Started Champix 22 Nov 19

[LetsBeSensible]

I’ve smoked nearly 30 years, I’ve quit for a year or two and gone back to it, cold turkey, gum, patches, Allen Carr clinic and book...
I really need to stop. I’m going through a really difficult period, I’m off with stress and...I just went to the local stop smoking clinic a few days ago and I started Champix this morning!!!
I live alone and I thought it would be good to start a thread here so I write every day and keep an eye on my mood and how I am feeling.

Thanks @Phud I know it is a side effect but at day 18 it suddenly became a massive issue! Much stronger than ever before.
On the plus side my “no smoking” app tells me I didn’t smoke 130 fags since I stopped (it’s actually 125 as I had 5 on Sat)

Day 19 - felt really rubbish most of today. Forgot about the half tablet idea and took a whole one this morning. Not sure whether I have a bug or if it is side effects.

Hi hope you don't mind me jumping on.
I'm on day 9 of Champix today and have t really felt any effect from them at all No funny taste, no sickness, nothing really., Really hope they start to kick in soon! My quit date is 20th Dec and at this rate looks like it's going to be pretty much cold turkey! 😂

BaileyBadger4 not everyone gets (all) the side effects. I followed the treatment about 7 years ago and didn’t notice anything about taste or sickness. I do remember having a deeper sleep at night and, only noticeable in retrospect, I was a bit down in the dumps, like having days and days when nothing goes right (drop a glass in the morning, flat tyre mid morning, torrential rain lunchtime when popping out with no umbrella, catch every red light on journey back from work, front porch light not working - little things that normally I’d deal with without thinking about but it just felt like a string of bad luck making me wonder what can possibly get worse). I suspect that might have been some sort of negative view of the world, a very mild depressive state perhaps and I am normally one of those who only sees the positive in life always half full glass (ordinarily if I get a flat tyre I’m reasonably upbeat about the situation because at least, for example, I own a car so have the luxury of dealing with a flat tyre).
Maybe watch out for that instead and tell yourself life is not that bad.
Good luck!

Day 23- I’ve come down with a chest infection, which always happens when I quit to be fair.
I cut the champion down and today I haven’t bothered to take them, feeling better for not having them and not missing the smoking at all.

Well done LetsBeSensible. The advice is to complete the entire treatment though. However, the chest infection is a good thing in a bad way as the last thing you’d want is to be doing is smoking

I’m not sure what day it is any more! I have not smoked for 15 days (apart from the third day when I relapsed)
I still have not taken champion for over a week. The side effects have become bonkers. Vivid dreams, night sweats, stomach cramping and bloating, fatigue...so that’s been really rubbish. HoweverI have not wanted to smoke! My app says I’ve not smoked 300 fags and I have saved nearly £200.
I ham my blow test at the clinic and it was 2! Down from 31 a month ago. So right now it’s hard, in terms of feeling weird. But it will pass, and I’m happier without smoking. It’s worth the hassle.

That breathing test result is amazing LetsBeSensible!
Definitely it’s worth the hassle, you can always start taking the tablets again if the cravings return - make sure you get the prescriptions for the full treatment so at least you have the tablets in the house as a back up. You are a

Thanks @Branster I just can’t believe that the worst side effects are after stopping champix (or “champion” as auto correct calls it)

It’s got such a funny name, I used to call it ‘chimpanzee’.
I think it can affect the mental state quite a lot (just based on my experience) and it probably needs to work at the brain level somehow. The physical symptoms you describe don’t sound nice at all.
If you haven’t been through the menopause yet, they sound similar to it as far as I understand it. I was out with a group of friends a months ago, quite a few of the going through it and it sounded similar plus loss of hearing for some reason. Not looking forward to that one.
Keep at it!

@Branster I did not have menopause yet but have had some perimenopause and can assure you it’s not the same...it’s closer to flu, I thought it was food poisoning at one time, I was just waiting for it to “come out” of one or both ends!!!!! But it never did. It’s improving day by day now.

😂😂😂 at least you weren’t bed-ridden with some gastroflu thingy (they are awful).
Nonetheless it sounds annoying but at least it’s passing and you’re coming through the other side.
It’s sooo nice not to have to wash your hair all the time even when it’s clean just to remove the smell of cigarettes.

@Branster I re-washed my clothes and linen, yet there is still a slight lingering smell on some. Every time I catch a whiff of “smoker” I feel so embarassed

Day 35- I had to count!!!
The side effects subsided slowly, so that took around 2 weeks?
I made it through Xmas eve and Xmas day with no problems, had quite a bit to drink on each day. Smoking crossed my mind, but I wasn’t hankering for a smoke.
The greatest improvement has happened- I have stopped snoring!!!! I was not expecting that!!!

We’re now into the new year and I’m still not smoking!
30 days since I quit, 600 fags “not smoked” since then according to my app (apart from those 5 that I did smoke two days in)
£350 not spent on fags, which is pretty much the amount I have remaining from my wages in the bank.
Still have not been fully tested by spending an evening drinking with a smoker, should be doing that very soon so watch this space...

Day 58- still not smoking!
Had a night out last week and really was not tempted.
Over 1,100 fags not smoked and £650 not spent since I quit.
I have been eating everything recently and figured I’d let that go for a month or two in the circumstances.

That's amazing 58 days! All that money saved too. I'm on day 4 taking champix, still smoking although they do taste a bit funny, I've had a no real side effects as yet and hoping it'll stay that way!

@survivingdad good for you! I’m at 60 days now. I do like to look at the my last cig app and see how much I didn’t spend, but also how many I didn’t smoke, or have to go outside to smoke, or have to go to the shops to buy....

I'm on day 5 of champix and this thread has just given me so much inspiration! Hope I can get to a position of being 60 days in. Congratulations!

I thought I’d pop back...I am over a year and a month non-smoking now! I think the pandemic helped as I have not been near “temptation”. I hardly ever think about smoking now. The first six months or so I would occasionally want one, but then I would just have a coffee and the urge would pass.
Best decision I ever made!

This is lovely to see! I also quit in early March last year (just before the first lockdown)..! What a time to quit 🤣 I also used champix and have never smoked since. 10 months 4 days and 21 hours! I'm fatter for sure.. but not smoking.