HI Everyone,
I am new to this board, and hope I am not asking a FAQ...
I took my first Champix this morning, and within 1 hour of taking it, I was literally gagging on my way to work. I also feel a little light headed. Has this happened to anyone else. So quickly????:eek:
Hi Pennylane,
Welcome to the forum and congrats on taking the decision to quit! I've found this to be a great place for advice and support.
I'm not giving up using Champix myself so can't speak from experience but yes, I have heard of people who took it and were put off cigarettes pretty quickly!
I'm sure one of the forum's champix users will be along soon to give you more detailed advice.
Congrats again and good luck!
Chris
I'm going to quote one of carol's posts in another champix thread as i'm quitting using patches, but what i read seems to make good presence for this thread you've posted too.
Dont worry too much. Like you I was really worried about the side effects of champix and was quite scared to take them but everyone is different. I felt a bit queezy and dizzy the first few days but nothing that I couldn't cope with and decided to stick with it. I'm so glad I did.........by the time I went up to the 1mg I was scared I was going to feel even worse but I actually felt fine once I moved up.
When you said you were gagging on way to work, was it a queezy feeling? If so, it will likely pass, and i'm sure it will get better.
My first day too
Hi Pennylane,
I have also started taking Champix, this morning was my first 1/2 pill. I felt a little light headed but that was about it. I did not eat breakfast though and I am not quite sure if that might be a problem when taking Champix. What I really felt was a strange feeling taking the pill, that was more stressfull than anything which led to a little anxiety. I felt like I had just made a major life changing decision and I was a little worried about what the outcome might be. I think you were probably experiencing the same thing and as a result it made you a little sick. I am not a doctor so don't take my advice literally but I feel this is what might be causing your symptoms. I hope things work out for you, stay focused and strong. We as smokers worry about the side effects of a drug to quit smoking mean while we are not worried about enhaling a hot gas into our lungs that has countless chemicals and depending on how strongly you enhale there could be countless other chemicals as they bond at different tempuratures. I have often said jokingly that it's a good thing my lungs filter most of the tar when I smoke in my car otherwise it would be so much more difficult to clean the windows. I have tried every stop smoking aid on the market and I have always managed to convince myself to start smoking again and I probably smoke about 75 cigarettes a day currently so I am really hoping Champix will work, I am prepared to take all side effects like a warrior. I may sound like someone who is totally prepared to quit but I am a very weak person and would welcome any comments or support from you or anyone on this thread to help me on my struggle as well. I promise my responses won't be this long again.
Thank you
Thank you for the prompt replies and "welcomes".
Yes, I guess you could say I am queasy. I still am. And cigarettes are leaving me with an absolutely disgusting aftertaste, which is also making me queasy.
I guess they are working then...I do not plan on stopping the Champex, just surprised that in less than an hour I would be feeling the effects. Am hoping its not a sign of not so good things to come. I'm a little afraid of what these pills will do as far as side effects.
I've been smoking for 23 years give or take a year for my previous quit smoking attempts. Hope this works!!
Hi Guys
Hi Pennylane, and welcome, firstly let me say you have made the right choice and now never doubt it. Sorry can't help with the Champix stuff, but there are lots of people who do and i'm sure they will be letting you know.
We are all here to help, just come and rant or rave if you want, there is always someone who can give advice or just listen.
Hi Winston, and again welcome. You say you are a weak person, but lets face it only strong people smoke, to continue to put all that stuff into your body that you know is slowly killing you, and it makes you smell bad, and it makes your teeth and fingers yellow, you have to be really really strong to do that once never mind several times a day for years! I am on my 4th quit and there are lots of people here who are on the 5th, 6th and more, the one thing we all have in common is WE WILL NOT SMOKE TODAY. I would recommend you read read and read and post as often as you like as with Pennylane maybe just to rant or rave, but we are all here going through the same stuff.
and i promise my replies will not be as long in future.
Hey Winston,
Good for you for being a Warrior! I wish I were. I have been an advocate for smoking, I resisting quitting, I made arguments for why I want to continue smoking...so you have one up on me. I, for the most part, have never really wanted to quit. It is however what I need to do for health, financial, and family reasons. I do like the idea of not be held hostage by my smoking habit, but know I will miss it terribly.
Hang in there. I too, will take the side effects unless they become dangerous to myself or others. I am thankful for something like Champex to make the process a little less painful.
Don't think of yourself as weak, as you are setting yourself up for a loss. One day at a time, and use all supports available--like this board. We'll all do it together!!! STAY strong.
Take care,
Penny
HI Bev,
Thank you for the welcome. Not sure what cross-posted means, but its all good. 
Hi Penny and Winston 
I also used champix as an aid to quitting and found it very good
Feeling dizzy is normal at first most people who use it suffer from this also the nausea is fairly common as well stick with it unless it gets really bad for you in which case return to your GP's for advice and help as you both no doubt know no drug suits everyone as we are all different so is how we react to drugs of any kind
Personally apart from the things I've mentioned I didn't have any problems at all with it
Below is my standard welcome and advice post which I try and send to all new members of the forum
Welcome to the forum and well done on the decision to quit possibly one of the most important you will ever make and you will be losing nothing but you will regain control of your life and that has to be good
You will find all the help and support you need on here as we all help each other just like a family we are here for you every step of the way cheering the good days and sympathiseing with the bad but the good far outweigh the bad
Read the posts on here you will find a lot of tips and advice and in the signatures of a lot you will find links to other sites just click on them Here are 2 I find very good to start you off whyquit.com and woofmang.com Read, read and then read some more as the more you read and learn about why you smoked and about your addiction the easier your quit will be
Post often to let us know how you're doing, to rant, rave have a moan whatever you like pretty much anything goes on here OK
Love
Marg xxxxxxxxx
Wow!!!!
I can't believe the responses to this thread. I never knew that there was something like this out there and it makes me feel a little more confident in quitting again. I have been smoking since I was 11yrs old and I was addicted on my first drag even though it probably took me a year before I stopped getting light headed on every drag I took. I had to force myself to smoke but I couldn't get them off my mind. I wish I still had that same kind of willpower only in reverse. I believe that smoking is a very real physical addiction and we could probably stand to to be locked up in an rehab institution for a few weeks and slowly taken off nicotine but who has the time or money for that. I wish they would stop selling cigarettes altogether. I read that it is harder to quit smoking then it is to quit Heroine or Cocaine and I thinks it's because when you quit those other drugs your life immediately starts to improve like: you get out of jail, you get your job back, childrens aid are considering giving your kids back etc. But with smoking it doesn't because you aren't social anymore, you can't go for a smoke with your boss, you no longer have an excuse to take off for a smoke in an uncomfortable setting, you argue with your wife more because you are just generally agitated and after 2 days of quitting everyone around you thinks to themselves get over it already !, whats the big deal ?, don't you feel healthier ?. Obviously your health might improve a little and you don't smell or feel like a lepor standing in the smoking section at Wonderland while every good parent who walks by coughs in your direction but its so much tougher than that. I just know too many people who have had or have some sort of lung disease like cancer, COPD, emphazima or diabetes with a leg removed and on their dying bed and all they want is a cigarette. It makes me sick to think that I will totally be that person if I don't quit.
Hi Winston & Pennylane.
I am a fellow Champix user. I have just finished my first two week pack.
I suffered from feeling sick which lasted for the first few days and once or twice had really bad stomach cramps (at night). I was apprehensive moving onto the two tablets a day and then going onto the blue ones, thinking it would get worse, but it didn't - it greatly improved, so try and persevere. I feel great now, have no effects and am on Day 5 as a non-smoker.
As Marg said, everyone is different and I just wanted to give you another perspective.
Hang in there both of you and let us know how you doing.
Thats awesome Trisha. Its good to know that you can have immediate side effects but in some cases such as yourself they go away. Thanks
Winston your last but one post was just brilliant! Really do wish you luck with the quit.
Yeah Winston,
I totally agree with Ishta - that post was brilliant and very honest. I think we can all understand where you are coming from and I agree, smoking is VERY addictive - both physically and mentally. Non smokers are really lucky that they'll never experience the hell us quit-oriented smokers go through in our battle to stop. I'm a natural optimist though, and think that anything as tough as this to quit must make us stronger people. We'll certainly not doubt our willpower if we manage to stop for good he he!
Also, although I agree that compared to reclaiming your life from, say, heroin addiction, the transition to non smoker is subtler, I still find it to be profound in so many ways. Physically feeling better is there but varies yet I love getting my sense of smell back and being able to think about the future without that black cloud of almost definite disease hanging over my head
I'm so glad that you - like me are finding this forum helpful and wish you all the best in your fight vs cigs!
Hey Chris and Ishta,
Thanks for the support and I hope you will you be successful in quiting. Its amazing the grip that a cigarette has on us once we become fixated with whether or not you should have just 1 after a few days of non smoking. I have quit many times and I have gone for a month and I will be walking out of a store or mall and I see someone flick a smoke on the ground and I've caught the smell and I have actually considered picking it up and taking a drag. When I have an episode or thought like that, it really takes me off gaurd and I can be messed up for the rest of the day because of it. I can almost develop a strange kind of tunnel vision and it will affect my concentration. I am trying again but those are tough situations especially since your not around a support group to talk about it. Johnny Cash had a saying explaining his addictions. Although I am not addicted to drugs or alcohol this saying is so true for myself. "The beast that's caged inside me is caged in frail and fragile bars".
i know, on my last quit I'd sneakily have a drag, go yeuk, then do it again a few hours later to make sure! I then started pinching one or two of my OH's ciggs and smoked them behind his back. It got a bit silly really esp as I was also hunting 'stubs' in the outside ashtray. I so do not want to go there again, I mean how pathetic to actually do that? I really do feel sorry for the smokers out there now and am determined to never join them again.
Good Luck fellow Quitter ~xXx~
Hi!!!
Hi Pennylane & Winston
I am also a fellow Champix user, im on day 26 of Champix and today is day 14 of being smoke free. I was like you, was looking around the net for info on Champix came to this site, logged on and wow the support and advice I received from that first post has been amazing. Marg is absolutely brill she says hi to everyone and her words of encouragement have kept me and numerous others going.
I have been one of the very lucky ones I only suffered with a little dizziness on the first couple of day, been fine ever since. It might help .... My nurse told me before I started taking Champix to make sure I ate before I took it and if possible have toast and I also read on here from someone that they were told the same as eating bread seems to help more than anything else for some reason, I was also told to make sure I took my evening tab at least 8 hours after the morning one but before 9pm, might help you.
Good luck to you both with your quit.
Wobbles x
Hello!
Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday - I was a bit tied up!
I am another Champix user and, like Wobbles, got a few stomach cramps on the white tablets, but I'm OK now I am on the blue one's. I never got any dizziness or nausea - I do make sure I take the tablets after food (breakfast is usually weetabix and then after dinner at around 7pm). Seems to be OK if you follow the instructions.
I think we all empathise with your writing Winston - been there - got the T shirt!
You can do this - and with Champix it will be a lot easier - but still be very vigilant!
Good luck!
Sickness
Hi Pennylane,
How are you feeling today this being your second day using Champix? I am not feeling any side effects myself.
Winston,
Just wanted to wish you good luck and hope that this method you are using suits you personally. These forums here are a good source of both support, experiences and information, and i'm glad i chose to get a membership to them.
We're all just real people with stressy lives trying to beat this smokin thing. Good luck to all of us i say
Thanks
Thank Jase,
Good luck to you as well. Its my 8th day on Champix and I just started my 1mg two times a day dose and I feel pretty messed up. I feel like I am going through nicotine withdrawls and I haven't even quit yet. My official quit date is next Tuesday so I guess we'll see how it goes. I got braces about two weeks ago and the little rubber bands holding the wire are turning a disgusting orange colour. I am sure I will get a lecture about smoking from the Orthodontist and rightfully so I guess.
i gave up over 2 months ago using champix. i had smoked for over 18 years and in 18 years i never went a day without cigs
i had quite a lot of side effects with champix everything from nausea to blinding head aches slight depression weird dreams shakes the works. i stuck with it because i did not want to smoke any more and figured a few weeks of feeling like crap was worth it if i gave up cigs for good,
it worked for me i no longer am a smoker i no longer want to smoke so my advise would me to stick with it. as soon as i stopped taking champix the side effects went however the urge to smoke did not return.
Giving up in the work place
Can we have a game please, goes like this!.
Champix not working so far.
