Could this be it?

Not really sure if this is the right forum to post this in (so feel free to move it if it isn't) but basically my dry spell hasn't ended yet and i've been trying to stick to the same sleeping pattern and i've continued having a positive attitude and doing ADA and reality checks but I still can't seem to get lucid, or at least not for as long as I usually can.

The only thing I can really think of is that I take quetiapine. I take it for a number of reasons and it has been prescribed to me by a psychiatrist so I'm not stupidly messing around with drugs or anything. I take it an hour before bed as it pretty much knocks me out. I started taking it back in October and at first it gave me a lot of lucid dreams but that was probably because I was actually getting some good sleep on it as before I could hardly sleep at all. My lucidity was pretty good, although I did have periods where I struggled, but in the last 3 months my lucidity has been pretty bad. I can only really think it's the medication. I've heard mixed things about quetiapine when it comes to lucid dreaming so I'm not sure what to think. I'm only on a low dose so I don't think it's enough to act as a serotonin antagonist but I'm still curious if it's having an effect on my dreaming.

Has anyone been on quetiapine and found it has negative effects with lucid dreaming? Also if anyone has ever taken it before what was the best method to try in terms of lucid dreaming? So does it effect DILD or WILD attempts at all? Is there anything I can do without having to come off medication?

Thanks

Just to update I've looked around various forums and websites and it seem's that most people claim they experience vivid dreams on quetiapine so if anything it enhances dreams. My dreaming is quite vivid but again that tends to fluctuate. I'd say I have roughly 3-6 dreams a night that I recall but I'm just not breaking through into lucidity :(

Have you ever tried morning naps? Maybe 1-3 hours after you wake up in the morning? Naps are a prime time for lucids. I get ALL of my WILDs and 95% of DEILDs during naps.

Sometimes I wake up at normal waking time, have breakfast, check emails, get dressed, then watch TV in half-reclined position on sofa. When sleepy, turn TV off and WILD.
And sometimes I wake up before my normal time, do the same thing and WILD.

Maybe your medicine will wear off by morning. Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have been thinking about doing this. My medication knocks me out for a good 10-12 hours. It's very easy for me to just stay in bed. Initially I thought this was great because surely more sleep= more chance of an LD. Normally I tend to sleep straight through and don't wake up often (unless the dog starts to bark at the postman or something). I'm considering going to bed at my usual time and maybe waking up after 8 hours, get up, check emails, read a bit of my dream journal, etc and return to bed an hour or 2 later for a nap until the time I would normally wake up.

I do normally aim for DILDS but will try WILDS/DEILDS as well. Normally I'm far too drowsy from the meds to attempt them. I will try and wake up but it's so hard to keep my mind aware and i'll just slump into bed again and be out like a light. If I force myself to get out of bed and stay up for a bit hopefully that drowsiness will decrease and by the time I get back to bed I should be more alert but still sleepy.

If you can figure out when does your medication loses it's effect, you could pull it off.

Here is a great WILD (sageous) tutorial, I'm not sure if you read it yet, but it's really good.

Keep us posted. Good luck.

This morning I had two lucid dreams that were pretty decent quality. I naturally woke around 7am so I got up for a bit and managed to wake myself enough to attempt a WBTB. However I found that I was too awake and couldn't get comfortable and in the end I just fell asleep. I ended up having a DILD though.
I was back in high school and someone handed me a bass guitar and told me I had to play in the school band and I told them I was a better drummer than bassist but they wouldn't listen. I got pretty angry and then it hit me that I finished school years ago so I smashed up the guitar. One teacher was furious but I told him it didn't matter because it wasn't real. I managed to maintain lucidity for a while but my awareness and control fluctuated.

When I woke from this I'm pretty sure I had a DEILD. However I wasn't really lucid to begin with. Instead I dreamed I was in my bed trying to have a WILD and someone else was on my floor trying to have one as well. Eventually I closed my eyes and felt myself falling and I landed back in my old school but I was completely lucid now. I'd say I had about 5 minutes of lucidity and completed two tasks from my dream journal! :woohoo: .However due to my awareness still going up and down I will probably attempt these two tasks again when my normal level or awareness and control comes back.

Still I feel this is quite a success for me right now, especially getting 2 lucids.

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Originally Posted by MRH92

Still I feel this is quite a success for me right now, especially getting 2 lucids.

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Damn, by any measure, that's a success. Happy for you.

Keep in mind that vivid dreams do not equate to easier lucidity. For example, benadryl results in more vivid dreams but can destroy recall and make it nearly impossible to realize you are dreaming. However, it's good to hear that you have had success.

Just to update further I received a letter a few days ago from my doctor regarding some blood tests I had a couple of weeks ago. It turns out my level of folic acid had dropped quite a lot. This would explain why I have felt generally quite low and very very tired the last few weeks. I recall telling my partner that I was "feeling very anemic". The doctor prescribed me some folic acid that I have been taking for about 3-4 days now and my dreaming has gone back to normal. In fact last night I had roughly 9 dreams, one of them lucid. I don't know if a sudden drop in folic acid could have affected my ability to remember dreams at all. I can't say I'm all that clued up on the matter but the general sluggishness and low moods I felt could have all impacted on me.

Glad you got your dreams back:alien: