Thread: I've had natural lucid dreams since I was four and want to stop. Can anyone help?

Originally Posted by pippy

I'm very new here and am at my wit's end. Here's a brief synopsis:

Started sleepwalking when I was four.
Became confused about what was real and what wasn't (in my dreams) in early teens.
Began serious LDing late teens.
Dream most nights now.
Lie to hubby about whether I'm 'awake' or 'dreaming'.
Getting worried as last night I dreamed our two year old daughter choked to death even though hubby did CPR.
Concerned that I might try to pick up our daughter or hurt her accidentally.

My lucid dreams are basically my body waking up but my mind stays in the dream but I'M AWARE THAT I'M DREAMING. I can do all the reality checks to confirm that I'm in a LD but I can't turn the dream off.

If anyone can help, I'm desperate.

Thank you.

Why would you do that?

Originally Posted by pippy

Lie to hubby about whether I'm 'awake' or 'dreaming'.
...
My lucid dreams are basically my body waking up but my mind stays in the dream but I'M AWARE THAT I'M DREAMING. I can do all the reality checks to confirm that I'm in a LD but I can't turn the dream off.

Are you becoming confused between waking and dreaming life while in real life? Everybody has moments when they remember parts of dreams and then realize they are dreams -- for me almost instantly. Have you seen a psychiatrist? You may want to take it upon yourself to talk to your physician about your mental health. This can be a symptom of schizophrenia. I am not a mental health expert nor a physician so don't take that as a diagnosis, it's just what I've heard and read about.

Another thing, can you clarify what you mean by your body "waking up" while your mind stays in the dream? If you are dreaming while you are awake, that can be another symptom of schizophrenia. If, on the other hand, you just become conscious of your dream then it's probably nothing to worry about.

You should read about dream control. If you think your dreams are too similar to waking life and you truly are lucid during these dreams then you should be able to control these dreams and leave real life situations behind. Visualizing a new dreamscape and spinning in circles seems to be a common technique.

If you want to exit a dream, spinning may or may not end it. The last time I had a scary lucid experience I shook my head violently (it was almost a knee-jerk reaction to the vividness of this dream) and I woke up from it.

Pippy,

I agree completely with Vertebrate. I recommend you talk to a psychologist or psychiatrist regarding this and make sure they understand about lucid dreaming. You don't wan't to have to educate them because THEY DO NOT ALL UNDERSTAND WHAT LUCID DREAMS ARE.

If you are truly having a LD (lucid dream), then by definition you should be perfectly aware you are conscious despite the fact your body is asleep. To 99% of the people here, that means it is time for fun or adventure. You cannot stop the dreaming process so hopefully you would hone your skill and ENJOY it.

You however said your "body wakes up" and your mind keeps on dreaming. If you are talking about sleep walking and dreaming while your body is out of bed doing things, then this is something different altogether. This is a known sleep disorder. Obviously you're not supposed to sleep like that because of the risk of injury. Your body is supposed to be mostly paralyzed during sleep to prevent injury.

If you a lucid dreaming while sleep walking, then this presents a very unusual situation. You need the assistance of someone who specialized in sleep disorders AND is knowledgeable about lucid dreaming. The knowledge of lucid dreaming is necessary so they will thoroughly understand your situation. I've heard and seen video's of people sleepwalking and dreaming simultaneously but never heard of someone lucid dreaming while sleepwalking. The lucid dreaming part isn't the problem. The problem is walking around while in REM sleep. Don't take this the wrong way, but the very fact you are asking the questions you are suggests you do not have a solid understanding of lucid dreaming. I highly suggest you also obtain a copy of Stephen LaBerge's book "Lucid Dreaming". It is the cornerstone of our knowledge here and would help you get the solid foundation of knowledge I think you need. The book is easily found online.

I don't know for sure, but I would hope a sleep disorder specialist could help you stop your sleepwalking. That would involve somehow getting your body to be paralyzed in the proper fashion while you sleep. Once this were accomplished, then you could enjoy your lucid dreams.

Sorry if I'm rambling on in an unorganized manner. We could use some clarification from you to help determine which situation you are experiencing.

Ah, so you are sleepwalking or lucid dreaming? You said first that you started LDing at four, then said that you started sleepwalking at four, too, did the two come at the same time, or are you confusing the terms?
Being confused with what is real and what is not would be the opposite of a lucid dream, so I'm not sure.

I've got some questions for you Pippy,

Are you physically getting up while sleeping, then continuing to dream while walking around? If so, are your physical eyes open and you are dreaming simultaneously? Or are you sleepwalking and dreaming while walking around?

Your comments about your child and hubby concern me greatly. If you are somehow sleepwalking and lucid dreaming simultaneously, then there is a distinct possibility you will not find a sleep disorder specialist that understands what it means to have a lucid dream. Unfortunately I'm not confident you do either, or you wouldn't truly be concerned about hurting your daughter. If you did understand lucid dreaming thoroughly there would be zero risk of hurting your daughter because you would be perfectly rational during the experience.

As for lying to your hubby, that is the last thing you want to do. He also needs to be knowledgeable about lucid dreaming just so he will have a better chance of understanding what is going on. Let's say you are lucid dreaming while sleepwalking. If he physically interacts with you and you are indeed having a lucid dream at the time, then you should tell him the TRUTH so he can act accordingly. This is very odd because you speak as if you are perhaps dreaming (hallucinating) with your eyes physically open. If this is the case, it is extremely odd. I've never heard of it. Generally speaking, hallucinations seen with the eyes physically open indicates schizophrenia. Do understand this is common and easily controlled with medication - nothing to be ashamed about. The only shame would be if you DID have schizophrenia and did NOT seek treatment.

The two possible scenarios (schizophrenia vs sleep walking while dreaming/lucid dreaming) are of course hugely different. Please clarify so we can better understand.

Wow, I never expected so much support... thank you.

Thanks for your questions - you're all right, I haven't been very clear.
Without using any terms then, I'll explain what happens and maybe you could clarify what it is I'm doing?
My dream can start any time of the night but rarely in the last couple of hours before I get up.
When the dream starts I normally get out of bed. There's a moment when I stop to assess whether I'm 'dreaming' or the situation's real. I do reality checks and confirm that I'm dreaming and that I'm not really in a swimming pool or having to carry heavy furniture etc. This normally wakes my husband up and we've tried relaxation techniques to help me get back to 'sleep' but recently I've started telling him that I'm not dreaming, that I'm awake and just going to the bathroom. I don't 'choose' to do this - like I don't choose to be in a dream. I can't stop the dream but I can fully engage in it - acting out what ever it is that's going on. (This is what concerns me as sometimes I've 'carried' my daughter back to her room and even tried to put her back into her cot, even though I can see she's already there.)
Then there's a point of 'realisation' when I wake up and the dream stops.

A couple of notes that might help:
There have been two occasions where I've stopped dreaming altogether which were pregnancy and the Atkins diet but my doctor doesn't think they're related.

I really don't want to embrace this - I just want to stop dreaming and sleep well. I'm exhausted.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Pip.

Well, that explains it much better. So its sleep walking AND lucid dreaming, however you have little control over your dream because of the sleep walking. You should go see a doctor and tell them about your sleep walking problem, that way they can give you meds that will prevent you from acting out your dreams.

I can't understand how you feel about lucid dreaming, so I won't ask you why you'd ever want to stop.

I'm not sure what you could do to stop the lucid dreams. Perhaps there is a supplement you can take to put you in a deeper state of sleep? Trazodone seems to work for this, but it is not without side effects as with all medication.

On the schizophrenia subject, it does not sound like schizophrenia to me at all. You just sound confused, that's all. I have a sibling with schizophrenia and that is something completely different. HOWEVER, like the other people in this thread, I am no mental health expert, this is just my two cents. Only a mental health professional could tell you those things.

I'm sorry. This sounds like a difficult and scary situation to be in. I would suggest you see a psychiatrist and talk about it with them, they have helped me through a few hard times in my life.

I'm still having a little trouble understanding.

So, are you getting up and walking around in real life while you are dreaming? If so, that sounds like a sleepwalking problem more than a dreaming problem. Most people don't walk around and act out their dreams while they are dreaming. Whether or not you are lucid while sleepwalking is not the issue- unless you can wake yourself up once you realize you are dreaming, in which case it might help. I would think being lucid would help the situation more than hurt it.

If this is a sleepwalking problem, there are doctors and medications that can help you. You can't stop dreaming, but you may be able to stop getting up and acting out your dreams.

OK Pippy,

That helps but you still didn't answer one of my key questions. When you sleep walk and dream/lucid dream, are your eyes physically open?

Pippy, it does not sound like these are lucid dreams so much as sleepwalking and then gaining lucidity and going back to bed.

If you stop sleepwalking you will probably also stop becoming spontaneously lucid. However, if you still become lucid while not sleepwalking you could probably have some fun with it and it would no longer be a scary experience.

I would still recommend asking your physician for a referral to a specialist or finding a specialist on your own. And I would like to reiterate Mental's question: are your eyes open while dreaming?

Also, a more specific question, while you are dreaming and realize you are dreaming, if you stop and do nothing does your physical body still act out the dream and keep walking around? And, is it like you are able to see two things at once (like the real world and your dream)?

Originally Posted by Hukif

Well, that explains it much better. So its sleep walking AND lucid dreaming, however you have little control over your dream because of the sleep walking. You should go see a doctor and tell them about your sleep walking problem, that way they can give you meds that will prevent you from acting out your dreams.

This right here^. You have a sleep walking problem and you are becoming lucid during this time. You can still hear the outside world (waking life) when you are within the dream state...which is why you are able to communicate with your husband (tell him you aren't dreaming/etc). I would definitely go see a doctor and get some meds to neutralize your sleep walking. I doubt you would hurt anyone else during this time, but one change of detail in your dream and you could find yourself falling down the steps/walking outside/etc.

Originally Posted by pippy

Wow, I never expected so much support... thank you.

Thanks for your questions - you're all right, I haven't been very clear.
Without using any terms then, I'll explain what happens and maybe you could clarify what it is I'm doing?
My dream can start any time of the night but rarely in the last couple of hours before I get up.
When the dream starts I normally get out of bed. There's a moment when I stop to assess whether I'm 'dreaming' or the situation's real. I do reality checks and confirm that I'm dreaming and that I'm not really in a swimming pool or having to carry heavy furniture etc. This normally wakes my husband up and we've tried relaxation techniques to help me get back to 'sleep' but recently I've started telling him that I'm not dreaming, that I'm awake and just going to the bathroom. I don't 'choose' to do this - like I don't choose to be in a dream. I can't stop the dream but I can fully engage in it - acting out what ever it is that's going on. (This is what concerns me as sometimes I've 'carried' my daughter back to her room and even tried to put her back into her cot, even though I can see she's already there.)
Then there's a point of 'realisation' when I wake up and the dream stops.

A couple of notes that might help:
There have been two occasions where I've stopped dreaming altogether which were pregnancy and the Atkins diet but my doctor doesn't think they're related.

I really don't want to embrace this - I just want to stop dreaming and sleep well. I'm exhausted.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Pip.

hi Pip i could see how that could cause problems as you do not want to be walking around dreaming, however if they are lucid from the start then you should essentially be conscious enough to be in control. there are many ways to wake yourself up, or go into deeper sleep. however the mind needs to dream and repressing dreaming can only create more problems in the long run. are their recurring themes to the dreams that you could share with us in order to help resolve them?

i do think carbohydrates have some kind of connection to mind states and i have seen studies where low carb diets have been proven to help cure things like scizophrenia, not that i think that is what you are suffering with. this is a video series about the nature of the brain while asleep. it may help get an overview of the things that may be happening to you. the little girl with narcolepsy is a bit of a heartbreaker though.. most docs will probably give you something which could repress the dreams and give you temporary relief at least, however as the vid shows, repressing dreams can just mean that the mind needs to catch up on the rem sleep that you have missed. regular docs may not be alot of help, although it seems stopping the sleep walking is the most important step and they may help with that, but a sleep specialist or someone a bit more leftfield trained in dreaming could be of great assistance. good luck

LiveLeak.com - (documentary) "The Secrets of Sleep" (Part 1/2)