Chemical Rem Suppression

[zimangold]

I have come to the realization that the biggest difficulty for me is lack of sufficient REM density. I've had no significant improvement from using 200mg 5-htp for REM rebound. I tried adding a B-100 complex to the 5-htp since I figured maybe the b6 would supercharge the serotonin conversion but that flopped; it resulted in more dreams in the first half of the night than I usually have in the second half (props to vitamin b megadosing!) so I don't know if I am wired differently, if my 5-htp is crap, or what, but I'm annoyed. Sure, more dreams is good but it makes timing the galantamine impossible and I rather have a solid dream than a bunch of flimsy ones. The 5-htp on its own or with a moderate b-complex doesn't seem to do anything at all. I'm contemplating using alcohol (even twice a night for REM rebound the following day) but I'm not really a drinker and it gives me horrible acid reflux (thus making it difficult to fall asleep). I was thinking if there wasn't a stronger, easily bought REM suppressant out there. I'm tempted to go hardcore and do the 60 hours of sleep deprivation to get a massive REM rebound (supposedly the body makes REM a top priority at that point and shifts SWS for later). What are my options here? I don't see much discussion on this because 5-htp or even a simple WBTB seems to work well for a lot of people when it doesn't work well at all for me. It feels as if my body just doesn't take REM seriously. What about mental exercises to boost REM? I've read anecdotal evidence linking n-Back training with more REM. Some people even report lucidity after training so there may be something to it. I'm getting a serious case of dream envy. Help!

[NyxCC]

What time frame do your observations cover? Dreams and recall tend to vary over time, so it may be that your REM and recall will get back to normal without any excessive supplement tampering on your side. My history with REM suppressants has been somewhat controversial as well. In the beginning melatonin and HTP would help me ld, cause dramatic REM rebound and lots of dreaming even if non-lucid. Now, I rarely get lucid on them as they tend to make me so sleepy even after many hours of sleep. I have actually reduced my intake of them and only use melatonin when my sleep schedule gets completely out of hand. As you can see everybody's different, so there's no guarantee what will work and when. Sometimes I actually think that less is more when it comes to supps. That being said, your caution and careful consideration is needed before taking any supplements. Taking high doses of HTP or galantamine can have negative effects on the health, so please carefully research any supps you are taking or plan to take. By the way, if nothing seems to work for you, you might consider adding a little caffeine to your WBTBs. It is supposed to surpress deeper sleep, so after you have already gotten enough hours of sleep, it may help you stay tuned to those lighter sleep stages. You can read more about it here: Caffeine as a trigger *Moved to lucid aids*

[Voldmer]

I'm getting a serious case of dream envy. Help! You could consider drinking chamomille tea before bedtime; chamomille is a muscle relaxant, and it might increase the quality of your early sleep, so that you'll need less deep sleep in the second half of the night. Based on my own experiments (still only tentative), I would suggest adding the likes of mugwort, stinging nettle, or green tea to your WBTB-snack (B6 works really well too at that time - not before bedtime!)