What if you had a lucid dream...

[alfa]

...but couldn't remember it, when you woke up? What this would mean is, you're a successful lucid dreamer, only you don't yet know about it? Does it happen this way, or are lucid dreams generally easy to remember upon waking up? Otherwise, we may not even know we're lucid dreamers despite being so! Any idea on this? Do I rest assured that if I have a lucid dream, it will certainly be remembered upon waking up? If not the dream content, will we at least remember that we had a lucid dream?

[lucid4sho]

The old falling tree in the forest question. Actually I know this happens because sometimes in the morning I will listen to my tape recorded DJ and I will have non lds and lds on there that I don't remember having or saying into my recorder. That used to happen to me pretty frequently, but not so much anymore.

[MrBeelzy]

Just like regular dreams I might not remember lucid dreams until later in the day when something might trigger that memory. I can only assume then that some are just totally forgotten. The ones I forget, or don't remember right when I wake up are usually short ones where not a whole lot happens, even if I have good control. If a whole lot of crazy stuff happens, or anything particularly remarkable, I will remember them for sure. I have lucid dreams a lot though, so they're not all that remarkable in and of themselves, but if you have no history of having them, I'd say its safe to assume that if you experienced one, you would probably remember.

[james-25:22pm]

yeah, sometimes you will know you had one but not recall more than just checking reality. Usually they are pretty memorable; but dont let your recall down if you are attempting or may hit yourself!

[AlexLou]

Everyone forgets most of their dreams, lucid or not. But your first lucid experiences will probably be very memorable because of the excitement of becoming lucid. I doubt that you'd forget.