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Q. I live in the U.K. On Christmas Eve my boyfriend had been been using Champix for some months. He was drinking and went berserk for no reason, assaulted me and destroyed my apartment.
I fled and waited in an ambulance for the police to come. They found him unconscious from taking an overdose of paracetamol [acetaminophen]. He survived but I have ended the relationship and pressed charges.
As far as I know he has no past mental health problems or history of violence. Could Champix have contributed to his frightening behavior?
A. The stop-smoking drug varenicline is sold in the U.K. as Champix and in the U.S. by the name Chantix. It is impossible to determine whether this medication was responsible for your boyfriend’s behavior, but the FDA has received reports of “suicidal thoughts and aggressive and erratic behavior in patients who have taken Chantix.”
Your story is reminiscent of a tragic event that took place in Dallas, TX, last year. A musician named Carter Albrecht had been taking Chantix to quit smoking. One night he got drunk and assaulted his girlfriend.
She ran away from him and locked him out. When he wasn’t able to kick the door down, he went to a neighbor’s house and started banging on the door. The frightened neighbor fired a gun through the door. One shot hit Albrecht in the head and killed him. No one has determined whether Chantix played a role in this incident.
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Yes, I used Chantix for about 4 months. I was angry, mad, hated everyone, would chew people around me out if things didn't go right, for no reason... nothing satisfied me... I was getting to the point I was having suicidal thoughts... I couldn't figure out what was wrong, till I checked on Chantix on the internet at the comments other people were making... Bad news for anyone who has had any depression in their life....
I took Chantix to quit smoking. I used it for 7 months. My only problem was when I stopped taking it, I started getting the cravings back, really bad.
My husband was taking Chantix to quit smoking and it seemed to be working well. I am guessing it should never be combined with alcohol, as he went into a weird episode of anger and ranting and uncharacteristic rage. It scared me enough to call his best friend to come over for help. My husband is normally an extremely calm and mellow person. I truly believe it was the fact that he combined chantix with alcohol.
Last night my boyfriend became so violent I was afraid he was going to hit me or my daughter who stood between us ( she is 22). He threatened to burn down our mobile home. He also tried to kick me out. I started thinking about it today and realized that he started changing in the last two week, a little after he started taking chantix.
He has never acted like this before. He was so threatening. He said cruel and hateful things. i got on the internet today and read about the possible violence and aggression from a combination of Chantix and alcohol. My boyfriend drinks beer.
I am anxiously awaiting his return from work so I can tell him he needs to stop taking it. There needs to be a warning about this or a stopping of this drug. If nothing else this can ruin relationships that were going beautifully before.
I took Champix for 5 weeks for smoking cessation. I had coped with the usual sleep problems and an element of depersonalization (including some nihilistic thoughts), until one evening on holiday I drank a lot of alcohol.
I was happy until my son and I got into an argument. I went berserk and had to be dragged off him, I was really really violent, totally unlike me. After that, I was pretty much psychotic and tried to overdose - on Champix of all things.
I am a qualified mental health nurse and psychotherapist. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that Champix plus alcohol is a potentially lethal mixture.
My boyfriend of six years took Chantix and had a very bad personality change. He was mixing it with alcohol and his drinking increased as well as his anger, anxiety, rage, depression. It got so bad that we split up and he couldn't listen to anything I had to say. I tried to tell him I thought this drug was messing with him, but he wouldn't hear it. I don't know if he is still using it or not. He got so angry he actually threatened me one evening. He just wasn't himself. This drug needs way more testing and shouldn't be on the market. I think it may have been the final straw that ruined our relationship, which admittedly needed help. But this made any effort to improve things impossible.
FATAL to RELATIONSHIPS: AGGRESION, VIOLENCE, MOOD SWINGS, HEADACHES, MILD NAUSEA, SUICIDE, HOMICIDE... Now you know the truth about the side effects, would you still take it? IT'S NOT SAFE!!!!My wife and I, married for five years with children, started taking Chantix 12-09-2008, until 12-20-2008. It is now 12-23-2008, and I have been off for 3 1/2 days. We are now separated after mutually assaulting each other. (Merry Christmas, Hey?) My face was mauled and she has a black eye. We spoke to our Doctor about consuming alcohol while using the drug during our office visit...her response was "There are no known adverse side effects or concerns." (got stock?) OFFICIALLY: there have been NO studies of the drug related to alcohol consumption. We were completely sober as we had drinks socially the previous night without issue. DO NOT DO IT!!!!! This drug is wacked out, because you do not see how it effects your emotions until you're off it or it's too late. I wrote suicide notes, and hung a rope with a hangman's knot...before help arrived!!!!!!!!! I am the lucky one, at least I'm here trying to help you even though this drug dismantled my family.. Remeber FenFen was supposed to be safe too in the 90's, my mother died at 50 from heart failure due to complications from the titanium heart valve that had to be implanted as result of the side effects from that drug. The FDA can not be entrusted to approve drugs safe for everyone. Would you risk your life, marriage, and/or family to stop smoking? Do yourself and others a favor try Hypno.
Taken chantix once and now taking it again, actually it seems to mellow me out, I am less hungry and less anxious. Nicotine cravings are almost eliminated all together, I'll want one out of habit, take a few puffs and throw it out realizing that it did nothing for me.
as far as anyone I've known to take the medication has reported the same basic effects, more relaxed, less nicotine cravings, less hunger. it helps to quit but isn't a permanent fix without continued willpower.
I was taking Champix for 4 weeks and found it massively helpful within 10 days.
My girlfriend told me once or twice that she thought it was affecting me by making me 'grumpy,' but I was adamant that I was fine and very happy that I had quit.
We went out for a meal on her birthday with friends and then met with few more friends and had some drinks. My last solid memory of that evening is standing in the bar, holding her, kissing her and telling her I loved her and happy birthday.
I woke up in a police cell several hours later, naked except for a pair of ripped to nothing jeans which I had not been wearing when we went out, my wrists were cut and bruised, I ached all over and my face was scratched.
During my questioning I was told that a while after my last memory, she had left saying she felt unwell. Apparently I didn't like this, so decided to stay at the bar. 30 mins after she left, I bought all our friends from the bar back to our house until she threw them out 20 mins later. I apparently then assaulted her, threw her naked out of the house into the street, then brought her back indoors, put her on the bed and tried to suffocate her, then took her to the bathroom and tried to drown her. I fell asleep after 2 hours of this and she left our flat to call the police. When they arrived, I assaulted them and it took a 4 man police crew to restrain me and put me in a van.
AS I WAS BEING TOLD THIS UNDER TAPED POLICE INTERVIEW I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO RECOLLECTION OF ANY OF THIS.
6 DAYS LATER AND I HAVE 2 TERRIFYING, HORRIBLE, NIGHTMARE-ISH, NOT REAL MEMORIES. ONE OF DRAGGING HER NAKED AND SCREAMING OUTSIDE AND ONE OF BEING FACEDOWN ON THE FLOOR AND BEING CRUSHED WHILE MY HANDS ARE BEING HELD BEHIND MY BACK.
I have been released on bail and am awaiting my hearing. I only realized it could be the champix when my best friend (a pathologist), who had already assured me I was not crazy, asked me about any medications I had been taking. Up to then I simply assumed I had developed schizophrenia or something.
I have told my solicitor's secretary today that I was on Champix at the time, but have not yet heard his thoughts on whether or not I can plead diminished responsibility. If anyone knows of any cases where this has happened, please let me know.
I am a respected, well liked guy in my professional and private life. I have 2 high profile jobs.I have a great life. I am going to fight for it. But all that really matters is my girlfriend. I'm so worried about her. I miss her so much. I'm not allowed any contact with her, but I really want to show her all our testimonials and beg her forgiveness.
I cannot wait for this ordeal to be over. It is a living nightmare and it is far from over. I am living in someone else's nightmare-ish life.
Last spring, my brother and his wife began taking Chantix (US brand name for varenicline). They are heavy drinkers. After using the drug for three weeks--out of the blue, my brother brutally beat my sister-in-law and threatened to kill her. He stopped after breaking her arm and called the police to come get him. He has no memory of these details. He was not drunk. Neither his wife nor my brother can explain why he suddenly attacked his wife. He is now facing multiple felony charges, is homeless, and his wife of 19 years divorced him. The personal injury attorneys are aggressively pursuing state and federal lawsuits against Pfizer, but people who commit criminal acts have no one to turn to--criminal lawyers aren't "getting it" yet. Good luck with your case.
I started taking champix along with my boyfriend of 5 months about a month ago, the first week was fine, then things got nasty, one night after some guy was really upsetting me I tried to kill myself, this is not like me as my mum committed suicide and I have 2 young kids, my boyfriend restrained me and it took a while for me to calm down, I also started cutting my wrists and was quite moody, a few nights later I tried to kill myself again after getting upset at which my boyfriend bashed my head into the concrete floor which is totally unlike him.
He stopped taking champix soon after because he hadn't been smoking and the cravings weren't that bad, my boyfriend soon returned to the loving caring man that he is, I continued to take the champix and continued to be suicidal and it really started affecting mine and my boyfriends relationship.
It was only tonight after overdosing on champix that I looked up what happens when you do and found all this.
Doctors really need to warn patients about this.
I wanted to add my own comment after reading this, my boyfriend kept telling me of "episodes" that I had no recollection of what so ever. I started to think it was Bacardi that just made me nasty and weird but the blackouts are what worried me. I could never remember anything he told me about what I did or said, I haven't been violent thank god but I do believe those who have stated they were and don't recall any of it.
This drug and alcohol could be a dangerous mix and they need to do something and fast.
my partner of 10 yrs started taking this recently.... he's always been pretty grumpy so at first nothing seemed any different till mon last week he went to the pub. When he got back he fell asleep for about an hour, I was woken up being kicked out of my bed on the floor. I tried to get up but he grabbed me and held me in a head lock. My nephew came down and tried to restrain him... the whole night seemed like a dream we had to barricade ourselves into a room but he still got in, the police took ages to arrive. He threatened to kill me. He smashed things, babbled weird stuff that made no sense... I was soo scared!
My son saw the whole thing as it was imposable to keep him away because my partner followed us around. He told my son to say good bye to his mother because she'd be dead in the morning. He woke in a police cell with his wrists AND legs tied together. The officer told me he was "pretty stroppy" He must have been really fighting for them to have tied his legs! They asked me what he'd taken!!
All I could think of was these tablets, they said it wouldn't be them as he was acting psycho!!! There is no warning anywhere on the pack about drinking on these!! There needs to be more research for sure and a warning about drinking on them SCAREY STUFF!!