Have you or a loved one used Chantix (varenicline) to help quit smoking? Chantix chemically "tricks" the nicotine receptor cells in the brain to think that it is getting a nicotine "fix" when in fact it is receiving a medication designed to prevent nicotine from binding with those same cells in the future. People who take Chantix are supposed to get the same temporary feeling of pleasure that they get from ingesting nicotine. The FDA issued a public health advisory to alert patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals that Chantix can cause serious neuropsychiatric symptoms leading to suicide.

At the request of FDA, Pfizer, the manufacturer of Chantix, has updated the Chantix prescribing information to include warnings about the possibility of severe changes in mood and behavior in patients taking Chantix.  The FDA website highlights the following important safety information regarding Chantix:

• Patients should tell their doctor about any history of psychiatric illness prior to starting Chantix.  Chantix may cause worsening of a current psychiatric illness even if it is currently under control and may cause an old psychiatric illness to reoccur.
• Healthcare professionals, patients, patients’ families, and caregivers should be alert to and monitor for changes in mood and behavior in patients treated with Chantix. 
  Symptoms may include anxiety, nervousness, tension, depressed mood, unusual behaviors and thinking about or attempting suicide. In most cases, neuropsychiatric symptoms developed during Chantix treatment, but in others, symptoms developed following withdrawal of varenicline therapy.
• Patients taking Chantix should immediately report changes in mood and behavior to their doctor.
• Patients taking Chantix may experience vivid, unusual, or strange dreams.
• Patients taking Chantix may experience impairment of the ability to drive or operate heavy machinery.