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Hi everyone!
Hope you all are doing well. Today marks 15 days smoke free for me and I couldn't have done it without all of you.
Today I wanted to ask about dreams. I've been having dreams about myself smoking cigarettes a lot recently. For context- I'm not on Chantix, I quit cold turkey.
I know there are probably other posts like this already on EX, but I just wanted to see if anyone has dealt with anything like this.
Thanks for reading.
I'm going on nine months, and in the past month or so I have averaged 2-3 smoking dreams per week. Why now? Who knows, but yeah, I just say "whew" so glad that was just a dream, and I get up and get on with my day. The mind can be a strange thing. It's just been a year or so that I've stopped dreaming about being late for class (in high school), because I can't remember my locker combination to get my books to take to class, and I'm 57 years old! Go figure.
Oh my goodness, that is all I had dreams about in the early stages. I smoked all night long, so when i woke up i was exhausted and had no feeling for any cigarettes whatsoever. It was crazy, but gosh it worked it on me and now they have passed and so has the thoughts of smoking. I am only 33 days in, so as the ladies above say....this can still go on go away or come back. But never actually do it.
Well done on your quit to date, keep up the good work no matter what xx
You too. You should be very very proud of your 33 days. That's HUGE!! Congrats. N.O.P.E.
type in dreams in the search (magnifying glass) and you'll see loads of articles come up. I've been quit for a year and a half and still get them once in a while, but not as much as in the beginning
I still occasionally have them. It bothered me in the beginning but not so much now. I think it is normal for some people. Congrats to you on 15 days!
Congratulations on your 15 days. I have heard people in recovery from addiction say that the dreams are reinforcing the cessation of the drug. I have not had many...unless I don't remember them. There are many people who have had dreams and apparently, some of them are very vivid and realistic...making waking up a huge relief.
Ellen
Over 11 years quit and I have, on average, about one a month. Sometimes more. But they rarely bother me. I just find them interesting. And they are beginning to change now. Can't exactly say in what way, but they seem different. In the very beginning of my quit I'd awaken and be SO GLAD it was just a dream. But after a year? maybe, I just found myself smoking in the dream and being a bit surprised by it, but not particularly upset about it. Nor particularly upset that I'd been lying to everybody here. The other morning I awakened from one and in that twilight time before fully awakening, I though I had actually smoked the day before but had simply forgotten that I had. That was different from past experiences. I suppose, just like our quit journeys change as we progress, so does our subconscious dream time.
And you're right. There are a zillion posts about smoking dreams on the site. Just type 'smoking dream' into the search box and you will have endless reading material on the subject from nine years ago on up to the present date. Welcome to the club!
Thank you, this is very helpful.
And it's so nice to hear from you! I hope you had a great weekend
Glad you found it helpful. And yes, I had a phenomenal Sunday. On a friend's boat for hours, stopping to swim and soak up the beauty of the Tennessee hills. What a gift it was to my soul. A rare and beautiful treat. And not ONE THOUGHT of a cigarette. That's Freedom! Keep aiming for it.
Do you find that you have many days on end where you don't think about smoking?
I guess I am wondering if it will always be this difficult to keep my quit.
I have some sort of idea of NML, but what is it like to have so many years under your belt? Do you ever miss cigarettes?
Going on 13 years & like Giulia, I have them quite often. Yes early on in the dreams I would not smoke & wake so relieved that I had kept my quit. Now I smoke & have questions. When did I start smoking again? How long have I been smoking? Did I post a blog about it? What will they say at EX? Where did I drop the cigarette on the bed? I can feel the smoke burning my lungs my breathing is labored & I tell myself that I HAVE to quit smoking.
Maybe that's one thing that aides my quit. When smoking is that fresh on your mind you don't wanna go back.
Keep on keepin on,
M n @
Mike.n.Atlanta WOW, those are SOME dreams. I have awakened and been angry with my husband all day and not able to figure out why and then snippets of a dream start coming back to me and, of course, he had done something horrible in the dream. Hahahaha.
I wanted to ask you the same question that I just asked Giulia-
I have some sort of concept of NML, but what is it like after that?
Do you ever miss cigarettes? Do you find that most days you don't think about smoking?
Dani_2017 I don't think about smoking any more...other than to try to help other people survive this horrible addiction. Every once in a while, a weird thought of smoking crosses my mind but it doesn't stop to talk to me...it just keeps on going. I am so glad that I quit, I wish I had done so a long time ago but I did not have this site or the support and the education about nicotine addiction that I needed. I am a retired RN so I have no excuses, I took care of patients who were dying from lung cancer or some other smoking related illness. I just thought I was immune, apparently, that's the only way I can explain it. I just commented to you and TW517 on a blog I think you wrote. It's a journey, Dani, it's not an event, it is one day at a time, one experience at a time...every day and every experience that you get through without smoking, you get stronger and you will begin to have more and more confidence in yourself. NML is not horrible, it is just part of the journey, it is a time of learning and experiencing. I wasn't sure I wanted to leave NML because I felt so supported there. It was a wonderful part of my journey, with the exception of three days in the 60's when I went on a crying jag and I could not, for the life of me, explain WHY. I just cried over everything and then jonescarp.aka.dale.Jan_2007 told me that was a good thing, that I was "watering my cheeks." Somehow, that put it into perspective for me and I KNEW it would not last. Hang on...if one day seems too long, make it one hour or one minute. Remember what OldBones-Larry says, "One step and then another will get you to where you want to be." I found that incredibly comforting as I took one step at a time and I still do.
We are here to help you, Dani, please remember that and if you think you are going to relapse...write a blog with HELP in the subject line and wait to see how many people respond and help you to get through it. We have ALL been there...some people are headed there, we learn from each other.
Ellen
Thank you for taking the time to write this and to write your comment on my other post. I appreciate it so much! I know that this will be a process, I remind myself of that fact over and over. I just cannot wait for the first day where I don't think about cigarettes or having a craving. I'm also hoping that second hand smoke won't be difficult for me anymore. I avoid it at all costs currently, but whenever I smell it, it always makes me want a cigarette. At the point i think that smokers smell gross, but second hand smoke is still extremely appealing to me.
You CAN do this, seriously, you can. You are the ONLY one who can do this for you. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke...maybe part of that comes from the fact that smoking did so much damage to me. I did so much damage to myself by smoking...now, I don't want to inhale the waste products of other people.
Hang in there, it will get easier. I remember feeling exactly the way you do and I remember praying to God to remove the mental obsession. I did that on the advice of my husband who is a recovering alcoholic...I got down on my knees and I prayed and it WORKED. I had to do it more than once but it works, so does saying NOPE.
Ellen
Thank you, Dale! That post was very helpful for me.
My wife woke up mad at me one night because she had dreamed that I cheated on her. What's that all about!!
Keep on keepin on,
M n @
I had the same dream about my wife cheating on me. She didn't understand why I was mad at her when we got up Still no smoking dreams though.
Mike.n.Atlanta It's a weird female thing, I guess. One time when my alarm went off, years and years ago, I went to smack it to shut it off and I hit him instead, LOL.
Too funny.
I was once late for work because I was dreaming that the day was a holiday. The boss didn't buy it.
KOKO,
They are perfectly normal - most of us have had them.....even after 5+ years quit, I will still have one every once in awhile. Funny, though, early in my quit I would dream about lighting one, but would stop myself from smoking it. I was SO proud that I maintained my quit, even in my dreams. Later, when my quit was firmly in place, I dreamed about sitting in a lovely garden, and I smoked (and enjoyed) an entire cigarette!
Pay them no mind - just celebrate when you awaken that it WAS a dream!
Nancy