My name is Lauren, I am 43, I am a bartender/singer, & in the last month I have had 3 lucid dreams. I have never had LDs before in my life, although I recall reading about it as a teenager.

I think the reason for these dreams is that I had surgery on June 10, & have curbed my drinking & been sleeping more than normal (recovery period). I have been off pain meds since June 13, & the 3 dreams occurred after that. The 3rd one occurred a few hours ago, during a nap.

All my life, I have generally remembered my dreams half the time. I have always had very vivid, detailed dreams, with taste & smell. I do not journal, although maybe now I will. I have occasional "message" dreams. I've seen ghosts, for those who believe in that stuff. But I never had a lucid dream until now.

I have been diagnosed with moderate to acute anxiety, & mild to moderate OCD, which I take Xanax for. It's a low dose, 1mg, & sometimes I break the pills in half. I don't know if this affects dreaming at all but thought I should mention it.

I have been doing some web reading on lucid dreaming to understand it better, & am hoping some of you more experienced folks can help me. My assumption is that my subconscious is causing this to happen for a reason, & I am certainly going through a lot of emotional/spiritual changes right now, so I'm curious to know what other people's onset experiences have been, especially those who began randomly & with a bit of surprise, as I have.

Also I would just like people to talk to about this. I don't have any friends who have had a lucid dream. Frankly, most of my crowd, even my boyfriend, would not understand. I feel somewhat at a loss. So any communication on this topic would be great.

Thank you.