Champix

Champix is a medicine that can help you to stop smoking. It comes as a pill that you take for 12 weeks. It’s not like patches, gums, or sprays that you use regularly during the day. You only need to take one pill a day.

Champix works by helping to stop the withdrawal symptoms you get when you quit smoking. It helps stop you from craving cigarettes, feeling down or angry, and having trouble sleeping.

Studies on how effective Champix is show that it can be more effective than using patches, or patches and gum combined. Quitting with Champix is up to 82% more likely to work than other ways to quit.

There are other ways that you can stop smoking, with or without help from your doctor.

These include:

• nicotine replacement therapy
• Zyban
• e-cigarettes

You can use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with or without a prescription. NRT includes patches, gum, lozenges, inhalators, and sprays. You cannot get e-cigarettes on prescription. Champix and Zyban are both medicines that you’ll need a prescription for.

Champix is taken as a pill. You need to pick a date to quit before starting Champix. This is because you’ll need to start taking Champix one week before you stop smoking. This helps the medicine to build up in your body and will make it more likely to work.

Your doctor will tell you how and when to take Champix. It’s important to follow these instructions. It is also important to take the whole course of tablets that your doctor prescribes.

In week 1 of your 12-week course you will normally take:

• 1 0.5mg tablet a day for three days
• 2 0.5mg tablets for four days

After this, you’ll take Champix twice a day from week 2 to week 12.

You should take your tablet with water. When you take 2 pills a day, you’ll need to take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. Champix can make you feel sick at first. If this happens you should take it after you have eaten.

You can’t get Champix over the counter and you will need a prescription to use it. Champix has more side effects than NRT and is not suitable for everyone.

Using our online service means that our doctors can check that Champix is safe for you to use. Our service is also simple to use and means you don’t have to wait for an appointment to see a doctor. You can have your prescription delivered to your door. If you prefer you can pick it up from one of our stores.

There are a few side effects that you might get when using Champix to stop smoking. Not everybody gets them, and they can be mild. If you do get side effects, they may go away after a few days.

Common side effects include:

• swelling or soreness in your mouth and nose
• feeling sick
• getting headaches
• not being able to sleep
• feeling dizzy
• getting a bad taste in your mouth

Serious side effects are very rare when taking Champix. It’s important to know what to do if you do get any of them.

Speak to your doctor right away if you are:

• feeling down or depressed
• wanting to harm yourself

Call 999 or seek urgent medical help if you have:

• weakness on one side of your body
• trouble speaking or thinking
• a pain or tightness in your chest
• difficulty breathing or you are wheezing
• swollen lips, tongue, throat, or mouth

Who cannot take Champix?

You should not normally take Champix if you:

• are pregnant or breastfeeding
• are under 18 years of age
• have kidney problems
• have some mental health conditions

If you have kidney problems our doctors will help you to find the best way to quit smoking. Some people with kidney damage may be able to take a smaller dose of Champix to help stop smoking.

Champix will not affect other medicines but stopping smoking can. Your doctor might want to change your dose of some medicines if you stop smoking.

These include:

• theophylline (this is medicine you might take if you have breathing problems)
• warfarin (this is a medicine that stops blood clots)
• insulin (you might take this if you are diabetic)
• olanzapine and clozapine (these medicines treat psychosis)

You will not normally be able to use Champix if you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding. This is because there has not been enough research to see if Champix is safe for pregnant women to use.

Your doctor will be able to recommend other ways to quit smoking if you are pregnant, planning a family, or breastfeeding.

Smoking when you are pregnant can cause:

• birth defects
• miscarriage
• premature birth
• complications in pregnancy
• low birth weight

Champix might affect people with serious mental health problems. Your doctor will be able to advise if Champix is safe for you to use. If you have some serious mental health conditions but have not been diagnosed, Champix could make these worse.

You should contact your doctor straight away if you get:

• mood swings
• depression
• anxiety
• aggression
• confused thoughts