Chanitx and Suicide
February 21, 2008
More reports of erratic behavior and suicide have been associated with the use of Chantix, a drug that was designed to help people stop smoking and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration just under two years ago. In November 2007, the FDA issued a statement that they are reviewing the possible Chantix suicide side effects and that there have been over 100 reports received of suicidal thoughts and severe behavioral changes within just a few weeks of taking the drug.
Since its approval by the FDA, over 4 million Americans have received a prescription for the drug Chantix. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States and accounts for more than 400,000 deaths every year and, as many US Recall News visitors report, Chantix has helped many of these people quit smoking after years or decades of nicotine addiction.
Because of these reports, personal injury and dangerous drug attorneys are evaluating the potential of Chantix lawsuits on behalf of people who have committed suicide or suffered severe injury as a result of the drug’s adverse side effects.
Chantix (generic varenicline tartrate) was approved by the FDA in May 2006 as part of a review that drastically shortened the time required for the drug maker to begin selling the medication. Chantix helps people to quit smoking by easing the withdrawal symptoms of nicotine cessation and by blocking some of the effects of nicotine from cigarettes, which helps to promote long-term smoking cessation.
Label Update
When the FDA issued its November 2007 statement regarding Chantix and suicide, it requested data from the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer, about reported problems involving suicide and aggressive or erratic behavior associated with the medication. On November 20, 2007, Pfizer updated Chantix’s label to indicate that the drug’s side effects include the following: “reports of depressed mood, agitation, changes in behavior, suicidal ideation and suicide in patients attempting to quit smoking while taking Chantix.”
Additionally, the FDA is reviewing reports that the drug could cause problems while driving or operating heavy machinery. While the number of these incidents is very small, the FDA pointed out that they all describe similar situations with symptoms of drowsiness leading to difficulty operating a vehicle.
Other reported side effects of Chantix include:
- Nausea
- Stomach pain
- Vomiting
- Indigestion
- Weakness
- Lethargy
- Increased appetite
- Unpleasant taste in your mouth
- Headache
- Insomnia
- Unusual dreams
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11 Responses to “Chanitx and Suicide”
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I would like to know if the side affects get worse the longer I take Chantix? I have been taking Chantix for 6 weeks and have had bad depression, crying at everything, anxiety, agitation, trouble sleeping. I have had other problems in my life -( my dad dying in January). How can I tell if what I am experiencing is from Chantix or everything else? Chantix is helping me not smoke but I would like to know if this is bad as it gets.
does chanitx make you pass out after a few months after taking it. i am a truck triver and pass out as i was geting out of my truck. and brock my wrist.
The day I realized I was losing my mind: My isolated and continuing Chantix reaction.
I have never felt quite the same for some length of time now. It is as if I have been slowly losing control over my emotions, my mind and my life.
I began taking Chantix in October 2007. I had been planning my departure from cigarettes for at least two semesters, and had developed no further excuses to hinder the forward progress of my quitting. I only wish I had found an excuse, compared to the current state of my wellness now.
What good is being smoke free if you’re a head case in the end?
I don’t know exactly what this medication has done to me, but I have not felt mentally well, in what seems to me, a very long time. I stopped taking the medication when the first supply package of pills was completely gone. I am still waiting and hoping every day, that I might just wake up and feel normal in the head again. (I fear I will not even recognize normal again, if it does return)
I feel like someone has physically taken a baseball bat and worked me over around the joints for some type of indebtedness to the mob, enough of a beating to hurt like hell, but not enough to cause death. (You may wish for it, but it’s not in the cards) I find that a warm bath helps the body aches, and by scheduling myself to do this at specific times of the day (twice daily), this helps the body aches, and the overall scheduling of activities seems to keep my mind working in forward. This practice has not been 100% effective, but it seems to be all that I can do on my own.
I could not continue to sit at my office desk and keep quiet during the day. Uncontrollably I would find myself agitated, frustrated, and extremely irritated at nothing or at something so trivial that in retrospect it seems smaller than microscopic . Or simply put, the little things that had never drawn a reaction like this previously, had begun to take center stage in a tantrum of rage. I had neither the ability nor the wits about me to continue in that situation, so I reluctantly resigned. I was embarrassed to inform my boss that I had quit smoking, and lost my mind in the progress, so I camouflaged my resignation amongst the usual grievances and disaccords found in the work place.
At times, it seems as if nothing has ever been changed about me, other than the fact that I no longer a smoker, but those times are so rare. I miss them. The rest of the time is a constant reminder of the turbulent waters that flow beneath the calm observable surface, just waiting to show its ugly head in a vast storm of unpredictable furry and profanity.
I wish I could just simply light up another cigarette and make all this go away, but that does not seem like the logical alternative. I guess trading my mind for a longer life span was a foolish idea, or just getting the worst out of the way.
I quit using Chantix and found it easy compaired to other methods tried in the past. I suffered no physical or emotional problems. In fact, I felt relaxed about the whole process. Absolutely no anxiety.
It will interesting to determine if it is the actual drug causing the ill side effects in some people or the nicotine withdraw.
I really didn’t associate the way I was feeling last summer with the Chantix until my daughter sent me this article. She is the one that saw it and made the connection.
I began Chantix last spring. In no time at all I was in a deep depresstion. I love the summer months I love fishing and swimming. I actually have a pool here where I live and I used it twice last summer. Each time less than an hour. I also gained 40 lbs. I came home from work and went straight upstairs to bed. I also did no fishing. I just couldn’t muster up the “get up and go” to do it. My bed is where I wanted to be. I know that everyone around me saw what was happening. I even ask my Dr. to increase my antidepressant.
I did stop smoking, but wonder if it was worth it. At least I was thinner and happy then.
Regarding the comment from another about the nicotine withdrawal causing the side effects: I quit smoking years ago and started back 16 years ago, and no I didn’t have theses thoughts and feelings then.
I took chantix fot two months and I feelt like I was going to have a stroke. I almost passed out and I was getting pain and numbness down my left side. My boyfriend was taking it also and he became very moody and angry. We did not stop smoking but we did stop taking chantix and our health and emotional problems went away.
ive taken chantix for the past 3 months have had no issues what so ever accept for hot flashes which i can tolerate. i know people who have had issues with them but i think if you actually tried to sort out reality you wouldnt have suicidal issues… not sure what drug you all are taking but its working for me with out all the miserable craziness you have goin on
you people are silly. i took chantix for 3 weeks and am completely quit. zero side effects. i did this with a group of 9 people. none of us had any adverse effects. except one, he could have sworn it gave him gas. i think before you go and believe something perhaps you should look inward at your own habits. expecially considering before, when anything bad happened, or you were stressed, you smoked. now chantix is trying to help you quit and some of you are still taking it 6 weeks later. sure seems to me you’re not ready to quit or don’t have enough will power to do so. 100 suicides maybe, but what else played a factor in those suicide attempts?? i heard a proverb once: suicide is your own fault… which is undeniably true and obvious. don’t blame it on a pill. quit blamestorming and take responsibility of your own thoughts and actions.
by the way, 100 out of 4 million = .0025% of those who take the drug go nuts. not to mention, we know nothing about these people’s past. chances are, they had issues before they were on chantix. this is just what you would expect from weak minded people who are looking for a way to sue somebody. if you are going crazy from chantix STOP TAKING THE PILL. its that simple. try the patch or the gum. “but, but, but, but, the pill doesn’t work and neither does the patch, waaaaa”. Well, there is therapy, hypnosis, and a slew of other avenues to take. “but, but, but, but, its too expensive” hmmm, put that against the amount you spent on cigarettes, add that to how much you value your life and health and you tell me if its too expensive. then, try this out, YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. do you even know how much you’ve spent on smoking? any idea at all?
there are no good excuses
Chantix didn’t make me feel like I was going crazy, but my dreams became so vivid and scary I had to stop taking the pill. I could tell that it was working for me, but after waking up with my heart racing, and being scared to go back to sleep for fear of falling back into that dream, there was just no way I could continue.
As with some other (for lack of a better term) “questionable” drugs, sometimes the benefits outweigh the side-effects. Here’s my delimma… As someone with a heart condition, quitting smoking is of the highest priority, and I know Chantix is sucessful at doing such. But what is worse, the effects of smoking, or possibly scaring myself into a heart-attack? I’d rather look into the many other options to quit smoking, than to risk it. After seeing the scary way Chantix changed my pattern of dreaming, I can see how other people could have those kinds of adverse reactions. I personally choose not to try it again.
i was diagnosed with COPD last august — when i saw the pulmonologist she gave me the script for this drug. i started the drug in end of sept - and just really did not want to quit , so i took it off and on. I was also put on alot of other medicines, albuterol,advair,spiriva,duoneb,singulair, and a few others - so i couldnt tell which meds were doing what. BUT - the chantix really just made me nauseated - i had to eat a big amount of food w/ each dose and if i ate enough it didnt make me sick. The nause would only last for 30 minutes after i took the pill, Anyway — i did quit smoking and i just really quit taking chantix 2 weeks ago. It was to me a miracle drug and the side effects were just the nausea at times and a bit of vivid nightmares. The drug though is a miracle drug, i couldnt believe how much it worked when i finally put my mind to it.