MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The first time Brian Kelly quit smoking, in the 1990s, he had nicotine cravings like crazy even though he was using a nicotine patch and nicotine gum.
This year when Kelly decided again to try to kick the habit he returned to the patch and gum, until he read on the Internet about Chantix, a prescription anti-smoking pill approved a year ago by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"It's like a wonder drug as far as I'm concerned," said Kelly, 63, of Martinsburg.
Kelly said he quit smoking in three weeks - a date he set through a quit-smoking class at Waynesboro Hospital in Pennsylvania - and didn't face the withdrawal symptoms that occurred the first time he quit.
Chantix, made by Pfizer, blocks the nicotine receptors in the brain so people don't get a buzz from smoking, nor do they suffer withdrawal symptoms when they stop smoking, said Dr. Paul Quesenberry, a family doctor with Cumberland Valley Family Physicians in Chambersburg, Pa.
"It's been a really amazing addition to our regimen for getting people to stop smoking," Quesenberry said.
Still, it's not an immediate fix.
How long it takes to stop smoking with Chantix varies from patient to patient, but usually it takes weeks to months because people have to learn to break the habit as well, Quesenberry said.
According to Pfizer's Web site, smokers should start taking Chantix one week before their quit-smoking date so the drug can build up in the body. They can keep smoking during that first week.
Dr. Dwight Wooster, a pulmonologist with Newman, Wooster, Kass, Bradford, McCormack & Hurwitz at Robinwood Medical Center, said he recommends his patients try to reduce how much they smoke before they start Chantix. Of the 22 patients for whom he has prescribed Chantix, about 17 already have quit smoking.
Most people take Chantix for up to 12 weeks, according to Pfizer.
The most common side effects include gastrointestinal problems such as nausea and constipation, and difficulty sleeping, doctors said.
Source: http://www.herald-mail.com |
