Lucid Dreaming & Alcohol

[sexystitches]

I may be crazy, but please don't judge. I kind of need guidance and help. I feel ridiculous starting a post about this, but I have a dilemma. I'm a frequent drinker (just beer, not liquor), but I have a terrible habit of drinking almost every night. I'm very interested in lucid dreaming and I want to continue learning and experiencing everything involved. I find alcohol deters me from being able to gain control. I have random instances where I remember some things.. I try my best to record them and keep track, but sometimes I can't remember everything.. and it really bothers me. I'm just wondering if anyone else drinks.. and if so, what are your techniques on improving and maintaining lucidity? It IS a terrible habit (I know) and I'm sure the only TRUE solution is to quit drinking completely.. but I just want to know if anyone else is going through this, too. -Jenny

[John11]

It depends how much you're drinking I think. I feel like a little bit of alcohol actually helps me sometimes. Alcohol always makes it hard for me to WBTB though. I just don't have the drive in the middle of the night to do that after drinking.

[Koalaman]

I used to smoke pot until 10 days ago or so. Pot and alcohol both reduce REM sleep, so not taking them would mean an increase in REM sleep. I had trouble recalling dreams. If I were able to recall a dream, I would only remember pieces. Ever since I've quit pot, I've noticed that my dream recall has drastically improved. My dreams are pretty intense these days and I can remember a lot of stuff. Sometimes I don't even know where to begin writing them all down. Or you could try to drink alcohol earlier (if you don't want to give it up) and wait for the REM rebound to kick in later that night. Maybe you want to wake yourself up in the meantime so you know when the REM rebound will start for an extra powerful WBTB.

[pauldack]

I rarely drink these days but did have a night out last week which was the first since Xmas. Odd thing is, I accidentally had my 2nd, albeit very short (15 seconds) LD. It was about 0630 and I went to bed about midnight. Although alcohol is supposed to have a -ve effect on attaining lucidity, as said, I guess it depends on how much you drink and what time in the evening you drink. But one's things for sure, if you think that alcohol is stopping you becoming lucid then that itself is enough to guarantee it.

[Robot_Butler]

Alcohol actually helps me get lucid. If I drink before bed, I wake up a few hours later with a racing heart. I find the alcohol suppresses my REM in the early night, then wakes me up when it kicks in as a stimulant. This is the perfect situation for a WBTB with REM rebound. I guess everyone is different. I don't ever drink to intentionally induce a lucid dream, but it does happen on nights where I'm drinking anyways.

[Agent203rd]

Do you ever get DT's drinking that much? DT dreams are like super realistic lucid dreams if you can just tap into them. I don't get DT's anymore 'cause I don't drink much anymore but the dreams are awesome. And I know someone is gonna say "oh there goes that Agent203rd with his DT's again." but yeah so what? Why doesn't anyone believe me?

[eletricsleep]

go a day without it and more likely than not you will dream and be able to recall

[moonshine]

Alcohol actually helps me get lucid. If I drink before bed, I wake up a few hours later with a racing heart. I find the alcohol suppresses my REM in the early night, then wakes me up when it kicks in as a stimulant. This is the perfect situation for a WBTB with REM rebound. I guess everyone is different. I don't ever drink to intentionally induce a lucid dream, but it does happen on nights where I'm drinking anyways. Yeah, I find having a few beers the night before frequently induces a lucid. Not that its a reccomended tactic.

[sexystitches]

Hey, thanks to everyone for posting! I've been noticing if I cut back to only a few a night.. it does actually help me.. and things are VERY realistic. It's pretty cool. I think I just need to wake up more frequently during the night to keep track of my dreams instead of trying to recall everything in the morning.

[Robot_Butler]

Training yourself to wake up during the night should send your recall through the roof. You could start guessing at when your REM cycles might hit, and setting alarms. It would be much better to just use autosuggestion to tell yourself to wake up after every dream. You naturally do this anyways. It is normally so brief, you forget all about it. Tell yourself to notice each natural awakening throughout the night. Do it the same way you tell yourself to remember your dreams in the morning, or wake up on time for work.

[Jonohargreaves]

i got merry on red wine with my family and had my second lucid dream!