I Used the New Stop Smoking Drug Chantix to Stop Smoking

by Jen
(Vancouver, BC)

I tried celery sticks but I couldn't get them to light!

I used the new stop smoking drug Chantix to stop smoking.

In Canada the drug is available by prescription under the trade name Champix but the main ingredient is varenicline and it is the identical stop smoking medication used in the US under the name of Chantix.

Here is the story of how I quit smoking....

On Jan 1st … of each year I would make a resolutions to toss them out and start the new year as a non-smoker!

Well, I tried that for many years...then I was usually buying a new pack of cigarettes in the afternoon, until I tried a different approach to stop smoking.

The stop smoking pills Champix, worked for me and I hope it can work for you too.

I came from a smoking household, I started in my early teens and by the time I was 17, I was a regular smoker until I was 33.

See Effects of Cigarettes and Family Smoking Facts

When I was 19 I did quit smoking cigarettes and that lasted about 8 months but still, I smoked for about 17 more years. YIKES!

It had come to the point that I was regularly using a ventolin puffer nightly to help me breathe, this was normal for me and it was starting to scare me. I didn’t want to become one of those poor casualties you see wheeling around in a scooter with an orange flag and an oxygen tank and you know they HAD to quit smoking cigarettes.
See What is COPD

A friend of my in-laws who had quit, said to me once…

”You know you gotta quit at some point, one way or another, everyone knows that"

After I heard this it was always on my mind and I wanted to choose while I could.

I tried EVERYTHING to quit and I mean everything, for years. I chewed the gums, I tried the patch, I tried the bupropion/zyban and I got hypnotised…twice!

I flicked through the quitnet website, I looked at horrible pictures of what smoking does to the body, I had cigarette funerals and I said prayers and goodbyes, but by the next day or so, there I was...cigarette in hand and. . . all lit up again.

I thought the situation was hopeless. What a horrible addiction I had.

It was not enjoyable anymore, it wasn’t social anymore, or convenient to smoke anywhere. And it brought my self-esteem down very low.

The daily self-battle of insanity had to stop. I wanted freedom from this.

One day, we were at my in-laws place for dinner in November 2009 and my sister in-law a formerly heavy smoker had just quit. I knew how much she smoked, she and I had MANY a ciggie together. So I wanted to know how the heck she did it.

She told me all about the new stop smoking drug Chantix and that it really works! The fact that she wasn’t smoking was all the proof I needed. So, a few days later, I was off to the doctors to get the prescription for the Canadian variety - Champix.

It wasn’t too pricey and I think my husband’s extended health even paid for it. I really wanted to quit smoking cigarettes for good, so I didn’t care about the cost.

I was warned about the Chantix side effects and was a little worried about what I had researched regarding possible mood changes, so my husband was put on alert about what to watch for.

I wasn’t on any other medications besides ventolin and nicotine gum at work when I couldn’t smoke.

I turned out to have no problems, I do recall having more vivid dreams than usual for a while, but that was fine with me!

I started taking Chantix to stop smoking late in November 2009, and nothing really happened at first. After about 4 weeks I noticed what everyone was talking about. The pleasure was gone, I started wondering why I was smoking cigarettes. I was putting my cigarettes out halfway through and smoking less, the drug was WORKING!

The simplest way I can describe it is this:

When you smoke, you have little receptors in your brain that go, ahhh, nicotine, but with Champix, it puts a smothering blanket over those receptors and your brain is not getting that familiar fulfillment it likes. You are still giving your body the nicotine it is accustomed to but there is no pleasure anymore. It is more of an automatic behaviour at this point, the habit part. So at that point, I set a quit date for the 15th of January and it was then I said goodbye to my nicotine addiction for good!

I did have nicotine withdrawal symptoms for 3 days, and I was a bit grumpy and mean (apparently). Though, I did forewarn people close to me that I was quitting.

I kept active by walking with supportive friends and I snacked as healthy as I could. I did miss that break or reward part of smoking for a little bit, but I knew I didn’t want to go back to smoking because the Champix took all the pleasure out of it and there was no point.

I came off the pills shortly after as the instructions read.

So that is the story of how I quit smoking.

I am 35 and I celebrated 2 years smoke free on January 15th, 2012.

I rarely use my ventolin inhaler. Yes, I have put on a few pounds, but I have only gone up one size and that is minor in my opinion. I have had my share of life’s ups and downs in that time and I have stayed quit and I know that I will stay quit.

It is hard to believe I once felt so hopeless. It feels good to share the story of how I quit smoking. It reminds me to pat myself on the back once in a while and remember the addiction I overcame.

You only have one body, you cannot change parts like a car or upgrade to a new model, so look after yourself!

Read the facts on smoking that this website provides. No matter whether you use a new stop smoking drug like Chantix (Champix)or some other method to quit smoking remember....

Tobacco is NOT your friend
Tobacco DOES NOT CARE about you
GET MAD at it and QUIT!