Inspired by @_Barry’s question to Andrew, the topic of supplements is well deep enough for its own topic. From Mugwort to Galantamine, it would be great to share experiences with supplements to aid in lucid dream induction here together.
What supplements have you tried?
How did it go for you?
What impact did it have on your dreams? More lucid? More vivid? Nothing at all?
Any side effects?
How often do you use supplements?
It’s also very important to note that any substance will effect every body differently and any information that the community shares should not be considered medical advice.
I still do all the practices, it turbo charges what I already do.
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The Long Version:
I really enjoy Galantamine, but it will impact many people in many different ways. So while my commentary is very specific to my dreaming experience, it will likely be very different from yours. And of course, my commentary should not be taken as medical advice. Here are some notes:
When I first learned of Galantamine last summer (purchased online), I followed the erroneous-for-dreaming directions on the bottle which directed me to take 4-8mg daily in the mornings or evenings. Later, of course, I became aware that Galantamine should be taken during WBTB after 5+ hours of sleep.
For about 2 weeks in June, I experimented with 4mg then up to 8mg a few times a week during WBTB and had my first lucid dream at 8mg. From there, I used it 2-3x per month through August.
My Galantamine routine: Typically consumed on a weekend, I’d follow my usual before bed meditations and ritual while setting the intention of what I will do when I become lucid. I’d go to sleep around 11:00 and wake up around 5:30. I’d immediately take 8mg at my bedside, then head to the kitchen for a light snack of nuts and cheese (it can cause an upset stomach if I don’t do this). Then, for 15-30 minutes, I’d read about lucid dreaming in candle light, meditate, or plan my goals before going back to sleep.
At first, it was hard to go back to sleep. I wasn’t expecting this effect and during my early days of usage, it would take about 40-60 minutes to fall back asleep. (Most of that from excitement!) Now that I’m more experienced with it, and use it strategically and less frequently, I no longer experience the restlessness.
I experience many lucid dreams in one night with the aid of Galantamine. The quality tends to be much higher, with longer periods of lucidity, more dreams recalled and more vividness in non-lucid dreams. I have more stability and control and can more often deeply understand waking world scenarios and goals with the aid of Galantamine (it’s also worth noting I can now do higher levels of lucidity without Galantamine but it took 8 or so more months to get there. Galantamine nights most consistently give me greater numbers of dreams per night).
It’s also worth noting that all the other aspects of dream practice are still required including mindfulness, intention, good sleep hygiene, induction techniques, reality checks, and a calming night time ritual. I do these practices every day and every night without fail whether I am taking Galantamine or not. Make sure you are keeping a dream journal! I don’t have the comparison to using Galantamine without these specific Dream Practices in place.
I guess the biggest take away is to do the research, be open minded, don’t be afraid, and to expect that it might take your body a little bit of time to adjust to this new thing. In other words, it might not happen right away. I can’t say enough how important it is to do the research, to listen to your body, and to seek medical advice. It might not work the first time. You might need time to adjust (I actually take it the day before so my body “re-gets-used-to-it” - I have no evidence to back up that this works, but it seems to for me).
Lucid dreaming is a skill. I thought Galantamine was an incredible crutch to help recognize that it is possible for me. To experience it early and get excited by the potential in a real, tangible way. In the early days when building a dreaming practice, patience is the number one deterrent, so I loved having Galantamine give me a glimpse into the depths and give me the motivation and will to keep practicing and building my skill even when it felt far out of reach. Before long, I stopped using it so that I could focus creating lucid experiences naturally. It took me 99 days of dedicated practice daily before I had a natural lucid dream during this period of intense focus.
Looking forward to learning about other experiences and answering any of your questions specific to my use of Galantamine…
This is a great topic. Like @Allison I’ve had better results with galantamine than anything else, in association with the WBTB technique. (I even participated as a subject in a scientific study using glutamine. Yay science!)
I may have more to say on that later when I have more time, as well as L-dopa, which has strange effects on dreams and can be combined with galantamine (and, like galantamine, is available as an OTC supplement).
@ArthurG - Yes, Yuschak’s book is a great resource, an excellent place to learn so much about the various supplements and their impact on the dreaming mind. Great call out!
Love that you participated in that study, how did you get involved?
Unfortunately I don’t know of any updates, @Gardner. If anyone knows of more up-to-date information I would also be interested. That said, Advanced Lucid Dreaming is quite useful as a guideline for experimentation.
I’ve been looking into Lucid Dreaming the last few weeks, e.g. took Andrew’s Tricycle course and got an account on Night Club. Last night I become lucid with the assistance of 8 mg (two pills) of the recommended Relentless Improvement Galantamine, using the wake back to bed method.
In the dream my bed started undulating like lake water, which was weird enough to question and become lucid. (Unfortunately my first thought was to blame my wife, but that was quickly ruled out due to the nature of the motion.) I started first with 4 mg (one pill) for a few nights to make sure that the supplement did not have any side effects for me.
Interesting. The beginning of the night would seem to be an odd time to take it. Was this a study, or more of an anecdotal thing, that you read? Gracias!
Andrew’s interview with Ryan Hurd covers sleep paralysis
And here’s the Wikipedia take on it
But my sense of it (not having experienced it) is that sleep paralysis occurs when we pass consciously through sleep atonia – but, for some reason, it seems to be accompanied (for many people) with scary imagery.
Moongate, I think read about galantamine taken early in the night causing sleep paralysis in an article I read a while ago, and also Ryan Hurd talked about it in a course I took with him.
Galantaime with Alpha GPC experience and curiosity: Short:
Galantamine works at 8mg with 300mg of Alpha GCP
Felt less contact with dream and more chaos, but lucid each time
Does anyone else feel this way with Galantamine and Alpha GCP?
Long
So I have taken Galantamine 3 times. My first time I took 4mg with 300mg of Alpha GCP. No effect, but didn’t want to overdue it since I tend to be sensitive to substances.
The next two times I have taken 8mg of Galantamine and 300mg of Alpha GCP and had major effects. I took them around 5-6am and slept till 9:00ish. The first time it was hyper lucidity and I started to have much more awareness in collapsed dream states (though this started earlier in the week too). Basically new terrain around portals to dreams opening up and what you can do in the murk of a collapsed dream. I’ll spare the details because it is a fair amount, but I noticed my lucidity almost felt candy-like. By that I mean it felt like there was more going on, but less depth or contact because there was so much happening.
This morning I was able to stay aware as I transitioned from dreaming–>in-between waking/dreaming–>waking. While I have dozed in and out of liminal dreaming, this time the experience of being fully somewhere else to waking without losing awareness and coming to in the room. In the transition the fan in my room became super loud and I started hearing all sorts of voices (not uncommon in liminal states for me) and slowly came out of paralysis over maybe an hour?
Anyways, I am curious if anyone else find G & GCP to feel like there is less contact with the dream or more chaos. Will keep on experimenting.
Barry, the study was quite a while ago so I don’t remember the details clearly off the top of my head. I had at least one lucid dream during the study. It was double-blind but I’m sure I was able to tell which nights were placebo. I love participating in a scientific study, it’s a lot of fun and I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile – it also helps with motivation in the case of a lucid dream study! All the materials were sent by mail and there were reports on our experience that we had to send in.
Inspired by @_Barry’s question to Andrew, the topic of supplements is well deep enough for its own topic. From Mugwort to Galantamine, it would be great to share experiences with supplements to aid in lucid dream induction here together.