My dream recall has increased exponentially in the last few months, and I finally figured out why...

So first off, I'm new to this site, so hello all.

This isn't lucid dream related exactly, so I apologize if it's in the wrong section.
I have to admit, I don't keep a dream journal, an ex GF of mine was really into dream meanings and journal-ling and all that, but it never appealed much to me, maybe I'm just too lazy to write it all down. lol.

Anyways, for the past couple of months I've been astounded by the number of dreams I've been having. I couldn't figure out why all of a sudden I was having so many vivid dreams every single night. And then it finally hit me this morning, it's not that I'm having more dreams, it's that I'm remembering all my dreams.

Back-story is, a few months ago I came across this mushroom supplement called Lion's Mane, it's supposed to improve memory and increase cognitive function. So my my GF and I start taking it, her memory went from really bad to very impressive in a matter of weeks, I kid you not. Mine however didn't seem to change much, I should mention that my memory wasn't bad to begin with, so I don't really know what I was expecting, to get smarter maybe? :)
This Lion's Mane has been studied as a treatment for dementia and alzheimers with a lot of success.

Anyhow, it hit me this morning in the shower, while I was recalling all my dreams from last night, it's the Lion's Mane! It has to be, the increased dreaming started not long after I started taking the Lion's Mane. Is there anyone else on this forum that has tried Lion's Mane?

I just wanted to share it here because I know there are a lot of people out there that go to great lengths to be able to remember their dreams.

Hey, thelegend, welcome to DV! I can't say I've ever heard of Lion's Mane before, but that's great that it helped you with recall. Maybe it has loads of B6 in it or something. I'll look it up later.

If you do decide to get into dream journaling, it'll boost your recall even more. We have a DJ blog system here on the forum, if you ever want to check it out. It's pretty cool: Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Recent DJ Posts - Dream Journals

Thanks, I've done the B6 thing before, as well as mugwort, both work very well at making my dreams way more intense. Sometimes to the point of waking me up, which isn't ideal. But these past few months, it's more the recall I suppose, I seem to be able to remember hours of dreams for sometimes days afterwards. If anyone else decides to give it a try, I really hope they get the same results.

So, you mean B6 vitamin helps with your memory, also recalling dreams? I don't know much about those vitamin supplements, I think I would prefer to look for some foodstuff wich provides it, but sounds as something interesting to try.

You shouldn't take any supplement. I'm not saying they are bad or that they harm you. It's like you want to do 10 km daily and instead of running you take the taxi. When you become able to do it without any external help, you will accomplish more than just intense dreams and dream recall.

As for your experience, I had some friends that used supplements for dream recall and memory in general. For some it worked for others it didn't. It probably depends on the person.

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Originally Posted by GRValentine

You shouldn't take any supplement. I'm not saying they are bad or that they harm you. It's like you want to do 10 km daily and instead of running you take the taxi. When you become able to do it without any external help, you will accomplish more than just intense dreams and dream recall.

As for your experience, I had some friends that used supplements for dream recall and memory in general. For some it worked for others it didn't. It probably depends on the person.

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I'll have to disagree with the 'shouldn't take any supplement' comment. I referred to Lion's Mane as a supplement yes, but all it is is a naturally occurring mushroom in capsule form. Not taking something that nature offers us to enhance our lives, that's like saying, don't take vitamin C, the payoff of getting sick will be much greater than not getting sick. At least in my opinion, but I suppose it comes down to personal choice, just seems weird to tell others what they should and shouldn't do. I was just sharing my experience knowing that there are others out there who struggle with memory and look to ways to enhance it, naturally or otherwise.

And yes, you are correct about it depending on the person, while my girlfriend and myself have had noticeable results, a coworker of mine has tried it and it did nothing for him.

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Originally Posted by Ropp

So, you mean B6 vitamin helps with your memory, also recalling dreams? I don't know much about those vitamin supplements, I think I would prefer to look for some foodstuff wich provides it, but sounds as something interesting to try.

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I'm not sure if B6 helps with memory enhancement, but it is known to make dreams more intense. It's why it's not typically recommended to take in the evening, the dreams can be intense enough to mess with your sleep.

Hmm, and what about taking not just B6 but all B-vitamins, something like B-50 COMPLEX with choline ?

Like this one:
[Link removed]

Effects will be even better?

Yes, quite possibly, but be careful with the Vitamin B complex, too much of certain Vitamin B's can be bad, unless you are lacking in them.

Your body doesn't need any external material. Trust me. Unless you have a very severe conditions. like an advanced cancer or other advanced disease. Doing it by yourself will make you better.

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Originally Posted by GRValentine

Your body doesn't need any external material. Trust me. Unless you have a very severe conditions. like an advanced cancer or other advanced disease. Doing it by yourself will make you better.

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Food does seem to extend life spans though ... especially the external kind.

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Originally Posted by thelegend0210

Anyhow, it hit me this morning in the shower, while I was recalling all my dreams from last night, it's the Lion's Mane! It has to be, the increased dreaming started not long after I started taking the Lion's Mane. Is there anyone else on this forum that has tried Lion's Mane?

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Thanks for that post! It was very timely, from my perspective, since I am strongly considering getting Lion's Mane.

A few questions: How much do you take of this per serving? Do you take it daily? Is it an extract (in which case, how condensed)? Do you know the amount of polysaccharides per serving?

Lots of questions, I know, but any further info would be greatly appreciated! :)

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Originally Posted by Voldmer

Food does seem to extend life spans though ... especially the external kind.

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We were not talking about food or water. Even so, if you want to go that far, there are documented people not eating or drinking for months.

Supplements are replacements for stuff that should have been contained in food (or produced inside the body from food), but was not. They "supplement" the food. Therefore supplements should be considered alongside food.

As for people living without food - well, even if it is true (and somehow evidence always seems to be hard to obtain), the general consensus is that food prolongs life.

I find your disregard for the importance of being properly nutritioned annoying. There may innumerable good reasons for supplementing - including with compounds or herbs that aid dreaming and lucidity. A person who suffers from insomnia will most likely live decades longer, if the insomnia is treated, than if it becomes chronic. The most effective treatment is almost always through supplementing appropriately (although proper sleeping habits are of course of paramount importance).

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Originally Posted by Voldmer

Supplements are replacements for stuff that should have been contained in food (or produced inside the body from food), but was not. They "supplement" the food. Therefore supplements should be considered alongside food.

As for people living without food - well, even if it is true (and somehow evidence always seems to be hard to obtain), the general consensus is that food prolongs life.

I find your disregard for the importance of being properly nutritioned annoying. There may innumerable good reasons for supplementing - including with compounds or herbs that aid dreaming and lucidity. A person who suffers from insomnia will most likely live decades longer, if the insomnia is treated, than if it becomes chronic. The most effective treatment is almost always through supplementing appropriately (although proper sleeping habits are of course of paramount importance).

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You are missing the whole point of what I wanted to say. Read my comments again maybe you will understand.

In my experience there is no substitute for intent, strong desire, and practice. Plus excellent sleep conditions and mindset (being well-rested, happy, not stressed or anxious). It's really difficult to sort out supplements that do and do not increase recall or affect dreaming, because of the overwhelming affect of intent and conditions/mindset -- so controlling for the placebo effect is all but impossible.

I went from recalling zero dreams every night before my practice began to multiple long dreams per waking every night from the very first night from intent and effort alone. I've tried a number of supplements since and found them all pretty much hit or miss.

About the only 100% guaranteed to affect dreaming supplement I've tried is galantamine (in combination with various cholines) but unfortunately its most reliable effect is insomnia. It makes for a nice occasional "lucid party" from time to time but I've also experienced amazing 100% natural LDs. I think there's nothing better than building the natural ability and natural confidence, avoiding the possibility of feeling a dependency on the supplements to get results.

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Originally Posted by GRValentine

You are missing the whole point of what I wanted to say. Read my comments again maybe you will understand.

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I'm not missing it for a moment; you are talking about dreaming. But you explicitly stated: "Your body doesn't need any external material." And that is patently false, whether you are talking about life in general, or specifically about dreaming.

To say that a person, who wants to increase dream recall, does not "need any external material" is as absurd as saying a person who wants to run a marathon does not need it, or indeed that no one needs external material in order to do anything. Human beings are a function of what we eat, and if malnutritioned, the results will be correspondingly bad.

There is more to everything than exercise and disciplin. Dream recall will never be good, regardless of any amount of dream journaling, mantra-wallowing, or practice of *ILD-techniques, if the person does not sleep properly. And it may just be that the proper supplement is everything that stands between a person functioning well - and remembering lots of dreams - and functioning poorly, and not remembering diddly squat!

I started taking it as well: 300 mg in the form of dried fruit body. It's the cheapest form I found on the internet (300 mg, 60 capsules, 17,30 €) from what seems a reputable source. From wiki:

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Scientists have investigated this mushroom for possible anti-dementia compounds. Primary research has demonstrated the following:

Stimulated animal nerve cells.[4]
A double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial showed improved cognitive ability in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.[5]
Stimulated nerve growth factor in an in vitro experiment with human astrocytoma cells.[6] Nerve growth factor stimulated by phenol-analogous Hericenone.[7]
Stimulated myelination in an in vitro experiment.[8]
Regenerated peripheral nerves following crush injury[9]

Long-term safety and effects of withdrawal seem to be unknown.

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From pubmed: link.

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Originally Posted by GRValentine

We were not talking about food or water. Even so, if you want to go that far, there are documented people not eating or drinking for months.

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There are not documented monthslong thirst strikes. Some people can stop eating for a long time while others die within weeks: independent.co.uk.

The majority of people don't follow a strictly healthy diet, because they enjoy eating. Nevertheless, they're quite healthy. Are you used to blame people for having a dessert or drinking a can of coke?

Lion's Mane is a mushroom and is as edible as porcini are, but while I'm used to eat the latter, the first is more common in zones different from mine.

Please stop derailing an interesting thread.

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Originally Posted by GRValentine

Your body doesn't need any external material. Trust me. Unless you have a very severe conditions. like an advanced cancer or other advanced disease. Doing it by yourself will make you better.

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I hope you are staying away from herbal tea. Any herbal infusion is also technically a supplement, and exactly along the lines of what we're discussing here: a naturally-growing plant (or in this case fungus) that can have beneficial physiological or psychoactive effects when supplementing the basic diet. Coffee, tea, herbal infusions, and so forth fall into that category just as readily as lion's mane. So put down that cup of tea, before you violate your own principles!

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Originally Posted by Voldmer

Thanks for that post! It was very timely, from my perspective, since I am strongly considering getting Lion's Mane.

A few questions: How much do you take of this per serving? Do you take it daily? Is it an extract (in which case, how condensed)? Do you know the amount of polysaccharides per serving?

Lots of questions, I know, but any further info would be greatly appreciated! :)

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Sorry, haven't logged in for a while.
I take the recommend does on the bottle. 4 servings daily, two morning and two at night.

Supplement Facts
Daily Serving: 4 Tablets
Servings per container: 30
Amount per daily serving: % Daily Value
Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) extract blend
(Water extract: Powder = 2:3) 1,000 mg †
Maitake TD-Fraction standardized to contain 10% proteoglucan 100 mg †
Vitamin C 80 mg 133%


I imagine if you bought it not condensed it might be cheaper, but I opt for convenience.

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Originally Posted by GRValentine

Your body doesn't need any external material. Trust me. Unless you have a very severe conditions. like an advanced cancer or other advanced disease. Doing it by yourself will make you better.

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Hey, I don't doubt that you feel empowered by 'doing it by yourself', but to tell everyone what they should and shouldn't do is what I have the most issue with. You can't say that what I chose to do is wrong. It may not be right for you, but that doesn't mean the same applies to everyone. It's pushing personal beliefs on others.