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Trying to quit smoking, should I be worried about dreams?
Raslin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, so, I'm trying to quit smoking. I've tried a couple times before, did decently, but eventually failed(all were cold turkey). Anyways, I'm trying again, but using a nicotine patch(walgreens brand, if it matters). The box mentioned that side effects could be vivid dreams and hallucinations. Now, I'm not much of a dreamer. That is to say, I almost never remember my dreams, maybe a tidbit of one every week or so.
Now that I'm the patch, though, I'm dreaming every night, and remembering large parts of them. I've never been as excited to go to sleep before. However, is this something I should be worried about? I mean... its just dreaming, right? I don't think its harmful, but I figured I'd throw out the net and see if anyone had anything to say.
Now that I'm the patch, though, I'm dreaming every night, and remembering large parts of them. I've never been as excited to go to sleep before. However, is this something I should be worried about? I mean... its just dreaming, right? I don't think its harmful, but I figured I'd throw out the net and see if anyone had anything to say.
Raslin on
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Take advantage of your current body/mind state and attempt some lucid dreaming my friend.
tldr: not harmful
It might not even be the patch affecting you; it could be a mental thing. You read the package, went to sleep thinking about the fact that you might start dreaming more vividly, and those thoughts themselves trigger the dreams.
I would, however, watch out for other side effects.
Like, "if this starts happening, take off the patch."
For instance, if the vivid dreams were the product of you getting a hair too much medication at night due to a slowed metabolism or something. Go back to walgreens and ask the pharmacist maybe?
As a guy who successfully quit smoking and like a million other things, my advice would be:
1. Remember that cravings go away if you ignore them.
2. Throw away all your lighters and ashtrays and all your other shit. Keeping anything is an invitation to relapse.
3. Remember the date and (if possible) time of your last cigarette. Count every day and think of it like a high score: If you have another one, you have to start aaaalllll over, and your "score" will never be as high as it would have been before. Also, the first few days are the worst. Do you really want to go through that shit again?
dreams can't hurt you, you'll be fine
You shouldn't be worried about vivid dreams, think of all the chicks you can fuck in them.
Don't get off the damn patch.
No one has died from dreams.
Like you're not going to wake up spewing blood in the middle of the night and promptly die afterward.
By the time you are dreaming you have already slept.
Translation "If you have disturbing nightmares, you can prevent them by taking off the patch at night." Since these dreams are enjoyable to you - have fun!
Bullshit.
Now you just replaced one excuse for another. He just recommended that book. You did not read it.
You'll be back to smoking in a matter of months if you stop now.
No, I won't. Not only don't I want a cigarette now, but I know I wont anymore, and I feel better than I ever have trying to quit before. I'm not going to torture myself with it anymore, because I really don't want to smoke.
I appreciate the concern, though.
I would not recomend any smoking quit aid that utilized time controlled nicotine release.
You say that now
what happens in a month from now when you see someone light one up, and catch a whiff. Or see another dude flick aside the best tasting cigarette he ever had.
You're not done with this yet, even if you think you are. I've seen people farther a long than you regress back. Go for the overkill. I find it hard to believe you started this thread with one method of quitting and now all of the sudden some dude recommends a book and you are clean.
a patch or a pill is no more a guarantee than cold steel resolve and an iron clad will.
seriously, your argument is ridiculous.
Me too, to be perfectly honest. I spent way too long reading the book last night(I work early, should have been catching up on sleep), but it really got me critically thinking about smoking, and realizing what I was doing. Every time before that I've quit, it was giving up smoking. I had to give it up, for this or that reason. But now, I actually don't want to smoke, and I'm glad to be getting rid of it.
I'm not moping about having to "give it up" anymore, and not feeling guilty as I smoke(because I'm not), its the best of both worlds.
What happens in a month? I look at that, and remember how gross cigarette's taste(nobody smokes them because they enjoy the taste), and how there are no benefits from smoking, simply relief from the symptoms it causes. That the next cigarette just feeds the chain of wanting more, and I don't want more. I work around smokers, and live around them, and when I see it, and smell it, I smile, because I realize that I'm done with it, and I'm so happy about it.
I know people can regress, after years, or decades. But I don't want to smoke anymore, I'm so happy that I'm not, and it only gets better from here on out. It may be hard to believe, but I'm done, and I'm happy.
I for one love cigarettes and smoking cigarettes and the taste of cigarettes
I never had problems while on cigarettes, I never hated them or blamed them for anything
and I quit cold turkey
It's not THAT hard. People make it seem harder than it actually is
It's a simple process
just don't smoke any more cigarettes
if you hate cigarettes this really shouldn't be a problem. Nicotine addiction isn't THAT strong
If you don't believe me, ask yourself, when are the most "enjoyable" cigarettes you have? The ones after you can't smoke, after a flight, during a break on work, after a meal. Why are these more "enjoyable"? Because the enjoyment is simply relief from the nicotine withdrawl. You're kidding yourself, possibly literally, if you think you enjoy the taste. You've simply made yourself believe that when you smoked, because otherwise, you wouldn't have smoked.
Nicotine addiction isn't that strong, absolutely. Its the belief that it is, and the brainwashing we've all gone through of seeing smokers trying to quit and moping, and hating it, that makes us feel the same way. We believe we're being deprived of some reward, when there is no reward.
But hey, quitting is quitting.
Except for the cold sweats and uncontrollable fits of shaking and total inability to sleep that my father experienced, I'd agree with you.
Congrats Raslin, once the nicotine exits your system in a few days you're going to feel like a million bucks.
This is inherintly not true.
Before I was ever addicted, before there was ever enough nicotine in my system to feel any effects other than an upset stomach, the social act and yes, the taste, drew me in.
If you think all cigarettes taste disgusting you've never smoked anything worth smoking.
No, but as a post-smoker, I resent people who act as if the habit is some jedi mind trick corporations played on us.
nobody said that
I agree. I smoked for a year and then quit and I can say that all you've said is spot on. Especially about taste. HOW anyone can keep smoking while using Camels is BEYOND ME. That shit made me WANT to quit
ALSO - I tried quitting by using a patch, because I thought I needed that. I ended up having these dreams which ended up being auras. So, just a heads up that it could be bad.
They will most likely start to tapper off as you A) get used to the nicotine being present) and B) lower your dosage.
Also, pro tip: take off the patch about an hour before bedtime and drink a big glass of OJ. This should lessen the amount of dreams you have.
I think a lot of it depends on the person and how much and how long they smoke. Part of it's psychological, I agree; but there is a huge chemical dependency there also. The degree which a person is effected by each probably can vary a lot.
The only time I've ever had any kind of major sleep disturbance was when I used a nicotine patch...that shit gave me nightmares that would have had Bosch painting his next masterpiece. I'm talking waking up in a cold FEAR sweat not knowing where I was and frightened out of my wits. I stopped using the patch after that and had no issues from then on.