Thread: Galantamine

Hey, never heard of it. Might go up to the herbal medicine shop tommorow and check if they have any.

there is a great deal online about Galantamine and memory and mental health, but regarding any benefit in dreaming, one would have to conduct double blind studies to eliminate the influence of the Placebo Effect. Let's face it, Laberge is a Big New Age Guru and everybody is bowing and scraping before him as though he were a God, so when he tells a group that if they take a pill in the middle of the night, that it will help them to have Lucid Dreams, well, duh, what do you suppose will happen? He could be giving his little devotees rabbit turds (remember the old 'Smart Pill' joke?) and get the same results.

that makes me think about tylenol and Advil..."if i take this pill, my headache will go away" but what would happen if that pill did nothing..u just BELIEVED if u take it, it will cure a headache, maybe that's all it was made for and u really never need it to get rid of headaches lol

Two words for you: Pavlov's Dogs. He rang a bell, they came, saw the meat and salivated. Then after a while he rang the bell and they salivated.
Take vitamin B6 and believe it will give you lucid dreams. It's just what im thinking.

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Originally posted by Leo
Let's face it, Laberge is a Big New Age Guru and everybody is bowing and scraping before him as though he were a God, so when he tells a group that if they take a pill in the middle of the night, that it will help them to have Lucid Dreams, well, duh, what do you suppose will happen? He could be giving his little devotees rabbit turds (remember the old 'Smart Pill' joke?) and get the same results.

Ok Leo, I understand your concern here - however I was among one of the people who participated in this study this past November in one of his "groups" and there was a placebo involved. No one knew until AFTER all three nights of testing were completed which dosage and placebos were taken on the given nights. We each had questionaires to fill out as to what time we took the 'smart pill' and how we dreamt that night. I don't remember how others did, but when I compared the dosages I was given (including placebo) and what I had recorded for all three nights - it was right on. So much so that I'm still experimenting with it at home.

That being said, I will say this -- Galantamine IS NOT an LD in a bottle! I believe it merely drasticaly improves recall, vividness, and your memory or "intention to dream". Primarily I've noticed I tend to stay in that weird zone between wake and sleep longer - helping with WILD. It just improves your chances for lucid dreaming.

PS - and Leo, don't hate LaBerge for being a New Age "guru" (you'll always be a guru to many people here) - he really has nothing to gain from telling people about a drug that is already available and has been used for decades. In fact, he's concerned that the FDA might snatch it up and prevent it from being distributed freely - like they've done to so many other things. We're all on the same team. Lets not let that happen.

Originally posted by ZenVortex
Hi Kidz:Just joined this forum. *Has anybody tried Galantamine? *LaBerge is using it with his groups and I am hearing very good things about it. *I ordered a bottle from [removed] ($29 for 60 caps). *Probably the best way to use it is to get a few hours of sleep then pop a capsule with a glass of water.ZenVortex

Hey! good for you, let us know if it helps you getting lucid!

I posted this a while back. Sorry its so boring.

My first concern was the side effects. If you google galantamine and side effects you will find a list of pretty scary side effects. But if you read up on it you will notice that most of the side effects were experienced by a minimal percentage and after prolonged use. As a lucidity aid, you would want to only take galantamine at the time when you conduct your experiment(ie. after a few rem cycles). The only side effects that I personally have experienced are mild headaches the morning after and a high pitched noise before falling asleep. Laberge also however assured me that he would post some more information on his web site, and there is none. When I asked Laberge about the safety he told me that the biggest risk would be building up a tolerance, though again if you do some research, you will find that there are potentially some serious side effects. All I can perfectly confidently say about its safety and efficacy is what I have personally experienced.

As for it making it harder for you to fall asleep, I have definitely experienced that, but I feel that it is a blessing in disguise. Once I do fall asleep I tend to cycle back and forth repeatedly between wakefulness and dreaming. Not only that, but I can't say for sure if I am every actually waking up, or just dreaming it because while experimenting I have had a TREMENDOUS amount of false awakenings. Not only that, but going in and out of dreams that rapidly could feasibly be an efficient method for practicing WILD, something I have always had trouble with. In any case, the false awakenings have resulted in a number of instances of lucidity. Even the high pitched noise has been incorporated as a dream sign for me, usually as some kind of strange music.

The galantamine does take effect pretty quickly after ingestion, so it would make sense to wake up and take it toward the end of the night when your REM periods are longer to maximize your chances for lucidity. Also, I would recommend starting out experimenting with the lowest possible dose and then moving up from there. I have most recently been experimenting with 16mg, which I just today decided was too much. The dreams I had once asleep were extremely detailed and vivid, and I did experience a number of false awakenings, but it was very hard to fall asleep. I have had the same successes on lower doses. Laberge also warned of a small lady who experimented on a particularly large dose and woke up thinking she was hallucinating, her dreams were that vivid.

Which brings me to another point; that vivid dreams are also listed as one of the potential side effects. Though that sounds wonderful to anyone who wants to achieve lucidity, an abnormally vivid dream can easily become a nightmare. Nightmares can also be wonderful tools for achieving lucidity, but its something to be prepared for nonetheless.

I have given doses of galantamine to 2 of my friends. One of these friends almost never recalls dreams and the other recalls them regularly but has very little experience with lucid dreaming. The one who never recalls dreams noticed nothing at all and the one who regularly recalls them told me he had by far and away the most vivid dreams of his life. Neither experienced any side effects. So the best I can guess is that galantamine alone wont make you go lucid. However, if you already have significant dream recall you will notice a difference, and if you are working toward lucidity you will greatly increase your chances. In my experience it has been HANDS DOWN the most effective aid in terms of a supplement.

Anyway, I hope this info helps, if it didn't put anyone to sleep. I think I wrote it better the first time around. I would love to here some other experiences or opinions. If anyone has any questions or would like to hear some specific experiences, please let me know.