A little about me and my "Dream Hangovers"

[Trollkvinna]

I am a Stay at Home Mom of 2 pre-schoolers, a graphic and traditional artist, crafter and webdesigner. Born a Lucid Dreamer I had no idea one had a choice and I don't think in my case I do; mine happen without me trying and always have. My problem is I have terrible hangovers after them and wish I knew how to better deal with them. When I dream I Lucid Dream probably 90% of the time and about half that time I will roll from one dream to the next without fully waking. This morning I had 3 and whenever I do that I wake up feeling disconnected and fuzzy and with a headache that feels like a hangover. Todays I'm just starting to feel reconnected to the world and the headache is still arround. It's nothing as bad as a migraine or anything, but I feel like I can't concentrate or keep a thought in my head for more than a min. For about a hour this morning I felt like I was still walking arroung in the house I drempt about in the last dream. This stuff bugs me more now as a mom because it made taking care of my girls this morning very strange. It was like seeing the two places overlapped with the dream one on top and being see through. I don't like these "hangovers", but some people I guess are having these dreams on purpose. I hope they know what they might be in for. It would be interesting to see if they have done any studies about "Dream Hangovers"; as I like to call 'em. I'd like to know what medically happens to my body and what to do to help. I do enjoy my dreaming but I could do without the problems afterwards. So far I've had 3 bottles of water and I still feel dehydrated! Yuck. Anyone else have this problem?

[DuB]

When I dream I Lucid Dream probably 90% of the time and about half that time I will roll from one dream to the next without fully waking. This morning I had 3 and whenever I do that I wake up feeling disconnected and fuzzy and with a headache that feels like a hangover. So approximately 45% of the time you wake up with hangover-like symptoms? It sounds to me like there may be some underlying medical cause unrelated to lucid dreams, which are not known to be associated with any physical symptoms. Have you seen a doctor about this? Anyone else have this problem? As I mentioned, the vast majority of lucid dreamers report feeling no physically different after lucid dreaming compared to non-lucid dreaming. Some people say that waking up from a lucid dream makes them feel energized and puts them in a good mood for the day. Conversely, a small number of people have reported that after waking from a lucid dream, they feel tired or physically drained. However, I have never heard of anyone reporting headaches, dehydration, and other hangover-like symptoms after lucid dreaming. Once again, I recommend you make an appointment with your doctor.

[Trollkvinna]

I have found that other people are talking about how they have headaches after dreaming. Here are some of the links I found if it helps: http://www.dealingwithheadaches.com/...ucid-dreaming/ http://www.sleepnet.com/rest8/messages/123.html http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=3162408 http://www.migraine-aura.org/content.../index_en.html There must be someone on here I could chat with who has experienced this. Also I have asked my doc (actually serveral) and they have found nothing wrong with me and don't think that this is anything to worry about. So I am not concerned just annoyed and wondered how others may deal with this. Or maybe learn to be able to choose to lucid dream and then not to. Right now I have no choice and as it can be fun once in a while often times it has negative side effects for me like today.

[WolfeDreamer531]

Although I have read your sources about others who suffer from this, I still agree with DuB and think that you and the rest of the mass may be suffering from an unknown condition that produce the side effects you listed. You said that you've been naturally LDing all your life, so lucid dreaming could be a possible side effect from this condition. I myself have never suffered thoes side effects from a lucid or regular dream so Im sorry that I dont have any help for you.

[Serith]

It seems odd that lucid dreaming would be the cause, and I doubt it is the case. However, after reading those links you posted, I thought of another possibility. When you sleep longer, you have more vivid and clear dreams. From personal experience, I know that these dreams are more likely to turn into lucid dreams. Is it possible that you only lucid dream when you sleep longer, and your headaches happen because of the longer amount of sleep?