Does alcohol or weed discourage lucid dreaming?

[Sony86]

Hi all, I was just wondering if any of you knew if drinking booze or smoking pot discouraged the chances of one becoming lucid? I'm thinking it does, but then again I'm not sure. Anyone have any experiences regarding above to share?

[CoLd BlooDed]

Whenever I go to sleep hammered, and just hammered, I usually wake up with some pretty intense recall. That's assuming I didn't get extremely drunk or sick. With weed chances are pretty nil that you'll end up getting lucid. I've had a couple WILDs the morning after drinking... usually because I'd wake up early, let's say around 8 am, then feel completely hungover for an hour and a bit, then drift back to sleep and in the process WILD successfully. Hope that helps.

[DuB]

For pot, the answer is simple. Pot and dreams do not mix. Pot effectively destroys your dream recall, so even if you do manage to become lucid, you most likely won't remember the dream (at the very best it will be extremely hazy). For alcohol, the answer is more complex. The depressant effects of alcohol keep you in "deep sleep" and do not allow you to enter the REM stage of sleep, where the vast majority of dreams occur. However, if you sleep long enough for the alcohol to wear off, your body will have an "REM rebound" effect in the final hours of sleep, where it basically goes into REM overdrive into order to make up for all the missed REM stages earlier in the night. Some of my longest and most vivid dreams have been during the REM rebound after a night of drinking. However, other nights of drinking just left me groggy and with no recall. It's a balancing act, and my personal opinion is that alcohol should not be considered a lucid aid.

[Sony86]

For pot, the answer is simple. Pot and dreams do not mix. Pot effectively destroys your dream recall, so even if you do manage to become lucid, you most likely won't remember the dream (at the very best it will be extremely hazy). For alcohol, the answer is more complex. The depressant effects of alcohol keep you in "deep sleep" and do not allow you to enter the REM stage of sleep, where the vast majority of dreams occur. However, if you sleep long enough for the alcohol to wear off, your body will have an "REM rebound" effect in the final hours of sleep, where it basically goes into REM overdrive into order to make up for all the missed REM stages earlier in the night. Some of my longest and most vivid dreams have been during the REM rebound after a night of drinking. However, other nights of drinking just left me groggy and with no recall. It's a balancing act, and my personal opinion is that alcohol should not be considered a lucid aid. I see. Good to know. I'm not surprised pot smoking deteriorates dream recall. Maybe if you could recall stoned dreams, I wonder if they'd be amazing.. heh Sounds like having a few beers before sleep might be a good way to put you into deep sleep, but not enough alcohol to destroy all of your REM time.

[Digital.Totem]

Why is everyone so damn wrong about alcohol and sleep, it doesn't help it hurts.

[yay]

Why is everyone so damn wrong about alcohol and sleep, it doesn't help it hurts. Not everyone is the same.... For someone it could help. Just because it doesn't help you , or in your opinion it probably doesn't help, doesn't mean that is true for everyone. That is also my answer to your question. It depends on the person. But going by the experiences of people here, it seems like it doesn't help. That doesn't mean its not possible though. I have had a bunch of lucid dreams after drinking, after smoking, and both. I'm not sure if it helped me, or if it would have happened anyway, but it is not impossible.

[bumpergirl]

I find if I have a drink then sleep that I tend to have a dream of me on a mission trying to re-hydrate myself but never quenching my thirst. Weed makes you have some pretty bizarre dreams but not neccassarely lucid dreams.

[Seeker]

My recent experiences with alcohol seem to show that it doesn't help and might slightly hurt your chances of becoming lucid. Everyone knows about the REM rebound effect in early morning due to alcohol, so the dreams you remember are usually vivid and longer. Lucidity under alcohol in my experience seems to be short lived and with lack of control. Best advice I can give, maybe an occasional drink or two cannot hurt, but don't let it become a habit. If you are already becoming dependant run, don't walk, away from it as fast as you can!

[wer]

Hi all, I was just wondering if any of you knew if drinking booze or smoking pot discouraged the chances of one becoming lucid? I'm thinking it does, but then again I'm not sure. Anyone have any experiences regarding above to share? Yes, it does. It fact, your lucky if you can remember any dreams when you go to bed intoxicated. This was one of the reasons I stopped smoking.

[ninja9578]

Pot increases surrealism of dreams, however it severely diminishes your recall. So you may become lucid easier, but then forget about it. Alcohol gives you fuzzy dreams, and brings your recall down. The thing is that it helps you stay asleep longer, I've had some really long lucid dreams while drunk.

[Sony86]

Pot increases surrealism of dreams, however it severely diminishes your recall. So you may become lucid easier, but then forget about it. Alcohol gives you fuzzy dreams, and brings your recall down. The thing is that it helps you stay asleep longer, I've had some really long lucid dreams while drunk. I see. I always love surrealism, seems like the dream recall is something one has to be good at if you want to dream stoned.

[wer]

I see. I always love surrealism, seems like the dream recall is something one has to be good at if you want to dream stoned. I've never noticed any significant difference in the quality of my dreams when I'm stoned. My dreams are always more surreal (and have more meaning) when I'm sober. When I'm high they tend to be more boring and never have any meaning to them, if I can remember them at all. However, I have had a couple very strange dreams while under the influence. All in all though, marijuana usually decreases both my dream recall and quality, although rarely it has the opposite effect (perhaps after a particularly memorable smoking session).

[Dreamworld]

The only time I have trouble recalling my dream is when I go to sleep high.

[Sony86]

The only time I have trouble recalling my dream is when I go to sleep high. I suppose it depends on how well your brain knows the effects of booze and/or weed - how used to it you are.

[wer]

I suppose it depends on how well your brain knows the effects of booze and/or weed - how used to it you are. Maybe. Even in my heaviest bouts of stonerism, my recall was still shit (along with my conscious short-term memory).

[DuB]

Maybe. Even in my heaviest bouts of stonerism, my recall was still shit (along with my conscious short-term memory). Same. And I really got out of hand for about a year there...

[blackberry829]

If I go to bed three to four hours after smoking, I'll eventually just look at the clock and see that five hours have gone by, and it'll have felt like one second. It's a weird sensation to describe. I usually won't remember any dreams those nights. However, if I go to bed at least five hours after smoking, my recall will be a bit better, but not the best.