War Correspondent Fears Anti-Smoking Drug Over Bombs and Bullets

Posted by Greg Scott _Featured_, Big Pharma Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Ross Appleyard experienced panic attacks, rapid breathing and wild heartbeats while taking the anti-smoking drug Champix (also known as Chantix here in the U.S.) though he never felt so much fear compared to his Iraq, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone days as a war correspondent. 

Over 12 weeks he took one pill per day and the side effects began to get worse.  Ross no longer had cravings to smoke but his nighmares became violent, and experienced mood swings and hallucinations.  He is normally a happy individual but now he was feeling depression and lethargy.

Champix and Chantix are supplied by Pfizer and is one of the biggest anti-smoking drugs which has been prescribed to around 200,000 in the United Kingdom.

The revolt against Chantix is building in the U.S.  “There are more than 100 reports of suicide, 400 reports of violence and 11,000 cases of severe side effects associated with Chantix,” says Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University.

Ross has now stopped taking Champix and after a month began to feel normal again.  He concluded, “Perhaps inevitably, the nicotine craving has returned. But I’d rather put up with that than become a man my family and I don’t recognise.”

Source:  dailymail.co.uk

Photo:  aprilzosia Flickr Photostream Creative Commons by sa 2.0