Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Day 2 (Dec. 18th, 2007)

Chantix day two! I took another .5 mg dose this morning. Within 20 minutes I was overloaded with nausea. I was sitting at my desk at work, convinced I was going to have to run to the bathroom and throw up. It was horrible. There are few things I hate more than vomiting. So to me this is particularly bad. I'm also worried because I'm not even on the full dose yet! It doesn't usually take much of any kind of medicine to effect me, so I'm not surprised at this.

I searched all over the web looking for info about the nausea. Today and yesterday I took the pill and then ate some crackers. By the looks of it, I need to do my eating before I take the pill. But I need some help -- do I need to eat a lot? a little? somewhere in between? If you have a comment about what has worked for you, please leave it for me to read. It will be much appreciated!

As far as how I feel, I feel a little strange, actually. Starting about noon I've had a deep craving for a cigarette, but I can' t get rid of the craving. I've smoked twice since then and I still have that feeling. I can't really explain the feeling, but it's in the pit of my stomach, up to my lungs -- it's the feeling I get when it's been too long since I've smoked ;-) . So, I'm thinking the medicine must be starting to do it's work.

5 days left to smoke! Still psyched!

5 comments:

maggie said...

Brandie, thank you for stopping by my blog, and good luck to you on Chantix! I also had quit previously for a long period of time, and I think all that I learned having been down this path in the past definitely helped this time, as did the Chantix. Since you were a lighter smoker than some, I bet that will help, too.

As far as the nausea, there seems to be a lot of variation on what works. For me, most of the time I had to eat a medium amount before taking my Chantix - not too much, not too little. Others do just fine on an empty stomach (I did for a short period of time in the middle of my 12 weeks on Chantix) or eating any amount. Experiment to see what works for you, and be prepared that the larger doses might make it worse. Again, we are all different, but that seems to be the overall experience I recall from what I've read.

Please let me know if you would like for me to add you to the list I have on my blog of fellow Chantix bloggers. It's helped me tons to both read and write throughout this process. Good luck!

maggie said...

I'll be glad to add you to my list of links! Am I calculating correctly that your quit date is 12/24? If so, what a great present to give yourself!

You'd asked how to set up links on your blog, and basically, in your Blogger account you just go to Dashboard, then Layout, then click on Add Page Element, then choose Link List, and it will walk you through it.

Tasina said...

Brandie - best of luck to you on your journey. I am 4 months smoke free with Chantix. Please do use the other bloggers for support, help, shoulder to cry on, etc. This is a really friendly community and I know that I would not have made it without them. Stop by my page anytime. I don't blog about Chantix much any more, but you might find some help in my archives. We're all out here rooting for you!!! :)

P.S. If you want me to link to you, I'm more than happy to do that.

Author said...

Thanks to both of you for your support! When I get a little free time I'll set up a link list too and get you guys added to my links. And yes, my quit day is Christmas Eve. Thanks again!

lynda w said...

Hey there. Found you through Maggie's blog. Not only have I been able to quit on Chantix (15 days now), my husband has done great so far, too. (He's at 3 days.)

I didn't have a lot of queasiness with the white pills, but I always took it with meals. I've been more lax with eating and the blue pills and have had intense bouts of nausea if I don't eat a regular sized meal. I've tried to take it with crackers or other light snacks and still within 5 minutes, my stomach is rolling.

So, now I eat a full meal and take my Chantix about 10-15 minutes later and it makes a big difference.

Now, I don't know if anyone else has noticed this nice little benefit, but not only am I not craving cigarettes, I'm not craving food at all either. In fact, the only time I get a craving to smoke is when I'm hungry. And I don't realize I'm hungry until I want to smoke or pass out from low blood sugar. Nice, isn't it?

Good luck on the 24th! You'll do great!