Supplements to Boost Dream Recall

[isuredreamalot]

Hey everyone, So I just had a few questions for you experienced LDers out there. I have some supplements at home that I have taken a few times and was just wondering if someone knew about one or all of these. I know everyone has different opinions regarding the use of supplements but I don't take them daily probably about once or twice per week, if even. Usually my recall is pretty average i remember about 1-3 vivid dreams per night and the clarity I would probably rate 7.5/10 and the weirdness about a 6/10 I have in my cupboard at home Claridream PRO (this stuff is a godsend in terms of oneirogens, but can only be taken once a week) Vitamin B6 (100mg pills); Valerian Root (4:1 extract; 100mg per pill), Melatonin (10mg pills), Ginkgo Biloba (120mg Pills). Just wondering if these can be taken in conjunction with one another or if it's best to take one or two supplements at a time. Also, what exactly does Melatonin do? From what I understand it is very similar to the supplement 5-htp. Input would be very much appreciated, thanks!

[Darkmatters]

The only one I can help with is melatonin. What it does is it makes you sleepy, or at least very relaxed which helps you get to sleep. But you shouldn't be taking a full dose of it - if you do it will pretty much knock you out and you'll sleep heavily through the entire night and wake probably not remembering any dreams. If any of your supplements require waking to do a WBTB or anything, then definitely don't take a full dose of melatonin. The advice I found and that has worked for me is to get it in the lowest dosage available (I forget what that is offhand) and then cut the tablets into pieces. Which I thought was impossible but turned out to be pretty do-able really once I started using a razor blade, scalpel or X-acto knife. You don't want to get more than 3 mg of melatonin at a dose. So your 10mg tablets would need to be cut into about 3 pieces, maybe 4. Also, be sure to keep detailed notes about what supplements you took each night and the effects they had - later you'll be able to correlate and figure out what gives what effect. Best if you keep it simple - start with just one supplement and discover exactly what effect that alone has, then later try it in conjunction with another one. Eventually you'll understand how they work in various combinations.

[Darkmatters]

Oh, also about B6 - you want to take it in the daytime or the morning - in fact I hear morning is best. It will still be in your system at night when you sleep. I forget why but you don't want to take it shortly before bed. It either keeps you awake or messes up your chances of LD'ing or something. Also, I just checked and I was wrong about the dosage on melatonin. If you want to be able to lucid, you don't want to take more than .3 mg. That's three tenths of a milligram! Way less than 3 mg as I said above.

[isuredreamalot]

Thanks for the info, looks like I'm going to have to find a way to cut a pill into 6-8 peices Edit...uh... sorry for the double post :/

[isuredreamalot]

Oh, also about B6 - you want to take it in the daytime or the morning - in fact I hear morning is best. It will still be in your system at night when you sleep. I forget why but you don't want to take it shortly before bed. It either keeps you awake or messes up your chances of LD'ing or something. Also, I just checked and I was wrong about the dosage on melatonin. If you want to be able to lucid, you don't want to take more than .3 mg. That's three tenths of a milligram! Way less than 3 mg as I said above. Thanks for the info, looks like i'm going to have to find a way to cut a pill into 6-8 peices

[Darkmatters]

Hate to break the news, but it's more like 30 to 40 pieces actually. 0.3mg is one tenth of 3 mg. I think they sell it in much lower dosages, like maybe 3mg per tab, and then you'd need to cut it into 10 pieces. Let me explain more fully. You can use a 3mg dose to help you fall asleep, but even that is strong enough to block lucidity. If you want to be able to achieve lucidity, then it needs to be at or below .3mg.

[isuredreamalot]

Hate to break the news, but it's more like 30 to 40 pieces actually. 0.3mg is one tenth of 3 mg. I think they sell it in much lower dosages, like maybe 3mg per tab, and then you'd need to cut it into 10 pieces. Let me explain more fully. You can use a 3mg dose to help you fall asleep, but even that is strong enough to block lucidity. If you want to be able to achieve lucidity, then it needs to be at or below .3mg. Holy Shit. looks like I’m making a run to the store tomorrow for a lower dosage, guess that’s why you shouldn’t buy meds at s-mart. Thanks for the info.

[Darkmatters]

Whoah - is there really an S-Mart? I thought that was just from the Evil Dead movies... (And is their motto "Shop Smart - Shop S-Mart?")

[isuredreamalot]

Whoah - is there really an S-Mart? I thought that was just from the Evil Dead movies... (And is their motto "Shop Smart - Shop S-Mart?") Yeah actually it is lol