Crazy smoking dream

[PeaceTrain]

Happy Sunday everybody!  Get this: For only the second time since I quit, I had a dream last night that I was smoking.  It was a crazy dream where I was trying to drive to meet a friend in southern India but I found myself in upstate New York and only then did I realize I wouldn't be able to drive to India. I was sitting on a bench trying to figure out what to do and I was suddely shocked to see a cigarette in my hand and I was SMOKING!  It was so real...  What a dismal feeling of dread I had in those first moments of waking up.  I can't even tell you how completely relieved I was when I realized I hadn't really smoked!

 

it's pretty interesting to me that something that was such a big part of life when you were a smoker, and certainly the quit itself is a huge adjustment related to smoking, and during all that time smoking has only showed up in dreams twice in all this time (getting close to 8 months!).  Does anyone else dream about smoking?  Sheesh, if you do, don't worry about it!  It's such a gift when you realize it was only a dream! 

[Doreensfree]

I was one of the fortunate ones ..who never did have a smoking dream...

But plenty here have...and they all say ..what a relief it was ,when you finally reolize it was only a dream..

I would have been devastated I know...

Well done PT...you have a great quit ...

[Reciprocity]

I too never had a dream about smoking that I can remember anyway. Then again, I don't remember dreams 99% of the time anyway so maybe that's a blessing for me? Anyway, glad you just Dreamed it

[Stewie]

I never dreamed about smoking, but yeah, do it awake would turn into a BIG dissapointment! Never again!

[Joel Spitzer]

http://whyquit.com/joels-videos/dreams-of-smoking/

 

Smoking dreams are common if not universal among ex-smokers. It is especially common when a person is off a short time period, and if it occurs within days or weeks of a quit, it is likely to be extremely disturbing and very realistic. Realistic enough in fact that the ex-smoker will wake up smelling and tasting a cigarette, convinced that he or she has actually smoked. I have had numerous clients search the house for the butt, it was that realistic of a sensation. Let me explain first why the physical sensation is so pronounced.

 

When first quitting, one of the early physical repairs that start up is cilia production. Cilia are tiny hair-like projections that line your trachea and bronchus, constantly sweeping particulate matter out of your lungs. When you smoked, you first slowed down, then paralyzed and would eventually destroy cilia. This is why smokers often have more colds and flues, they wipe out the first line of defense against the incoming microbes causing these illnesses.

 

When a person stops smoking, usually within 72 hours or so, cilia starts to regenerate. The ex-smoker may start cleaning out the lung in a matter of days. One of the early symptoms first encountered is coughing and spitting out, this is mucous and trapped matter that was never being cleaned out efficiently while smoking but now has an escape route and mechanism to start sweeping it. Ugly but good, you are starting to clean out a lot of garbage in your lung. Much of the garbage is tobacco tar–tobacco tars that have a very distinct taste and smell.

 

Let’s say you are dreaming now, maybe a totally innocuous dream having nothing to do with smoking. While sleeping, cilia are sweeping, tobacco tars get brought up, reach sensory nerves for taste and smell and low and behold, you create a dream sequence involving a cigarette. But not only are you now dreaming, physical sensations of taste and smell persist upon awakening. This then becomes a real smoking sensation.

 

This gives a plausible explanation of why the dream occurred and why it was so vivid. But that is not the end of the significance of the dream. The dream can be interpreted in one of two ways upon awakening, and quit often, the ex-smoker takes it as a sign that they actually want to smoke. After all, they had been off smoking and just dreamt about it, that means they want to smoke, right?

 

I used to get calls in the middle of the night for clinic participants panicked by the dream. They would start off saying, “They can’t believe it, off all this time and they still want to smoke.” They knew they wanted to smoke because they dreamt about it. I would then ask them to describe the dream. They would tell about the vividness and realism, and they would almost always say it started to take on a nightmarish proportion. They would wake up in a sweat, often crying, thinking that they just smoked and blew the whole thing, that they were now back to square one. That all that time off smoking was wasted.

 

As soon as they would finish describing their feelings, I pointed out one very obvious fact. They just dreamt they smoked and assumed that meant that they wanted to smoke. They woke up and upon further clarification, they describe the dream was a nightmare. This is not the dream of someone who wants to smoke; it is the dream of someone who is afraid of smoking. This is a legitimate fear considering the ex-smoker is fighting a powerful and deadly addiction. Hence, it is a legitimate dream too. It kinds of gives you a sense of how bad you would feel if you actually do go back to smoking. Not physically speaking but psychologically. If the dream is a nightmare it makes you realize how bad this feeling is without having to actually have smoked and fallen into the grasp of nicotine addiction again. It can give you some perspective about how important not smoking is to your mental health.

 

The dangerous dream is when you smoke a whole pack in it, hack and cough, get socially ostracized, develop some horrible illness, end up on your death bed about to let out your final live breath-and all of a sudden wake up with a smile on your face and say, “that was great, wish I could do that when I am awake.” As long as that is not the dream you were having, I wouldn’t let myself get to discouraged by it. If that is the dream, then we may need to talk more.

 

In regards to smoking, no matter what you do in your dreams, you will be OK as long as you remember in your waking state to Never Take Another Puff!

 

Joel

Edited January 17, 2018 by Joel Spitzer
Added original smoking dream article

[Devil Doll]

6 hours ago, PeaceTrain said:

Happy Sunday everybody!  Get this: For only the second time since I quit, I had a dream last night that I was smoking.  It was a crazy dream where I was trying to drive to meet a friend in southern India but I found myself in upstate New York and only then did I realize I wouldn't be able to drive to India. I was sitting on a bench trying to figure out what to do and I was suddely shocked to see a cigarette in my hand and I was SMOKING!  It was so real...  What a dismal feeling of dread I had in those first moments of waking up.  I can't even tell you how completely relieved I was when I realized I hadn't really smoked!

 

it's pretty interesting to me that something that was such a big part of life when you were a smoker, and certainly the quit itself is a huge adjustment related to smoking, and during all that time smoking has only showed up in dreams twice in all this time (getting close to 8 months!).  Does anyone else dream about smoking?  Sheesh, if you do, don't worry about it!  It's such a gift when you realize it was only a dream! 

I have the occasional dream still. 

[Boo]

The subconscious mind always seems to be last in line to adjust to new adaptations.  While other parts of our brain and body begin adapting to change immediately like a tactical response unit, the subconscious mind is like an old man in a rocking chair.  Back in my day...

 

I never had any smoking specific dreams, but during the first couple of months of my quit I had recurring dreams where I was lost and/or looking for something.  The situations would differ, but I was always wandering and searching for something that wasn't there.  Dream interpretation is an imperfect science, but the timing of the dreams synced with my quit perfectly.  As I became more comfortable with my quit, the dreams of wandering and looking ceased.

 

Had a dream the other night...I was at a rock quarry driving around on a backhoe during a thunderstorm.  And my Aunt Grace was there for some reason.  I don't have a clue what that was all about.

 

 

[Doreensfree]

Wow!!!..dreaming of Aunt Grace... Lucky lady !!!!

[Boo]

39 minutes ago, Doreensfree said:

Wow!!!..dreaming of Aunt Grace... Lucky lady !!!!

 

You made it weird Doreen.  It wasn't that kind of dream!

[JB 883]

Dreams seldom have anything to do with what we want to do or not in waking life.

I had dreams once in a while that I was smoking years before i started.

I do not think there is any rhyme or reason to dreams. They can be interesting though.

 

It is kind of a relief waking up from a smoking dream and realizing we didn't actually smoke.

[Octain]

 I often dream about significant things going on in my life. Work, family etc. 

I have had some strange dreams since quitting but don’t recall anything about smoking, yet.

 

 Seems to reason that your daily priorities would transfer into your sleep, causing you to dream.

[ChRiSpY]

I had several smoking dreams in my 1st year of quit.  I would wake up horribly miserable until I realized that it was just a dream.  I truly think that it helped me keep my quit.