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Chantix: Quit Smoking aid linked to Suicide

Chantix has been linked to increased risk of suicides. The FDA informed healthcare professionals of reports of suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in patients who have taken Chantix, a smoking cessation product.

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Chantix: True Stories and Interviews

"A Nurse Warned Me Not to Take Chantix"

"I went from being an active, social person to someone who thought everyone was against me and I thought they would be better off without me," says Stacey. "By the third week of taking Chantix, I had suicidal thoughts." [MORE: DON'T TAKE CHANTIX]

Chantix veteran

Chantix Caused Veteran’s Depression

When John came back from Kuwait a few months ago, his VA doctor said that Chantixwas the 'Number 1' drug to quit smoking. He neglected to tell John of the side effects, such as depression and suicidal thoughts. [MORE: CHANTIX DEPRESSION]

Chantix Not for Everyone

Angela was prescribed a six-month supply of Chantix in January of this year. By her second pack, "I would look at a knife and the thought was there—I just wanted to get my life over with," she says. [MORE: CHANTIX]

Chantix Led Smoker to the Psych Ward

Chantix psych wardDonna's experience with Chantix was like a fast descent into hell and she's lucky to be alive to tell her story. It started out with bizarre dreams and ended with a suicide attempt that put her in a psychiatric ward. Today she is dealing with embarrassment and remorse. And she's back to smoking a pack a day. [MORE: CHANTIX PSYCH WARD]

“I Tried To Kill Myself While Taking Chantix”

Sandra has been trying to quit smoking for several years. But the medication her doctor prescribed to help her quit - Chantix - made her feel depressed and suicidal. So much so that she nearly succeeded in killing herself. "Luckily I didn't have enough pills or the right kind to do the job," Sandra said. "This is the most horrible thing that ever happened to me." [MORE: CHANTIX KILL MYSELF]

Chantix: Quit Smoking aid linked to Suicide

Melinda and her husband both decided to quit smoking so the started taking Chantix in January of this year. Chantix reduced their smoking, but at what cost? "There were no warnings that we would go crazy, flip out and fight, and my husband thinking about suicide," says Melinda. [MORE: CHANTIX MANIC]

Chantix: “I Started To Get Really Depressed”

Chantix depressionVictoria H. says she had no idea that Chantix could have been responsible for her suicide attempt. In fact, it was not until a month later, when her friend phoned her with information about Chantix, that Victoria had any idea that her suicide attempt could have been caused by the anti-smoking medication. [MORE: CHANTIX DEPRESSION]

Chantix: “How Can You Put a Price On Life?”

chantix complaints Michael and Lamonda M. are living a nightmare. In May 2007, Lamonda was hospitalized because of her asthma. While in the hospital, her doctor recommended she try using Chantix to quit smoking. It was a move that would change Lamonda's life, even though she only took Chantix for a short time. She has since been diagnosed with cognitive brain dysfunction and suffered memory loss, seizures, convulsions, anxiety and suicide attempts. [MORE: CHANTIX PUTS A FATAL PRICE ON LIFE]

Chantix: A Jekyll and Hyde Personality

womans story chantix blog Daniel Arndt, a 44-year old father of twin boys, locked himself inside a room of the family home while everyone was away with a 12-pack of beer and two bottles of blood pressure pills. Arndt had been three weeks on Chantix, the smoking cessation drug from Pfizer that blocks nicotine from reaching key receptors in the brain. [MORE: JEKYLL & HYDE CHANTIX STORY]

Chantix: “This Whole Thing Petrifies Me”

Tasha M. says she is still a little scatterbrained after her experience with Chantix. She says that she knows what she wants to say but she has problems expressing her thoughts. However, she is clear that she wants to get Chantix off the market. [MORE: CHANTIX CAUSES MENTAL INSTABILITY]

Chantix: Complaints Keep Coming In

chantix complaints With every day that passes, more and more people are writing to LawyersandSettlements with their complaints about Chantix. Most of the complaints involve serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. [MORE: CHANTIX COMPLAINTS KEEP FLOWING]

Chantix: Two Patient Stories

Stephen M. says that it only took eight days after starting his prescription before he had a serious reaction to Chantix. He notes that the day he doubled his dosage he had a nervous breakdown. Following that nervous breakdown, he suffered from panic attacks, shaking hands, a sense of hopelessness and thoughts of committing suicide. He was taken to the ER because of the severity of his panic attacks and required time off work to recover. [MORE: TWO CHANTIX PATIENTS' STORIES]

Chantix Patients: No Control Over Thoughts

Patients who have taken Chantix are reporting that they have very little control over their thoughts when they start thinking about committing suicide. They say that they do not know where the suicidal thoughts come from and it is a struggle to not kill themselves when the thoughts arise. Fortunately, the two women interviewed for this article were able to resist the urge to commit suicide. Unfortunately, not everyone has been able to. [MORE: CHANTIX PATIENTS LOSE CONTROL OVER THOUGHT]

Chantix: One Woman’s Story

womans story chantix blog Chantix looked like a sure winner going in, Lucy writes on her blog. But it sure exposed its dark side on the way out. Lucy, a resident of Ohio and a former smoker, had tried quitting a few times over the years, without success. Then Pfizer came along with its so-called wonder drug Chantix, designed to help smokers quit the dreaded tobacco in a boffo new way. [MORE: WOMAN'S CHANTIX STORY]


More About Chantix
chantix suicideThe FDA informed healthcare professionals of reports of suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in patients who have taken Chantix, a smoking cessation product. There are also reports of patients experiencing drowsiness that affected their ability to drive or operate machinery. A preliminary assessment reveals that many of the cases reflect new-onset of depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and changes in emotion and behavior within days to weeks of initiating Chantix treatment.

The role of Chantix in these cases is not clear because smoking cessation, with or without treatment, is associated with nicotine withdrawal symptoms and has also been associated with the exacerbation of underlying psychiatric illness. However, not all patients described in the cases had preexisting psychiatric illness and not all had discontinued smoking. Patients taking this product should report behavior or mood changes to their doctor and use caution when driving or operating machinery until they know how quitting smoking with Chantix may affect them.



Read More Chantix Articles

The Hell of Chantix: In Their Own Words

There is nothing more compelling than someone's own story, and the stories involving Chantix and its Canadian and European counterpart Champix, abound. The smoking-cessation system introduced by Pfizer in 2006 does, indeed work for some. However, it appears that a greater proportion of users encounter serious side effects, not the least of which are aggression and anxiety, depression and suicide ideation. To that end, some have ended their own lives tragically while on the drug, which is designed to block nicotine from reaching the brain. [MORE: CHANTIX HELL]

Chantix: When the Lab and the Mind Don’t Mix

Suzanne Danforth, writing on Seacoastonline.com, suggests a remarkable nugget that brings Chantix into perspective. To wit, Chantix was born in the laboratory. "Problem is," she writes, "we humans are enough divine that chemistry, with its lockstep logic, falls short of predictable; a predictability that may only become apparent when applied to the population at large...we are all part of clinical trials these days." [MORE: CHANTIX CHEMISTRY]

Chantix: Driven to Quit, Driven to Despair

chantix online discussion The on-line posts and the stories just keep coming—disgruntled users of Chantix who report depression, aggression or even suicidal thoughtsthemselves, or similar behavior from friends and loved ones taking Chantix in an effort to quit smoking. [MORE: CHANTIX ONLINE DESPAIR]

Chantix Controvery Carries On Over Cigarette and Smoking Cessation

chantix controversy The Chantix controversy wages onward as opposing camps have sprouted over the drug's potentially suicidal effects. Some people that have taken Chantix for the express purpose of quitting smoking have allegedly ended up with a problem just as big. Many of those ingesting Chantix to be free of cigarette smoking allegedly find themselves fettered to disturbing, suicidal thought patterns. [MORE: CHANTIX CONTROVERSY]

Suicides by Chantix Users Prompt FDA Advisory

Serious neuropsychiatric symptoms have occurred in patients taking Chantix (Varenicline). These symptoms include changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation, and attempted and completed suicide, according to a Public Health Advisory issued February 1, 2008 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). [MORE: CHANTIX SUICIDES PROMPT FDA ADVISORY]

 
Chantix Press Releases:
MAY-09-08: It was just as recent as 2006 when drug makers were confident that drugs could do things such as cure depression, make people stop smoking, and even lose weight. But recently their hopes have been shattered because these drugs that are meant to block pleasure centers in the brain seem to have blocked pleasure in other ways as well. [CHANTIX: KILLER]

chantix depressionAPR-18-08: Chantix has been known for several months to pose a dangerous risk of suicidal mental episodes to patients that have a history of depression. But, now the Food and Drug Administration has tagged Chantix onto a laundry list of drugs that have suicidal thoughts as a side effect. [CHANTIX: SUICIDAL SIDE EFFECTS]

APR-11-08: In tandem with an update of safety warnings concerning Chantix by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a video presentation reportedly linking Chantix to suicide presented by the FDA and available through a link to its Patient Safety News web page, has suddenly disappeared. [CHANTIX: VIDEO DISAPPEARS]

chantix black boxAPR-07-08: Anyone expecting the appearance of a black box warning for Chantix has an ally in Public Citizen. The advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader has jumped into the fray by demanding Chantix manufacturer Pfizer add a black box warning to its smoking cessation drug after it was found that suicidal thoughts amongst Chantix users allegedly doubled every three months throughout 2007. [CHANTIX: BLACK BOX]

chantix suicideMAR-24-08: As Chantix is poised to go on the market in India, questions remain as to its adverse affects related to mood swings, and suicide ideation. [CHANTIX: FAILURES]

MAR-19-08: As Illinois approaches becoming a smokeless state in public places, the minds of Illinoisans have turned to smoking cessation drugs and methods for stopping the harmful habit. Some of the popular smoking cessation drugs at the moment are Chantix and Zyban. Both Chantix and Zyban are being used around the country to aid in kicking the smoking habit. A level of success has been realized by those who have used the drugs to stop lighting up. [MORE: CHANTIX SMOKING BAN]

MAR-17-08: One has only to read the revealing essay by writer Derek De Koff in New York Magazine, to get a true appreciation for the risks, and the reality of Chantix—a smoking cessation medication that has resulted in thousands of adverse affect reports to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and several actual suicides. [MORE: CHANTIX DEATHS]

chantix scrutinized for information suicidal tendencies MAR-06-08: Physicians across the country are beginning to hold Chantix, the smoking cessation drug, with a high level of scrutiny. Recent reports have alleged suicidal thoughts and tendencies in many patients using the drug to stop smoking. Generally, the findings have been that Chantix wields this affect upon patients that have a history of mental illness. [MORE: CHANTIX SCRUTINIZED]

chantix controversy MAR-03-08: It's not hard to imagine why a drug like Chantix is so fully and completely embraced—at least in the beginning. Smoking is a health hazard, not to mention the social stigma. Given the horrendous cost of long-term health care, smokers are trying to prolong their lives and prevent potential financial ruin by getting off tobacco and nicotine dependence. [MORE: CHANTIX MAKES QUITTING WORSE]

chantix suicides reported updated warningsFEB-09-08: In a move that is hardly a surprise for anyone conversant with Chantix, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marked the beginning of February with the stark announcement that a link between serious psychiatric problems, and Pfizer's hitherto most promising performer is "increasingly likely." [MORE: CHANTIX WARNINGS INCREASED]

FEB-07-08: A Public-Health Advisory has been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration to caregivers, health care providers, and patients regarding new warnings that concern the stop smoking prescription medication, Chantix. [MORE: PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY FOR CHANTIX]

Chantix In The News
APR-24-08: Chantix, which works by blocking pleasure centers in the brain, may work too well, causing depression and suicidal thoughts. [NORTHWEST HERALD: CHANTIX]

APR-17-08: A British TV executive committed suicide two months after he started taking Champix, which is marketed as Chantix in the US. [FOX NEWS: CHANTIX]

MAR-11-08: Medical experts have expressed concern over Chantix being launched in India barely a month after the US health regulator issued safety warnings about the potential emotional effects of the drug. [LIVE MINT: CHANTIX]

FEB-1-08: The FDA now says the connection between Chantix and serious psychiatric problems is "increasingly likely." "Chantix may cause worsening of current psychiatric illness even if it is currently under control." [MSNBC: CHANTIX SUICIDE]

JAN-19-08: A father of two has committed suicide after taking a 13-week course of the drug Chantix in an attempt to quit smoking. This is the second Chantix-related suicide reported in the UK. [YORKSHIRE: CHANTIX]

JAN-18-08: The product label for Chantix has been updated to include a warning that patients taking Chantix should be monitored for suicidal behavior, depression and other side effects. [MARKET WATCH: CHANTIX]

DEC-26-07: A patient who repeatedly tried to quit smoking allegedly attempted suicide after taking Chantix. The FDA is warning that those trying to quit smoking while taking Chantix should be closely monitored. [CBS NEWS: CHANTIX]

DEC-10-07: When Chantix is released on the Australian market it will carry a warning about the link between the drug and suicidal thoughts. The warning will include information about depression, agitation and suicidal thoughts. [CBS 11: CHANTIX]


Chantix Legal Help

If you have attempted suicide or a loved one has committed suicide after taking Chantix, please click the link below to send your complaint to a lawyer to evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.


Posted on Nov-21-07
Updated on May-9-08

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