I finally am experiencing some possible side effects from the Chantix. Wednesday, while sitting in a restaurant eating lunch, I wiped my nose because it was running, then realized that my nose was bleeding quite a lot. It stopped after about 5 minutes. Then, while I was working in my garage yesterday (Saturday), it happened again, only it did not seem as severe, not as much blood nor did it last very long.
I honestly don't remember the last time that I had a nose bleed, probably from sports when I was a teenager. I don't know that I ever had one that "just happened".
It is listed as one of the infrequent side effects for Chantix. Really no proof one way or another, so I guess we'll see. I've got just under 5 weeks on it left, and I would consider this a very minor price to pay to be off the cigarettes.
Other than that, the quit is going remarkably well. I've come to realize that the cravings or urges are not for a cigarette. In fact, if I try and think, "Do I want to smoke a cigarette?", and actually visualize the act of taking it out of the pack, lighting it and taking the first puff, there is nothing there. The urge is more of having to "do something", even as simple as getting out of my chair and going to the bathroom seems to take care of it.
Also, I totally underestimated the power of stress as a trigger. All the other normal stuff, like after a meal, when I first get up, having a drink or coffee, those triggers have faded into the sunset. But, when the stress at work starts hammering on me, the urge is very strong. Don't get me wrong, because my strongest urges now aren't even a blip on the radar of any of my previous attempt urges, without the Chantix.
Another thing I haven't mentioned before that I get a lot of questions about, is that my wife still smokes. Curiously that hasn't been hard for me, and says a lot about the effectiveness of the drug. I wasn't able to get rid of all the ashtrays, cigarettes, etc. when I started my quit. Now, her lighting up when we are in the car doesn't bother me. We had long since quit smoking inside our house, so that wasn't an issue. I will admit that being outside on the patio has lost some of its appeal though. But, the simple fact that I have had ready access to cigarettes 24 hours a day for the past 44 days, and haven't cheated on my quit, says a lot I think.
I guess the other thing is that no matter what the method of quitting smoking, you've got to be ready. That is why I give my wife zero grief over her still smoking. I know she is happy and proud of me, and when she's ready, I'll support her in her quit. But honestly, it's really hard for me to come up with a concrete reason when people ask me why I chose now to quit at this particular time. Weird? Dunno. It just seemed like it was time.
