Chantix Linked To Mania For Bipolars

Just as I suspected all along. Back in August, some doctors wrote a letter to the American Journal of Psychiatry outlining a case of Chantix/Champix-induced mania in a patient with bipolar disorder who was otherwise med-compliant. Here's their assessment:

"[O]ur findings suggest a possible link between the onset of manic symptoms and treatment with varenicline in a patient with bipolar disorder. In this case, there was a temporal relationship between the beginning of therapy and the onset of symptoms. There were no other medication changes in our patient’s regimen. A MEDLINE literature search revealed no case reports or studies regarding manic symptoms with varenicline. Our case highlights the need to use caution when prescribing the drug to patients with bipolar disorder."

Somehow I didn't catch that letter over the summer. Anyhow, this highlights the need for docs to do a careful screening before putting patients on Chantix, the stop smoking drug. Has the patient any kind of psych history? Has the patient had a bad response (ie, mania induction, etc.) to an SSRI or other anti-depressant in the past?

These points are central ones I put to Pfizer in an email yesterday. Still no response from the company. Obviously the above case represents one instance only, but given how some people are reacting to this drug, I sure hope the FDA is focusing its investigation on how many of the Chantix-related cases of suicide and suicidality are connected to underlying cases of depression and bipolar disorder.

As for you Pfizer, you guys have an answers for the public?

Thanks to the Injuryboard.com for highlighting the letter.

BTW, the poor guy in the above case was put on 10 mgs. of Zyprexa in order to get him out of his Chantix-induced mania. That's like replacing one public health problem with another. I hope to God he's off the Zyprexa by now.