Ending My Dreams

[Deebar]

I have just started reading up on Lucid Dreaming and wanted a few opinions. I don't remember dreams very often at this point in time. When I do it's only for a little bit because I know I'm asleep, and I know that I'm dreaming. I get so worked up as soon as I know that I'm dreaming that I somehow loose grasp. I begin to feel my body again and wake up. All of them are very short. Could I have been Lucid before and not have known it? How can I prolong my dreams?