SSRI's cause incredible thirst, kind of like marijuana. Being incredibly thirsty can make you drink way more than you realize, and faster too, especially if you are at a bar. I wonder if Chantix had this same side effect. I wonder why people don't take these obvious, side effects into account when considering alcohol and psych drugs. I wonder if there's a connection between the change in perception, behavior and affect that is considered treatment when taking these drugs, the incidence of smoking when taking these drugs, the incidence of smoking among people labeled schizophrenic, bipolar, and MI, the incidence of smoking when drinking booze, the incicence of extreme hunger when taking some ssri's, etc....and the functioning of the brain. I remember when I had a temp clerical job at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Marietta listening to the scientists laugh ominiously about someone taking Prozac, and these folks knew what it was.

This is a tragic story. Again, when taking drugs that cause excessive thirst, watch it with the booze because your fluid intake is going to be higher than you realize, so along with any other side effects, you may find yourself very very drunk very very fast.

That's an interesting idea about dry mouth and alchohol. I think there may be more to it. It is purported by some that SSRIs (and related drugs) induce a craving for alcohol at least in some people. I'm pretty sure they interfere with the ability to metabolize alcohol at the very least. You can actually do a google search on www.ssristories.com for alcohol and come up with many stories that show a disturbing pattern regarding drunkenness, bizarre behavior, and the drugs.

A friend diagnosed with schizophrenia had a very bad reaction to Chantix and had to go off of it and go back up on anti-psychotics he was tapering off of at the time. The sad thing is I also know people who could never quit smoking before who were able to quit with Chantix. So everyone's milage may vary. Did I mention it's nephrotoxic? Of course I did :).

i'm getting a sense that this chantix is tricky stuff. if you google it you will see wildly different reactions to it among users. personally i'll just keep smoking!

Sara, I didn't mean to imply that excessive thirst was the only problem with SSRI's or Chantix which seems to be in the SSRI family or at least a cousin. I know lots of people who had bad reactions to wellbutrin taken to quit smoking.

I don't know where you get the idea that Chantix (varenicline) is "a smoking cessation cum anti-depressant." I haven't seen anything anywhere that suggests this. I also haven't seen anything anywhere that suggests any effect on serotonin reuptake. In fact, I can cite several articles which call it a "novel type of drug." Varenicline is not bupropion. It is not even a cousin of an SSRI, at least based on the evidence I can find in peer-reviewed journals. There are case studies that suggests it can exacerbate mania (like SSRIs) and schizophrenia (not like SSRIs), but this is not a cut and dry case where the drug companies should have known better. They should have conducted further studies, but really, no one knows very much about how specific nicotine receptor subtypes affect mood. Besides, varenicline will probably help more than it hurts; one death from an anti-smoking drug is insignificant compared to the estimated 500,000 who die each year from smoking cigarettes.

I'd rather not have psychiatric medicine devolve into a war of pharmaceutical hacks versus anti-pharmaceutical quacks. So far, I haven't seen any evidence that varenicline is SSRI-like or has been marketed as an antidepressant. So, unless you have evidence to the contrary, stop making these claims!

simon, thanks, but first off this is my blog, we have a first amendment and i'll say whatever the hell i want. two, just because it doesn't target serotonin doesn't mean it's not an anti-depressant; for example, see cymbalta, effexor and wellbutrin and lately seroquel...not to mention maois etc.

i understand that the drug doesn't meet the classic notion of an ssri anti-d, but a lot of the early press coverage on this drug suggested that chantix was a re-engineered anti-depressant. hence my use of cum anti-depressant, meaning it's anti-depressantish in my mind.

based upon what i am hearing from users of this drug and seeing on the net, i'd say it's acting just like classic ssri though. causing problems in half the people who try it.

my broader sense of concern for this drug isn't so much tied to deaths right now, it's tied to a concern that there's an identifiable pattern of problems associated with use of the drug and that alcohol may make things worse. therefore i think docs who prescribe this drug have a responsibility to caution their patients who take the drug abotu what they might experience. bet that didn't happen in this case. if i were the man's family, i'd be looking for a really good med mal/plaintiff's attorney.

Yes, you can say whatever you want, but it's hard to take you seriously when you make claims that are patently false. You do an excellent job at revealing the absurd marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies, but posts like this make it harder to take you seriously.

To get a full background on the development of varenicline, I refer you to Coe, J. W., Brooks, P. R., Vetelino, M. G., Wirtz, M. C., Arnold, E. P., Huang, J., et al. (2005). Varenicline: an alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptor partial agonist for smoking cessation. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 48(10), 3474-7. Varenicline derives structurally from cysteine, and amino acid, and bears a slight structural similarity to morphine, but there's absolutely nothing about SSRIs.

Varenicline targets only 5-HT3 (ionotropic serotonin) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. From a neuropharmacological standpoint, this pretty much rules out any antidepressant activity. Antidepressants all target metabotropic serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, or (occasionally) epinephrine receptors. No one thinks a nicotinic receptor partial agonist has any anti-depressant potential, and only antipsychotics, Remeron, and probably a few TCAs possess any 5-HT3 antagonist activity. There's very little overlap between varenicline and the average antidepressant.

Ultimately, the brain is a black box, and neuropharmacology is basically wiggling a stick inside this box and hoping it makes things better. Obviously, a drug with a novel mode of action should not get priority review from the FDA; it should have to endure at least as comprehensive a review as any other drug. This article, which suggests that 5-HT3 activity has an impact on alcohol-mediated aggression, is perhaps the key to what's going on here. Or perhaps it's activity at the nicotinic ACh receptor. Only further research will tell for certain. But, I'm not sure this doctor deserves to lose a medical malpractice case. Nowhere in any of the literature is an interaction with alcohol suggested; the doctor was not negligent by legal standards. Regardless, it's good to see you ringing the alarm bells about this potential interaction, even if some of your statements are a little misleading.

Simon, the reason I said it seems like Chantix is at least a cousin to SSRIs is because of this from Pfizer.com's Chantix website (www.chantix.com):
"There are receptors for nicotine in the brain. When smoke is inhaled, nicotine attaches to these receptors. This sends a message to a different part of the brain to release a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine gives a feeling of pleasure. But it only lasts for a short time. The body wants to repeat this feeling. Based on research, it is believed that CHANTIX™ (varenicline) works by activating these receptors and blocking nicotine from attaching to them. However, CHANTIX does not contain nicotine."

You state that antidepressants all target dompamine. Assuming you are correct, it looks like the idea behind Chantix is that it will work like an anti ssri, i.e. instead of increasing the levels of dopamine, and hence "happiness" like an SSRI, it, when triggered by the ingestion of nicotine into the body, will prevent the feeling of "happiness." Then if I get your comment as well as much of my reading correct, since no one really knows how dopamine is related to mood or behavior (including smoking) the problem becomes taking a drug that artifically adjusts dopamine, an unknown, as opposed to taking drugs like alcohol and nicotine which, while they do have risks associated with them, society has centuries of data regarding the side effects of alcohol and nicotine (well tobacco not the cigarettes pushed by the corps these days).

I think the description of Chantix as a "smoking cessation cum anti-depressant" is valid as Chantix, like ssri's, work by playing with dopamine.

I think that if the family brought a med mal suit against the doctor for prescribing a drug he was unfamiliar with they might prevail and then the doctor would sue the pharma rep for falsely representing to him that the drug was safe as that is probably what happened. Unfortunately, if the family was to sue the doctor, the doctor would likely be represented by a lawyer paid for by his medical malpractice insurance and that lawyer would settle the case, or likley win by pulling in details from the personal life of the musiscian to alienate a jury, but no med mal lawyer would dare go up against big pharma's lawyers because big pharma has big pockets.

Read about Chantix on WSJ Health Blog:

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/09/20/pfizer-antismoking-pill-is-on-fire/

The Good Morning America coverage I saw had one of the anchors suggesting that it would be unethical for drug companies to test the effects of combining their drugs with alcohol. I disagree.

someone said that on gma? i don't think that anchor knows very much about what can and cannot be ethically tested.

Phillip,

Go to the interview, to 4:44 mins/secs into it, and the reporter says, in response to a question from Dianne Sawyer, "they can't really study alcohol's interaction with their drugs." ( http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3623293 )

I find that statement surprising but I did hear it.

Sally, first of all, I said that antidepressants all target one of four neurotransmitters. Most don't target dopamine. Some TCAs, MAOIs, bupropion (Wellbutrin), and venalafaxine (Effexor) at sufficiently high dose levels do. SSRIs don't. They play exclusively with serotonin, at least at prescribed dose levels.

Nicotine, like amphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, stimulates dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, the brain area thought to be most responsible for addiction (although new evidence suggests that the insula may also have a major role). It doesn't stimulate dopamine release everywhere, and animals can easily discriminate it from drugs that do (such as amphetamine and cocaine). It's simply wrong to think of it as a dopaminergic drug. Trust me; I'm a neuroscientist-in-training, not a drug company shill. If you want to know more, pick up an introductory neuropharmacology textbook. Don't get your science from the drug companies and the mainstream media; they aren't scientists.

Chantix is a partial agonist at the alpha4beta2 subtype of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Nicotine, in contrast, is a full agonist at this subtype of receptor. A partial agonist stimulates a receptor beyond its basal state, but less than if a full agonist were bound to it, and prevents further binding of other agonists. Chantix thus provides enough of an effect to eliminate withdrawal nicotine symptoms through the same basic pharmacological pathways as nicotine. This technique has worked before. Buprenorphine is one of the most effective drug treatments for opioid addiction available at this time, and works as a partial agonist at the mu opioid receptor, thus eliminating opioid withdrawal without producing (much) euphoria. But Chantix also has activity at the 5-HT3 receptor which, it is my hunch, mediates the alcohol-induced aggression.

An SSRI works in a completely different way. Whereas Chantix (and nicotine) directly stimulate the postsynaptic neuron, an SSRI stops the presynaptic neuron from taking serotonin out of the synaptic cleft once it has released it, thus allowing serotonin to further stimulate the postsynaptic cell. Chantix is no more like an SSRI than nicotine is; it operates on different receptors with a completely different mode of action.

Why do you think the doctor must have been unfamiliar with the drug? Even if he conducted the studies leading to its approval, he probably still wouldn't expect this side effect. From a neuropharmacological standpoint, it's completely unexpected. It mimics nicotine, a drug whose activity is already well-known, with some additional activity at 5-HT3, which is most closely associated with nausea, and not behavioral effects. It's unfortunate that this drug has these behavioral effects, and they should certainly be investigated now that we know, but, unless Pfizer covered something up in the studies, I'm not convinced that anyone was negligent in this case.

Simon, my arguments come from the Chantix webpage. I'd certainly take your word over Pfizers' anyday. It's their promo material that says it is believed to work by blocking dopamine. In other words, no one really knows what it does, hence the "it is believed to" language. If in fact the ad is wrong, I'd love to know and would believe you.

If I understand you correctly, Chantix works more like an SNRI than an ssri, but I'm not a chemist. As for negligence, if a side effect is completely unexpected, it is either not really a side effect or the drug wasn't tested extensively enough. Sounds like the second case to me.

I'm still shocked by the GMA assertion that pharma co's can't ethically test how drugs react with alcohol and so it takes the first 10,000 or so people who take it to discover what the effects will be. That's what the reporter said. I posted the link to the video cut. It's possible the reporter was oversimplifying, and in fact likely. I'm not a neuro scientist;) Pfizer's negligence may have been not studying the drug extensively enough prior to its release.

These drugs aren't nearly as selective as Big Pharma and your doctor claim. Sure, certain drugs are said to target certain receptors but, once they're there, a cascade of effects comes into play.

All of these drugs have to cross the blood-brain barrier (they wouldn't work otherwise) and the brain rightly seems them as an uninvited guest. In response, the brain down-regulates (e.g. shuts off serotonin receptors in response to being flooded with an SSRI) and the famous "Prozac poop-out" is the result.

It's just your brain attempting to restore balance. Then your doctor prescribes a new drug and the cycle repeats. Valenstein (I think) said or quoted another researcher who said you can get a broken watch to work for a while by banging it on a table and that's roughly what you're doing when you introduce psychotropics. At least alcohol and nicotine produce predictable effects.

I'm not anti-drug, not at all (I've been helped enormously by temporary drug regimes) but it's really important that patients do their own research and make truly informed decisions. You won't get unbiased information from your doctor if he or she was trained to believe that psychiatry actually knows what it's doing.

I don't know what the significance is re: the trademark name being different, but take a look at this post-marketing study:

Sponsored by: Pfizer
Information provided by: Pfizer
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00483002

Purpose

To monitor use in real practice including safety and efficacy of Champix tablets 0.5mg, 1mg medication for 12 weeks in smokers

Condition Intervention

Smoking Cessation

Drug: Varenicline (Champix)

Study ID Numbers: A3051083
Last Updated: June 6, 2007
Record first received: June 5, 2007
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00483002
Health Authority: Korea: Food and Drug Administration
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2007
--

FDA Trial-Champix-Varenicline-Pfizer

Verenicline Studies-Pfizer

Naltrexone and Varenicline: Weight Gain and Tolerability in Cigarette Smokers
Checking out the "Exclusion Criteria, it makes a person wonder why Chantix was/is ever prescribed to anyone, considering this trials list of "you can't participate". And then there is this study you can enter Improving Smoking Cessation Outcomes in Heavy Drinkers - 1.

"Criteria
1.) be at least 18 years of age, 2.) have smoked cigarettes regularly for at least one year, 3.) currently smoke at least 10 cigarettes a day, 4.) currently be using no other tobacco products or nicotine replacement therapy, 5.) currently drink heavily according to self-report (>14 drinks per week or >5 drinks per occasion at least once per month over the last 12 months for men; >7 drinks per week or >4 drinks per occasion at least once per month over the past 12 months for women)"

Maybe someone should interview Christopher W Kahler, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Brown University on Good Morning America, since that's such a trusted news source. Better yet, Dawdy--give him a phone call. Ask him what he thinks about all of this.

Last link I promise, but wanted people to start thinking beyond this one med being discussed, and also re: the GMA host, and ethics and alcohol --clearly needs to do some research on how and who does drug trials, and note this one does not ask the person to stop drinking during the study. Also note for interest sake--that this study has an interesting list of "conditions" and one of them is ADHD.Then ask yourself who is funding this study.

Effect of Ethanol and Genetic Polymorphisms on Bupropion Metabolism

Two groups of volunteers will be recruited for this study: 1) volunteers who drink moderate to heavy amounts of alcohol frequently and 2) volunteers who usually do not drink alcohol. Volunteers will NOT be asked to change their drinking (or nondrinking) habits during the study.

Condition

Alcohol Drinking*
Depression*
Smoking Cessation*
Attention Deficit Disorder*

Intervention

Drug: Bupropion
Drug: Chlorzoxazone
Drug: Ethanol

I also wanted to comment to Simon, that does one wonder if Pfizer buried any data? did Eli Lilly?

Chantix Side Effects:

Chantix Side Effects

"PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS. Frequent: Anxiety, Depression, Emotional disorder, Irritability, Restlessness. Infrequent: Aggression, Agitation, Disorientation, Dissociation, Libido decreased, Mood swings, Thinking abnormal. Rare: Bradyphrenia, Euphoric mood, Hallucination, Psychotic disorder, Suicidal ideation."

For it to list here at all, means at least one person experienced the side effect, so there's something to think about--even without the booze.

Chantix is not an AD. I've use this med personally to stop smoking and it worked. I think some are putting the cart before the horse with re to the dopamine. Yes, smoking causes a surge of dopamine in the brain however it also causes dopamine dysregulation as well. A better comparison for how Chantix works would be Suboxone. In fact, they do almost precisely the same thing but on different receptors. Chantix binds to the nicotinic receptors with a higher affinity than nicotine...it then partially agonizes them as well. The partial agonist quality is what prevents physical cravings.

Then there is my own personal experience. I've taken this drug...and more importantly I've discontinued its use without any ill effects. If you want to call cessation of craving an AD effect then fine...but the two are simply not related...either by effect, action or structure.

Drug companies test their drugs in the presence of alcohol all the time. In fact, they are sometimes asked by the FDA to do so. Anyone remember the painkiller Palladone? It was voluntarily pulled from the market because in the presence of alcohol, the hydromorphone was "dumped" or immediately released, and this could possibly lead to unsafe levels of the drug in the bloodstream. The available data was from experiments performed in a test tube, but but the results you won't read about are the ones done in volunteers (which paralleled the results done in vitro, and were not buried because the drug company decided to pull Palladone from the market anyway). This prompted the FDA to ask drug-makers of other painkillers, or morphine-like products to perform similar studies.
So don't believe everything you hear on GMA - especially medical info.

All I know is, I took Chantix for a month and since then my taste buds have definitely been altered.
It's been three months since I've taken my last dose and food still doesn't taste right.
It will probably be many years and many complaints before a connection with Chantix is proven.

Somebody compiled a list of 7 suicides mentioned in internet forums which appear to related to Champix:

http://boocompany.com/index.cfm/content/story/id/15216/

(Scroll down for the suicide-related links and citations in English language)

well, I have a extremely high metabolism, and I took chantix for two days. Severe depression, mood swings,and similer feelings also came from the wellbutrin I tried. Be for warned, anylize your thoughts and moods daily while being on this drug. I did not use anything else and smoked as normal as instructed by the directions.I had severe anger also. I had to distance my self from my family until it passed out of my system.

I'm a healthy 36 year old woman with 3 kids. I've been taking Chantix for 6 1/2 weeks and was ordered by my doctor to discontinue taking this medication this a.m. Over the last two weeks, I have had six panic attacks---one that landed me in the hospital as I thought I was having a heart attack and a separate one actually caused me to scratch up my husband's car. Since the first panic attack, I was placed on Celexa and then Ativant (like Xanax) was added after my 3rd one. Yesterday, I had two more panic attacks so the doctor is pulling me off the drug. There is something awfully strange about this pill. I had virtually ALL of the side effects mentioned in the PI which seems statistically odd, in addition to this more severe psychiatric side effect that resembles a heart attack. I strongly think Pfizer needs to continue testing this drug for its side effects using a population with various backgrounds and health conditions. Even though I've never had any serious issues, I do have a mild thyroid condition, but it's hypo and should not have caused massive anxiety swings like this. Were I to have a hyperthyroid condition, I could have understood it, but I'm practically homebound now.

Not sure what the doc was thinking when he put you on Celexa at the same time you were on Chantix -- that would only aggravate your anxiety. And don't stay on the Ativan very long either -- it's highly addictive but I'm sure it's probably helping right now. Celexa could have contributed to the later panic attacks. Think about tapering off it.

I've been off of Chantix for about a month and a half and am having terrible, violent-like episodes. I'm not a violent person at all, but man. This is scaring me. I have an appointment Tuesday with the fam doc. After my "episode" I dive into a deep depression. Scary stuff. I don't have any of these problems while on the drug itself. This is after the fact.

I don’t think it was the Chantix.

New controversy brewing: are Chantix and Champix safe?

The most disturbing news story to date was produced by CBS 11 News of Dallas/Fort Worth. Entitled "Miracle Drug or Dangerous Problem," its online video clip documents how Chantix is being blamed for delusional, aggressive and suicidal thinking.

The CBS 11 News story reports on the Labor Day death of Carter Albrecht, a local musician who had a few drinks, swallowed his first 1 milligram tablet of Chantix, became delusional, aggressive, assaulted his girlfriend, and minutes later he was "shot and killed breaking into a neighbor's house."

Autopsy: Carter Albrecht intoxicated at three times legal limit 5:05 PM CT
05:05 PM CDT on Monday, October 22, 2007
By TANYA EISERER/ The Dallas Morning News
teiserer@dallasnews.com

An autopsy report shows that musician Carter Albrecht was intoxicated at more than three times the legal limit when he was fatally shot as he tried to kick in back door of his girlfriend’s next-door neighbor.

The toxicology tests found that Mr. Albrecht, who played guitar and keyboard for the bands Sorta and Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, had an alcohol level of .29 in his blood. The legal limit for driving is .08.

The amount of alcohol in your blood stream is referred to as Blood Alcohol Level (BAL). It is recorded in milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, or milligrams percent. For example, a BAL of .10 means that 1/10 of 1 percent (or 1/1000) of your total blood content is alcohol. When you drink alcohol it goes directly from the stomach into the blood stream. This is why you typically feel the effects of alcohol quite quickly, especially if you haven’t eaten in a while.

BAL depends on: 1. Amount of blood (which will increase with weight) and 2. The amount of alcohol you consume over time (the faster you drink, the higher your BAL, as the liver can only handle about a drink per hour--the rest builds up in your blood stream).

Understanding the effects of a rising BAL can be very useful in controlling drinking.

Below are the effects of increasing BAL.

.02 MELLOW FEELING. SLIGHT BODY WARMTH. LESS INHIBITED.

05 NOTICEABLE RELAXATION. LESS ALERT. LESS SELF-FOCUSED. COORDINATION IMPAIRMENT BEGINS.

.08 DRUNK DRIVING LIMIT. DEFINITE IMPAIRMENT IN COORDINATION AND JUDGMENT.

.10 NOISY. POSSIBLE EMBARRASSING BEHAVIOR. MOOD SWINGS. REDUCTION IN REACTION TIME.

.15 IMPAIRED BALANCE AND MOVEMENT. CLEARLY DRUNK.

.30 MANY LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS

.40 MOST LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS; SOME DIE.

.50 BREATHING STOPS. MANY DIE.

If you are prone to depression when you lose your best bud the cig, take wellbutrin and nicotine replacement if nessacary. If you have no depression ever in your life and a stomach of iron, take the Chantix, but skip the nictine replacement, its useless on the Chantix. I have tried both and have finally quit in Wellbutrin. When the urge hits very bad I sip a cup of coffee or take a peice of nicorette and then I forget. Good luck but be careful with the Chantix it is super powerful! But the well butrin keeps ya happy!

I took champix for a month, I was so ill I stopped taking the drug. I had nearly all the side effects listed......then I had panic attacks, I had to have a family member stay with me because I had no idea of what was going on or what I was doing! I am now on beta blockers which have stopped the panic attacks, I have not taken a champix pill for 6 weeks but I am still suffering with side effects, I just pray each day that when I wake I will feel a little better.
This pill Champix should be withdrawn from the market as It has already killed people and left other people in a bad mental state!!!!!!

I don't smoke anymore!!!!!!!!!! but cannot even bear to see a person smoking or the smell. It just reminds me of the nightmare I am in.

Janice England

Stopped taking Chantix about 4 months ago. I dont smoke anymore but since taking Chantix my life has become a living hell.The side efects are terrible.Depression suicidal thoughts, panic attacks.I have them all and more. Have been to so many doctors. No one seems to be able to help me. I dont want to go on living my life this way.I hope that the next time someone thinks about taking this drug, that they will think twice and try something different. I think that Chantix has done permanent brain damage to a lot of people. How many more people are they going to hurt before they take it off the market.I sure wish I could go back to before I took the medication. People think its great that I dont smoke anymore. but look at the cost. I believe my life will never be the same again.

Suzann Green

you are so right about Champix as it is called here in England, I am still trying to recover from the side effects, but feel as you do that I may have permenant brain damage, only time will tell, as you say the doctors do not know. The beta blockers stop the panic attacks but how long will I have to take another pill to cancel out the side effects of another drug??????

Would be good to hear your further comments
Janice Hill

hi. i took these pills to aid in giving up smoking, they seemed to work that well i only needed half the recommended dose, it was so easy. That was until i started cuttting back on the pills in readiness to go it alone. Thats when all hell broke loose. Bad depression, panic attacks, relationship with partner started falling apart, i just couldnt think rationally. Went to the doctors to go on antidepressants not linking it to the champix i was on at the time. Wasnt untill i friend of mine stubbled on the website by chance and showed it to me. Going to take sometime to sort my head and my life out again. Would have been better to keep smoking than go thru this hell.

Hi Vivian,

was interesting reading your comments regarding Champix, the more you investigate, the more shocking some of the stories are. I have not taken a Champix pill for well over 2mths and still having side effects. The pill is well out of my system but the damage had already been done. I attended a cessation clinic for this drug and when I told them what happened to me, they dismissed me, didn't want to know, thankfully my G.P was very understanding and said she would never recommend this pill to anyone again. Shame as it is to late for me. I still take beta blockers, tried to come of them but went straight back to having panic attacks!!!!! My life has changed now, I can go anywhere I wan't and be accepted because I don't smoke!!!!!! but you see I can't go out! as this pill has left me in fear, I have to stay in calm surroundings and situations at all times.

Let me know how you are doing.

Janice Hill England

"Sara, I didn't mean to imply that excessive thirst was the only problem with SSRI's or Chantix which seems to be in the SSRI family or at least a cousin."

I'm going to wager a bet that you're not a chemist or doctor, because you clearly have NO idea what the hell you're talking about

I am on anti-seizure meds and anti-depressants and was on chantix for 6 months, first 2 months, i cant believe i got through. i stopped about 2 months ago. i started to smoke again. i have never recovered from the depression i felt from this drug mixed with my other drugs. hey this is a great drug i guess if you have NO other mental health problems.

they should have tested this drug with other drugs that effect your brain. If i knew it was not tested properly i would have never taken it.

I think there was a reason they didnt test it, they arent stupid. people are killing themselves. i wanted to kill myself. And i didnt even know why!!! I felt this way all through treatment and thought it was withdrawal. And i still feel like that! When will it go away?
i happened to tell my therapist? dont do that! just believe me dont do that. dont tell a shrink you want to kill yourself. off topic but fyi

l had a very bad experience after telling her (with her) and a week later i saw my Lyme doctor who has a brain and is into reading a paper.

My Lyme doctor happened to ask me if i took any meds this past year like chantix? I said yeah. for six months. he told me that could be what triggered my suicidal thoughts. and told me i should write a nasty letter to the company. i think i should sue the company.

guys get the patch. the less meds we are on the. better. i have to be on drugs for my seizures but i am done with elective ones. i am so upset so depressed, so tired. i dont know whats up. i am smoking so i have my nicotine. its not that. but those pills did something to me. and yes its those pills. i have been on everything else for years.

I started taking chantix (a quit smoking drug) about a month ago, at first it looked like this was the ticket, I went from a pack a day to nothing in 1 week, cool huh? Then it hit me.
It started with a low level irritated feeling then went to extreme agitation to border line homicidal thoughts, ended up at suicidal.
I have never had anything that has screwed up my thought process like this in my entire life.
I stopped taking it about a week ago but still my brain hasn’t recovered, today I contemplated checking myself into a psyche ward as 1 minute I’m fine the next I have overwhelming thoughts of the most severe agitation you could ever imagine.
This drug is in my estimation very dangerous, you want to feel HELL take it.
Nothing on this earth is worth what chantix has made me feel, I hate the fact that a substance has made me feel this way, for what it’s worth don’t take this drug, this is by far the worse ride I have ever been on and I can’t wait till it’s out of my system, I pray that it doesn’t have permanent effects.
Buyer BEWARE.

My husband and I started taking Chantix Jan 7, 08. Quit smoking Jan 29, 08. Quit Chantix Feb 18, 08 due to problems. I am never a "down" or depressed person. I have been depressed, agitated (also not like me), just felt pyschotic. Husband felt strange also and developed tremors. We both don't smoke, but also get no pleasure from just about anything any longer. We had always been an extremely sexual couple, that is just about gone. Still feel "strange". Have been to our doctor and spoke with our pharmacist. Both have said it is out of our system now, but we still have the same feelings ie: depression, agression, decreased libido. We are concerned about permanent damage, don't know where to go for help. Would rather have taken my chances with cigarettes than feel like this. Try another stop smoking method!

Hi Tina,
just read your comments on Champix as it is called here in England.

I have put 2 other postings here regarding my experience with this drug, hope you have read them, as I can now say that 5 months on from my nightmares of taking Champix I am fully recovered, I will ad that after reading links about Champix and alcohol I no longer drink alcohol, this is just incase it triggers any reactions!!!!!

I was put on beta blockers by my doctor who was horrified at the side effects I was having, I took the beta blockers for about 2 months and then weaned myself of them.

I am now so relieved to be back to normal and also to have my life back, my worst fear was I was going to have brain damage from this drug, I do hope that you and your husband find a good doctor and some medication to help you through this bad time, I can only hope you have the same results as I have had but it has taken a long time.

This drug CHAMPIX should not be on the market and I hope the company who make this drug, that has screwed up peoples lives, GET SUED AND SCREWED THEMSELVES!!!!!!

All the best Tina and to all out there recovering from Champix.

Janice Hill, England

I only took Chantix for 4 weeks; my last dose was 3 months ago. I did quit smoking, but now I get no pleasure from anything. Nothing makes me happy. I get angry very easily and I cannot concentrate. I cry frequently and uncontrollably. The one thing that makes me believe this is a long-lasting Chantix side effect and not a nicotine or cigarette withdrawal symptom is that I continue to have the strange, vivid dreams. Janice, your last comment gave me hope that this isn't permanent. I'm glad I found this log - I was beginning to think I was losing my mind. Thank you all.
Erin

Simon,
I believe your expertise in programming software does not help your comprehension of brain's activities.
Could you explain what has happened to these people?
Are they lying?

Hi Erin,

read your post, just want to know how things are going for you. Drop a line here to let me know and also if i can be of any help... please ask.

All the best to everyone

Janice Hill England

Janice,

After battling the depression for eight months, and trying several different anti-depressant medications, I chose to begin smoking again to see if I could return to normal. It worked. I think I can "reset" and recover then quit smoking again. But I definitely will not be using Chantix again.