You're still missing the point. Two drugs with similar side effects are not necessarily similar drugs. In this case, Chantix and SSRIs are, in terms of their effects on the brain, completely different beasts. That they can both produce suicide and erratic behavior, if true, is a single similarity between them.

To provide an analogy, methamphetamine and cannabis can both produce euphoria, paranoia, and transient psychosis, but few would call methamphetamine "cannabis-like" (or vice versa). They are two very different drugs with very different effects. It just so happens that there is some overlap.

whatever simon, you're a genius, but you are missing the point that this is a dangerous drug much as the ssris are for some people, and the public hasa right to know. end of story.

The mechanism of action with each drug is what effects each individual body. For instance, my daughter has the same adverse suicidal ideation on Zoloft, and BuSpar. It's really about if a person is a slow metabolizer of meds via the liver. This is why ppl.and docs as well are often taken by surprise by their reaction to a medication. Paying attention to liver process is key to note, esp due to the alcohol discussion. There are no absolutes. That's why this shit gets dangerous and deadly.

I have no problem with spreading word about possible side effects of Chantix. I, too, would want to warn anyone considering taking the drug of these possible side effects. My problem is that you insist on doing so in a scientifically indefensible way.

Saying Chantix is "SSRI-like" is as much of an oversimplification as the monoamine deficiency theory of depression. There is no doubt that Chantix and the class of SSRIs can both produce dangerous abnormal behavior, but there is also no scientific evidence to suggest that it's behavior of the same sort with the same underlying cause. Unless you can point to a study that shows that patients with a suicidal reaction to SSRIs are more likely to have a suicidal reaction to Chantix (controlling for factors besides the drug), or that the same genetic factors are correlated with adverse reactions to both drugs, I will not be convinced that there's anything alike about the drugs or their activity with respect to abnormal behavior. The claim you are making is a quite extraordinary one, and it doesn't need to be made.

While I applaud your attempts to combat the flawed pictures the drug companies present in direct-to-consumer advertising, in terms of providing patients with a more accurate view of psychiatry, this "science doesn't matter because the drug could hurt people" attitude is really no better. You could just warn your readers about the drug, rather than using every conceivable opportunity to bash the pharmaceutical establishment wholesale, and screwing up the science in the process. (While the pharmaceutical establishment is certainly a horrible machine, there are points of attack with a much clearer scientific basis than a tenuous link between SSRIs and Chantix.) You don't have to be a quack. You can get across the message that these drugs can be dangerous without having to make unproven statements and untenable claims.

Sorry. I bit your troll post. But, as a scientist, it's as frustrating for me to see people believing this as it is to see people believing that depression is caused by an imbalance in serotonin, that it can't be treated without meds, etc.

I just wanted to say that I have been on Chantix for a couple of months now and I feel great. My taste and smelling have improved and I have more energy. I haven't had any erratic behavior or any bad thoughts at all. But, I have also always been an easy going person with no depression. My point would be that maybe these people had some emotional isuues prior to the drug and the drug just amplified the feelings. To slam the drug as a whole would be wrong. With any drug there are people who have extreme side effects. But the people that I know personally and including myself that have had great sucess with Chantix, it is definately worth taking it.

Andi,

I have a Great Aunt who smoking her entire life and died in her 90's with no ill effects from cigarettes. Most people who smoke them aren't harmed, but so many people are harmed that I would say it's dangerous for anyone to start smoking. The risks out weigh the benefits. I think it looks like for most people the same could be said of Chantix. Most people who try heroin don't become addicted. That doesn't mean it's not dangerours or that I'm trying it.

I have tried Chantix. I was on it for six weeks. This was the only new medicine that I was on but I had a very bad experience with this drug and am still in the process to prove that it was the Chantix that caused my problem! I was told that I got up at 11:30 at night got my kids dressed for school and ended up in a car wreck. Thank goodness noone was hurt except the car. I don't remember getting up, getting the kids dressed, getting in the car or haveing the wreck. I do vaguely remember taking a field sobriety test when the cops came,being told that I was going to be processed and waking up in jail. It is all still very blurry to me! I have had MRIs, I have been to a neurologist and next I go to an endochronologist. I was charge with a DUI and two counts of child endangerment and still facing court appearances concerning this! Oh yeah, I guess I must have had blood taken the night I got arrested because I found two holes in my arm the next morning when My husband bailed me out. I went to my doctor the next day and took a drug test and it came back normal. I would NEVER EVER EVER reccomend this "miracle" drug to anyone! This so called miracle landed me criminal charges, extreme short term memory loss, heart palpatations, paranoia and "sleep walking"

Sally, I just saw your comment here--my Grandmother smoked "like a chimney" she called it, and she was completely healthy when she died @ 90, and as a matter of fact her doctor told her if she QUIT it would probably kill her [jokingly], but yeah, smoking doesn't always kill ppl off as claimed and the psych meds seem to be taking care of that instead.