Champix aka Chantix/Varenicline

Kahlan

Hey

Yeah, I had a great trip, but it is good to be home so that I can get down to working towards my finals! I only have seven weeks of college left, then three weeks off and then four weeks of exams. C'est ca! Back to college tomorrow!

I have decided that I am going to avoid all social gatherings that involve alcohol for the next six weeks or so, just to give myself a good base and get used to the not smoking thing. To be honest, I probably shouldn't be going out anyway with my exams coming up!

I am delighted to hear that everything went well DonnieL and though I am not superstitious, I made a load of wishes when I was at the Trevi fountain. If they all come true like your procedure, I will be a very happy, successful, wealthy (and skinny) woman!! LOL

With regards to the not smoking thing, I am weaning myself off the smokes today and tomorrow I start from scratch again!!

Talk 2moro,

xxxxx

Poutbutton

Hi guys Hey Donnie Hi Kahlan welcome back sounds like you had a really great week
I'm ready for my bed here been moving all my stuff all weekend I'm exhausted & have plenty more to do tomorrow.
slip ups hmmm I had one last night i ended up at a party and yet again I lit one up and had a few puffs on it twice throughout the night, so it seems like i'm cannon fodder once I have a few drinks I am'nt annoyed with myself this time, I really dont care, it's like a science experiment, I'm taking it each day at a time. That tip was so relevant to us today Donnie!I had a brilliant night and my face was sore from laughing this morning but again, I did'nt even consider smoking today.
I have to admit, I could feel every ounce of my lungs absorbing the smoke and it was not easy! It felt really strong & actually hurt :eek:
So I've had pulls on 2 cigarettes in 6 weeks I think I'll still do it I'll go nuts if I get to the end of the course & take up the filthy habit all over again!

I'm thinking of trying the 2 tabs a day again, maybe my lower dosage is weakening my resolve. Hmmm. us girls need tips on willpower!

As soon as I get settled in my new smoke free home, hopefully that will inspire me to try harder not to give in to these slipups {what a dirty word}

celt262

Does anyone know anyone who has completed the full course and are still off the smokes?

DonnieL

Hi Celt! Yeah, if you go back to page #15 of these threads there are two people who had completed the program. How are you doing? I'm still hanging in there with out the smokes.:D

celt262

All still going to plan DonnieL got through another weekend anyway.

pinnyoshea

Ok tomorrow is quit day. Day 8 and start the blue pills. I cant say Ive noticed much of a reduction in my desire to smoke but gona go for it anyway. Might have something to do with other stuff thats goin on at the moment that is making me want to reach for the packet every few minutes but sure thats gona be there anyway whether I smoke or not. Rejoined the gym today and forced myself in to do a bit guess if i see my fitness start to go back to the levels it used to be at it might make a difference. Ive been putting off joining saying i couldnt afford it but with student membership four months equates to 2 weeks smoking 20 a day. Kinda puts it in perspective

DonnieL

Hey Pinnyoshea good for you! If I can do it, anyone can do it. I've smoke a minimum of a pack a day for nearly 50 years. I'm now on on day 43 nicotine free! (now isn't that poetic!):D
And Celt262 you should be about the same! Right?!
Hang in there Pinnyoshea! You can do it!;)

Kahlan

Hey all,

Okay, so I am back on the non-smoking journey and have had the most emotionally exhausting day I have had in a long time. On Sunday night I began to get my usual acid reflux pain at 10:30 pm, even before I went to bed. I was up all night in absolute agony, went to the doctor yesterday morning in tears. I asked her why the acid reflux meds were not working. She thinks that the hospital misdiagnosed me with acid reflux when in fact I might have gallstones. So for the last 6 weeks, I was not allowed to take painkillers because they supposedly made things worse with acid reflux. Yesterday, my doctor took me off the losec and gave me a prescription for tramadol! I am just after waking up now, having had about 18 hours sleep!! Still, I am fairly upset that I will probably need some surgery over the next while. The diagnosis still needs to be confirmed with an ultra sound over the next few weeks but at least I will have my painkillers!!!

The funny thing is that I gave up smoking because acid reflux is hugely affected by nicotene, whilst gallstones are not affected one little bit. Despite this, I was not tempted one bit all day to have a smoke and on this path anyway, I am on my way to recovery!!

Talk soon,


xxxx

celt262

DonnieL wrote: »

Hey Pinnyoshea good for you! If I can do it, anyone can do it. I've smoke a minimum of a pack a day for nearly 50 years. I'm now on on day 43 nicotine free! (now isn't that poetic!):D
And Celt262 you should be about the same! Right?!
Hang in there Pinnyoshea! You can do it!;)

I think today is my 6th week without smoking i must check it tonight i am about the same as someone else her so it must be youself. Last two nights i have been finding it hard to sleep but im not sure if its the tablets i have been stressed at work. This is normally the stage that i would start again if i was going cold turkey or on patches but i am still getting very little cravings.

DonnieL

Hi Celt262.. yea that would be me. I think we started around the same time. I've never had any problem getting to sleep, it's staying asleep is my problem. I think it's because of me drinking so much water during the day.:o

Kahlan, I'm really sorry to hear the bad news! You're to young to be having those kind of problems. That's for we Ole Folks! You take care of yourself and keep us posted. My thoughts and prayers are with you..

Kahlan

Dear all,

DonnieL, you are 100% right, I shouldn't be getting this at 29 years of age, I don't know what is going on!! But apparently, women in their late twenties and thirties are more prone to this than men; am so jealous!!

Poutbutton, I am right there with you, I am going to avoid alcohol related incidents over the next while. This will be helped by the fact that painkillers and alcohol don't mix!!

I am now two days without smoking and I am finding it a little easier this time around. (This could be because I have so many other things to think about!!)

Talk 2moro on the dreaded day 3 (again)

xxxx

Poutbutton

Hi everyone just a quick post as it's past midnight & I've an early start, I've completed the move out and am now faced with my life in boxes & bags while still having to work & go to college on Saturday :eek: I hope to get things organised on Sunday then it's back to work again, I should have taken a week off to do this move.
So It looks like I got through one of Life's supposed major stressors without a cigarette, {unless you count the 4 under the unfluence of cocktails puffs on sat night?} naaaaaaa
Anyways, best of luck Pinnyoshea I hope you get by ok tomorrow.
Kahlan - you poor thing! Let's hope they sort out your tummy soon, giving up can only help.
I did'nt have any cravings today or this evening, I am still only taking one tablet a day, fingers crossed it'll be enough to keep me away from the dreaded weed.
Catch you guys tomorrow.

DonnieL

Hey Gang.. Just an update! I just ordered my 3rd prescription of Chantix/Champix. (and hopefully the last!) Next Monday I start my "final" week? I pray I can sustain what I feel and have now after the meds!:eek:

To all of you, hang in there and do what's right for you!! There's no shame in slipping, just, as Kahlan says, hop back on that BIG horse. And as I said none of us are ever going to be OUT OF THE WOODS who's smoked over numerous years. The Champix/Chantix is great as far as a re-enforcement, but it won't make you quit! I know that I wouldn't have made it this far without it! Let's just pray that we can continue a clean nicotine free life after it.

At any rate I will keep in touch with my new Irish Friends with honesty of any slip ups as Poutbutton and Kahlan (and you others) have done.:)

Oiche Mhaith!! (learned that from Poutbutton)
DonnieL

DonnieL

Hey Poutbuttn good for you!! Hope you get settled soon in to your new "Digs"!
Is the weather still a factor there? It's getting back back into in the 70's here, at least for the time being. ( I guess it would be 20 celsius there and supposed to go to 27) Yahoo!!) Sleep tight!!!

Poutbutton

Thank you Donnie for helping us empathise with the heat you are experiencing in Cali! No fair! It's a nippy 48f/9c here in dirty Dublin while I sit with my back against the radiator after an afternoon out in the cold! No smoking thoughts today yay but I am so mixed up over the move I dont know where I am, so bad that I think I may have taken 2 champix today thinking I forgot this morning at 7 :eek: no harm done there though as I've had no ill effects as yet. I have so much stuff to sort out and so little time or should I say patience, I want everything sorted and ready right now! I hate living in confusion

DonnieL

Sorry, I didn't mean to rub it in.L.O.L.!!:D

I know what you're saying! I hate moving. I want everything unpacked, in place, pictures hung, and ready to live in all in one day!! Tripping and stumbling over boxes and Misc. piles, those first several days sucks!!:mad:

Hang in there and just try and picture what it will be like once you're settled.

I actually got a phone call from my Doctor this morning (unheard of) telling me that he'd submitted my prescription for Chantix to my Pharmacy.
Just to make you feel more at home!

Terry

I edited that last post to remove links to smiley central.
That site is riddled with spyware and I suggest anyone who followed any of thos links to run a spyware removal programme on their computer.

If you don't have anti-spyware, go to http://www.safer-networking.org and download the latest version of spyboy S&D.

I have also deleted a further 14 posts containing links to the same site.
I would have edited them, but I'm on a laptop at the moment and I ****ing hate laptops.


While I do personally find those smilies irritating, I have no problem with them being posted. Just remove the hotlink before posting them.
Then again, I'd advise never visiting that site again. Or just go one more time, save the smilies on your pc and host them on imageshack.us or somewhere not riddled with spyware.

DonnieL

Terry,
Thanks for the "wake-up call"! I've deleted the application. I actually deleted it Tuesday. But your post confirmed my suspicions because I was getting more junk mail than usual. Thanks again!

Kahlan

Hey everyone,

Poutbutton, I hate moving house, it sucks, I am probably going to have to do it about twice this year cause I get kicked out of student accommodation in May and I will hopefully have job to go to in September. My sympathies are with you, but you are on the right side of moving, the worst bit is looking at all your stuff before packing and trying to figure out the logistics of it.

So four days without smoking!!! Hurray!! I have decided to cop on to myself today after 4 incredibly sleep filled days (though I did make it to interview yesterday which was great, think I got it!!) The painkillers that I have been given - I was told to take when necessary so I took them at night so I wouldn't wake up in pain - however the side effect is that it makes you exhausted all day as well. At first I thought that it was because I was unwell, but the ramifications of Sunday nights gall stone attack have disappeared for the moment and I am still left with an overwhelming urge to stay in bed. To the extent, that I haven't made it into college all week. (Fair enough for Monday - Wednesday, but today was simply not necessary.) So now, I am only going to take the painkillers if the gallstone pain actually wakes me up!! I have six weeks left of college and they are probably the most important ones ever, I cannot mess this up!!

Anyway, that was probably more information than you wanted to know, but I needed to get it straight in my head!!

Talk 2moro after a productive smoke free day in college!!

xxxxx

pinnyoshea

Hi guys,

So day 2 over without smoking. Shuda been day three but I decided at the last minute to leave it till day nine to quit instead of day eight. Joining the gym before I quit was a great idea because now my day is filled completly between lectures, study and training. No time to sit around and lament the cigarettes I cud be smoking

Kahlan I really sympathise with ya. Went back to college myself and in final year. I findin it hard to keep motivated and I have no health issues to contend with. Missin a week isnt too bad jus slog back in there and you'l have your 1.1.

Hope your new house all sorted Poutbutton.

Peppa

Hi, well done to you all. I am successfully off them now for almost 10yrs.

I have a question tho' why can't you buy all 3 months together and only pay 100 under the drugs payment scheme?

My hubby is going to try quit. My brother lives in Greece and sucessfully quit using this and they are not on prescription over there and only cost 150 for 3 months.........

There is a big diff between 150 and 300 + 50 for doc visit so if necessary I will get them posted over.

Thanks and once again good luck to you all.

Kahlan

Hey everyone,

Ok, so I made it out of bed today!!! Hurray!! I attended 2 lectures, went to the library, watched a movie in the cinema, went shopping and met my brother for dinner!! It is now 8:00 pm and I am ready for bed, my eyes are getting really droopy!!

Pinnyoshea, we are doing the exact same crazy thing - giving up in our final year - but do you know something, if we can do this now in this most stressful of years we can damn well do anything!!!

Peppa, this country is messed up in so many ways and that is just one of them!! The health system in this country really sucks, and I am becoming way too familiar with it!

I hope everyone else is doing well, and I look forward to talking to you all when I am slightly more awake!!

Talk soon,

xxxxxxxx

pinnyoshea

Damn it. Went drinking last night and smoked 2 cigarettes :mad:. Im so pissed off with myself now. After all the warnings Ive read. Anyway today is a new day and Im off for a morning gym session as penance.

dragona

Well, hi all. I am now on day 18 of champix, so eight full days of no smoking

BUT the nausea and stomach pains are getting to me. I am taking it with food - before, and then more food a half hour later, but it is not helping. Doc suggested Motilium, but not helping!

One week, one day, 13 hours, 38 minutes and 33 seconds. 128 cigarettes not smoked, saving €35.99.

DonnieL

Hey Dragona, congratualtions on 18 days nicotine free. Sorry to hear about the nausea. I pray it clears up so that you can continue.

Pinnyoshea, don't let that slip stop you. Just keep taking the Champix.

I'm starting my last prescription (I hope) on Monday. I came my closet to
"slipping" on Thursday and Friday. I had to prep for a colonoscopy. No solid foods. Just broths and clear liquids.:eek: I was so miserable I was thinking: "Wow" would a smoke go good right now". And Friday I had a lot of pain after the procedure and felt the same way. But my cousin came over and "baby sitted" with me to keep me on the straight and narrow.;)

All of you, just try and hang in there..:D

DonnieL

Hey Poutbutton,
Hope you're getting settled into you new house and that everthing is falling into place for you!
As you can see in one of my previous posts to Dragona and Pinnyoshea that I came closest to slipping on Thursday and Friday. I really had the only STRONG URGE to light up since I started the program. Then I starting thinking that they way I feel it might make me sick. And I did manage to overcome it. If I'd been on anything other than Chantix/Champix? NO WAY!!

Kahlan, Hope things are going better for you and you get things taken care of. Good luck with your studies and hang in there girl!!

Kahlan

Pinnyoshea, do not worry, if you have read the previous notices you will know that I am the queen of slipping!!! But just get back on the horse and don't do it again!!!! :cool:

Kahlan

ps hope you had a good night out!! I have banned myself from all alcoholic events for the next 5 weeks to give myself a good start in the non - smoking world!!

DonnieL

Just stumbled on to this Thread. There's some pretty heavy comments. You'll see me in there from a few days back. I think you all will find it interesting to read in your spare time.;)

DonnieL

Sorry! I forgot the link that I was referring to:

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/05/30/as-bad-news-mounts-chantix-prescriptions-crumble/#comment-411962