Champix - halluncinations WTF

[rubytox]

After 3 days on Champix, I can say with conviction that is just not worth the money or a person's health or sanity.

Soon after the 1st tablet, I developed a splitting headache, followed by itching all over my body.
Then followed a rash like huge pimples on my face. I didn't mind the vivid dreams and also the fact that I had absolutely no craving for a cigarette or to binge eat.

Last night I was in the garage, fiddled around a bit, went to the lounge, sat down and got the WEIRDEST feeling that I was still in the garage. I had to pinch myself, shake my head, get up and look around to make sure that I was in the lounge.

That does it for me. I would rather smoke than to deal with hallucinations, headaches, nausea and itching.

Champix gets a thumbs down from me.

 

[mercurial]

:wtf:

 

[marine1]

Holy crap

 

[WaxLyrical]

You can quit without the drugs.

If you had absolutely no access to a cig would you go insane from withrawal?

 

[killadoob]

I thought you were suppose to take it for 7 days while smoking and then stop, have you stopped straight away with champix?

That is the first thing, the second thing would depend on your answer but for some people nicotine withdrawal is as bad as heroine withdrawal.

You also need to google and read the insert, it says if you get any side effects that worry you stop taking the drug straight away. So it may not work for you but for many other people it has and will. i would still like to know if you smoked for 7 days on champix before quitting. It sounds like you started champix the first day you quit.

Mexican cold turkey is insane for some people dude, it is worse than heroine for some. They don't rate nicotine as one of the most addictive drugs around because it is easy to get off. Some of those symptoms you experienced can also be withdrawal from nicotine. You realize some drugs take 4-7 days at times for your body to accept them and normalize itself. you have given it 3 days while not smoking. Eish i am sure you are suppose to smoke for 7 days on champix and then quit. When i quit with zyban that is how it worked, i smoked while on it for 8 days and then it tasted disgusting so i stopped smoking.

 

[rubytox]

I thought you were suppose to take it for 7 days while smoking and then stop, have you stopped straight away with champix?

That is the first thing, the second thing would depend on your answer but for some people nicotine withdrawal is as bad as heroine withdrawal.

You also need to google and read the insert, it says if you get any side effects that worry you stop taking the drug straight away. So it may not work for you but for many other people it has and will. i would still like to know if you smoked for 7 days on champix before quitting. It sounds like you started champix the first day you quit.

Mexican cold turkey is insane for some people dude, it is worse than heroine for some. They don't rate nicotine as one of the most addictive drugs around because it is easy to get off. Some of those symptoms you experienced can also be withdrawal from nicotine. You realize some drugs take 4-7 days at times for your body to accept them and normalize itself. you have given it 3 days while not smoking. Eish i am sure you are suppose to smoke for 7 days on champix and then quit. When i quit with zyban that is how it worked, i smoked while on it for 8 days and then it tasted disgusting so i stopped smoking.

I tried cold turkey a week ago but that did not go well. After 2 days of no smoking, I smoked 2 ciggies the 3rd and 4th day and then started on Champix. I smoked 2 cigarettes on Wednesday and 1 last night.

The drug worked for a lot of people and seriously, I had no cravings until the evening, probably when the drug started wearing off.

I am sure that they put more nicotine in cigarettes ... or something else ... to keep people smoking. In the past I have always been able to quit and not smoke for months at a time. The last 2 years, each time I tried to quit, I have felt the cravings and withdrawal symptoms much more intensely.

 

[rubytox]

You can quit without the drugs.

If you had absolutely no access to a cig would you go insane from withrawal?

Not insane but getting a ciggy becomes an obsession.
Shame on me.

 

[Totempole]

I managed to get through the full 3 month Champix course and I think it worked,
but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The vivid dreams weren't a problem, even
the mild nausea for 30 minutes after taking the pill was bearable, but occasionally
I would go through severe bouts of depression, which I would overcome by just
"sleeping it off".

It's been over a year since my last cigarette and almost a year since I came off
Champix and I'm still alive. I do still occasionally crave cigarettes though.

Like I said though, I wouldn't recommend Champix to anyone who hasn't tried
every other avenue first, including Zyban.

I had made four previous attempts to quit (two of which were cold turkey,
the other two using Quit Nicotine Spray and Nicorette), so there were still
plenty of avenues I could have taken before using Champix.

 

[killadoob]

So basically you ignored the packaging, didn't read up about the drug and you are moaning because it went poorly.

Google.com is an amazing tool bud, even more amazing is the instruction manual put in the box to ensure someone without google.com knowledge reads it. I googled this for you:

http://www.unitedpharmacies.com/customer/product.php?productid=761

Perhaps try it first then come back and tell us how it has gone. You basically put your body into shock and withdrawal and then proceeded to take champix while your body was fighting hard for it's craving. The only thing that i can see that has failed is the user of champix, the drug has not been utilized properly thus the outcome is determined by ignorance.

Now smoke as much as you did for the next month and give champix the proper chance to help you. Honestly i cannot believe you would take champix without following the guidelines.

I have quote a section that may be of use to you as i fear you may not click the link provided by google.com:

Before starting your course of Champix you should decide on a date in the second week of treatment (between day 8 and day 14) when you will stop smoking. You should write this date on the pack as a reminder. You will need to keep talking the full 12-week course of Champix tablets even though you stop smoking in the second week.

Now when you have followed this procedure and the outcome is the same then you may have some credibility. Another issue i fear may defeat you, you seem like you want to stop but i get the sense you are looking for any sort of opportunity to convince yourself it is easier to smoke. You need to realize you are about to go to war. Your mind vs your body. If your mind in on the same side as your body the war is over.

Just in case you miss everything i said try this quote and see maybe it makes sense:

Tell your physician or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you:

Headache, difficulty sleeping sleepiness, abnormal dreams, dizziness, feeling weak.
Constipation, feeling bloated, indigestion, flatulence, dry mouth
Nausea (feeling sick), vomiting stomach discomfort
Increased appetite, changes in taste

The above list includes the more common side effects which may be caused by your medicine. They are usually mild and short-lived.

So let sum up your champix experience, you never followed the guide, you never knew the symptoms in the initial days while your body gets used to the drugs and you came on here and told us how kuk champix is. In general anti depressant type drugs like champix, zyban etc will for the first week make your feel a bit sick as your body settles into them, suck it up and fight the war with your mind.

I would suggest your quit date on a friday, gives you two days to get used to the drugs and perhaps you can book the monday off just in case. How about you try it properly so you can give the rest of a much better review. I am planning on taking it 1st of may, at least i know i will be prepared because unprepared people end up like you

Did you even take the correct tablets in the correct sequence or did you slap any colour back?

 

[DJ...]

Are you sure you took the correct dosage tablets for the correct number of days beforehand, to ween yourself on properly?

Sounds to me like you didn't...

 

[rubytox]

I appreciate your comments killadoob. In fact, I have read it more than once. In a way it motivates me to persist in my quest to be completely smoke free.

After last night's experience, I did a more in depth internet search. Google Champix. You will see that there are 2 080 000 results and they are not all positive.

Also see this (discovered after my episode)

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20110605003850data_trunc_sys.shtml

Yes, I read the larger than A3, double printed insert.

The problem is that I decided to quit 2 months ago and gradually tapered off until I was down to 5 or 6 a day. Except for the few occasions when we partied or had guests over, I am not a heavy smoker. I think that is the problem. Champix might be perfect for heavy smokers, not for people who smoke between 2 and 6 a day.

Also, I have not ordered Champix from some dodgy Chinese internet website. I had to make an appointment with my physician to get the script and 'how to' instructions. The pharmacist also made a point of telling me to keep to the prescribed dosage. in hind site, I missed the flashing warning lights.

Killadoob is right about my body having gone into shock. First I deprived my body from smoking over a 2 months period and then nuked it with this drug.

To wrap it up, I am not giving up on giving up smoking. Even if I smoke 2 cigarettes a day, I am still a smoker and therefore still addicted and physically and psychologically dependent on the nicotine rush and that pisses me off.

 

[RiaX]

unfortunately this is an adverse event. However it seems like a very rare event. Although champix may not be the answer for you it is for countless others telling people to not use it is silly.

Its like if you fell in the pool and nearly drown then tell people its not worth it to swim, its just silly

killa has pretty much pointed out everything, though I wouldnt point blame at the drug but rather the professionals that didnt do their jobs and instruct you properly

edit:

champix works like nicotine btw it mimics it as its a partial agonist

 

[HavocXphere]

After 3 days on Champix, I can say with conviction that is just not worth the money or a person's health or sanity.

Soon after the 1st tablet, I developed a splitting headache, followed by itching all over my body.
Then followed a rash like huge pimples on my face. I didn't mind the vivid dreams and also the fact that I had absolutely no craving for a cigarette or to binge eat.

Last night I was in the garage, fiddled around a bit, went to the lounge, sat down and got the WEIRDEST feeling that I was still in the garage. I had to pinch myself, shake my head, get up and look around to make sure that I was in the lounge.

That does it for me. I would rather smoke than to deal with hallucinations, headaches, nausea and itching.

Champix gets a thumbs down from me.

So where is the hallucinations part? Neither vivid dreams nor "weirdest feeling" would constitute a hallucination.

 

[MickeyD]

You're not meant to crush them and sniff it....

 

[cpu.]

What about eating and drinking (water) - good diet with enough fluids. Will empty stomach with the drugs perhaps be the problem?

 

[Humberto]

The part that worries me the most is that you developed a rash. This could have been an allergic reaction or the start of a serious skin reaction (see e.g. Stevens–Johnson syndrome) that sometimes occurs with psychiatric medicines.

 

[killadoob]

The part that worries me the most is that you developed a rash. This could have been an allergic reaction or the start of a serious skin reaction (see e.g. Stevens–Johnson syndrome) that sometimes occurs with psychiatric medicines.

Yup but remember his body was already in shock due to going cold turkey, he didn't dose himself properly so for all we know he took the wrong combination and perhaps took the stronger pills.

Basically the only conclusion from his experience is that he never followed the directions, you need to ride the side effects out for about 3-7 days for some people then they go away. It is pointless trying to figure out what went wrong. We know what went wrong, he never followed the recommended way to take the drug and put his body into shock prior to taking it. You are not suppose to go cold turkey prior to taking this drug. You are suppose to let the drug build up in your system and follow the instructions. So we can put his experience down to user fail. this isn't a case of champix failing yet, it is a case of the user failing so i would suggest people do not take his experience as normal due to his cock up . Having said he may follow the instructions and the same result may happen but for now it looks a user fail to me.

Dosing yourself when it comes to hard drugs like champix generally ends poorly. if you are ever unsure of anything google.com will provide more answers than your doctor in my opinion.

 

[rubytox]

killa has pretty much pointed out everything, though I wouldnt point blame at the drug but rather the professionals that didnt do their jobs and instruct you properly

Possibly but also partly my fault. I should have told her that I smoke 5-6 per day, at the most, sometimes only one a day.

So where is the hallucinations part? Neither vivid dreams nor "weirdest feeling" would constitute a hallucination.

A hallucination is a perception in the absence of a stimulus which has qualities of real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and located in external objective space. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination

Would feeling like you are in one place physically, but mentally completely in another space count? Have you ever tried smoking dagga or taking LSD?

The part that worries me the most is that you developed a rash. This could have been an allergic reaction or the start of a serious skin reaction (see e.g. Stevens–Johnson syndrome) that sometimes occurs with psychiatric medicines.

Now this scares the living daylights out of me. In addition to the development of the rash, I have also experienced the headache, malaise and a nasty cough. BTW, the itching was not like a normal itch. It felt like I was itching to the bone, for lacking of a better description.

 

[RiaX]

Possibly but also partly my fault. I should have told her that I smoke 5-6 per day, at the most, sometimes only one a day.

No dont blame yourself. A Dr is suppose to ask these questions

 

[rubytox]

You are not suppose to go cold turkey prior to taking this drug. You are suppose to let the drug build up in your system and follow the instructions. So we can put his experience down to user fail. this isn't a case of champix failing yet, it is a case of the user failing so i would suggest people do not take his experience as normal due to his cock up . Having said he may follow the instructions and the same result may happen but for now it looks a user fail to me.

I did say that I often managed to go without smoking for a day or two. However, I accept the accusation of user fail.

What I have learned from this and what others should know: Champix is not a drug to play around with. The more I research this drug, the scarier it gets.