Dreams

[salad1257]

I am on my eighth day of Chantix, the new and controversial stop-smoking pill. It's not working worth a damn quite yet. In fact, I am more easily agitated and my dreams are so real it's scary. I am actually confusing them with waking life, and sometimes I wake up with my fists clenched, ready to fight or my eyes almost glued shut with hour old

Comments

[flyinghamster]

I have been looking into the effects of smoke inhalation on the brain and am believing more and more that there is a significant element of cigarette habituation besides that of the addiction to nicotine. Altering the function of the nicotine receptor in the brain with drugs like Chantix does not necessarily compensate for other neurological effects that are caused by quitting smoking. Particularly, monoamine oxidase (MAO), which is important for breaking down chemicals in the brain, has been shown to be irreversibly inhibited by cigarette smoke. This irreversible inhibition of monoamine oxidase significantly lowers the rate that chemicals are broken down in the brain. Since nicotine in cigarettes increases dopamine levels in the brain, the irreversible inhibition of monoamine oxidase caused by inhaling the smoke prevents the dopamine from breaking down. Once someone stops smoking cigarettes, their dopamine will begin to break down much faster than they are used to, making for less rewarding-feeling rewards. Even though dopamine can