instantly vanishing memory

I only get this problem sometimes, but it's really annoying when I do. What basically happens is that I'll wake up and recall my dream. I'll be thinking about one part of the dream for a bit but then suddenly out of nowhere, the entire memory TOTALLY vanishes from my head. Like not even a temporary slip, it seems to vanish to the point where even if I remember a fragment of what I was thinking I am totally unable to recall the rest of it or even begin to put it in context... as if it was simply erased from my memory. This all happens while I'm lying there awake recalling. It seems to happen just about once a week or so. Anyone ever experienced this or have some tips on defeating it?

I used to have this problem until I started sleeping with a notepad right next to my bed. Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night after a dream I will write down a few keywords that will jog the memory in the morning. I also use this notepad in the morning when I am trying to recall my dreams, something I read in the forums somewhere helps me a lot: try recalling in reverse, from the end to the beginning writing down a keyword for each part as you go.

You might forget large parts of the dream, but at least you have a concrete record of what you were able to write down, and in no time you will eventually be recalling full dreams.

Hope this helps

I always sleep with a copybook by my bed- sometimes a dream does disappear but to remember forgotten dreams a good tactic is to cycle through the common elements of your dreams- the people you usually see in dreams, your dream themes, dream signs, etc... sometimes you might get lucky and the dream will return!

Clearing your mind of wandering thoughts as you go to sleep helps with this, as well as auto-suggestion.

Try making it a habit to keep your eyes closed when you wake up, and to not move also. This will also help with WILD if you have the time to sleep in, or have awoken during the night.

Let your memories collect while in this state and don't throw them around, then start to recall from the point that you last remember and work backwards. You can write the events down as you do, but I like to stay in that dead-body and eyes-closed state, only recording (rarely) what I want after when I can't remember any more or have had enough.