Fayetteville, NCMary carefully read the Chantix warning label before she started taking the smoking cessation drug, so she knew to expect side effects such as nightmares and suicidal thoughts—but the label didn't say anything about anger issues.
"I started taking Chantix last September," says Mary. "I had no idea that my personality had changed. I didn't notice that I was angry all the time, but my husband sure did. By the time I realized it, I had already done some stupid things and I ended up getting fired.
"My employers say that I went overboard, and looking back, they were right. My husband agreed with them, so I know I was in the wrong. This is what happened: I had an assistant who was a pain in the neck—she was always questioning me about my job, constantly arguing, and this issue started way before the Chantix. She took sick leave but I knew she was pretending to be sick so I went over to her house to get a doctor's note from her (I drove her to work every day so I knew where she lived). That's when I stepped out of line.
"I was just so angry and not thinking clearly," says Mary. "Right after I got fired, my husband said I had been angry lately, and so I got angry at him. I think the anger still lasted a few weeks after I stopped taking Chantix.
"I was also depressed after I got fired, but I equated that to losing my job. 'If you have depression tendencies, it can make you more depressed,' the Chantix warning label states, but I have never been depressed in my life. I love helping people and it hurts me that my assistant lied but I wouldn't have gone over to her house if not for Chantix. I was also throwing up all the time, but I did know about those side effects.
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"My husband said I wasn't like this before I took Chantix, and of course I was still taking Chantix. He first noticed it after I had been on Chantix for two weeks, after the full dose was in my system. I thought about it, and maybe he was right. When my prescription was up after 30 days, the pharmacy called and said my next prescription was ready. I told him that I wasn't taking Chantix anymore.
"I think it took about 7 weeks to get back to normal. Meanwhile, I might lose my unemployment benefits because my previous employer disputed my claim. I have a hearing this Wednesday and I will find out on Monday whether I get to keep my unemployment.
"I've been looking for another job, but in this area it is almost impossible to find work. If you get a job like mine, you aren't going to leave it. "
Mary was an activity director in a nursing home, which means she dealt with a lot of people a lot of the time—not a good place to have anger issues. It wasn't until 2009, as a result of FDA prompting, that the Chantix warning label was revised to include the following: "If you, your family, or caregiver notice agitation, hostility, depression, or changes in behavior, thinking, or mood that are not typical for you, or you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, anxiety, panic, aggression, anger, mania, abnormal sensations, hallucinations, paranoia, or confusion, stop taking Chantix and call your doctor right away."
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