Galantamine Supplements and Anti-depressants

[DeeryTheDeer]

I ordered Galantamind (although I haven't taken it yet, or experimented with supplements before), but I'm also taking an anti-depressant, which is a Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor. I take a 10mg tablet of that every morning (late morning), and I've read that the time it takes to clear out of the system is 6-8 days. If I sleep for 4-5 hours, wake up and take a 4mg capsule of Galantamind early in the morning, how do you think that will react with my medication? Just wanted to ask around to be safe and make sure what I attempt is effective. My dreams are typically vivid with okay recall, although a few months ago when I took my med dosages at night, I could kiss my lucid dream attempts goodbye (whether or not that was a placebo/attitude about the drug, I'm not sure). I've read that anti-depressants affect Galantamind by slowing down the elimination half-life and keeping it in the system longer, so I guess I should wait even longer than Thomas Yuschak suggests between attempts to avoid tolerance issues. But other than that, what do you guys think I should look out for?

[moe007]

The answer to your question is complicated, as it relies on many factors that are pertinent to you personally. Ask your physician.

[DeeryTheDeer]

Well, I went ahead and set my alarm to 5:30 am to wake myself up (I got about 4 hours of non-REM sleep) and cut a 4mg capsule of Galantamind in half, so I only took 2mg to start off with, just to be safe. Then I went back to bed. I fell asleep and had a DILD. It was a very brief period of lucidity, however, and it was more like dreaming about being lucid. I didn't think of spinning or all the different things I wanted to do. I just looked at several pictures of my siblings and I as little kids on my iPod Touch that were very realistic (one of my simple beginning dream goals was to study how realistic things really are in dreams). The more I focused on the faces and their realism, however, the blurrier the overall pictures got. Then my lucidity faded away and the rest of the night was non-lucid. To be honest, I've never had any kind of lucid dream that lasted longer than a couple minutes, tops. Even lucid dreams in my childhood that happened naturally never lasted longer than a brief moment, and then I tried to wake myself up. However, the affect the Galantamind had on the rest of my dreams was also interesting (unless it was a placebo effect or my motivation). Usually my dreams are very random and just a bunch of crazy images and sounds that don't make any sense or storyline, but last night most of my dreams were long sequences that each had a coherent plot, and I had somewhat rational conversations with people. Those kind of dreams I haven't had in quite a while. So at noon today I got up and took my anti-depressant, and through all of that I haven't noticed any negative side effects whatsoever (and probably because I took such a low dose), so I'm encouraged to ramp it up to 4mg tomorrow night.

[Liz]

Most antidepressants will decrease REM sleep and can decrease short term memory....not things that help with enjoying dreaming.

[moe007]

Most antidepressants will decrease REM sleep and can decrease short term memory....not things that help with enjoying dreaming. Im sorry, I do not believe that is entirely true. Antidepressants flood the brain with neurotransmitters that depressed people lack, such as serotonin or dopamine. Though this may seem hard to measure/quantify or certify, but theoretically.. the sudden increase of these neurotransmitters puts a person in the ideal state for a lucid dream. Very high dopamine/serotonin. But disregarding theory, in practice.. research has shown that high levels of serotonin cause a person to have REM suppression. Which would be the part that you were trying to say. The flipside to this is that when the drug begins to wear off, when most of it is metabolized, the brain is sent into REM Rebound; a state that if entered while asleep, would cause you to have insanely vivid dreams.

[Liz]

Respectfully antidepressants decrease the duration of REM sleep. Look it up. The only antidepressant ever studied to not decrease the duration of REM is Bupropion. This is a medication used for Bipolar Disorder-meaning depression AND mania. In fact, patients on long term MAO inhibitors were used in several research studies to study the effects the long term affects of REM suppression. Antidepressants should never be discontinued "cold turkey" nor are they ever dc in such a manner by any malpractice-savvy practioner. The half lives on most of these are around 15 hours and with a gradual tapering of the dosage before final discontinuance=no rebound. If you are seeking a high likelihood of vivid dreams, become an alcoholic or benzo addict and withdraw. You could also become a PTSD patient or take any of dozens of prescription meds that have sleep disturbances as a known side effect.

[Liz]

DeeryTheDeer, Call and ask your health care provider your question. Take the bottle of this galantamind with you to your next appointment. One of these bottles says, "Should not be taken by individuals with moderate to severe depression." Liz

[kingofhypocrites]

I just wanted to follow up and see if the anti-depressants are still affecting your dreaming? I have been on Nortriptyline for 10 years (for fibro), and i've heard different things regarding anti-depressants and dreaming. I actually read that it improves dreaming, but I don't have the luxury of coming of it to compare the difference.