Rehearsed On New Medication - Not Cool At All

Jim Mattingly

Senior Member
Just put myself on a new prescribed medication a couple of days ago, Chantix, to help me quit the dreaded smoking habit. I swear I have never had a session where I was so out of sync, out of the pocket, out of the groove or whatever you want to call it. I have been feeling a little out of it ever since I started taking it on Thurs and it does not seem to be getting any better, I honestly don't know how to explain how it makes me feel. It was like my brain knew what it wanted my extremities to do but my arms and legs were about half a second behind my brain. I could keep time/tempo good but when it came to doing fills or off timing stuff it just didn't happen. We are obviously all different and have different reactions to certain things but man this is really terrible. Don't let this scare you away from this medication, especially to help you quit smoking, but just be aware it could have some adverse affects. No wonder why I don't like taking any medications. Dam...I do believe the juice is worth the squeeze for this so I will stay on it and hope the reactions fade away...
 
Good luck with it! Kicking smoking is probably one of the hardest things to do. I commend your determination! Perhaps you can talk to your doctor about how it affects you. Maybe there's things he knows about that can help with your groove.
 
Good luck with it! Kicking smoking is probably one of the hardest things to do. I commend your determination! Perhaps you can talk to your doctor about how it affects you. Maybe there's things he knows about that can help with your groove.

That is #1 on the TO DO list for tomorrow morning, thanks for the concern...Maybe he will have a groove pill for me.
 
Jim,
I quit a year and a half ago and I used Chantix also. My wife said it made me kind of psycho. I do remember it making me feel a little like I was in a dream, a little out of it. I kept taking it for about 6-9 months and I started to get real bad back pain. I almost couldn't stand up. I "Googled" Chantix and back pain and found others with the same problem, so I stopped taking it. now a year or so later my back is much better and i have remained smoke free. Just keep an eye on any symptoms and discuss with your doctor. I've smoked since I was 15 and I'm 53 now. Never thought I'd ever be able to quit but Chantix made it happen. Good for you! Don't give up!
 
Yes, I have herad of many people feeling this way on Chantix including my wife. Unfortunately, she quit taking it after a week and was unsuccessful in quiting. However, I have known people who have quit smoking by taking this medication.
I agree with talking with your doctor and advising him of what's going on. I wish you the best of luck in kicking the habit. By whatever means you find that will help, it is a habit definately worth losing!
Best of luck!
 
I quit over a year ago and used Bupropion, the generic of Zyban. Its 150mg and I took it twice a day. Worked great for me. No crazy side effects. Good Luck!
 
Funny how the Chantix tv commercials don't really clue you in to the side effects, or should I say "front" effects since it seems like it affects you even more.
 
I hear ya.

Just about any medication makes me feel spacey. So many things I can't take because I just feel out of it if I do.
 
Could it be that you are thinking more about not having the cigarette and it is keeping you from thinking about playing? I quit smoking back in 2000. I just didn't buy the next pack. It was very hard just like previous times when I tried to quit. I just took one day at a time and fell back on the tools I learned when I quit using the hard stuff.

Good luck and remember that the more times you try to quit the more likely you are to do so.
 
I was just going to say that... The sudden absence of nicotine in a long time smoker tends to have really bad symptoms in the person quitting, I remember it made me feel "out of it" and "loopy" not to mention just the plain feeling of nothing going or working right; and I'd only been a smoker for about 3 years.

Just remember this is a temporary measure, and the goal is no more filthy cigarette smoking forever.
 
Spoke with the doc this morning and he told me to quit taking it immmediately. Did not want to make the original post too long so I did not mention some of the other side effects I was having. My throat swelled up, not to the point where it was causing any breathing difficulties but very, very, did I mention very uncomfortable. The worst heartburn I have ever experienced and some digestive symptoms that do not need to be mentioned. I also spoke with my neighbor who is a nurse and had used Chantix to quit, she said it gave her sores in her mouth and when she started to ween herself off if it she said she was literally so angry and psycho that she was worried she was going to hurt someone. I did quit for 2 1/2 years at one time and did it with the patch, I believe I will try that again. By the way, since I came off the medication as of this morning, all of the side effects are gone. Once again, I do not want to make anyone not try this to stop smoking, just want to be a little more informative than my doctor or the literature that came with it was. Good luck to all who decide to quit one of the nastiest habits/addictions out there....
 
My doc wouldn't prescribe my Zyban or Chantix because it would exacerbate my madness. So I'm a nicotine gum addict. Agree that nico withdrawals are VERY bad for playing ... and socialising and working and driving and art and sleeping and ...

I actually experience a dreamlike state (more so than usual) when I had nico withdrawals in previous attempts to work.

The thing I dislike about the gum is when I adjust its position while playing I pull some hideous faces - it even makes my regular loony drummer face look attractive!
 
My doc wouldn't prescribe my Zyban or Chantix because it would exacerbate my madness. So I'm a nicotine gum addict. Agree that nico withdrawals are VERY bad for playing ... and socialising and working and driving and art and sleeping and ...

I actually experience a dreamlike state (more so than usual) when I had nico withdrawals in previous attempts to work.

The thing I dislike about the gum is when I adjust its position while playing I pull some hideous faces - it even makes my regular loony drummer face look attractive!

Ha, I forgot to mention the unreal/vivid dreams it also caused, I also got these when using the patch...I believe it was worth it just for the dreams, awesome. When playing I either chew gum or put a toothepick in my mouth. They outlawed smoking in all bars etc...in Michigan last may, I also outlawed it in my practice space the same day...Winters suck for a smoke break here in Michigan...
 
I gave up recently after smoking for 30 years. I read the Allen Carr book and had my last cigarette as I finished that. His argument is that there's little physical withdrawal and that it passes after about 3 weeks. He concentrates on the psychological desire to smoke which he rates as far stronger an urge than the physical, and his book is all about cracking that side of things. You really have to sort your head out to stop smoking. There's no way I'd ever touch Chantix or even nicotine patches that just prolong your addiction.
 
I gave up recently after smoking for 30 years. I read the Allen Carr book and had my last cigarette as I finished that. His argument is that there's little physical withdrawal and that it passes after about 3 weeks. He concentrates on the psychological desire to smoke which he rates as far stronger an urge than the physical, and his book is all about cracking that side of things. You really have to sort your head out to stop smoking. There's no way I'd ever touch Chantix or even nicotine patches that just prolong your addiction.

Thanks for that great bit of information, I truly believe it is mind over matter also, regrettingly I do not posess the will power, or I should say when it comes to quitting smoking my will power is nill. I know smoking is bad for me physically not to mention the cost of a pack of smokes these days, but another regret is the fact of just how much I do enjoy smoking. I am an avid book reader, one of my few "good" addictions, and I look forward to getting and reading his book, already checked the Allen Carr website out, thank you...
 
but another regret is the fact of just how much I do enjoy smoking.
When you've read his book hopefully you'll realise that you don't enjoy smoking. All you do when you smoke is enjoy relieving the withdrawal symptom. Enjoying smoking is like enjoying stopping banging your head against a wall and the major part of sorting your head out to be a non-smoker is realising this, realising you smoke to relieve a pain/urge you gave yourself by smoking in the first place, and that the relief you get is that you feel like a non-smoker feels all the time.
 
I started the chantix last week and after about 5 days I called off work and missed band practice..the stuff just didn't agree with me..I \'m currently weighing the options of feeling bad for a few weeks vs all the benefits of not smoking..The book by Allen Karr is a WINNER it makes so much sense and puts smoking in a true perspective..I highly recommend it as a tool to qiut with.. I'm going to start taking the chantix again starting next week..good luck to all that struggle with this demon weed..
 
This is a really tough addiction. I have heard it said, not from personal experience that quitting smoking is harder than quitting shooting heroin. Nobody shoots up 2 packs of heroin a day. I work in Health Care. My mother was a smoker up until she had breast cancer and then she quit. Significant Emotional Event which included a burning bush experience. Actually real burning bushes, she set the yard on fire and was crazy for weeks after the withdrawal. Nicotine detox is very real.

What amazes me about the stuff is how the body feels when you stop. Imagine, if you feel that crazy, crappy, sick and foggy, how far into every cell nicotine must be.

Lots of research out there shows quitting with help, Chantix, Zyban, Support Groups, ect.... increase your chances.

I watched my mother die from the stuff, being an ICU nurse, I am familiar with a formula call the a-A gradient, you can google it.

http://www.globalrph.com/aagrad.htm

Anyway, it describes the efficiency of oxygen diffussin into the lungs. I watched Mom die from smoking damage years later. I could show you mathematically what was happening and the heaviest part of all of this....

She knew for years what smoking was doing to her and she could'nt stop until the breast cancer scare.

so for those of you fighting the good fight to quit, I applaud you and would do anything I can to help if given a chance.

Hang in there.
 
My doctor brought it up but the worst side effect is extreme depression so I passed, I remember a girl I worked with about 10 years ago on Zyban and she was like a space cadet. I have the gum, by the way tou are not supposed to chew it, just bite into it once or twice and set it up against your cheek. I think that cold turkey is the only way but it must be done as I can sense how tired I am after some simple playing or other activities.
Curse Sir Walter Raleigh indeed.
 
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