I am bumping this because it seemed to be the most relevant and active thread regarding this topic.
I started Chantix 7 days ago. I am still on the .5mg/twice daily dose which will go up to 1mg/twice daily tomorrow.
While I have had no major side effects yet, I have noticed no difference in my desire, cravings, or actual smoking yet either. I have had some strange dreams. Nothing bad though and they don't even begin (yet) to compare to nicotine patch dreams I've had. I am prone to depression, but have experienced none of that either. I *might* have a shorter fuse than normal, but it's quite possible that's just in my head due to being ultra sensitive about any possible personality changes.
I would have to say the biggest difference I have noticed is being incredibly fatigued. I am not sure if this is a side effect of the drug or because I have not been getting uninterrupted sleep, but I definitely noticed it within the first day or two of starting the Chantix.
Anyway, I am going to continue taking it and hope that it works to help me quit. My main question is how long did you all take the medicine before quitting? I realize the website says to pick a quit date 7 to 10 days into the course, but my Doctor recommended just letting the medicine do it's thing and quit when I didn't want to smoke anymore. For this reason I don't have a planned quit date.
Did everyone slowly taper up to 1mg twice daily? Did you notice a difference when going from .5mg to 1mg?