Quitting smoking: Champix?

I've decided I'm gonna quit, by fair means or foul... Managed to quit for 5 years with Zyban but fell off the wagon again 3 years ago and been back on the demon weed ever since...

Was chatting to an old mate about Champix last night and she said I should think twice before taking it... She said it made her very depressed and not wanna eat or drink let alone smoke... She had to stop taking it in the end, she still smokes but nowhere near as much as she used to...

Anyone else had experience of Champix? I'm really desperate to stop but far too weak-willed to use the HTFU method... I'm hoping 4 weeks in Oz will be a good change of environment that'll hopefully help... I really wanna go for it on the track next season, if I'm still smoking I'll be shit...

Thanks peeps! :]

I've heard St John's Wort is good to help control cravings for ganja, might be good for baccy too.

Zyban absolutely fucked me up so if you were ok on that maybe you'll be ok on Champix. I used hypnotherapy to crack it in the end. It's no magic cure but it has helped masssively for me and the missus. PM me if you want the details of who we used.

Pills won't cure your ills..Just Do It™

i gave up 2 years ago - it really scares me when i hear people say they gave up for 5 years then started again. i really fucking hope that doesn't happen to me. i hope not, as i don't miss it one little bit, never have.

for the record, i found giving up with just nicotine gum was fine - killed the craving. got hooked on the gum for around 3 months, but then found it fairly easy to kick that.

5 years seems like stupid period when you think you could just had one...
After quitting and not smoking for 5 years, I started again. One of the most stupid things to do.
Now quit again, two months, feeling great.
Quit just like that, no gum, etc. I drank more alcohol though and savioured the nicotine-free hangovers:)

I feel like a complete cunt for starting up again... Marriage fail made me get back on them but I'm determined to do it this time... Tried everything in the past, Zyban worked but turned me into a complete crazed monster while I was on it...

Teen just do it. I quit in December last year (and quit many times before) I am not going to lie it was hard at times specially as 80% of people going to drinks are smokers. Get inspiration from people who gave up smoking/don't smoke, find a quit buddy.

It is so worth it. Good luck!

Not that it particularly helps, as I did the HTFU method 3 years ago and haven't had more than the odd bit of jazz cigarette since, but the key for me was making the decision in my mind to stop. I didn't think of myself as quitting smoking, but as being a non-smoker, and whenever I had a craving (every few minutes to start with) I told myself again that I was not a smoker.

I also gave myself weekly rewards to look forward to.

I also changed job at near enought the same time, so the habit cues were different. Going to Oz is ideal to break the habit cycle and get over the first few weeks.

As you know, it's frigging hard. But gets easier, slowly.

Good luck!

i like the Alan Carr attitude of not thinking of it as 'giving up smoking' - ie ; something long and drawn out that takes months, but rather as, the second you stop, you've done it. that's it. you've given up, so forget about it and get on with other things.

big fella, not being a full on regular smoker, more like a social, poncing cigarettes, smoker!!
But like villa says if you've made the decision in your head to stop smoking, then its best just to do that. STOP!
Being in Oz away from your usual smoking habits will make it easier, but you will still want to smoke, especially when you've got a few G's in you.
Be strong mentally and as villa says give yourself rewards and goals to work towards, which will hopefully strengthen your mentality and help keep combat the cravings...
Good luck. I'm looking forward to being crushed by yuor speed on the track next year...

This is also very effective

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DoIZCnp_Wp8

What is the bigger problem green or ciggies?

Maybe it would help if you took on something else to fill the gaps like a 20min swim in the mornings? Its a lot easier to say no to that old craving once you have that new feeling of physical well-being from your new activity/life style.

go to your GP ,get nicotine patches for free,and clean your teeth everytime you get a craving .still have cigar at xmas though,got my cubans already

i like the Alan Carr attitude of not thinking of it as 'giving up smoking' - ie ; something long and drawn out that takes months, but rather as, the second you stop, you've done it. that's it. you've given up, so forget about it and get on with other things.

+1, this actually works, no replacement therapy required, minimal withdrawel symptoms...amazing...oh, and I was a hardcore smoker...as long as you follow ALL the suggestions it really works.

Maybe it would help if you took on something else to fill the gaps like a 20min swim in the mornings? Its a lot easier to say no to that old craving once you have that new feeling of physical well-being from your new activity/life style.

this is the way.

whatever you do J, best of luck mate, smoking is a poxy thing to do.

just as an aside, a very old friend of mine just lost her mother to cancer, a lifelong smoker she got ill a few weeks ago, was diagnosed and then died the other day.

sure, you can die young for all sorts of reasons, but there doesn't seem any point in encouraging the bad stuff. for the sake of those you leave behind too soon

man i sympathise. i quite for a year with the allen car book but fell off the waggon yet again a couple of years back.

the smoking ban has helped. when i started again i was really just a social smoker but i could still get though a pack in a night in the pub. i used to cane the fags in band rehearsals too. now i can't smoke in pubs or rehearsal. i can now get though a night with just a few sneaky fags no bother.

as i'm not really smoking at home (apart from the occasional binge when the GF is out or away), at work or in the day i'm down to just a few a day when walking about, between rides or outside the pub. logic tells me that i've already beaten any lingering chemical addiction. now i've just got to get over the habit of those last few.

thing is though, i still think of them as "treats" which is totally the wrong attitude. i've been thinking about quitting again lately. i hate the smell on my clothes, breath and fingers and i can't stand the smell of stale smoke in the house. and yet despite that i'll probabaly be leaning out of the kitchen window later tonight toking away.

i'll get there soon i think. just need to take a bit of a run up at it. pick my moment and make sure i've got the right attitude drilled home.

i think the forthcoming diseased organ picture packs will probs help too.

my dad just quit, aged 58 after smoking (at least) two packs of b&h a day since he was 16. being the ultimate creature of habit and unstinting proponent of the HTFU school of self-doctoring i was pretty godsmacked. he finally did it unprompted, with no patches or drugs and without even telling anyone. three months later i'm still amazed by that.

good luck with it dude.

joe - good luck mate, let me know the day you are thinking of as your "quit date" maybe i will join you, or at least send you a support text ;)

oh and zyban made me a freaking zombie... i didn't realise til I was sitting there hearing about someones death that i had no emotional response at all so if you go the drug method, check and monitor side effects.

God, you're a lovely lot... Just signed up with a new GP so gonna get things sorted this week, ready for when I go down under... I think long bike rides around a tropical peninsula may help curb any cravings... And I will kick your arses on the track next year! Well, maybe not all of you... ;)

I've decided I'm gonna quit, by fair means or foul... Managed to quit for 5 years with Zyban but fell off the wagon again 3 years ago and been back on the demon weed ever since...

don't do it!

nobody likes a quitter :)

i found it easiest to give up booze as well - so probably not a popular option

though these days i have more energy than a kid that has eaten blue sweets

I've heard St John's Wort is good to help control cravings for ganja, might be good for baccy too.

St John's Wort is adctive aswell.

i would steer clear of champix if you can. my brother was prescribed it and went through some pretty tough times (bouts of depression, nightmares).

Do it up. I haven't smoked a fag in about 3 and a half weeks.