# Sleep and Dreams > Sleep and Health >  >  Chantix, a smoking cessation pill causes "strange or unusual dreams"

## themindsi

So I got sick as hell last week and took a visit to the doctors office.  In addition to the antibiotics they offered to perscribe me Chantix, a smoking cessation pill which would be completely covered by my Medicaid.  I took the pill the first day without even reading the information, mind you I was still feeling like shit from the cold, and the second day I decided to read up on it.  The third side effect listed for Chantix is "srange or unusual dreams".  I remember thinking to myself, "what the hell constitutes as a strange or unusual dream, all my dreams are pretty strange".  Well I was in for a treat!  I won't go into detail but I did have a verrry strange dream, and so far the dreams have continued, I have been taking the pills for 5 days now.  I visited a few blogs and nearly all of the people taking Chantix have experienced strange dreams, they often refer to them as "technicolor" or "surreal".  Has anyone here had any experience with Chantix?  I've yet to become lucid since taking Chantix, infact I haven't been lucid in quite some time now  :Sad: , but I am hoping that the Chantix might boost my likely hood of becoming lucid...and hoping even more it helps me quit smoking!!  YUCK!

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## tyrantt23

That sounds really interesting. I've never heard of it, but from the way you said it, sounds like you need a prescription for it. So my question is... do you?  :smiley:

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## themindsi

Yes, you do need a perscription.  It's semi-over the counter, I guess is what you would call it?  I'm no pharmacist, but my boyfriends brother is a pharmaceutical assistant and he says a ton of people get Chantix.  I think it is readily perscribed to anyone willing to give quitting smoking a shot!  Like I said, my Medicaid covered mine completely, but I read in some peoples blogs they've had to pay up to upwards of 300!!

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## triffidfood

Just did some searching about this .. apparently, Chantix works in a similar way to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (patches etc) ... there's quite a lot of stuff online about nicotine patches causing very vivid dreams when they're left on @ night (I remember a couple of big topics about this on these forums, a while back ~ nicotine patches almost always seem to have this effect).

It's because the patches/ Chantix work by acting on the parts of your brain responsible for acetylcholine production (your actetylcholine levels are @ max during REM sleep), and also by stimulating nicotinic receptors, which in turn cause your serotonin & noradrenaline levels to also rise (= better recall & more lucidity).

That's my understanding anyway. Could be wrong...  :Cool:

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## Moonbeam

How many days did you take it before you noticed the effect?  Did it start right away?

Good luck quitting smoking.  (You can do it!)

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## themindsi

Yea, i haven't actually read too much into anything on how it works on the brain, but you seem to know what you're talking about.  I'll have to read up more on it.

I started noticing the effects on the second day of taking the pills!

and I also found out they are by prescription only, at least here in the US.

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## tyrantt23

Still having the strange dreams? Have the strange dreams triggered any lucids?

Just curious.  :smiley:

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## Baphomet

I know this is an old thread but....

My girlfriends dad was on Chantix for a bit and kept having very vivid dreams of killing my girlfriend and his wife and stuffing them into the dryer.

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## skunk

a few of my friends have told me that when they had to take vicodin they had weird dreams

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## WolfeDreamer531

My dad and step-mom have been heavy smokers for a while. I'm pretty sure I saw Chantix somewhere in the cabinets. I was just talking to my friend about dreams yesterday when he told me about the nicotine patches and how it induces vivid/strange/unusual dreams. I think I'll give Chantix a go tonight along with some Melatonin or 5-HTP. This is going to be an interesting combination. There's also this thread which talks about Nicotine's effects on dreams.




> a few of my friends have told me that when they had to take vicodin they had weird dreams



I actually took some liquid Hydrocodone/APAP (not necessarily Vicodin but basically the same thing) with Promethazine and 5-HTP the day before yesterday and I ended up having a long epic dream that I completely forgot. I only remember bits and pieces of it, but I do remember it being very long and somewhat of an odyssey (walking around the city at night for what seemed like eternity), its a shame I forgot it. :tongue2:   I've heard of hydrocodone having an effect on dreams but I can't say for sure whether it was the primary reason for my dream since I took prometh and 5-HTP with it that night, so I'll definietly be experimenting with this some more.

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