Ed note: This is a repost from
here, to provide a bit of background to my quitting using Champix and why I decided to set up a dream blog.
So I decided to quit smoking, but this time (I tried to quit when I hit 30), I decided I could use some assistance.
Champix 'reduces cravings for and decreases the pleasurable effects of cigarettes'. See, I like that idea. I very much like the idea that the physical cravings can be reduced because believe me when I say that those cravings can feel like a black hole opened in your belly as you watch your hand move to the cigarette pack as if of it's own volition. However, Champix has some seriously 21st century potential side effects:
"In November 2007, the FDA announced it had received post-marketing reports that patients using Chantix for smoking cessation had experienced several serious symptoms, including
suicidal ideation and occasional suicidal behavior , erratic behavior, and drowsiness. On February 1, 2008 the FDA issued an
Alert to further clarify its findings, noting that "it appears increasingly likely that there is an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms."
Wow. What a crazy drug. "Suicidal ideation"? I find myself rather worried now that the prescribing doctor had no idea that the drug had been linked not only to suicide, but also extreme aggression:
"...in the fourth quarter of 2007 varenicline accounted for more reports of serious side effects than any other drug. Suicidal acts and ideation, psychosis, and hostility or aggression, including homicidal ideation, were the most prominent psychiatric side effects."
HULK NEED CIGARETTES, HULK SMASH! These side effects must affect less than 1 person in 1,000 however, otherwise legally they'd have to include them in the side effects section in the packaging, which they have not.
My first nights sleep after starting the drug was really weird. I can't quite recall what the dreams were about, but they were certainly weirder than normal. It may be un-related, but in any event this moblog will serve as my document of the dreams I have whilst taking the drug.
Champix Dreams, the first site that needs an
FDA warning