Chantix Smoking Cessation Drug

If you smoke, cessation of smoking is probably the greatest single step that you can take to improve your health. Smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness. About 70% of smokers say that they plan to achieve cigarette smoking cessation ultimately. It has been found that around half of all smokers eventually do manage to achieve cigarette smoking cessation.

Smoking Cessation Drugs

Chantix (Varenicline Tartrate) and Zyban (bupropion hydrochloride) have been approved by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) as smoking cessation drugs. The Public Health Service clinical guidelines also recommend them as first-line drugs for smoking cessation treatment.

Chantix for smoking cessation, a Pfizer drug, is known to help more than 1 in 5 smokers stop smoking. Varenicline is only the second nicotine-free smoking cessation medication to gain Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approval in 2006, adding another option to the limited pool of effective smoking cessation pills.

Once you start using Chantix for smoking cessation, its active ingredient Varenicline gets into your blood stream and blocks the nicotine receptors in your brain. The nicotine receptors are responsible for your addiction to nicotine. In other words Chantix smoking cessation drug satisfies the brain without introducing nicotine into your body; this reduces your cravings for nicotine as well as your withdrawal symptoms in the period that you try to stop smoking with these smoking cessation tablets. Moreover Chantix for smoking cessation works to remove the pleasure out of smoking.

The full course of Chantix smoking cessation medication is a twelve-week treatment and it has to be started a week prior to the anticipated quit date. You can start using Chantix smoking cessation pills while you are still smoking and then continue for 11 weeks after the quit date. It's useful to have support from family and friends during this period.

Chantix smoking cessation tablets, like all other prescription medications, may cause certain adverse side effects; but most of the common side effects are generally mild and temporary. The most common side effects include headache; abnormal dreams; dizziness; dry mouth; difficulty sleeping (insomnia); sleepiness; change in taste; disturbances of the gut such as constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, indigestion and flatulence; airway infections; changes in appetite; increased blood pressure; increased urination; awareness of your heart beat (palpitations); tremors; restlessness, skin reactions such as rash or itching; chest pain; changes in sex drive and mood swings. On an average only 3% of the people stop treatment with Chantix quit smoking pills because of the side effects.

Chantix works effectively provided you take the complete 12-week treatment course. Additionally, it would be good to have the support of your family and friends during your treatment period. Chantix is by far one of the most effective smoking cessation drugs and it has the maximum average of success when it comes to smoking cessation drugs.

A smoker normally needs to use this smoking cessation drug for a period of 12 weeks before he/she becomes completely smoke free. However, individual differences and their reaction to a particular smoking cessation drug cannot be ruled out. As a result, while a 12-week smoking cessation drug treatment is sufficient for one person, the other may need to repeat the course before he/she can be completely weaned off smoking.

Chantix smoking cessation drug is a serious prescription medication and should therefore never be used without undergoing a consultation from a medical doctor. You also need to make sure that you tell your doctor about all the medications, both prescription and over the counter, that you may be taking currently. Chantix smoking cessation drug should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women. If you want to use Chantix smoking cessation drug, you have to be over 18 years of age. Chantix smoking cessation drug should not be used by people who suffer from depression or are taking treatment for mental problems.