Firstly just to say that I've found this forum most useful since finding it this morning. It's really helpful to see there are others out there going through the same things as you !
This is my third day off the cigs, having chosen Monday as my give up day.
For me, Champix has dramatically lowered my nicotine cravings and I'm coping with not smoking far better than I could have possibly hoped for.
But...
For the first few hours after taking my morning pill... I get nauseas and generally find that I have a level of anxiousness which is unsettling.
I've seen many other posts re the nausea - and picked up a few tricks which I intend to try (i.e. eating before and after the pill etc)
Was wondering whether anybody else has felt the anxiousness ? I seem to be fine by lunch time - and don't have the same problem after taking my evening pill...
Grateful for any tips !
Toddy
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Thanks una-g! I'm going to give it a few more days, try eating a bigger breakfast ( to slow the release) and see how that goes. If i still struggle then will follow your example
I'm on champix too.For 18 days. This is my day 6 of quitting and so far so good. Slight nausea for me but I think this passes after 2 weeks or so. Be aware of nicotine withdrawal making you anxious. This will pass too. I think champix is certainly helping me and intend to stick with it despite weird dreams and broken sleep.
I didn't think I would get this far such was the fear of stopping. Now I'm doing it--- my most serious quit ever.
I normally only have cornflakes for breakfast - but today I went for something more substantial and took my tablet half way through (following the advice seen on this site)...
So far, seems to be much better approach - less nausea , less anxiety etc.
The other thing which has happened is that I took 40 seconds off my best time for a 5K run - I'm assuming due to the fact of less carbon monoxide in my system. The difference really was dramatic !
Starting to feel really good about this !
Thanks for your support And keep good luck to you too !
Hiya, new to the forum too....I joined it to get more information about champix which led me to your thread. I've not had a cigarette for 3 days and been taking champix for 10 days.
I think I must be reacting badly to it as I have zero appetite and total nausea. I'm at work now but keep having to go to the bathroom to lay on the cold floor to relieve the sick dizzy tiredness. Does anyone know if its better to actually be sick? I wondered if that might cancel the effects of the champix though....
Theres no doubt champix has helped me quit, the smell and thought of a cigarette just do not appeal right now (could be due to feeling like rubbish though-maybe thats the actual secret of the pill!!) and Im looking forward to the future when my life won't have a constant theme tune of a) whens my next cigarette or b) I really want a cigarette.
I don't think I can deal with this nausea daily though and I definatley don't want it for the next 6weeks or more. Just wondering if anyone has just taken 2 weeks of champix with success??
Feeling for you... it's not much fun with the nausea is it
I'm by no means an expert - as I'm only 1 day ahead of you... but the thing that really made a difference for me today was making sure I had plenty of food in my stomach when I took my morning pill. I think this means that the drug enters your system at a slower rate - making it easier for the body to handle. I followed advice from other threads - and took my pill half way through my breakfast (for me - scrambled eggs and baked beans!). So far, I haven't had any nausea today.
Also - I only seemed to get nausea from my morning pill, evening's haven't been a problem, i.e. I had food in my stomach from evening meal.
I wouldn't like to advise on chances of success if you stopped the champix now, maybe others will be able to help.
Thought I might chime in on this one as I have been on and off Champix for a long time.
Can I just reiterate how important it is that you eat directly before you take your Champix, or take it halfway through a meal. It's really not good for your stomach to take it without food. I have an ulcer now because I wasn't taking it with food on my previous attempt (which was daft coz I felt SO nauseous) and now I have to take another tablet to counteract the effects of Champix on my weakened stomach. Apparently most gastro doctors hate Champix because of the damage it can cause BUT it is much easier to heal up an ulcer than the alternative from smoking. Take care with when you take the pill and it won't be a problem. Besides which it really does help the nausea if you take it during your meal.
Dizziness is totally normal and it will pass. It sucks but it will go away eventually.
Loss of appetite is something I really enjoyed (only got that side effect once :mad:)and the first time I went on Champix I lost a ton of weight.
Anxiety is also normal but more-so is anxiety from stopping smoking. It will also pass.
There are many side effects. Some will freak you out, some are just plain annoying and some people have none...but they are all better than smoking.
Thanks I was fully intending to do the halfway through meal thing today but yesterdays experience really put me off. I don't want to be having to go home from work because Im quitting smoking...I don't think my boss would be too impressed soooo Im tailoring my own champix plan. On weekdays I'm not gunna have one in the morning- just the evening one then at the weekends Ill have both. I very much want to quit and as much as champix is a brilliant helper I'm gunna give my willpower some credit too. I would have taken my morning one by now but I feel fine, good actually, don't know if its subconcious but I feel like Ive got a spring in my step and my eyes look brighter
Thats terrible about the ulcer but as you say better in the longrun than what could happen due to smoking.
Well done Toddy.... we can do it if we put our backs into it
Wasn't aware that Champix could have that effect... relevant to me as I've suffered from acute heart burn in the past and had to take medication, so definitely something for me to watch out for.
Making sure you have plenty food inside before you take the pill -seems to be doing the trick.. that's the 2nd day in a row where I've been fine..
Day 5 for me now... preparing to go for my first free weekend !
Interesting posts. All I can say is that broken sleep and weird dreams are a pain for me but I'm not craving fags! Watch out for playing mind games with yourself ie "better come off champix. It gets a bad press for side effects" "better go back to smoking!!" Just don't buy in to that. Look, I already have heart disease due to smoking. I knew the risks but carried on. Luckily I haven't had a heart attack but I have had to have stents put in to open the blockages in my arteries and continue to have high blood pressure needing medication to deal with that.
I would say put up with champix 'cos it will help you quit for EVER!! unless of course you get really worrying side effects such as low mood/suicidal thoughts. If you do, get help. The side effects of smoking {and quitting] are not good as we all know. However I believe that quitting side effects don't last that long apart from the good ones[Ie healthier , fitter etc etc etc.]
So---onwards with your quit. Well done.
Im up to day 7!!! now and can hardly believe how well I'm doing
Have a good moan on this forum if you need to. It helps to stay focussed believe me!! and remember, there's loads of us out there trying really hard to quit. WE KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE!!!
Push on through Emmy and those side effects will calm. Don't forget this drug is affecting your brain and that has consequences i.e. the side effects like being dizzy. It hits your stomach and that has consequences i.e. nausea.
Champix has had a lot of bad press but so has every other drug in the world so I'm with Julie on the ignoring things like that. This is the only thing that has worked for me and all that has ever let me down is my own willpower, which you undoubtedly need on Champix, just not as much as cold turkey. I miss it sometimes, I crave it sometimes but not to the point where I will smoke again.
Toddy you certainly need to watch yourself if you have had heartburn issues in the past. I take Omeprazole now with the Champix. My doc reminded me that nausea is a warning that your stomach isn't happy and for that reason alone it should never be taken on an empty stomach.
I went in to ask a pharmacist about just taking one tablet daily but she told me there would be no point as I would never reach the level thats intended with that dosage. So my new plan is have one with dinner instead of breakfast so I'll see how that goes.
My boyfriend has also given up and we went for a meal and drink on saturday night as a little test. It was definatley odd and I ate more than usual. In fact Ive never seen anyone eat as much as my boyf has eaten this week!! sure hes gonna pop soon!
After the 2nd week the NHS advisor reduced my dosage to 0.5mg twice a day and I stopped getting the nausea/anxiety/fatigue, almost the opposite infact I felt wide awake and very positive about life in general, but I struggled to sleep until I went back and the NHS advisor on week 3 and she told me to start skipping the evening tablet! So for the last 3 days I've been taking just 1 tablet with my toast in the morning and I feel the same but I sleep fine.
Started Champix June 27th, 2011 and quit smoking July 9th, 2011.
The only side effect I am currently suffering with are wind and VERY regular bowel movements.
just wanted to give a quick update to anyone who happens to read this thread.
I'm into my third week now and generally champix side effects have very much calmed down.
No more nausea and no more anxiousness. I can still tell that I'm taking a serious drug...vivid dreams, altered sleeping patterns...but far easier to deal with when I wrote my day 3 post.
I still always make sure that I take it after eating properly - meaning that I have a much bigger breakfast than I ever have had before.
So for me...all good on the champix side of things... but feels like I might need to watch out for the next phase of my giving up challenge - complacency!
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