Author(s)

Samer Alkhuja^*, Monika Girgis, Mohammad Ali, Pravinkumar Patel, Olutunde Odeyemi

Department of Medicine, The Commonwealth Medical College, Lehigh Valley Health Network-Pocon, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

Background: Varenicline, which is derived from the cytisine compound, is used to assess in smoking cessation. Sleep driving (SD) is often classified as a variant of somnambulism. Although, somnambulism has been reported as a side effect of varenicline, varenicline-induced sleep driving (VISD) has not been reported. Case Report: A 56-year-old man with a history of 35 pack year smoking who presented for smoking cessation counseling. Treatment with varenicline was initiated. In the following night, the patient drove to a shopping center and woke up in his car. Varenicline was discontinued. SD has not been reported in the following nights. In a repeated attempt to stop smoking, treatment with varenicline was resumed by the patient. SD reoccurred in the following night. Varenicline was discontinued indefinitely, and SD has not been reported.

Varenicline, Sleep Walking, Arousal Parasomnia

Alkhuja, S. , Girgis, M. , Ali, M. , Patel, P. and Odeyemi, O. (2023) Somnambulism: Varenicline-Induced Sleep Driving. Case Reports in Clinical Medicine, 12, 213-217. doi: 10.4236/crcm.2023.127030.