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Since the chemical Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is responsible for dreaming, I’m curious as to why nicotine patches induce such vivid dreaming. It seems that every time I forget to take off my patch as I am quitting smoking – yay! – I get these bizarre dreams. I know you’re not supposed to sleep with them on, but sometimes I just forget.
I know this is common with sleeping with the patch on, but I’m dying to figure out why!
Does the nicotine affect the amounts of DMT released from your brain or something of the like?
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Definately. I had the same problems. I actually loved the idea of remembering my dreams. They were so vivid. With the new gov’t taxes on cigarettes, I plan on pulling out some of my old nicotine patches so that I can quit smoking. Nicotine directly affects the brain. That is why it is so hard to quit. I have forewarned my family of my intentions to quit. That way, when I become an unbearable ******, they will undestand.
The problem with cigarettes is that they are really “crack nicotine”! The nicotine has been freebased slightly to enhance quick absorption. Smokers tend to have sleep difficulties because the nicotine wears off long before the night is over. The smoker wakes up early and doesn’t remember dreams at all or only vaguely because acetylcholine (ACh, a neurotransmitter affecting memory) is lowered toward the end of the night. Smokers tend to have more vivid dreams when they quit smoking.
The reason why patches induce vivid dreams is that the nicotine is released slowly.