Anyone tried Varenicline (Champix) or bupropion to give up sm

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   michifusposted 13 years ago

   Giving up smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times.
   
   However I am still smoking and as the smoking sword of Damacles hangs above my head once more I have become determined to make this the final, final, final attempt.
   
   I am looking for an alternative to cold turkey which I really cannot stomach. Patches give me dreams so vivid I could swear they were real. Chewing gum tastes really bad and gives me heartburn.
   
   Both of he above drugs are available on the NHS in the UK. Has anyone tried either of these? (May be under a different name in the US)
   
   How were they? Did you stop getting really bad cravings? Anyone tried to go cold turkey and failed and tried the pills? - Is it so excruciatingly awful on the pills as it is just stopping?
   
   
   Comments greatly appreciated!

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      D0llydaydreamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Saw this and had to reply
      
      I started champix 2 weeks ago. Have to say they are magic little pills!!  I'm 30 now and started smoking when I was 11. I was down from 20 a day to 2 After 3 days as they make your cigarettes taste disgusting! You don't get a buzz off them either, so it's pointless smoking and I only smoked those 2 purely out of habit after meals.
      
      You set a date to quit between day 8 and 14. I picked day 12 when I knew I'd have the day to myself . That was Monday (28.4.10) I smoked my last cigarette at 9am. Well half of it, It was so disgusting I didn't finish it. So I haven't had a cigarette for 48 hours!
      
      As for cravings, I've had no physical ones. A few moments where I've thought I'd like one with a coffee,but it passes as soon as it pops into your head. I know it's not worth smoking one either as I won't enjoy it, so it'd be pointless.So you do need a tiny bit of will power,just for those few minutes.  I thought my appetite would increase too, as everyone warns you that quitting makes you put on weight. I have no appetite at the moment, so hopefully that will combat any weight gain.
      
      They do have a few side effects though. First few days I had nausea and a banging headache half hour or so after taking them. Fixed that by taking the tablet halfway through my breakfast with a couple of paracetamol. They give you some fabulous dreams too! I love that part of them and I will miss it when I stop the tablets.
      
      I never tried cold turkey, I had no faith I could do it. But champix makes it easy. I have 3 friends who have quit using them,which prompted me to give them a go.
      
      Oh and one thing I've noticed... Smokers stink! I can't kiss my husband now until he's brushed his teeth after a cigarette and I've had to scrub my whole house.. That makes me never want to smoke again. I can't believe I used to smell like that. Give them a go. They seem to be working for me Good luck!

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         michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks a million for this - going to give the pills a try and see how I get on. Keep you the good work!

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            D0llydaydreamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            No Probs Good luck whichever way you decide to do it!

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   Mark Knowlesposted 13 years ago

   I quit seven month ago cold turkey. Three of my pals quit at the same time using champix.
   
   I am still quit (a lot fatter) - and they are all still smoking. They went through exactly the same symptoms I did - nausea, aggressive, irritable, weird dreams etc.
   
   Horses for courses. I think if you want to quit - you will quit whether you use a drug or no. But - the drug pushers are spending an awful lot of money persuading people they are too weak to quit without help.
   
   You try finding any statistics that show quit rates 6 months after stopping the drug.

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      michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That's the problem I've had with nicotine replacement therapy. The patches were the worst. After 3 months of not smoking I stopped the patches and still had the withdrawal symptoms.  Whilst this is not nicotine replacement I did wonder what would happen when the pills stop, and whether the nicotine withdrawal still hits then, or whether sufficient time has passed for them not to be felt.
      
      Ill try the pills and see how it goes as I cant face going cold turkey again at the moment.  Lets see how I cope with nausea, headaches and bad dreams and see if it is worth the effort! Thanks for the post!

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      suny51posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      i smoked for more than 32 years, 30-40 a day,and when decided  to quit ,i quit and still quit for almost 6 years,i suggest not to use any pills,use your will power.God bless you

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   suny51posted 13 years ago

   i gave up on 23rd may 04, and never even thought of it,don't remember if i ever missed those 30-40 a day for once.If any one wanna quit it ,this has to be in one go and with all your will-power.

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      muscleshockposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      My husband smoked for 18 years, tried to quit many times and was unsuccessful. He took Chantix and has been smoke-free for 3 years. He said it was almost easy with the Chantix, it killed his desire to smoke and even when he did try and smoke, he didn't feel better.
      
      However, he did go through an phase where he was quite cranky and pretty angry. Overall, great drug for him. I've heard other stories about Chantix that are not as cheerful as my husband's, but it's worth a shot.

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         michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you - Ill try it and see how it goes.

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            michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Just bought them, started, and no headaches, no nausea, and so far not put on any weight. I have not yet stopped smoking though. I hope these work, they cost a fortune!

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   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   Good luck with them - I just looked them up on wiki(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varenicline) and it seems they can cause serious mood swings. Gawd - I'm bad enough with the menopause LOL
   Just so you know to look out for symptoms.

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      michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I cant believe that the bad moods can be anywhere near as bad as going cold turkey.

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   Rafiniposted 13 years ago

   I quit 1 month ago.  As difficult as I've heard it is to quit smoking, it went fairly easily for me.  My doctor gave me Buproprion, but I quit taking it cuz it made me cry a lot.
   
   I wrote a hub detailing my first day not smoking, and Faybe Bay also wrote a hub about How to Quit Smoking.  She gives some really good tips.
   
   Something I didn't mention in my hub (because my mind was pre-occupied with withdrawal symptoms ) - a few weeks before quitting I started taking St Johns Wort.  I had heard it detoxifies the body and thought it couldn't hurt.  Now, I"m sure helped.
   
   (a problem with St Johns Wort, you can't take it if you take other medications)
   
   Good luck!!

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      michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks - I had a look at Buproprion, but the side effects sounded pretty bad so I went for Champix. I think the best way is just to stop but I thought I would give these a go to see if they make it any easier. Well done for giving up keep up he good work - Ill have a look at the hubs you mentioned.

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         michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thought I would add in an update, down Im on day nine of the pills and the official day for giving up is tomorrow. Have not felt lke smoking today, similar yesterday.   
         
         Two days on the 2x1mg full strength pills now, and cigarettes do not seem to work anymore.
         
         Unfortunately I am permenently hungry - I had better take the clothes off of the running machine. Got a feeling im going to need to clock up a hell of a lot of miles!

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   MikeNVposted 13 years ago

   Join the e cigarette crowd until you figure it out.  What is known about Nicotine is it is addictive, but it's not the nicotine that leads to cancer.  This has been clinically proven.  But it is the addiction both physically and psychologically that makes it so difficult to stop.

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      michifusposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The pills are working better than any nicotine replacement therapy, and have made it much easier than just stopping cold turkey. Its been a week now as a non smoker, and Im never going back, regardless of physical or psychological need

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