Gardena, CAFor some patients, the two words go together all too well: Chantix suicide is not an abstract phenomenon for these people. In fact, it is a very real possibility. Mitchell W. says he was surprised by the Chantix side effects he suffered, especially since he had not experienced any side effects during an earlier round of the anti-smoking drug. While Mitchell did not even attempt to commit suicide, he certainly had thoughts about doing so. Luckily, he recognized what was happening and got help before it was too late. Sadly, some patients do not get help in time, and for their families Chantix and suicide are forever intertwined.
"I actually took Chantix in December 2006, for 3 weeks," Mitchell says. "I guess I didn't take it long enough to notice any problems, but after 3 weeks I was cut off by the government from having it paid for. So then, in 2008—I think I took it in about October—I took Chantix for 5 weeks. By the second week, Chantix made me so tired all day long that all I could do was sit in my recliner with my head back and my eyes closed. Every so often I would try to go to bed and sleep, but it wouldn't let me sleep.
"That went on for weeks and weeks until finally it messed up my sleep cycle so badly that I couldn't sleep at all at night. After 5 weeks of that, I was so depressed I was suicidal. I know all about that because I've been bipolar for 30 years plus, so I made a run into my psychiatrist's office. She took me off Chantix, but because of my HMO, I couldn't check into the psychiatric hospital and keep myself safe until my new meds kicked in."
Mitchell says that it took 3 months until he felt better. "It was 3 months of depression—severe depression. I had thoughts of suicide, of stepping in front of a big rig on the freeway or hanging myself from the bridge. Things like that. I've got 30 years with my illness, so I've learned the triggers and what they mean and how to ignore them."
Mitchell's psychiatrist put him on Cymbalta and Invega, another anti-psychotic medication. She also confirmed that Chantix had caused his problems. "She hadn't wanted me to go on Chantix in the first place, but eventually she let me," Mitchell says. "Not only did she tell me that Chantix had caused my problems, she apologized for allowing me to talk her into giving me the drug. It is the worst drug there is. I thought it was fine after I took it in 2006; boy was I wrong.
"It's frustrating that the FDA will approve these drugs without having tested them on people with mental illnesses, and that's throughout the industry. They will not let you in trials if you have mental illness. I understand, because then they don't know what caused the problems—if you had the mental illness before the trial or if the drug caused it. But Chantix and bipolar illness do not get along whatsoever. They should be testing for that.
"I've known about Chantix for 2 years before it was on the market. I was on the mailing list, I got updates and I watched the FDA approval process. Once it was on the market, it took 3 months before I could get prescribed because my doctors wouldn't prescribe it with it being on the market only a month, but I really wanted to quit smoking.
"They [drug companies] are not testing the drugs on the complete population that is going to use them, and the FDA lets them get away with that."