Chantix Not For Everyone

Tacoma, WAWhen Mike's doctor prescribed Chantix, he wasn't sold on the idea: only a few years back he had taken Wellbutrin to quit smoking, "but it drove me nuts," said Mike. His doctor said that Chantix was safe. How wrong she was…

After Mike's doctor convinced him that there were no serious side effects, he was excited and looked forward to quitting---smoking was Mike's 'ball and chain'. So he started Chantix in February 2008. "Not long afterward, I felt really depressed and didn't care about anything," says Mike. "I drove down the road and felt like driving into a tree.

"I told my doctor about this experience—and generally not caring about tomorrow," says Mike. "I asked her if Chantix had any similarly symptoms to Wellbutrin but she said it did not. These negative feelings started during the first week of May, I started feeling weird. I took off work Monday and Tuesday and just stayed in bed; I was severely depressed and it still didn't click that Chantix was to blame, because of what my doctor told me.

I tried to go back to work on Wednesday but lasted only three hours. (I work in fire and water restoration, and we were working at someone's house; I got confused and short of breath and started sweating really badly—my co-workers probably didn't want me around either.)

I went back to my doctor and she told me that I was having an anxiety attack. Still, Chantix wasn't mentioned. She started talking about giving me a prescription for anxiety and I reminded her of my reaction to Wellbutrin. She advised counseling before taking pills and I agreed. She gave me a note for work and I took the week off.

The next day my mom called and said there was an article in the paper about Chantix and depression. That was the first I'd heard about it - and I stopped taking it right then and there." But Mike had taken it for a few months; he wouldn't shake these side effects overnight…

"I told my mom about what the doctor said, having anxiety attacks," says Mike. "It was good timing that she called. I just stayed in bed for a few more days and went back to work the following week. Gradually I got back to my normal self but I still have moments of depression, off and on. And I start counseling this Friday.

My girlfriend wondered why I was so withdrawn and depressed but I didn't know why I was acting differently. I just thought I was going through some kind of mood swing. My whole life I've been steady—I have never had anything like anxiety attacks except once in '95 when I was stressed out about everything going on in my life. It felt a bit like that but the overall mood, especially that one bad week, was intensified.

If I had continued with Chantix, I am sure that things would have been worse. I didn't see the point in life, what was I working for? I thought about killing myself on that drive, but I would never think about that normally because of how I was raised—what with my mom and the church influencing me, it is not a good thing to do.

And the dreams were really vivid—I'm just glad they weren't nightmares because it was like they were really happening. That is the only part I enjoyed about taking Chantix. The depression really sucked.

The makers of Chantix should have watched people more carefully in their clinical trials and people should be more aware of the side effects before they start taking it. Then if you start to feel this way, you'll know why. And you'll be able to quit before it gets bad."

Mike had the wherewithal to quit—some users are not so fortunate. LawyersandSettlements has interviewed many people who suffered for months--during and after taking Chantix-- with depression and suicidal thoughts. Two victims wound up in a psychiatric hospital.