Post WILD tiredness and fatigue

Occasionally after WILDs I have been subject to a persistent state of mental tiredness and lassitude, which can last for 8 hours or more.

This usually happens when the WILD is relatively long and buffered by frequent false awakenings.

I have mentioned this to perhaps one or two people, but they had not experienced it.

Have others experienced this POST WILD lethargy? Do the Lucid dreams which proceed these symptoms have any common denominator like frequent false awakenings?

If so what remedies does one use? I tried green tea and Siberian Ginseng, but these had little effect.

I have not experienced tiredness after a WILD, or even after a long chain of DEILDs with FAs. What I may experience is my body being so comfortably relaxed after I wake up, that I don't want to get up from the bed. But thats a pleasant feeling : D

Moved to WILD

I've encountered a similar lethargic state or mood many times, Valis, but I've never actually blamed it on the WILD itself, but rather on the quality and length of the LD.

Sometimes, when I have a particularly long LD (at least two hours, with DEILD chaining), that also included substantial high-level lucidity and the exploration that tends to accompany it, I would awaken exhausted, usually for the rest of the day and evening. These dreams did not include false awakenings, so that commonality is missing, I guess.

I think what causes this comes from two things: first, I was extremely mentally active for hours (including the WBTB prep time, when an extra effort is needed to prepare for a deeper dive), with serious concentration on the front burner at all times. This in itself can be pretty taxing, especially for someone like me, who has a difficult time concentrating. Second, I tend to WILD after about 4-5 hours' sleep, so my previous night's sleep amounted to less than 5 hours, and was followed immediately by serious mental activity.

So maybe the exhaustion stemmed simply from working hard after a minimal amount of sleep?

Also, and in agreement with Gab here, this exhaustion I mention is a rarity: I get up from the vast majority of my WILD's feeling refreshed, well-rested, even invigorated (this includes WILD's that include multiple FA's, BTW). From that I could say that my WILD's in general have only a positive effect on my overall night's sleep, with the exception being when I use them to push a mental envelop or two.

I would actually expect that a long, ultra-high awareness LD where you're really engaging your mind would be mentally taxing rather than restful. I don't see why it would be any different from extended periods of wakeful concentration... Which is not to say that I don't desire such LDs...I can hardly wait for them in fact!

Interesting. I find each hypothesis likely, I agree it is a most likely a mix of over mental exertion and mixed up sleep patterns. I am relieved to see at least it is not highly uncommon. I am going to try to time my next WILDs better, make sure I am not sleeping too little or too much. It is pretty uncommon for me as well, but when it does happen it is annoying because it throws my day off, but even then it is a fair trade for a good lucid dream. Thank you all for taking the time to respond and for the insight.