I've been smoking for 13 years, was on normal ciggies and moved onto roll ups last year. I wanted to quit last year and was cutting down, throwing half cigarettes away so i started on roll ups as i wouldnt be throwing that much money away as they were cheaper. I'm now hooked on rollies and find normal cigarettes horrid (there's that taste). Anyways, 2010 was a horrid year for me and for these reasons i really want to quit:
1) was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and the doctors said that there is more of a chance that I could get Grave's Disease if i continued smoking.
2) someone close in my family was diagnosed with Leaukemia and it pains to see him having lumber punctures, chemo, needles, etc every day and week. These little children go to hospital, put up with all sorts, going to hospital unexpectedly because of a cold or temperature and staying in there for days. It just shames me as I know there are plenty of people out there in much worse position than me, health wise, and here i am smoking. It's not that i didn't know or occur to me, but thinking about it and seeing things just really put things into perspective.
3) want to be able to run a 10k without wheezing and feeling that my lungs were popping. Despite that, i finished the race and was really proud of myself and i thought that it could be something i could do every year in terms of personal achievements.
4) smell nicer and not having yellow fingers (mainly due to roll ups)
I have recently gone to the GP to discuss quitting and have been given Champix. I'm now reading about it as i hear there are quite bad side effects to it, but i also hear that it is effective. I don't know how it will effect me hence I'm googling. I found this forum and thought why not, just register lol.
I see that this forum is a great place to start on this road to giving up and I'm hoping that i can look back on this first post as to my reasons for quitting, and to have actually have quit smoking, or nearing there.
gulp!!!
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Well done on deciding to give up, and for finding this forum. Champix probably doesn't deserve all the bad press it has been given, but you'll have to see how it works for you. It's no miracle cure (there isn't one) and you'll still have to work bloody hard to give up. No one on here said it was easy, but we're all here to support each other on this journey.
Champix works by numbing the receptors in your brain. You keep smoking, but you gradually stop enjoying it, until the enjoyment has pretty much gone. That's when you give up - within the 2nd week. But you'll still need willpower, and even more of it when you stop taking the tablets.
Yes you may get wierd dreams, but a lot of people quitting get them, wether they are taking champix or not, you may feel sick.....try taking them with or after food.
Come on the forum as often as you can, it really does help. Also a lot of people have things in their signatures that are really helpful. As I was told when I first joined here....read, read, read. It is the most valuable thing you can do to help you quit. Without the knowledge I have been given by the people on this forum, I would not be coming up to 100 days quit. I wish you well in your journey.......luck has nothing to do with it x
Especially the food thing and when people say take WITH food take that literally, i.e get halfway through breakfast/dinner stop eating, take tablet, finish meal.
Don't forget that the majority of side effects that Champix put on their leaflet are similar to what you could possibly get just quitting cold turkey anyway.
Champix woked brilliantly for me and the lovely lady above and neither of us suffered. If you want to take it do so with an open mind and try not to let things you read cloud your experience.
I have recently gone to the GP to discuss quitting and have been given Champix. I'm now reading about it as i hear there are quite bad side effects to it, but i also hear that it is effective. I don't know how it will effect me hence I'm googling...
You've really got to do the research and make up your own mind!
Those that have taken it with no problems will recommend it highly.
Those that it killed will be distinctly quiet about it!
No one can tell you how it will actually affect you.
Nicotine binds to a class of ion channels in the central nervous system called neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. (nAChRs) These channels normally bind the messenger molecule acetylcholine. These receptors in the part of the brain that responds to pleasurable stimuli, food, sex, drugs, or gambling etc, trigger the release of dopamine, the feel good chemical.
Nicotine binds these same receptors to trigger dopamine release. Once smokers become dependent on the modest but pleasurable bursts of dopamine that accompany each smoke they find, like chocolate and gambling, that cessation can be a bit of a strain.
Quite simply, Champix is a molecule that permanently binds the receptor to give a constant low level of dopamine whilst preventing nicotine from binding to it thus (hopefully) making the smoker content but not really in need of a smoke.
I guess technically you can quit chocolate, gambling, sex and food all at the same time.
The web is full of champix / chantix data. Have a good trawl and do what you think's best.
gosh, after writing my new post, i then saw the lame excuses thread and i could add champix in there.....but i'm going to try it.
What made be start googling was a colleague who said he felt really depressed and stopped it after 3 days. Then i saw allsorts online. I wondered why the nurse (i originally asked about quitting via gp doctor who told me to book appointment with the nurse who runs the smoking clinic) had not told me about the suicides and stuff. In fairness she did mention that Champix stopped allowing me to receive happy or rewarding experiences with nicotine but she didn't mention the extent as i have found.
Can i ask, when taking the Champix tablets, if i take them after a meal what are the effects severity as opposed to eating half meal, tablet, then finish meal as advised by one of the posts above? Is doing the half/half way to help chances of nausea or other side effects too?
I understand that everybody is different but i would just like to know of any tips/advise that could help me.
Can i ask, when taking the Champix tablets, if i take them after a meal what are the effects severity as opposed to eating half meal, tablet, then finish meal as advised by one of the posts above? Is doing the half/half way to help chances of nausea or other side effects too?
Hi, the reason I wrote this is because the commonest side effect is tummy troubles. From indigestion, stomache cramps to diarrhoea. I only ever felt slightly nauseous on occassion and on another, because I was rushed, I took it with nothing and ended up having quite sharp stomache pains for the rest of that day.
To be safer rather than sorry I always cushioned the tablet between food so that I could be sure of having no symptoms.
It's more of a tip than an absolute must but I managed to avoid almost all stomache problems by doing it this way.
I'd just like to add that I didn't have any symptoms whilst using Champix. Well, none that I could put down to the tablets anyway (apart from the dreams). You're bound to get some sort of symptom/withdrawal when you stop pumping all the crap that's in a cigarette into your body anyway.
thanks for the responses guys. If i had not asked and followed Champix's instructions i.e. with food or without, i may have given up. Not started yet. Waiting till i'm ready. Lol...you'll see more of me on here when it's time
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