January 2007 « Chantix News Home

Stop Smoking Drug Earning Praise

Jan. 29, 2007

While the health benefits are obvious there's also a financial benefit when you quit.

For example, Jim and Tish Giganti are putting all the money they would have spent on cigarettes in a jar. They want to see how much money they'll save in a year and plan on using the money for a family vacation. They figure they'll save at least two thousand dollars.

"I don’t even want to go on living if I can’t smoke. That's how strong the addiction is."

"It’s such a terrible addiction."

If you smoke then you know how hard it is to quit.

Jim Giganti says: "she was 17 or 18. I was 19 Of course we were smoking. That's half the reason we went out that night."

But now almost 20 years later Jim and Tish Giganti have two children. Tish Giganti says: "you can’t preach to your kids “don’t smoke” with a cigarette in your hand”.

After numerous failed attempts using a nicotine gum, patch-even hypnosis-the couple decided to try a drug recently approved by the food and drug administration that goes by the brand name Chantix.

Chantix works by mimicking the feeling of pleasure from smoking.

When a person inhales, nicotine in the body stimulates the brain to release a sense of pleasure. Chantix binds to the brain and makes it believe it's getting that same feeling. Over time, the drug is supposed to reduce the brain's urge to smoke.

Three recent studies in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" and paid for by Pfizer-which makes Chantix-found positive benefits. One study in particular compared Chantix to Zyban, an anti-depressant used to help people quit. After one year, 22 percent of people on Chantix were smoke-free compared with 16 percent on Zyban.

Other studies show an eight to eleven percent success rate with a nicotine patch, nicotine gum and going cold turkey. But there are side effects to Chantix, like nausea and potentially disturbing dreams. And the drug doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

Faiman says: "Is it going to be perfect? No. But I am seeing the results hold over the long-term.

Like the Gigantis. They've been on Chantix for three months. Tish is smoke-free. Jim has gone from more than a pack a day to about five cigarettes a week. And he's optimistic.

Jim Giganti says: “I guarantee it will be I’ll be smoke free."

And they say that means they can hopefully raise their kids in a healthier environment. Something they say they felt they could never do before.

Source: http://www.myfoxmemphis.com

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