Champix (Chantix) and cravings

I met someone recently who decided in the Autumn of 2008 to stop smoking. He had already tried going cold turkey, patches and nasal sprays and knew that they did not work for him.

So he went to the Quit Smoking Clinic at his family Doctor surgery where they prescribed Champix (also known as Chamtix in the USA).


After about 2 weeks of taking the drug he stopped smoking; so far so good. His stomach was knotted with pain each morning and his digestion was not working like it used to but he had stopped smoking.

By January 2009 this man was desperate, because the Champix had done nothing to deal with his cravings. He may not have been smoking but he still had in place all the old links and associations with smoking.

He went back to his Doctor who said why not give the drug another go? The man was not keen, he remembered the stomach cramps. Then as almost an afterthought, the Doctor added "you could try hypnosis for the craving".

What a shame the Doctor did not mention this to the man last October! There would have been , no drugs, no side effects just the change to becoming a non-smoker.

Sadly, at least here in the UK, Doctors are not able to prescribe hypnosis as a quit smoking aid.

When hypnosis has been demonstrated again and again to be more effective than all others forms of therapy for smoking, why is it not something that a Doctor can write a prescription for?