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All medicines have benefits and risks. The risks of medicines are the chances that something unwanted or unexpected could happen to you when you use them. Risks could be less serious things, such as an upset stomach, or more serious things, such as liver damage. FDA approves a drug for marketing after determining that the drug's benefits outweigh its risks. It is important that drugs are monitored for side effects. Sometimes side effects can be reduced with the right treatment.

CHAMPIX (Varenicline). report #SELF-2253

Male patient reported the following CHAMPIX (Varenicline). side effect(s):Severe Amnesia (day 4 and +), Dysarthry (day 4 and +), Speech disorder (day 4 and +), Tremor (day 10 and +), Cold extemities (day 2 and +), Depressed mood (day 10 and +), Severe Attention deficit (day 4 and +), Depression (day 12), Negative mood (day 10 and +), Tearfullness (day 12), Fatigue (day 4 and +), Insomnia (night 3 and +), Psychosis (day 11 and +), Intense fear (day 10 and +), Agitation (day 2 and +), Feeling abnormal (day 4 ans +), Nausea (day 1 and +), Agressivity (day 4 and +), Irritability (day 4 and +), Frequent suicidal ideas and thoughts(day 11 and +), Hostility and fear in social interactions, (day 11 and +), Headeaches (day 8 and day 9), Abnormal dreams (night 8, 9 and 11), Trouble concentrating and focusing in classes (day 4 and +), Abnormal behavior (day 4 and +), Hyperactivity (day 4 to day 8), Anxiety (day 4 and +), Intense feeling of beeing helpless (day 10 and +), Thinking and planning how to suicide myself (day 11 and +).

Medication took exactly as prescribed by my doctor and according to Pfizer\'s monography.

Event date: Sunday January 25th 12:00:00 AM
Dosage: 0.5 mg ID from day 1 to day 3 ; 0.5 mg BID from day 4 to day 7 ; 1.0 mg BID from day 8 to day 12 (treatement aborted at day 12).
Frequency: As prescribed by doctor and according to Pfizer\'s Champix monography.
Age: 27
Weight: 135
Other medications: NONE! (not even acetaminophen, no natural products, no drugs of any kind, not a single drop of alcohol, I don\'t drink coffee either, I\'m a second year student in medicine with good food habits and I\'m physically active). Pfizer\'s CHAMPIX is fully responsible for these side effects. I haven\'t even stopped smoking cigarette while taking Champix so theses side effects are exclusively caused by Champix and not caused by nicotine addiction weaning.
Diagnosis: Smoking cessation therapy.
Pre-existing conditions: No personal history of psychiatric disorder. No familial history of psychiatric disorder. No allergies. No history of knowned medical problems. I was smoking 15 to 20 cigarettes per day before treatment and 5 to 10 cigarettes per day during treatment.
Hospitalized? No
Life-threatening? Yes Champix caused me to have suicidal toughts and behaviors, dangerous car driving (speeding at 150 km/h on the highway), deep depression symptômes that caused me to think living was not worth it : I though of killing myself at many occasions (ex: crashing my car againts a concrete wall, shooting myself a shotgun shell in the head while hunting, cutting my jugular veins with a razor blade while shaving, stabbing mysel with a kitchen knife while doing the dishes, throwing myself under a car and not looking on both sides while crossing the street...
Disabled? Yes Possible irreversible dysfonction in society.
Birth Defects? No
Was intervention required to prevent damage? Yes I stopped taking Champix as I thought and started to plan my suicide.
Other serious medical events? Yes Deep depression.
Died? No

More CHAMPIX (Varenicline). Side Effect reports:

Main CHAMPIX (Varenicline). Side Effect Page