I've been at lucid dreaming on and off for over 2 years now, and have always run into trouble once I become lucid. Basically, the dream immediately fades away as soon as I realize I'm in a dream.

In my first few lucids, I would get really excited upon becoming lucid and that had something to do with the dream fading away, but excitement hasn't been the issue for a while.

Another problem I assumed I was having is that immediately upon becoming lucid I would try to exercise dream control far too intensely and that was why the dream would quickly fade.

Realizing this issue, my recent goal has been to not only remain completely calm upon becoming lucid but to attempt in no way to control the dream. Instead, I just want to follow along with the dream and work on simply staying lucid in the dream for as long as possible.

Well, last night I became lucid and followed my plan to remain calm and to not attempt to control the dream. However, the dream faded almost immediately.

What I usually do immediately after becoming lucid is look for something to hold on and feel, or rub my hands. I try shouting commands sometimes for the dream to stabilize or become more vivid, but to no success.

When I say the dream fades what takes place happens in about 3-5 seconds. All of the colors start to turn white while all the details of a room or landscape start disappearing. Usually, I wake up at the end.

Does this kind of thing happen to anyone else? Any ideas on something I may have overlooked or what I should be doing upon becoming lucid to overcome this fading?