Al Jazeera TV is airing a show(segment) about Chantix. On now...

[wildbilln864]

And it's effects on the brain and how in some cases suicide is committed by its users.
Dying to Quit"

That's some bad shit!

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. It is a well known side effect

Not new.

[wildbilln864]

2. wow, new to me...

I see commercials advertising it all the time here in SC.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Pay attention to the commercial

The possibility of suicide is listed.

It still is the most successful at getting patients off tobacco.

A good clinician will ask the obvious questions on psychiatric history before writing a script, chief concern is a history of moderate to severe depression. And a good clinician will go through the possible side effects of any drug prescribed, not just chiantix.

[wildbilln864]

5. thanks,

quit on my own back in 09. Seems like a majority of the new drugs they come out with all the time may cause suicidal tendencies. Best to just smoke a fat doobie IMHO.

[sabrina 1]

6. Hilarious, I've watched their ads and wondered if anyone is stupid enough to risk DEATH, yes they

tell you you can die from the effects of Chantix, to stop doing something they have obviously not died from for many years.

'Truth in advertising'. I guess if you die they have accomplished their goal.

The healthiest people I know are smokers, many of them in their eighties by now.

What a scam this all is.

If I were a smoker and had lived to be in my eighties why on earth would I risk taking a deadly drug to try to stop doing something that had not adversely affected me for my entire life?

It's amusing though to observe how susceptible some people are to emotional manipulation.

Chantix or a cigarette? That is an easy choice.

[tammywammy]

7. Well go ahead and call me stupid. I'm on Chantix to quit smoking.

I have had no issues with depression, and people on it should be mindful. I had a discussion with my doctor that included a warning if I started feeling depressed or suicidal.

The Chantix is doing what it's supposed to, it removed the satisfaction from cigarettes and is giving me a chance to modify my habits to something healthier.

[justamama83]

22. Good for you ..and good luck

I used Chantix in 2007 after having a heart attack at age 42...I took the pills for 3 months and have been tobacco free since. I had strange dreams- my present mixed with my past (was at college making cakes with my kids) but other than that no bad reactions. I'm no doctor but maybe there were some underlying issues that went undiagnosed prior to them taking the meds. It was the best thing for me at the time, I am not sure I would've had the willpower to stay off the ciggys.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Then there are people like my dad

May he rest in peace. He quit for nine months after bypass surgery. Later in his life Chiantix was recommended, due to it's very high success rate with long term smokers.

It is not a scam. There are people who simply should not take it. But with care it simply works. More people die from a Tylenol overdose (it destroys the liver, nothing you can do to reverse it once it is underway) than Chiantix. Is that a scam too? What I question is some doctors prescribing it as if it was candy.

As my pharmacology prof put it many years ago, all medications are a poison, and all are potentially deadly. Be careful how you use them. He was an old fogey who loved to teach pharmacology to doctors, nurses and paramedics, and started every course with that caveat. Any med can kill.

And cigarettes are so damn harmless this is why dad needed O2 almost constantly the last year of his life. Yup, harmless.

[VanillaRhapsody]

15. Healthy 80 yr old smokers?

I doubt you could get any medical doctors to agree with you that there are would be no ill effects on their health from years and decades of smoking....

[sabrina 1]

16. Yes, there are plenty of healthy 80 year old smokers in the world. I've met several of them.

I know they have doctors who propably warned them 30 years ago to quit and are amazed to see them not only still around, but healthier than many of their non-smoking patients.

Maybe they didn't expose themselves to many of the daily poisons most of us are breathing in every day by living in more rural areas, lessening their exposure to dangerous chemicals and auto emissions among other things. Not just in their eighties, older than that actually. And not stressing over what other people are doing could be a factor also.

[VanillaRhapsody]

17. find a doctor that would agree with you then...

what you are saying is anectdotal...

Find one doctor who will agree that you are "healthy" after years and decades of smoking...that there are no ill effects.

[malaise]

18. Had the identical thought

Why would anyone use that shite?

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. If you want to quit

And have tried other things, it has a very high success rate. It just needs to be used with care. The better question is why would people smoke? Now that is the real shit.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. My son used it to quit.

And yes, depression and suicidal ideation are symptoms to watch for.

Better to not start smoking.

[LeftyMom]

9. It's an anti-depressant.

It is a well-known effect that very depressed people starting anti-depressants have an increased risk of suicide for the period where their moods have improved enough that they have some energy but not enough yet that they're not very depressed.

[tammywammy]

10. I think you may have Chantix mixed up with Wellbutrin.

Wellbutrin is an anti-depressant that some have used to quit smoking.

[LeftyMom]

11. Oh, you're right. Sorry, I thought it was a trade name.

[tammywammy]

12. When I was at my doctor's to discuss smoking cessation he went over all my options.

I'm on Chantix. We did discuss Wellbutrin along with the patch, gum, etc.

[DirkGently]

13. A family member quit using Chantix

...after decades of struggle and many partly successful attempts to quit. Zero side effects, according to him. Another family member is trying it now with no ill effects so far; not even the supposedly common "unusual dreams" or nightmares.

I'm in full agreement regarding the number of drugs on the market with seemingly insane side effects.

But smoking is a ferocious addiction, and so damaging regardless of whether it kills you outright.

This drug seems to work. It apparently blocks nicotine receptor sites and can eliminate the urge to smoke.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Blocks them, and it changes brain chemistry

As was explained. It has side effects, like all drugs. A minority of people will have them. I am glad it is helping kin of yours to quit that shit.

[forthemiddle]

20. It worked for me.

I smoked for over 30 years. In a little more than 2 weeks I was smoke free! That was 2 1/2 years ago. I have not smoked, even a puff since!
I had very few side effects. Only a little heartburn, and about a week of insomnia when I quit the Chantix. I highly recommend it!

[sad-cafe]

21. it worked for me and several of my co-workers

We didn't care what "could have been" we were just happy to quit.