to 90 VS 65 normal.

USED CHANTIX FOR 2 MONTHS NOW, AND NO REAL SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS OTHER THAN COOL DREAMS AND CONSTIPATION...BUT...MY TRIGLYCERIDE LEVELS HAVE GONE FROM 65 TO 658!
I SEE A DR MONDAY RE THIS. ANYONE ELSE HAVE THE SAME ISSUE?

Used Chantix about 8 months ago and quit for a while...I went back to smoking and it's like my brain went into Chantix overload..I remember when I first took it, I experience an anxienty attack...I cut the pill in half instead...because at the time I thought the feeling that I experience was the medication kicking in...I was wrong...under alot of pressure with school and work and kids I smoked more than the norm and while at work I had an anxiety attack...It never crossed my mind that the onset of my anxiety attacks were from the Chantix that I'd taken months ago...I'm having to take beta blockers/ and Lexapro....this truly sucks...because I thought I may have have bouts of SVTs or PVC so I stop smoking COLD TURKEY...everything I do triggers an attack...I even get them while I'm sleeping... :'(

Been on Chantix for three weeks, have not smoked in two. No desire to smoke although the thought is still there. Weird dreams but nothing horrific, just strange. Tired more than usual, but functioning fairly normally otherwise. Tried it once before and quit for the three months that I was on it. My warning would be to others to watch yourself once you are off medication and out of your system. Then it is really all up to you. If the desire to smoke is still there at that point it is harder to resist.