Thread: Menthol as a Dream Enhancer

I went with the same Galantamine/Menthol formula as last week with the same results. Very long intense lucid dreams with, unfortunately, sexual side effects. My first round of dreams were dark and unstable but I think it was due to the few beers I had before bed. I'll probably continue to use menthol with galantamine for as long as I still have a galantamine supply.

I tried twice and didn't notice anything. But I also only ate 3. I have a lot of peppermint tea, maybe that will work better. I just wish it tasted as good as it smells.

Would the use of intranasal menthol be effective? I partake in snuff tobacco and have mentholated varieties.

Originally Posted by MatthewMoisen

Would the use of intranasal menthol be effective? I partake in snuff tobacco and have mentholated varieties.

Interesting idea. But as you may or may not know, nicotine has it's own set of dream enhancement properties. Personally, I wouldn't suggest going that route but that's up to you.

This menthol run was from the 17th of April, so it's a few nights old.

Dose: Pre-bed: 200mg 5-HTP, 500mg niacin, 3g fish oil WBTB: 4 bags peppermint tea, 8mg galantamine, 400mg choline citrate, 300mg alpha-GPC, 200mg L-theanine
Side Effects: Some highly amorous dream content.
Sleep Duration: 7 hours
WBTB: Yes. (30 minutes)
Lucid: Yes!
Vividness: Very high.
Stability: Good.
Dream Comments: One extremely long, extremely amorous non-lucid. Then a very un-sexy lucid dream.

For the lucid dream, menthol did its usual work of enhancing the dream, making it more imaginative and (possibly?) lengthening it. Very vivid, peaceful, and relaxing, and set in an unusual landscape with cool visuals. And my first lucid dream tasting something really delicious! I very much enjoyed it.

Here's the DJ entry for the lucid dream: Rock Candy - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Before that was a long non-lucid where I was wandering around various locales with my wife. Then we'd look for some place to do something menthol-y and have some fun. Afterward, we'd wander around some more exploring. I'm not gonna lie -- this dream was awesome.

The galantamine + menthol combo is amazing.

This menthol run was from the night of April 20th.

Dose: Pre-bed: 100mg 5-HTP, 4g fish oil WBTB: 4 bags peppermint tea, 600mg Alpha-GPC, 500mg choline bitartrate
Side Effects: Some very violent content.
Sleep Duration: 7.5 hours
WBTB: Yes. (30 minutes)
Lucid: No
Vividness: Very high.
Stability: n/a
Dream Comments: All of the dreams were fun, but the first one was extremely violent

There were several great non-lucids on this night. The first one was a really cool, action-packed dream but it was incredibly violent all the way through. It involved me pursuing a crazed dark wizard as he rampaged and killed his way across the United States. I'd keep seeing him doing these terrible acts of destruction and even killing friends and people I knew. I caught up to him and the dream had a happy but extremely gory and graphic ending. It's unusual for me to have any fighting/killing dreams, so this one stood out. It's also the first really violent menthol dream that I can remember.

Also had a cool, long dream at an outdoor festival and then another where I played a game of tennis in a dark tennis court in my bedroom. I kept complaining about my depth perception and (I believe) came pretty close to lucidity.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

The first one was a really cool, action-packed dream but it was incredibly violent all the way through. It involved me pursuing a crazed dark wizard as he rampaged and killed his way across the United States. I'd keep seeing him doing these terrible acts of destruction and even killing friends and people I knew. I caught up to him and the dream had a happy but extremely gory and graphic ending. It's unusual for me to have any fighting/killing dreams, so this one stood out. It's also the first really violent menthol dream that I can remember.

Was it Flagg the wizard? Sounds like a really cool dream.

Sun April 21st 2013

Dose: Menthodex (x2) = ?? mg. Apple Juice (0.5 pt) Vitamin B6 (x1) = 10 mg
Side Effects: A slightly grumbling stomach. Felt randy
Sleep Duration: 5 hrs (approx)/ 4.5 – 5.25 hrs (approx) after
WBTB: Yes (38 min)
Lucid: No
Vividness: Very good
Stability: Not applicable
Dream Comments: Strong hypnagogic (face) type visuals post-WBTB. Excellent recall and storylines. Sexual themes. Nightmarish scenario. Erection noted.

Sexy time. Art, etc - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

This menthol run was from the night of April 20th.

Dose: Pre-bed: 100mg 5-HTP, 4g fish oil WBTB: 4 bags peppermint tea, 600mg Alpha-GPC, 500mg choline bitartrate
Side Effects: Some very violent content.
Sleep Duration: 7.5 hours
WBTB: Yes. (30 minutes)
Lucid: No
Vividness: Very high.
Stability: n/a
Dream Comments: All of the dreams were fun, but the first one was extremely violent

There were several great non-lucids on this night. The first one was a really cool, action-packed dream but it was incredibly violent all the way through. It involved me pursuing a crazed dark wizard as he rampaged and killed his way across the United States. I'd keep seeing him doing these terrible acts of destruction and even killing friends and people I knew. I caught up to him and the dream had a happy but extremely gory and graphic ending. It's unusual for me to have any fighting/killing dreams, so this one stood out. It's also the first really violent menthol dream that I can remember.

Also had a cool, long dream at an outdoor festival and then another where I played a game of tennis in a dark tennis court in my bedroom. I kept complaining about my depth perception and (I believe) came pretty close to lucidity.

How often do you take that specific combo of drugs? I've been looking around the internet for daily limits and ld50 and you seem to be taking quite substantial amounts of most things. Take the niacin for example, I thought the daily limit for most people is 40 or so, do you never feel any side effects?

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

How often do you take that specific combo of drugs? I've been looking around the internet for daily limits and ld50 and you seem to be taking quite substantial amounts of most things. Take the niacin for example, I thought the daily limit for most people is 40 or so, do you never feel any side effects?

Hey Dutch! As for this specific combo, I generally take GPC and choline bitartrate (or citrate) once per week (w/ galantamine) but I was trying this combo as a test to see what the effect would be like w/o galantamine. My typical dose for GPC is 300mg w/ galantamine, but I went higher here to see what the effect might be. On G days, I typically will consume 400-500mg choline citrate and/or bitartrate.

The niacin is something that I have only tried twice (the second time on the 17th.) Since I really hate the idea of dying, I re-checked the LD50. The oral LD50 in mice for niacin was 4.5g / kg of bodyweight. Since I'm taking 500mg (and I'm much, much bigger than a rat) I should be well under that. I saw that niacin dosages of up to 2g-3g multiple times per day are used for treating high cholesterol, so I wasn't too concerned. And to be embarrassingly blunt, my niacin caps come in a 500mg size and I am reluctant to bust them open.

I assume you're not really interested in the fish oil, but I've taken that for years, generally in the 6g-9g range, mostly for health and body composition benefits.

The 5-HTP is the one I'm probably the most cautious about. I used to take no more than 100mg per week but recently I've allowed myself a second night of it. I know therapeutic doses of 5-htp can be in the range of 100mg-300mg 3x per day, and I'm keeping myself to 200mg-300mg per week. I am cautious about elevating serum serotonin levels, though, because it could have possible side effects on the heart. So I watch this one the closest out of anything that I consume!

By the way, do you want to know the one time that I got a negative side effect from a lucid aid? When I ate mangoes, I came into contact with the skin and gave myself mango mouth! It's like a minor case of poison ivy on the face. So I learned well that caution is always a good idea with anything you put in (or on) your body! (I have really sensitive skin.)

Thanks for bringing this up and checking my homework -- I genuinely appreciate it! I'm open to any thoughts or challenges you have to any of the above.

Dose: Pre-bed: 6mg melatonin WBTB: 4 bags peppermint tea, 8mg galantamine, 300mg Alpha-GPC, 400mg choline citrate, 200mg L-theanine
Side Effects: None.
Sleep Duration: 6.5 hours
WBTB: Yes. (30 minutes)
Lucid: Only a micro-lucid (not counted)
Vividness: Very high.
Stability: n/a
Dream Comments: Huge amount of dreaming, nearly all of it very vivid and realistic. Less imaginative than usual w/ menthol.

Tons and tons of dreaming. Wow. I only had ~2 hours of dream time after my WBTB but it seriously felt like 4-5 hours of dream content. Crazy amounts of dreams, most of it very lifelike.

I did hit one micro-lucid dream that lasted perhaps 5 seconds, but it was so short and recall for it was so poor that it doesn't count for much. Frankly, I'm pretty embarrassed that I failed to have a full lucid dream with galantamine + menthol and so much vivid dream content! How did I manage to blow it like that? That failure aside, it was still a very cool night of non-lucid dreaming.

Interestingly, there was far less "fantastic" or imaginative content than usual in this series. Most of the dreams were extremely realistic. In one dream in particular I was practicing grappling and all of it felt quite real. Very little happened that was truly off the wall.

What I've noticed overall is that menthol doesn't necessarily help me to become lucid but it seems to really crank up the amount and vividness of my dreams. Love it.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Hey Dutch! As for this specific combo, I generally take GPC and choline bitartrate (or citrate) once per week (w/ galantamine) but I was trying this combo as a test to see what the effect would be like w/o galantamine. My typical dose for GPC is 300mg w/ galantamine, but I went higher here to see what the effect might be. On G days, I typically will consume 400-500mg choline citrate and/or bitartrate.

The niacin is something that I have only tried twice (the second time on the 17th.) Since I really hate the idea of dying, I re-checked the LD50. The oral LD50 in mice for niacin was 4.5g / kg of bodyweight. Since I'm taking 500mg (and I'm much, much bigger than a rat) I should be well under that. I saw that niacin dosages of up to 2g-3g multiple times per day are used for treating high cholesterol, so I wasn't too concerned. And to be embarrassingly blunt, my niacin caps come in a 500mg size and I am reluctant to bust them open.

I assume you're not really interested in the fish oil, but I've taken that for years, generally in the 6g-9g range, mostly for health and body composition benefits.

The 5-HTP is the one I'm probably the most cautious about. I used to take no more than 100mg per week but recently I've allowed myself a second night of it. I know therapeutic doses of 5-htp can be in the range of 100mg-300mg 3x per day, and I'm keeping myself to 200mg-300mg per week. I am cautious about elevating serum serotonin levels, though, because it could have possible side effects on the heart. So I watch this one the closest out of anything that I consume!

By the way, do you want to know the one time that I got a negative side effect from a lucid aid? When I ate mangoes, I came into contact with the skin and gave myself mango mouth! It's like a minor case of poison ivy on the face. So I learned well that caution is always a good idea with anything you put in (or on) your body! (I have really sensitive skin.)

Thanks for bringing this up and checking my homework -- I genuinely appreciate it! I'm open to any thoughts or challenges you have to any of the above.

Hey, thanks for writing all this up very interesting read. Where do you get your lucid aids? I wanna try some but they are quite costly
About the rat ld50, it can very deceiving. In looking for the ld50 of menthol it was extremely confusing since in many experiments the ld50 for menthol in rats was actually higher than in humans. Accounts of something called "glacial mouth" I think appear a lot more frequently in doses near 1-2g for humans than in rats at almost 3g. Off-course it's hard to OD on must of these aids without repetitive use but it's always good to be on the cautious side.
Also, how do you feel about gpc? is it similar to normal choline bitartrate?

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Hey, thanks for writing all this up very interesting read. Where do you get your lucid aids? I wanna try some but they are quite costly

Sure thing, man! Glad you enjoyed it. I get most of the more "exotic" items online, but of course run of the mill items like soy lecithin, B vitamins, melatonin, etc. are easy to find at any drug store (and probably many grocery stores.) For most of the substances I use a fitness supplement site that tends to have good prices for stuff like GPC, L-theanine, etc. Some stuff (like galantamine) I get on Amazon or directly from the vendor. I keep a spreadsheet that has different vendors and their price in $/gram so I can more easily select which one to use and organize orders. (Nerd!!)

The site I use does appear to do international orders but I have no clue what the rates might be like, but if there's anything in particular you're looking for, feel free to PM me and I can shoot you the best price that I know about for it.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

About the rat ld50, it can very deceiving. In looking for the ld50 of menthol it was extremely confusing since in many experiments the ld50 for menthol in rats was actually higher than in humans. Accounts of something called "glacial mouth" I think appear a lot more frequently in doses near 1-2g for humans than in rats at almost 3g. Off-course it's hard to OD on must of these aids without repetitive use but it's always good to be on the cautious side.

Oh man, that's interesting about the difference in menthol LD50! I'm embarrassed to say that I've never even heard of "glacial mouth". Is that a side effect of high niacin intake or high menthol intake? In any case, you are right on... spacing these aids out a whole lot and staying under common therapeutic doses is always the way to go. My rule of thumb is that I want to keep use of any aid substantially under some well-established therapeutic dose, double-check LD50, and double-check side effects.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Also, how do you feel about gpc? is it similar to normal choline bitartrate?

The biggest difference is that GPC is more expensive. Seriously, though, the research on GPC as a therapeutic substance has been pretty impressive. This paper is a great (but long) round-up on what's out there: http://www.dockidd.com/pdf2/GPCMindBody,4_14_05.pdf One additional thing that Thomas Yuschak mentioned in his book (that I have not confirmed myself) is that choline salts like choline bitartrate have more difficulty cross the BBB as levels of free choline in the brain rise.

If you're specifically interested in G, I highly recommend Thomas Yuschak's "Advanced Lucid Dreaming: The Power of Supplements" book. That one is up on lulu.com for $5 and it's a very good, specific guidebook on how to make the most of G.

Man, you guys are really going all out with this stuff! Menthol and galantamine does sound like a sweet combo, I'm going to have to give it a try.

Hey Canis, that violent one is really interesting! Don't forget though that this experiment was inspired by violent menthol dreams. Based on the way menthol works, it would make sense that it could enhance aggression and dark themes, too. It sounds intense!

You're pumping this thread full of results too, keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

@Aly
This means I was right about peppermint tea all along?
This is so cool, I knew menthol wouldn't be the only thing in there affecting our brain, in most peppermint plants its actually in a 1:1 ration to menthone.

Yes it does. That's good to know too! No wonder the tea is so useful.

Originally Posted by Xanous

I went with the same Galantamine/Menthol formula as last week with the same results. Very long intense lucid dreams with, unfortunately, sexual side effects. My first round of dreams were dark and unstable but I think it was due to the few beers I had before bed. I'll probably continue to use menthol with galantamine for as long as I still have a galantamine supply.

You and I are living in different worlds, my friend.

Originally Posted by MatthewMoisen

Would the use of intranasal menthol be effective? I partake in snuff tobacco and have mentholated varieties.

Maybe at WBTB, but that would just make the half-life even shorter. It's not recommended. Also, what Xanous said.

Originally Posted by Alyzarin

You and I are living in different worlds, my friend.

Ah I get your meaning. There is a moral dilemma for me when it comes to this... a certain amount of guilt is associated with it. Unless it is with my wife then I fully enjoy it. Like this dream: What A Snore! But still I'd rather be out adventuring and doing stuff that I normally can't enjoy in the waking world. Besides, a wet dream is always embarrassing for me at this stage in life, regardless.

Dose: Pre-bed: 2 tablespoons peppermint leaves, 3g fish oil, 200mg 5-htp WBTB: 1/4 cup peppermint leaves, 8 mg galantamine, 300mg alpha-gpc, 250mg choline salts, 100mg L-Theanine
Side Effects: Had something like hunger pains between LD
Sleep Duration: 12 hours
WBTB: 2:30-3:00am
Lucid: Yes x2
Vividness: High
Stability: Varied (Darkness)
Dream Comments: The first dream was WILD and I had a snoring issue that drove me crazy but I ended up sexing my wife up. Later had an interesting DILD. I tried some pre-bed menthol for the accumulative effect but really didn't notice any difference. Of course, I can't be sure because I noticed there was a lessened effect with galantamine which, I think is due to my recent abuse of my acetylcholine receptors over the past few days. I think I'll cut back on that next week.

What A Snore!
Escape From Alcatraz

Originally Posted by Xanous

Ah I get your meaning. There is a moral dilemma for me when it comes to this... a certain amount of guilt is associated with it. Unless it is with my wife then I fully enjoy it. Like this dream: What A Snore! But still I'd rather be out adventuring and doing stuff that I normally can't enjoy in the waking world. Besides, a wet dream is always embarrassing for me at this stage in life, regardless.

Ah, gotcha, gotcha. Well I suppose that's understandable. Sounds like you had a fun dream there anyway!

Tue April 30th 2013

Dose: Banana (x1.) Honey & Lem Locket cough drops (x7.) Menthol = 67.9 mg
Side Effects: A gripey bloated stomach
Sleep Duration: 4.75 hrs (approx)/4.25 hrs (approx) after
WBTB: (68 – 83 min)
Lucid: No
Vividness: Average
Stability: Not applicable
Dream Comments: Had feelings of losing ‘consciousness’ (like an awareness ‘blackout’) and occasional ‘sinking’ sensations (sudden relaxation?) after the long WBTB period upon/after retiring.
(These are usually good ‘indicators’ for me.)

My Ex made a cameo appearance in one of my dreams as being lesbian?

Dose: Pre-bed: 3mg melatonin WBTB: 4 bags peppermint tea
Side Effects: None.
Sleep Duration: 7 hours
WBTB: Yes. (35 minutes)
Lucid: No
Vividness: High.
Stability: n/a
Dream Comments: A lot of action. One really long adventure/horror dream, then another pretty large dream that flew to pieces when my alarm went off.

The main dream from last night was a super long, action-heavy survival horror dream. Lots and lots of action and flight. It had pursuit by a grotesque zombie and later an enormous horde of orcs so there were some slightly nightmarish qualities to it, but it seemed like just enough fear to be fun. I guess it's a thin line between an exciting action dream and a desperate nightmare, but this one was definitely on the fun side of the line.

If I'm estimating length, I'd say it was about an hour. I spent nearly all of the dream making my escape with a female DC but the dream was 100% non-sexy. I don't think that I even approached lucidity. The dream was so engaging and I spent the whole time feeling like the DC and I were in serious danger. Not much time to stop and think.

There was a second dream, also with lots of action, but for some reason it evaporated when my alarm went off. Ah well. I keep hoping it'll come back to me.

I've noticed that peppermint tea is staining the glass that I use for it. Makes me wonder if I'm going to require teeth-whitening after all this menthol experimentation.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

I've noticed that peppermint tea is staining the glass that I use for it. Makes me wonder if I'm going to require teeth-whitening after all this menthol experimentation.

To be fair, I can't comment too much on the (teeth staining) effects of peppermint tea; but I'd have thought coffee or normal tea would be the worst for that?

Talking of teeth, I do know one thing - I always clean them (thoroughly) after ingesting the Menthol cough drops at the end of WBTB due to the high sugar content they contain.

I mean that I wouldn't want one of those typical 'teeth falling out dreams' coming true.

(P.S: Congrats on the D.G. promo. BTW.)

I'd love to experiment with menthol, but I find it has a few setbacks for me. Similar to what CL has noticed, I found a while ago that tea stains my teeth, and also sometimes upsets my stomach. Cough drops are sugary and don't want to have tooth decay. I actually caused some decay when using drops during a few colds. There is one last option to consider though, an inhaler nasal stick. Anyone tried those with some good feedback?

Originally Posted by NyxCC

I'd love to experiment with menthol, but I find it has a few setbacks for me. Similar to what CL has noticed, I found a while ago that tea stains my teeth, and also sometimes upsets my stomach. Cough drops are sugary and don't want to have tooth decay. I actually caused some decay when using drops during a few colds. There is one last option to consider though, an inhaler nasal stick. Anyone tried those with some good feedback?

That's not the "last" option. You could just buy peppermint essential oil, it's not that expensive at all. For what you get it' better than drinking 4 cups of peppermint tea or eating packet of cough drops.

Thanks dutchraptor, didn't know that. I should check my store when I have the opportunity and get some oil then. What is the way to take it, add a few drops to water and drink? I just also saw online that they sell peppermint oil capsules as a food supplement. Interesting, will see if they have those in the store as well.

Wait... Peppermint tea is a dream enhancer? I already drink that on a daily basis, never at 4am though

How would you go about ingesting peppermint oil, inhaled with steam?

I'm usually sceptical about non-medical supplements, but Alyzarin seems to have done her homework on this.

Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

Wait... Peppermint tea is a dream enhancer? I already drink that on a daily basis, never at 4am though

How would you go about ingesting peppermint oil, inhaled with steam?

I'm usually sceptical about non-medical supplements, but Alyzarin seems to have done her homework on this.

Yup I believe with as a vapor you can inhale it. I wouldn't know how effective this is though. I guess you could dilute it to the required amount, maybe if you get 10g of essential mint oil and water it down with 2 litre of water, you'd have 5mg/ml and you could take a few milliliters orally whenever needed.
I wouldn't know how feasible this is though it's just an idea.


This guy seems to know what he's talking about, doesn't seem as worried by the dosage as me, it should have instructions on the bottle you buy.