I feel like giving up on the whole thing

Call me impatient but I haven't had a proper LD for 12 nights despite doing heaps of reality checks throughout the day and recalling and journaling my dreams every single night. I had been having a LD every 2-3 nights but now I wake up every morning having slept and dreamed "normally".

I think part of the problem could be that my dreams are fairly boring and ordinary with very few outstandingly odd occurrences so I'm not being prompted to do RCs during my dreams.

I used to be successful with WILD but these days I either just fall asleep or remain wide awake.

It's very frustrating to be investing so much time, effort and dedication into this hobby with such a lack of result. I've even tried relaxing and "not trying" to have a LD when I go to bed. Every day I think "okay, maybe tonight" but then... nothing. I just don't understand it because I'm not doing anything different than when I was having regular LDs.

I'm really sad because LDing has been this wonderful new hobby that has added a new dimension to my life, including finding this forum, but I'm starting to feel that the ROI (Return On Investment) is not enough to justify continuing with it. For the first time ever I actually wish I'd never discovered lucid dreaming. Then I wouldn't be wasting all this energy pursuing LDs and I simply wouldn't know what I was missing. But because I've experienced the incredible joy and fulfillment they can elicit I can't bear the thought of giving up. You only have to read entries #2 and #22 in my Dream Journal to see what I'm talking about. Some of my LDs have been the most incredible experiences of my life. That may sound extreme, but anyone who has had a good LD will be able to relate to this. LDs are also the only way I can spend time with someone I would have laid down my own life for, who was killed five years ago.

Does anyone who has experienced a sudden unexplained dry spell have any advice or words of encouragement? :(

Thanks

Words of encouragement:

I'm 35 and haven't had a single lucid dream my entire life! Still working on it. I first learned of lucid dreams in the late 80's and immediately tried to have one. Tried for only about two weeks and gave up. Recently, I have been back into dreaming, and am back on the wagon. Since joining this site over a month ago, I still haven't had a lucid dream...so you're already doing better than me! Keep at it! Yes, it may be frustrating after you've had a taste of them, I'm sure. But you already have more experience than me, and therefore can achieve lucidity easier than I.

Tell you what...let's you and me have a 'competition'. Whoever has the next lucid dream 'wins'. Would that inspire you? I know it would me!

I haven't had a lucid dream for over a week now since I had my last one if I remember right and somehow I can't seem to recall more than like 2-5 min of my dreams now and what I recall is what I dream right before I wake up, and before I had more vivid dreams where I could remember a lot. It's fustrating, but I still don't give up.

I also keep waking up randomly at the night, around the same time somehow atm, that's fustrating too and it started after I began trying to LD. But i am greatefull that I fall asleep right after I do a RC.

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Originally Posted by DreamQueen

Call me impatient but I haven't had a proper LD for 12 nights despite doing heaps of reality checks throughout the day and recalling and journaling my dreams every single night. I had been having a LD every 2-3 nights but now I wake up every morning having slept and dreamed "normally".

I think part of the problem could be that my dreams are fairly boring and ordinary with very few outstandingly odd occurrences so I'm not being prompted to do RCs during my dreams.

I used to be successful with WILD but these days I either just fall asleep or remain wide awake.

It's very frustrating to be investing so much time, effort and dedication into this hobby with such a lack of result. I've even tried relaxing and "not trying" to have a LD when I go to bed. Every day I think "okay, maybe tonight" but then... nothing. I just don't understand it because I'm not doing anything different than when I was having regular LDs.

I'm really sad because LDing has been this wonderful new hobby that has added a new dimension to my life, including finding this forum, but I'm starting to feel that the ROI (Return On Investment) is not enough to justify continuing with it. For the first time ever I actually wish I'd never discovered lucid dreaming. Then I wouldn't be wasting all this energy pursuing LDs and I simply wouldn't know what I was missing. But because I've experienced the incredible joy and fulfillment they can elicit I can't bear the thought of giving up. You only have to read entries #2 and #22 in my Dream Journal to see what I'm talking about. Some of my LDs have been the most incredible experiences of my life. That may sound extreme, but anyone who has had a good LD will be able to relate to this. LDs are also the only way I can spend time with someone I would have laid down my own life for, who was killed five years ago.

Does anyone who has experienced a sudden unexplained dry spell have any advice or words of encouragement? :(

Thanks

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Your trying to hard i think.

Id say take a break and don't worry about LD for a little while, keep up with dream journal and reality checks. But don't go to bed every night hoping and wishing your get a LD.

Don't worry about it for a little while. Take a break, maybe you just need a break. If your that good at Lucid Dreaming, your sub conscious will let you know when its time again.

Ive found that sometimes when i lucid dream for several days out of a week, afterwards i wont be able to lucid dream for a while because ive gotten too use too it, and i expect for it to happen, then when it doesn't happen i get disappointed.

Don't worry however, you will lucid dream again, it seems we all go through "Dry Spells".

Thanks peeps. I've just been to the gym and the exercise endorphins have cheered me up somewhat :)

I just feel worried that I might never have another LD in my life! I've worried about this before but always end up having one again. I've just never had to wait this long! Usually the longest without one is 4-5 days.

Please send LD voodoo-vibes my way :voodoo:

12 days is a bit short to give up, i havent had a lucid in 2 months even thought my vivedness and recall has shot through the roof. All i can say is i wish i was you :O

Little tip: Give up all caffeine, even chcolate, might have some minor side effects but it works for me, not so much for lucidness but recall and vividness so someone with your ability should be able to get lucid from it :)

It wears off after about 2/3/4 days until your body readjusts to the lack of caffeine but during that time you can have some grt dreams, never failed for me. I had 6 on new years Day :D :P

Dont give up :D

I have only had 2 LDs...both in the beginning of november. My recall and vividness is great. I get a little discouraged too but I figure if I did it once im bound to do it again. So I have been reading like crazy different techniques aids ect. To tell you the truth since I have been into LDing I have more patients in life itself...strange I think but it will happen again just dont give up on your mind and the things it can do!:banana:

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Originally Posted by Patrickstar12

I have only had 2 LDs...both in the beginning of november. My recall and vividness is great. I get a little discouraged too but I figure if I did it once im bound to do it again. So I have been reading like crazy different techniques aids ect. To tell you the truth since I have been into LDing I have more patients in life itself...strange I think but it will happen again just dont give up on your mind and the things it can do!:banana:

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Thanks, you are a real sweetie I can tell :smitten: and I'm sure you will have more LDs, especially if your vividness is good. Just be vigilent about your RCs during the day and eventually you will do one while you're dreaming. That's how I've had most of my LDs.

Hey, I know what it's like...You become almost addicted. Just one fight with a T-Rex, that's all I ask! haha, but I've only had a few pretty lousy LDs, so it must hurt more for you. :( But hey, it's silly, the more you dream the better you get. I'm sure if we persist we'll all get to the point where we can become lucid any time we want. In the meantime, having withdrawal symptoms is just part of the process. Winston Churchill said "Never never never never never give up" but I say Never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never hmm what was I talking about??

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Originally Posted by paragon

Hey, I know what it's like...You become almost addicted. Just one fight with a T-Rex, that's all I ask! haha, but I've only had a few pretty lousy LDs, so it must hurt more for you. :( But hey, it's silly, the more you dream the better you get. I'm sure if we persist we'll all get to the point where we can become lucid any time we want. In the meantime, having withdrawal symptoms is just part of the process. Winston Churchill said "Never never never never never give up" but I say Never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never hmm what was I talking about??

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Aww thanks paragon, you're a sweetie too :smitten: and your post made me smile.

Yeah, it is hard. Pretty much my only lucid goal ever is to meet with this person. I occasionally throw in a simple quick goal like looking into a mirror (which is very cool) and walking through walls, but meeting with my brother is all I really want to do.

Although I must say after seeing 'Twilight' I wouldn't mind spending a bit of "intimate lucid time" with Robert Pattinson, if ya catch my drift hehe ;)

Well thanks so much everyone! I just had a LD! Yaaaaaay! I'm sure all your support and encouragement helped :)

I've noticed with anything I've practiced to get good at, I'll have periods of great success where I'm much better at whatever it is I'm practicing than I ever had been before. However, inevitably I'll enter a slump after that and get very discouraged. I've noticed if I push through these slumps I always seem to end up with another period where I'm even better than I was the last time things were going well.

Just something I'd like to throw out there since it's what I'm using as encouragement to get through the slump I'm currently in.

Glad to hear you had an LD last night! Just keep at it!

Could I add a supplement suggestion? There's a B-Complex by a brand called Source Naturals and it's called Coenzymate B Complex. I have tried every B-Complex available and this is the ONLY one that actually delivers.

B-Vitamins are important for a number of functions that pertain to dreaming. Read up on those who get B Injections are report the most colorful dreams of his/her life.

All the B Vitamins are coenzymated (ready to go) and active. They absorb sublingually and hit the bloodstream extremely fast. It gives energy, motivation, and clarity that you can feel before their even finished dissolving. Non-stimulant energy that's great for enhancing focus and awareness in dreams.

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Originally Posted by DreamQueen

Call me impatient but I haven't had a proper LD for 12 nights.

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You are impatient. 12 nights isn't a dry spell.

That being said, you aren't doing anything wrong (except for saying your dreams are "ordinary." Look harder.) Keep on truckin', and you'll get through.

Your trying too hard, give it a break for a week, then try again.

Yay :)

Glad you didn't give up now?? :lol:

"I'm doing everything right so why can't I LD?"

As Yoda said...

And that is why you fail.

give up for a while and then when you come back to doing it it will work.

Keep it up. Change up your routine. I just got over a month+ long dryspell and it sucked. Unfortunately I'm a DG so I had to keep coming back and being reminded how much it sucked. Just take a break, relax, try some new things. Read up on a certain technique, or try an aid or apple juice. Try NOT RCing intentionally. Try NOT to think about lucid dreaming. See if you can go 12 days without it or something :D

Nah, I'd say just relax. If you've been slacking on the DJ, get back into it. That's the biggest thing that killed my LDs :(

A quick tidbit for lucid dream induction... Piracetam is a nootropic that is under prescription in Europe called Nootropil. I've been researching it's use before bed (I haven't tried it yet, though I have some) and I have come up with all positive and very dramatic reviews for those who take a dose 1 hour before sleeping. One such review on the topic that I pulled from another site:

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Piracetam is the most amazing thing I have ever taken befor sleep. I have been taking piracetam for almost 3 month strait 2 times a day, when i wake and befor i go to bed. You don't just remember your dreams better, but when your falling alseep you go in to that place betwean sleep and awake much faster and its much more vivid. The only problem is that I wake up much more groggy then I other wise would. I love Piracetam befor bed, and would say that I find it much more effective then taking melitonin.

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It can be found for a VERY cheap price in powder form. If you're interested, let me know.

In the book advanced supplements for lucid dreaming the writer states that piratetam inhibits dreaming. It is used, in his book, to counteract the desensitization of galantime and nothing else.
It also stays in your system for 48 hours. When I have taken it after my lucid dreaming attempts my dreams usually ceased.

Its just surprising to me that your stating the opposite. --that it gives you dreams.

Of course taken over time it would make your acetlycholine receptors more sensitive, to where it would make sense.

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Originally Posted by DreamQueen

Well thanks so much everyone! I just had a LD! Yaaaaaay! I'm sure all your support and encouragement helped :)

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Darn! You won! :) Well good for you. That's awesome...now just help me have my FIRST LD!

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Originally Posted by RunflaCruiser

In the book advanced supplements for lucid dreaming the writer states that piratetam inhibits dreaming. It is used, in his book, to counteract the desensitization of galantime and nothing else.
It also stays in your system for 48 hours. When I have taken it after my lucid dreaming attempts my dreams usually ceased.

Its just surprising to me that your stating the opposite. --that it gives you dreams.

Of course taken over time it would make your acetlycholine receptors more sensitive, to where it would make sense.

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It was as surprising to me as it was to you, as piracetam has been deemed to have a stimulant effect (as opposed to it's fat soluble pramiracetam). But when I read more into the actual experiences of users who have tried it, they all say that it does some wonderful and bizarre things.

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Originally Posted by Paradox-db3

Darn! You won! :) Well good for you. That's awesome...now just help me have my FIRST LD!

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Yeah, I feel happy again lol! Hey, I sent you a PM yesterday with some helpful advice for your first LD. Perhaps you didn't get it? It's a good idea to set your account so you receive an email when someone PMs you :)

Let me know if you didn't get it and I'll send it again :sunflower:

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Originally Posted by Abra

You are impatient. 12 nights isn't a dry spell.

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It is for me, especially when it's the only way I can see my brother now.