rivrrat

For anyone out there that's considering quitting soon (especially since it may be federally mandated before long - dumbasses - anywho..), I thought I'd just relay some info about the new drug Chantix.

Chantix works by blocking the nicotine receptors in the brain, so that even if you do smoke, you don't get anything out of it. For me, it made it easy to disassociate the 'good feeling' of the nicotine from the cigs.

I started taking it about the first week of December. Second week on the pill is when you're supposed to drop the smokes, but as the doctor expected I was unconsciously cutting back prior to that.

Side effect for me included headaches, nausea, heartburn, and menstrual spotting (obviously only relevant if you're female). When I got on the full dose (they amp you up), the nausea and subsequent vomiting was really too much for me. I was so sick that I just could not function. I kept taking the full dose for a few more days, thinking that perhaps I just had a 'bug' or something. But no... it was the Chantix. So, I cut the dosage in half. That did the trick. The normal dose was just too much for me personally. My doc said that I did the right thing, so if something similar happens to you, don't hesitate to cut your pills in half and only take half ones. Plus, it cuts your cost in half too.

As for cravings... well, I still have them and have since I dropped the smokes. I went through a period of withdrawal, as expected. I was moodier, I was less patient. Having a smoke consumed just about all of my thoughts. However, refraining from having one really wasn't all that difficult. I think the Chantix really helps with the addiction part, then it's up to you to get over the HABIT part. And for me, the habit was and is more difficult than the addiction. I get in my car, I think about having a smoke. I finish dinner, I think about having a smoke. So on and so forth. Suprisingly though, I've only had a couple periods where I really thought hard about falling off the wagon. A couple of times where I was actually trying to talk myself into it because I wanted one so bad at that particular point. Like.. on a 4 hour drive to DC last week. (I used to smoke A LOT while driving) I thought to myself that I would "just smoke today, on the drive to DC". Fortunately, I didn't manage to talk myself into it. LOL

However, even if I do slip - and the first week I was supposed to drop them, I did have a couple smokes in that week - I don't get the nicotine anyway. So, the cig doesn't seem as "good". In a way, it's almost theraputic to allow yourself a couple in the beginning because it makes you SEE that they're just not as "good" and thus you make that disassociation.

My doctor says he's had an 80% success rate with the Chantix. It's expensive and I don't think there's an insurance company out there that will cover it. (but they'll cover the cancer!!) But, when you figure it up and depending on how much you smoke, the cost of the Chantix per month is about the same as the cost of smoking.

Anyway, I just thought I'd relay some success to anyone who may be thinking about quitting and possibly using Chantix to help. I do think it helped a lot. (of course, a desire to quit is paramount)

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galenrox

I used Commit lozenges and the Walmart store brand version of the same. It was all I needed, once I separated nicotine from cigarettes, it was no problem for me to quit smoking, and only a matter of time till I could ween off the lozenges.
It all depends on the style of your addiction, cause there are two addictions that have to be dealt with, physical and mental. The mental addiction I had to cigarettes wasn't that significant, so detaching cigarettes from the equation so that I could just deal with the physical addiction to nicotine wasn't that big of a deal. My girlfriend, who tried to quit at the same time, was more mentally addicted, more addicted to the act of smoking, so even after getting past the physical addiction to nicotine she still went back and started smoking again.

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talloulou

I do the gum. However I've been doing the gum forever. So really I just sort of replaced my "method" for getting the drug. I don't care though. I'll probably be popping the gum in my mouth till it's illegal to chew.

rivrrat

I tried the gum for times when I couldn't smoke for long periods, but good lord it tasted horrible. All it did at the time was make me want to spit it out and gag.

galenrox

My girlfriend's mom did that, it's been like 15 years or something and she still chews the gum. I think my girlfriend wanted to do that with the lozenges, but liked cigarettes more.

talloulou

Well they have flavors now and I don't know, I love 'em. But I'm an addict so whatever. My husband bugs me and asks when I'll quit the gum and I tell him maybe when he quits coffee and that shuts him up. The funny thing is when I smoked I was a "closet" smoker and had maybe 2-3 a day. But since I don't have to hide the gum I chew like 5 pieces a day and I can do it anywhere even while volunteering at school. So I may in fact have a stronger nic addiction now then I did before! But I don't smell bad so there's that.

rivrrat

I'm afraid to try it now It might mess up the whole quitting thing.

talloulou

Oh yeah without it doubt. Like I said it's not really quitting so much as "substituting" the delivery method. However my doctor claims the nicotine itself isn't as bad as smoke and all the stuff in smoke that you inhale. So I figure I don't have to quit the gum.

The Baron

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"To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." - George Washington

WI Crippler

The only time I smoked was when I was younger and my best friend had been smoking for about 3 years already. I thought I would join him, and since his parents bought him his cigarettes(we were under the age of 18) I just bought my packs from him. But the only time I ever smoked was when I was around him, or at a party where other people were smoking. When at my home the packs just remained hidden(my parents wouldn't have been as tolerant as his). I guess the infrequency of smoking on a regular basis was a large part of why I never developed the physical or mental addiction to cigarettes, and all I had to do to stop smoking was just not purchase cigarettes anymore. Which is strange because I usually have an "all or nothing" attitude towards doing things. I try not to be critical of smokers that have trouble quitting. I guess I never considered myself someone who "quit" smoking, as I never really got started, at least in a sense of developing it as a habit. For me, it was more of a social thing more than anything.

Now my best friend smokes like a chimney. He talks about quitting all the time, but never makes any effort to do so. I believe he is a slave to the habit of smoking more than anything. He HAS to have a cigarette everytime he gets out of a car, or before he gets into one(he doesn't smoke in his cars because he doesn't want to ruin the resale value, since he changes cars every 6-8months it seems). Even if we go into the golf store for 5 minutes, he has to have a cigarette when he gets out of the car, and before he gets back into the car, which annoyingly adds about 10 minutes to any evolution.
He of course gets **** from all the people around him that are non-smokers, except me. He asked me once why I didn't ever try and get him to quit and I told him that he had to make that decision for himself. I told him I would totally support his decision to quit smoking, but without him choosing to quit it would be a fruitless endeavor on my part. I said I'd like to see him quit smoking, but I wasn't going to force what I wanted on him, nor would I let his smoking affect our friendship negatively. He is an adult who makes decisions about his life and how he wants to live it. He is also responsible for any of the bad things that occur due to those decisions, something he thankfully realizes. He does not play the card of "I am a victim of Big Tobacco". He knows he can quit, and hopefully at some point he will decide to do so. And when he does, I will help him in any way I can.

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"What Jesus fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem."- Reg