The Story

I have not had a cigarette since the morning of Tuesday, July 20th. To aid me in this seemingly impossible task, I purchased a box of Walgreen's brand transdermal nicotine replacement patches. Of course I worried about withdrawal symptoms; irritability, fatigue, moodiness -- all of which I have been dealing with. I was also concerned with possible side effects of the patch. Past attempts to quit (using Nicorette gum) ended with me becoming ill and not much better off for the nicotine I was ingesting, so I ended up falling off the non-smoking wagon.

Reading the informational brochure enclosed in the box of patches, I was presented with the typical side-effect-of-anything fodder: Headache, nausea, fatigue, rash, blah blah blah. No big deal. One warning, however, struck me as particularly unusual: "Nicotine patches can sometimes cause vivid dreams or sleep disturbances." Seems innocuous enough, I thought. That probably only applies to a few people in a hundred, I thought.

Perhaps this is well-known among the medical crowd, or perhaps users of the patch, but I'd never heard of it before. Well, let me tell you, I am a believer.

If I worked for a corporation manufacturing these patches, I would be concerned (or possibly pleased) that people would start using these things recreationally.

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