Thread: Surpressing REM =vivid dreams later in the night?

All sleep medications are not the same, and some work on different neurotransmitters systems or different subunits of the same neurotransmitter receptor.

List the ones you're interested in (the generic name, not brand name). All you have to do is do a search on PubMed along with "REM" or "Sleep Architecture" to see if the drug affects these things.

Pretty sure sleep medications just make you tired and keep you asleep for longer, other than that the resulst would vary depending on what the sleep medication was.

Xanax, Adivan, and it may be worth mentioning i"m on Zoloft

Xanex is a crazy substance I do not like I hate it with a passion although it wasn't mine to use in the first place still I hate it.

Anyways that stuff makes you really tired and makes your body feel like it's pulsating right? That could confuse whether or not you are actually getting close to a dream or not if you are WILD'ing. Adivan I am not familiar with. And Zoloft I hav eonly seen on commercials. May cause drowsiness or whatever it says. So the two I listed will make you tired most likely.

You would probably fall asleep faster although I am not sure what your awareness level would be at so it might be bad for Lucid Dreaming if that is what you are shooting for.

BTW, those are the brand names. Xanax & Ativan (not Adivan) are benzodiazepines that are primarily used for reducing anxiety, and have very strong addiction potential. You should be rely careful about using those so you don't build tolerance or become too dependent.

The benzos tend to increase stage 2 sleep while decreasing deep sleep (stage 3 and 4 ) and decreasing REM sleep. Therefore, benzos tend to REDUCE the time you spend dreaming each night. If you want to LD, I would lay off the stuff.

Melatonin does increase dreaming, but tolerance builds within a few days. The physiological dose is only 100-300mcg (MICROgrams, not mg, 1000mcg = 1mg), so don't take the 1-3mg pills that they come in, unless you want to build tolerance quickly.

I see what you mean. Yeah, I was advised to not screw with the anti-anxiety meds for dreaming potential, and by the looks of it, they wouldn't help anyway. Melatonin eh?

I tried a night of b6 and melatonin, nothing really remarkable, I've had better without. Maybe I'll try a little of just melatonin.

Anyway, thanks for the info, also would you happen to know if I switch the time I take my Zoloft dosage, to early morning, it will kick in and increase my blood level of the chemical by the major REM time? or does it really not make a difference. When I first started Zoloft I noticed a rapid increase in my dreams and vividity (mostly towards nightmare), but I guess my question is, can I mimic this effect, and take my dose early morning?

Any thoughts welcome, thanks guys for the imput, I wouldn't wanna do anything risky.

P.S- Tolerance is ok with me, I would not be taking it often, maybe once or twice a week, with a dose of 3 mg of Melatonin. Is that enough to build tolerance? Also, is it safe to take more than that? Thanks man.

The recall MP4 that I posted in the Lucid Aids forum has messages for vividness as well. However, I find my most vivid dreams by far were outside of a normal sleep cycle. If you have time in the morning, go back to sleep for another hour, that last cycle is all REM and your mind is more alert.

WBTB also increases vividness. Vivid dreams happen because the mind is more alert and firing on more cylinders, wake up, do some calculus and then go back to sleep.

Don't mess with your Zoloft timing or dosage just to get some LDs. If you're taking it to treat depression (which is what most SSRIs are for), you don't want to mess with that for the recreational value of dreaming.

Your body produces about 100mcg of melatonin naturally per night, why do you want to take 30X that amount (3mg)? It's very very unnatural. Remember, melatonin is a hormone. You can't even buy the stuff in some European countries.

More does not always equal better, especially with melatonin. Split the pill into 1/8 or a 1/4 if its easier and take it 20 min. before going to bed if you want to experiment.

The B6 shouldn't interfere with the melatonin. Not everyone benefits from it. I had vivid dreams the first two times I took it, and it has no effect on me now, even though I never take it. Go figure.