A week goes by...

How do I feel?

Weird mostly, cravings aside. I try to articulate the feeling but its difficult. The closest I can come to is perhaps it being similar to losing a very big part of your life.. an arm, a partner, etc.

I guess it stems from time spent with the habit of smoking.

Ten sticks a day for 13 years. If you take five minutes per stick as an average, that means I've spent 237,250 minutes of my life smoking. Break it down further that's almost 165 days spent smoking and the rest of the time not smoking spent thinking about smoking.

So, finding things to do/keeping occupied is probably one of the most important aspects of quitting smoking. Thankfully I have a job, but unfortunately being at work itself is one huge smoking cue.

Here's to one more week!

Six days!

Tomorrow this time it'll be a week. Yay?

You take it twice a day!

Wow, its been 4 and a half days. Wonder how long it'll be before I stop counting. Was quite a novelty counting time but it might become tedious in the long-run.

Anyway just to make something clear. This is not a cold-turkey quit blog. I did not quit cold-turkey as I had mentioned in the first couple of postings. I'm using a drug called Champix, or Chantix as its known in the US.

I'm also not being paid by Pfizer, the manufacturer, (would be nice though!) or neither is this blog meant to promote Champix as the preferred way to quit smoking. Each person is unique and you definitely can't take a cookie cutter approach to quitting. Some prefer counseling, acupuncture or hypnosis. The more traditional route would be nicotine patches or gum.

I've tried the patches/gum, counseling and cold turkey. Perhaps not enough will power which is why I figured this drug might work. Anyway for those that want to know more, read on!

How it works?
The drug in its most basic sense blocks nicotine from reaching the specific receptors in the brain that derive pleasure from nicotine. Hence there is no more pleasure from inhaling a cigarette. Concurrently, it also takes the "edge" off withdrawal symptoms such as the mood swings, agitation and being short-tempered , etc.

Dosage
Twice a day orally for 12 weeks. The first two weeks are small doses (1mg per day) meant to build up the presence of the drug in your body. Ideally, no more cigarettes from the 14th day onwards. Once week 3 comes around, its ramped up to 2mg per day and cigarettes should start to be quite disgusting by then.

Little blue pills. Sun and moon icons behind each pill because smokers can't tell time...


Cost
Most GP clinics would sell it. I got mine for RM165 for the starter pack (the first two weeks) and each subsequent two-week packs after that is RM175. Total cost for the 12-week course: RM1,040

Side effects
Nausea is most common. Usually immediately after taking the drug. Others may experience dream pattern changes, constipation, gas and vomitting. What's also been reported is that a very small minority experience psychological changes and end up being depressed or start to entertain suicidal thoughts. This of course means Champix is not meant for them.

Almost 3.5 days, smoky dreams

Yep, it had to happen. I had a really vivid dream last night about having a cigarette. Even to the point where I could taste and smell it. I woke up craving and imagining the acrid taste that accompanies the first cigarette one has after a long time.

I'm glad I don't have cigarettes on me anymore. My last pack of cigarettes ran out last week. This is tough, even with the drug.

Still clean, cravings and other notes

Yep, 60 hours. It still feels odd.

Have noticed peak craving happens between 2-6pm. This is when I gnaw at my tongue, take lots of deep breaths and drink too much water. Chewing gum? Thanks to 2 years of braces and the stress that chewing gum causes to your braces and your dentist, I ended up hating it.

The nausea I feel after taking the pill is also less intense now, which is a good thing, although it does create at least one big burp (also a good thing!)

Dreams, lots of them

However the one thing that has not gone away and is the same as the last time I took Champix are the incredibly vivid dreams. Don't ask me what I'm dreaming about, because I simply don't remember once I wake up. Maybe fragments but my description would definitely not do justice to the actual experience. The bad memory retention is likely because I'm someone who rarely dreams in the first place. This drug makes all the difference.

When I say vivid, it just seems like all my senses are alive. And if I correctly understand what lucid dreaming is, there seems to be an element of that as well. As a result, I wake up most mornings feeling very tired as I feel that my brain didn't really rest. Am getting used to it though, only 9 weeks to go!

48 hours, no smoke

The 2 day mark. I hear that the first week is the toughest. So Five more days to go.

Meanwhile, updated the About Me part so there's more clarity at a glance. I'll include a FAQ link there at some point.

Day 6 - Breakthrough!

Woah, I missed out a few days of updates. Here's a summary:

Day 3, Friday, July 29
One stick @ 10pm

Day 4, Saturday, July 30
Drunken stupor for more than half the day because of friend's wedding - 1 stick @ 10pm

Day 5, Sunday, July 31
Did not smoke at all

Day 6, Monday, August 1
37.5 hours and counting since I didn't have a cigarette. Feels weird!