Day 16. I had a smoking dream last night and woke up in a panic. It came after I spent an evening with a smoking friend. I wasn't tempted to cheat while I was with him, but I guess my psyche was jealous somehow. Weirdly, even though I didn't touch one, when I woke up from my smoking dream, my throat felt scratchy and burned like it often did on occasions when I smoked more than usual like a night out with friends.
Anyway, I feel really strong about the quit. I'm dealing with triggers really well and I'm excited about the positives of not smoking. I have 100% confidence in myself that I will not relapse. So I'm thinking about killing the Chantix. I only started taking it because I signed up for a quit-smoking study and they are providing it, along with patches that may or may not be placebos. Having tried and gotten violently ill from patches before, I am positive the patches are placebos and they irritate my skin so I ditched them 2 weeks ago. Didn't notice a difference. While I know that a lot of you have reported fatigue from quitting alone, I have not experienced this before. I quit for 28 days (forced by being in the Amazon jungle for work and no access to smokes) less than 2 years ago, and I didn't ever feel fatigue. On a prior quit in 2011 (6 months), I also didn't feel fatigue. But on Chantix, I feel like a zombie from the moment I wake up until I get home. Then I crawl into bed at 6 to take a nap and end up wired, falling asleep at 12, then waking up constantly through the night. I think I'm tired because I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I started the pills. I don't have time to be a zombie. I can't keep going to work half zoned and looking for a place to take at nap at 2 pm.
I've read that stopping can also lead to fatigue, so this feels like a Catch-22. So I'm going to start taking half doses for a few days, then gradually phase out the evening dose. Ugh. I just want to feel almost normal again.
Hi Ladyinthelake, I wouldn't advise coming of the champix just yet, have you stopped smoking for 16 days or been taking the champix for 16 days, I wasn't sure. I;m half way through my second pack and quit smoking 3 weeks ago, granted I love the dreams and as long as I take the tablet with food and don't smoke (the only time I was ever sick) I'm not sick. I know if I stopped the tablet now I would be tempted to smoke as I wouldn't think it was going to make me sick, I'm actually concerned about coming off them...lol. Really if you can hang in there and complete the course it will get better.
I've stopped smoking for 17 days. I started Chantix (same as Champix, I assume) almost a month ago.
I dont know. I skipped my evening dose last night and actually slept through the night. I only took half a dose this morning and for the very first time since I started taking them, I feel alert and more focused. I may not stop them entirely, but I am definitely going to stay on a reduced dose. I have a counselor I'm checking in with every few days and I've scheduled activities over the next 2 weeks that encourage non-smoking. I have always been a reluctant pill taker and these side-effects remind me why I am.