Chantix - Day 1

I hope you all are excited. We're starting a new feature here at Mobius. It's called "Quitting Smoking" or "How to Become a Raging B***h in One Week." Since most of the stuff I blog about is pure drivel, I have decided to chronicle my attempt to quit smoking. (Although it might be more interesting to have the poor souls that have to live with me chronicle what that's like - but they don't have blogs so you're stuck with me.) AND JUST FOR THE RECORD - IF I GET PARKINSON'S SOMEDAY I'M GOING TO BE REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY ANGRY!!!!

Anyway, Chantix is a new prescription medication for those that are trying to quit smoking. It's supposed to suppress the desire for cigarettes. Here's how it works. For three days I take one white pill. Days 4 - 7 I take two white pills. On the 8th day (let there be Hell)....I mean....I quit smoking and start taking two blue pills. I then keep taking two blue pills a day until I'm all cured, or I kill someone. Let's all hope for the cure.

So I took one white pill today. Of course I have that hippie song in my head - "One pill makes you larger, one pill makes you small. And the ones your mother gives you don't do anything at all." (Mom - how funny is that??? It is a real song.) Whatever. Anyway, the pill gave me a faceache. Not really a headache because it was all in my cheekbones and forehead. (This lady I work with said that maybe I was turning into a unicorn. If my face hadn't been so painful I'm sure I would have found that really funny.) I took an Aleve and that seemed to work. I tried doing this a few years ago with Wellbutrin and it also gave me a bad headache. Hopefully I'll get used to this one and the headaches will stop.

This drug is also supposed to help with the ritual aspect of smoking. This is something that I don't think non-smokers understand. It's more than just the addiction to the nicotine - it's the ritual of the whole process. After I eat, I light up. First thing when I get in the car - I light up. Also, I'm a fidgety person anyway. I play with my hair, I doodle, I tap my fingers. Smoking gives me something to do with my hands. I better get some Silly Putty. But the makers of this medicine claim that it helps not only with the cravings but with weaning you from the ritual aspect of it. Maybe that's why it's called Chantix. Maybe I'm supposed to chant my way out of this. *Note to self - run out and buy a CD of chanting Tibetan monks*

I suppose I should address the why of this. Well - duh - it's bad for me. It's bad for my kids. It's stinky. It's EXPENSIVE. I have this loosely formed plan for the next few years - get out of debt, advance at work, lose some weight (before my 20 year high school reunion in 2010), quit smoking, etc. Might as well get going on a couple of these, right?

So we'll see how it goes. I hope the headache doesn't happen again tomorrow. It was really weird. I never get headaches in my face. I never even get sinus headaches or anything like that. The post next Monday (quit day) should be really interesting. I'll try very hard to do a post every day. If you never hear from me again after next Monday - maybe check the papers! :)