My Brother Needs Some Help

Hi L.,

I personally have never had to fight the stop smoking battle. My father did though. He started smoking at 13 and stopped at 45. He gave it up for lent! He is not a religious person but he figured if he could go cold turkey for 6 weeks he'd have it kicked. He ate lifesavers and/or mints when he wanted to smoke. It worked and he's been cigerette free for 20+ years now. It was all about will power for my dad. He didn't suffer many withdrawals, though the first 2 or 3 weeks were rough for all of us, he was pretty crabby. Good luck to your brother in whatever he decides!

Nicotine patches cause HORRIFIC dreams in almost every person I've ever known that used them. I quit smoking 6 years ago on Wellbutrin, which is still a good choice, but now there is Chantix. Our docs prescribe it a lot and so far we've seen very good results. His prescriber should be able to give him a rebate card to lessen his copay at the pharmacy.

It seems to me that the stress of the nightmares would be counterproductive in trying to eliminate nicotine craving triggers!

~L.

Yes I have had that happen it really stinks, there is a new med called Chantix that can help him quit in 6-10 weeks most insurances will pay for it.

Hi L.,
My brother also used the patch and also had horrible nightmares. It is one of the side effects. He ended up stopping the patch because of it. He was dreading going to sleep and was rundown from not getting any sleep. If he stops the patch the dreams will go away. Good luck.
Chris

hey L.
i quit on chantix i did have some pretty good dream on it most insurance will cover it i had to pay cash for it but it was way worth the money i payed 120 a bottle time to month wonderful stuff

There is a book called The Easy Way to Stop Smoking - by Allen Carr. Two of my seriously nicotine addicted brothers used it to stop smoking. Both for 5 years now! My oldest bro had tried everything including patches, hypnosis, tapes & other literature, but this one did it. I haven't read it myself, but the idea is you keep smoking while you read it and learn why you smoke, so you can understand it and therefore control it. It would be a great gift to him, but he may not read it right away. The truth is some people really are afraid to quit. My best friend quit to avoid reading it, and her husband has yet to pick it up, saying he can "do it by himself". Anyway, if you had seen my brother who lit up before he got out of bed in the morning and had a cig in every wedding photo (except the church) you'd be as amazed as I was.

It may be that he's getting too much nicotine from the patch. There are a couple of reasons for it, but all of them are solved just by reducing the dose: cut them in half, if they are the kind that work that way (some don't have adhesive all the way across), or get the ones with a lower dose.

Vivid dreams are disturbing, but a common side effect of nicotine withdrawl (and marijuana withdrawl, too, just for interest's sake)... and will abate once the withdrawl is complete. So, changing the method won't make the dreams go away.