I started using chantix

[grampahol]

In yet another attempt to quit smoking I started using Chantix a few days ago.. Dreams are starting to get interesting..and I've already cut way back without really thinking about it. I barely noticed, but I sat inside watching TV for several hours without even the first thought about smoking..
I just finished the first one all evening.. Might be the last for the night already.. 
Anyone else had any success with Chantix?

[Stewy]

(05-29-2021, 11:16 PM)grampahol Wrote: In yet another attempt to quit smoking I started using Chantix a few days ago.. Dreams are starting to get interesting..and I've already cut way back without really thinking about it. I barely noticed, but I sat inside watching TV for several hours without even the first thought about smoking..
I just finished the first one all evening.. Might be the last for the night already.. 
Anyone else had any success with Chantix?

The biggest problem with Chantix (wife and father in law tried it), is that it can change your personality.  It can make you very aggressive and/or angry.

After she dropped Chantix she started on Welbruprion, and quit smoking after a year of weening herself off cigarettes.  That was over 10 years ago.  She still takes the Welbruprion, but she hasn't had a cig in over a decade.

[grampahol]

I've heard plenty of stories about people with anger or depression problems with it. I have quite a different story of drug usage than most people I know.  Even with things like heroin I wasn't the type to just want to be high all day..hard to explain, but I trust my judgment with different substances. If things start going bad I'm done with it really quick.. I kind of had to learn that the hard way which is another story in itself, but I do have quite a bit of experience with depression and dealing with it..

[HarleyDog]

(05-30-2021, 05:10 AM)grampahol Wrote: I've heard plenty of stories about people with anger or depression problems with it. I have quite a different story of drug usage than most people I know.  Even with things like heroin I wasn't the type to just want to be high all day..hard to explain, but I trust my judgment with different substances. If things start going bad I'm done with it really quick.. I kind of had to learn that the hard way which is another story in itself, but I do have quite a bit of experience with depression and dealing with it..

Strange drug. First time I tried it, I handled it good but just wasn’t ready to quit. Second time I tried it with a quite date in mind, and I got severe anxiety the first day and stopped raking immediately. Depression lasted 3 days off the starter pill.

[jfkbengals]

I considered trying Chantix, but the stories I heard from others that used it scared me away from it. Basically people left me with the impression that it leads you to just feel BLAH in general, and stop caring about anything, which then leads to the "who gives a shit if I am alive" types of thoughts.

What did make me quit was the patch and stubbornness. I noticed that a two week supply of the patch was cheaper than what I would smoke over that time period, so I decided I would give it a try. In my mind, the worse that would happen is I got over the cigarette in hand habits and would just need to stay on the patch for the remainder of my life. I'd still be hooked on nicotine, but I would be saving $10 a week and not ruining my lungs in the process.

I a promise to myself that I would follow the 10 week program, hell or high water, and did so. After 3 or 4 weeks I really stopped thinking about the cigarettes and saw where it might really work if I could kick the nicotine in the end. At week 11 I woke up and did not put on a patch. That week sucked, but I had already conditioned myself to not have a smoke at the trigger times I was used to doing so, so it was just random cravings that were much easier to deal with as a result. That was over 10 years ago, ending my 24 year smoking career.

Best of luck Gramps. As long as it works, it is the right choice for you!

[grampahol]

Three days in and no shitty feelings yet. I do feel slightly blunted, but not much worse than just being a bit tired..
I figure if i can go 10 years on methadone and quit it this ought to be cake, but we'll see.. Years of heroin and drinking like a sponge and the only thing left is cigarettes..

[*michaelsean*]

My wife switched from smoking to vaping. Despite some stories I have to believe it’s not nearly as bad for you.

I dip, and honestly I don’t see myself ever trying to quit.

[WeezyBengal]

(05-31-2021, 09:42 AM)michaelsean Wrote: My wife switched from smoking to vaping. Despite some stories I have to believe it’s not nearly as bad for you.

I dip, and honestly I don’t see myself ever trying to quit.

Vaping isn't great for you but its 100x better than cigs. I mean its just basically water vapor and nicotine, correct? None of the other harsh chemicals and tobacco? 

[XenoMorph]

(05-29-2021, 11:16 PM)grampahol Wrote: In yet another attempt to quit smoking I started using Chantix a few days ago.. Dreams are starting to get interesting..and I've already cut way back without really thinking about it. I barely noticed, but I sat inside watching TV for several hours without even the first thought about smoking..
I just finished the first one all evening.. Might be the last for the night already.. 
Anyone else had any success with Chantix?

I couldnt do any of that stuff...

I just reduced my cig's to about 10 a day  then worked my way down to 5 a day then  just quit.      its better not to use any of those types of products imo

[XenoMorph]

(05-31-2021, 09:26 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Vaping isn't great for you but its 100x better than cigs. I mean its just basically water vapor and nicotine, correct? None of the other harsh chemicals and tobacco? 

basically you lose the carcinogens that occur from the process of burning the paper and the tobacco.   But who knows whats all in the flavoring they use.   ITs basically a new wave of smoking and people that dont even smoke are vaping. which is bad.    plus the nicotine is concentrated and can easily lead to nicotine poisoning if ingested or absorbed (by you a child or a pet)   

but generally wont burn down the house if you fall asleep using a vap...    Like everything there are pluses and negs depend on what you compare it to.  I couldnt Vape   it was worse than smoking for me. 

[CKwi88]

(05-30-2021, 05:10 AM)grampahol Wrote: I've heard plenty of stories about people with anger or depression problems with it. I have quite a different story of drug usage than most people I know.  Even with things like heroin I wasn't the type to just want to be high all day..hard to explain, but I trust my judgment with different substances. If things start going bad I'm done with it really quick.. I kind of had to learn that the hard way which is another story in itself, but I do have quite a bit of experience with depression and dealing with it..

Addiction is super weird. In my four years of college I experimented with all sorts of drugs and used some of them quite regularly. Told myself when I graduated I was going to leave it all behind. December 2009 was my last high. Never felt anything going 100% cold turkey on everything.

Now, if you ask me to go 24 hours without some sort of processed sugar? There's a greater than 0% chance I'll kill you .

Best of luck to you.

[XenoMorph]

(06-02-2021, 09:50 AM)CKwi88 Wrote: Addiction is super weird. In my four years of college I experimented with all sorts of drugs and used some of them quite regularly. Told myself when I graduated I was going to leave it all behind. December 2009 was my last high. Never felt anything going 100% cold turkey on everything.

Now, if you ask me to go 24 hours without some sort of processed sugar? There's a greater than 0% chance I'll kill you .

Best of luck to you.

sugar and caffinee   are how it usually starts... lol  those are the real gateway drugs.

[CKwi88]

(06-02-2021, 10:04 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: sugar and caffinee   are how it usually starts... lol  those are the real gateway drugs.

I was able to quit soda cold turkey as well about 8 years ago. Zero problems and zero desire to go back to it. The last time I had an alcoholic root beer it almost made me vomit.

My brother gets down on himself for not being able to quit soda. I just ask him which is worse: him not being able to quit soda, or me not being able to quit f***ing candy.

[XenoMorph]

(06-02-2021, 10:28 AM)CKwi88 Wrote: I was able to quit soda cold turkey as well about 8 years ago. Zero problems and zero desire to go back to it. The last time I had an alcoholic root beer it almost made me vomit.

My brother gets down on himself for not being able to quit soda. I just ask him which is worse: him not being able to quit soda, or me not being able to quit f***ing candy.

my wife was able to quit soda... I quit for a while using Ice Tea.   but i'm back to 1 soda a day now. But even when i quit Soda i couldnt Stop Caffinee.


Really if you drink a lot of soda and want to lose weight...     Cutting out anything wiht the High fruitose corn syrup will help (soda, Heinz katchup, etc...)

[grampahol]

Soda addiction..Oh boy... Don't talk silly addictions to me.. I shot heroin for 20 years man.. LOL There is no comparison.. Don't believe me? Go shoot a dime bag every day for a month and quit cold turkey. Your entire body will feel like it's melting from the inside out all at once.. Withdraw from heroin and other opiates in really rough. In jail you're treated like plutonium..Nobody wants to be near you and it's not because guys in jail are all goody two shoes.. You wind up puking on things, shitting yourself, sweating like a pig, etc..  Definitely not for the feint of heart..

Anyways... I gave up on Chantix today.. I finally reached the point of the two double doses a day and had some really nasty chest pain so that's done with. No more for me and of course still smoking as much as I was.. dammit..
Man..I quit heroin, alcohol and methadone, but smoking? Still can't kick the damned things.

[fuzzychin]

Sorry to hear that.  I couldn't handle Chantix either.

Gotta do what works best for you.  In the spirit of telling you about another tool for your tool belt, these 2 things help me immensly:

1. Cut drinking straws to the length of a cig. I still get to take my " straw breaks".  All the physical motions are identical to a cig.

2. I got a nicotine "inhaler" (available by scrip only).  It's more like a stub of a black and mild.  As an alternative nictoine delivery system, I like it WAAAAAYYYY better than gum or lozenges.  You puff it like a cigar - draw into the mouth, but don't inhale.  Nic is absorbed into the bloodstream from the mouth, doesn't cause irritation like gum and lozenges.

It may not work 100% of the time to prevent from having a cig but every cig we don't smoke is a WIN!

[fuzzychin]

Also, if you're considering ANY alternative nicotine delivery systems (patch, gum, etc), you may want to check with your doctor/insurance.

My health insurance company covers ALL smoking cessation prescriptions 100%. No deductable, no copay - 100% no cost to me.

[grampahol]

Maybe I'll just go break a window and spend a few weeks in stir somewhere in some real small town with no meth heads anywhere around..

[samhain]

(06-02-2021, 09:50 AM)CKwi88 Wrote: Addiction is super weird. In my four years of college I experimented with all sorts of drugs and used some of them quite regularly. Told myself when I graduated I was going to leave it all behind. December 2009 was my last high. Never felt anything going 100% cold turkey on everything.

Now, if you ask me to go 24 hours without some sort of processed sugar? There's a greater than 0% chance I'll kill you .

Best of luck to you.

I'm somewhat similar.  I went from doing all the drugs I could get my hands on in my 20s to doing zero drugs whatsoever in a pretty short period of time with no real issues.  I even had a pretty significant opiate phase at one point that just kind of went away on it's own.  I never planned it.  I never got into trouble or "intervened".  It just didn't fit into my lifestyle and went by the wayside.  

I admit that if weed wasn't illegal and I wasn't getting drug tested at work, I'd almost certainly still smoke.  Perhaps that day will come at some point with the way laws are changing.  Either way, I can handle it.  

I've always been into lifting, but I feel like working out definitely replaced drugs for me.  If I go a few days without, even if I'm banged up or hurting, it weighs on me mentally.  I absolutely hate downtime.  Idk, the feeling after a solid workout and the sleep that it allows me to get are something I don't like going without.  

[fredtoast]

(06-04-2021, 10:06 PM)grampahol Wrote: Maybe I'll just go break a window and spend a few weeks in stir somewhere in some real small town with no meth heads anywhere around..

Even the smallest towns have meth heads.

Opiates and meth are everywhere.