FDA: Anti-smoking drugs can make you crazy

Trying to quit smoking and feel like running into traffic, killing yourself or offing your partner, boss or children? It may be that drug you're taking to help you kick the habit.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced it has ordered the makers of the prescription anti-smoking medications Zyban and Chantix (also known by their pharmaceutical names bupropion and varenicline) to warn patients that taking the drugs may cause changes in behavior and mood, including hostility, agitation, depression and suicidal thoughts or behavior. The new warnings will be included in a "black box" intended to alert consumers to important side effects of a drug.

Bupropion is also marketed as Wellbutrin, an antidepressant. In July 2005, the FDA issued a public health advisory warning that Wellbutrin appeared to increase the incidence of suicidal thinking in adults. And in November 2007, the FDA issued a preliminary warning that taking Chantix appeared to increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Both medications were approved by the FDA after their manufacturers presented evidence that taking these drugs increased a smoker's likelihood of successfully quitting the habit. But there are many other ways to stop smoking, all of them laid out here (or call [800] QUIT-NOW). Thinking about quitting cold turkey -- no pills, gums, patches or excuses? Here's a site for you too.

-- Melissa Healy

Comments

[carly]

First the Percocet and Vicodin problems and now this. Time for changes at the FDA. There is a related post at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?p=2020

[Trollkiller]

My personal experience with Chantix is it made me very short tempered. It pushed me into rages. (easily able to harm someone rages)

My advice if you try it is to monitor yourself closely. That urge to kill is not from the lack of nicotine.

[cma]

Please be sensitive to the fact that depression is a mental illness and the people suffering frm it are not "crazy". Irresponisble headline.

[Kelan Moore]

I have been six month smoke free because of chantix. So If it really makes you crazy, see a doctor, you have what they call an "underlying condition" or, you were crazy before you started taking the pills.

[Lollie Dot Com]

I've used both drugs and neither of them gave me any suicidal thoughts or mood changes. Oh sure, I've been irritable this last month, but I just got a new puppy and she's a real handful. I'll tell you some other things those two drugs don't do... they don't give you cancer, emphasemia, lip lines, age every cell in your body at a quickened rate or even make you wear oxygen to walmart when you're older.... but yeah, for those people that never should have bought the drugs in the first place because they had no real desire or intention to quit the most deadly drug in America (nicotine).... this is a GREAT OUT. I can't quit smoking! I'll get suicidal and miss my horrible death by cigarettes in the future.

Yep, makes perfect sense to me. NOT.

[Gene]

Geez, what a hysterical article, just what a health writer is NOT supposed to do. Ms. Healy might have mentioned that the FDA rep at the news conference emphasized that such occurrences seem to be very rare, and that "The health benefits of quitting smoking . . . are immediate and substantial."

This is similar to the media's reaction to studies that found alcohol is beneficial. And it certainly can be in some aspects, like cardiovascular health. But what virtually no reporter mentioned is that alcohol's bad for other problems, like liver disease and cancer. A balanced report would alert wise consumers to try to assess their risk factors.

There's a desperate need for balance in health reporting. Ms. Healy falls off the beam.

[Gene]

The Washington Post's Rob Stein had a nice recap of what I was talking about:

"The FDA stressed that it was not advising people against using the medications because smoking causes serious health problems and quitting smoking is important. But patients taking the drugs and their doctors need to be aware of the potential problems and monitored closely, officials said."

Ms. Healy's links to alternate cessation methods are helpful.

[JM]

This is such a joke. I used Chantix a year-and-a-half ago and haven't smoked since. It was the only thing that worked for me, and trust me I tried them all. Of course, you still need the will power to not smoke, regardless of what method you use, and it's easily been the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. Having said all that, with regard to the statement above ("Trying to quit smoking and feel like running into traffic, killing yourself or offing your partner, boss or children?"), I think this is common to anyone trying to quit smoking, not just those taking the meds. So now, people will be scared of taking the drugs and keep on smoking. That's a win for Big Tobacco. I'm not a fan of the pharmaceutical industry, but I was genuinely happy with the results of the drug I took.

[John]

This ruling was so needed! I'm pretty sure the FDA would not have done this under the Bush administration. I was recently prescribed welbutrin; within a couple of weeks I was saying and threatening terrible things to my therapist and family members. None of my medical providers mentioned this side effect whatsoever.

Thank you for publishing this article on behalf of those who had no clue why they were 'changing'.

[Pete Begich]

I quit smoking over ten years ago after smoking 2-3 packs a day for 47 years....
and I didn't need any "crutch" drugs... I just quit and never looked back. All of
the people who have never been there will tell you that nicotine is addictive but
its not. It has no withdrawal symptoms and is nothing more than a very STRONG habit... and habits can be broken or changed. You only need two things:

1. You need a very, very GOOD reason to quit - I was getting unstoppable nose
bleeds caused by high blood pressure which was caused by nicotine;

2. Once you quit, you need to vow you will NEVER, EVER touch tobacco again
for the rest of your life. For the first six months after quitting, I had
nightmares in which I saw myself pulling a cigarette out of a pack and it
scared me to death...that is how strong MY vow was.

I did it, and you can too... and without any "crutch" drugs! Go for it!

[cantquit]

**sigh** And why can't they identiy and promote a NATURAL and NON-TOXIC drug? I am sure one is out there. But they won't do it, because they can't get the patent and make lots of $$$$$ off of it. So, like Obama, I am stuck on the chewing gum and exercise combination and, like Obama, can only consider myself 95% cured.

[BJ]

If you take these drugs you're a guinea pig for the drug industry. Anyone who trusts the big drug companies is naive. Their only interest is the bottom line and that's been proven time and time again. The human brain has a very delicate and complex chemistry that science doesn't completely understand. Why take the chance of altering and damaging it with a drug that might not even help you stop smoking or cure your depression? It's not worth the risk.

[gweird]

You DON'T WANT TO TAKE these drugs! No, what you want to do is keep smoking until your lungs are charred sheets of tissue thin as spider webs. Prescription drugs in the U.S. are blamed for everything from warts to more cockroaches in your house. Can another lunch-time TV commercial be far behind, one urging you to call a law firm if your loved one committed suicide while on Zyban or Chantix? You have to play the odds. With suicide, you might miss. With smoking, you're dead.

[mark feigin]

Psychiatric drugs kill,,,,they don't solve problems only cover them up...there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance it's all a lie designed to push drugs on people. Why has every school massacre in the last 15 years involved kids on psychiatric medications.
www.cchr.org

[Abigail]

I smoked for over 40 years, tried Wellbutrin and it did nothing but make me buzzy-headed like I was having electric shocks. Then I tried the nicotine patch -- learned not to use it overnight as I had psychedelic dreams that freaked me out, (Like LSD flashbacks....spooky!) The only thing that worked for me was to puff on Nicotrol (a prescription substitute cigarette that is shaped sort of like a small tampon..it's filled with little nicotine cartridges) -- I used that for two weeks....(it did give me a sore throat as it had more nicotine than the cigarettes I normally smoked) and within those two weeks I was done. I think the combination of small doses of nicotine plus the physical motions of sucking on it like you would a ciggie was the key. I haven't desired or picked up a cigarette in over three years. Ask your doctor for a prescription..you feel sort of foolish puffing on it in public, but it works - and unlike the gums - it won't stick to any dental work. You will be amazed that you ever smoked at all - once you have successfully quit. (BTW, you can purchase it over the counter in Canada and in the U.K.; here in the States you need a doctor's 'script.) I feel fantastic....can run like I was a kid...have no more allergies....and I wish I had done it decades ago. (When I think of all the money I could have saved.....let alone the improvement to my overall health.) Good luck!

[Juan Carlos]

I took Chantix for two months and I had very vivid and crazy dreams. Once I dreamed of a very long fashion show with music by the Rolling Stones. No need to say I know nothing about fashion. I was scared and quit Chantix. Of course I have not quit smoking. Deep trouble.

[gweird]

Perhaps I spoke too harshly above. Honestly, I feel for people who are addicted to tobacco. The people who make money off this--that's who we should punish. They are worse than credit card people, worse than bankers.