Ever since I quit, I've had a handful of dreams in which I dreamed I broke my quit. I've woken up in a panic before, and one was so convincing I spent time going over my finances and looking around my apartment for evidence I'd bought cigarettes. My dreams are not usually that vivid, and it really irks me when I have those dreams. Does anyone else experience smoking nightmares that leave you in a funk? Let me know how you cope with them, please!

Yep, this has happened to me. I understand that “using dreams” are fairly common among addicts of all kinds... opioid addicts, alcoholics, former smokers, etc. Knowing that it’s a common phenomenon is somewhat reassuring, but it’s still disturbing! I make sure to spend extra time on the Quit Train the morning after… to try and shake the dream remnants and reaffirm my smoke-free reality. 

Yes, it happened to me twice since I quit.  The first one was the worst because it was so vivid.  When I woke up I wasn't totally sure that it was just a dream.  Finally when I realized that it was a dream I was very relieved!!  Hopefully you won't get them again.

I had smoking dreams a lot during the first year or two of my quit,  I still occasionally wake up from a smoking dream years later.  I think it is common for dreams to bring things from your past back at you and as former smokers, smoking was a huge part of our lives.  These dreams are disturbing but don't let it bother you.  I think they are common.  

Happens to us all when quitting.   None of my dreams could be classified as nightmares.  After 8+ years quit, if I dream I'm smoking, I just go with the flow and know I'll be awake soon and still a be non-smoker.

 

Edit:  Guess I've been gone too long, my ticker is gone.

Edited January 27, 20251 yr by Wayne045

Oddly, none of my dreams have ever included smoking 🤔

2 hours ago, Reciprocity said:

Oddly, none of my dreams have ever included smoking 🤔

 

I don't recall ever having a dream involving smoking when I was smoker, but in the past 15 months I've had one about every three months.

 

 

On 1/27/2025 at 4:28 PM, Wayne045 said:

Edit:  Guess I've been gone too long, my ticker is gone.

 

When I came to the forum I saw evidence of an "in-house" ticker the site used to support, but apparently that went by the wayside before I ever got here. Most of those I've seen (and my own) are all from Ticker Factory.

Edited January 29, 20251 yr by Penguin

I still get one or two smoking dreams per year:  they're incredibly distressing to me, and they tend to ruin a day or two for me.  I've come to the conclusion that these have nothing to do with smoking; instead, I see them as manifestations of broader anxieties about "failure," feeling like an imposter, etc.  To have resumed smoking is just my brain's most powerful expression of those anxieties.  But they still suck. 

 

Christian99

23+ Years Quit 

I actually had a dream about smoking the other night, so this is 3 in the 20 months that I have been quit.  I am just glad they are dreams!👍

Edited January 30, 20251 yr by QuittingGirl