Day 13

Well I have not smoked now for 3 days - although it feels like a lifetime! I am still getting cravings alongside the terrible sickness and headaches. I had a gig last night and did suffer with a slight sore throat and a dry mouth which is something that I was actually hoping to avoid - but I actually managed fine with the vocals and am just going to try and keep on top of that and hope for the best.

Had my 3rd meeting at the doctors today and had another Carbon Monoxide Reading taken. My level is now down to 2! (6 and below is the reading of a healthy non smoker). However, there are a couple of problems with the compatibility of the Champix and myself. I have been feeling extremely unwell over the past 5 or 6 days and after discussing this with my doctor she has decided that I need to half my dosage and go back to 0.5mg vareniciline in the morning and 0.5mg vareniciline in the evening (rather than the 1mg that I was taking before). It seems that the Champix has caused my blood pressure to go down from 120 over 80 to 100 over 63. This is what has been causing the headaches, dizziness, aches and severe fatigue.

All that aside though, it's going well. I no longer crave a cig first thing in the morning and am finding the cravings easier to deal with as time goes on - and I don't have to trek to the shop everyday!

Keep it up quitters - if you're having a hard time or feeling awful - go and see your stop smoking specialist - they are there to help! And they really will help! That's what they're there for! Come on folks - we can do this together .... no-one said it would be easy - but it will definitely be worth it!