7/05/2013

I was sitting in my car dealership the other day waiting to get service on my car while the television was on in front of me; one of the ads that caught my eye was of a woman who droned on about how she needed a cigarette to wake up, one in the car, one at 10 am... Boy I know that drill, having kicked the habit myself just this year. The "My Time to Quit" campaign by the makers of the anti-smoking drug Chantix, urges people to find their time to quit.



Chantix (varenicline) does work better than other drugs that are out there, include Zyban (buproprion) at helping people quit smoking and stay off of cigarettes. But it can have some nasty side effects.



Chantix affects the frontal lobe of the brain, which regulates emotion, and has been associated with depression, psychosis, and suicidality. It made headlines when a famous country music singer from Texas who was on the drug accosted a neighbor in an apparently psychotic state of mind and was shot dead. Thanks Texas home invasion gun laws!



Chantix can also make you have freaky dreams and have trouble falling asleep.



What's really annoying is that the clinical trials of Chantix excluded people with mental disorders, but smoking is increased in this population, and these people are obviously at increased risk of suicidality. In spite of this the spokespersons for Chantix say it is fine for people with depression and other mental disorders to go ahead and take Chantix.



The most common side effect is nausea, which occurs about a third of the time. It can also cause stomach upset.
Posted by Admin On 8:02 AM No comments

0 comments:

Post a Comment

  • RSS
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube

Blog Archive