I’ve heard you can take unlimited amounts of melatonin with no side effects as it’s a naturally occurring chemical in the body. Is this true?
And what is the best dose to take to induce a lucid dream?
The normal dose of melatonin as a sleeping aid is anywhere from 300 micrograms to 3 milligrams. Melatonin does suppress REM, and therefore can cause rebound with increased dream vividness and therefore hopefully an increased chance of getting lucid–IF you already are trained in lucid dreaming and already have some experience. If you don’t have the background, no substance will guarantee you a lucid dream.
Melatonin has a short half-life (45-60 minutes), so taking it before bed is mostly just going to help you get to sleep. The longer REM cycles happen later in the night anyway, after you’ve been asleep for four to six hours. Therefore it really isn’t the most popular or most effective LDS (lucid dreaming supplement) but it is often used in combination with others as an aid in getting back to sleep, as the others are sometimes rather stimulating.
Melatonin has very low toxicity and excess doses will not put you in a coma. People have taken up to 50 or 60 mg at a time, although this is not recommended. Adverse effects other than physical (nausea, etc.) include horrific nightmares. Lower doses such as 10 or 12 mg may produce the dreaming effects you want. Everybody is different, and experimenting to see what helps your dreams is the only way to find out, starting out with a low dose.
There are many other ways to enhance lucid dreaming, including the use safe and legal supplements other than melatonin. For more information, see Thomas Yushak’s book "Advanced Lucid Dreaming: The Power of Supplements", or check out the related forum here: http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/board,12.0.html @ http://mortalmist.com
3 Responses to “How much melatonin should I take to induce a lucid dream?”
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February 21st, 2010 at 9:40 am
No, excess melatonin will put you to coma. I don’t know who you heard it from, but just like any over-the-counter drugs, overdose is never good. Yes it does occur naturally in the body, but there are complications that may follow an overdose. If you have sleep disorders, there are teas that help you sleep. As for lucid dreams, adequate and relaxing REM sleep would do you good.
References :
February 21st, 2010 at 10:15 am
The normal dose of melatonin as a sleeping aid is anywhere from 300 micrograms to 3 milligrams. Melatonin does suppress REM, and therefore can cause rebound with increased dream vividness and therefore hopefully an increased chance of getting lucid–IF you already are trained in lucid dreaming and already have some experience. If you don’t have the background, no substance will guarantee you a lucid dream.
Melatonin has a short half-life (45-60 minutes), so taking it before bed is mostly just going to help you get to sleep. The longer REM cycles happen later in the night anyway, after you’ve been asleep for four to six hours. Therefore it really isn’t the most popular or most effective LDS (lucid dreaming supplement) but it is often used in combination with others as an aid in getting back to sleep, as the others are sometimes rather stimulating.
Melatonin has very low toxicity and excess doses will not put you in a coma. People have taken up to 50 or 60 mg at a time, although this is not recommended. Adverse effects other than physical (nausea, etc.) include horrific nightmares. Lower doses such as 10 or 12 mg may produce the dreaming effects you want. Everybody is different, and experimenting to see what helps your dreams is the only way to find out, starting out with a low dose.
There are many other ways to enhance lucid dreaming, including the use safe and legal supplements other than melatonin. For more information, see Thomas Yushak’s book "Advanced Lucid Dreaming: The Power of Supplements", or check out the related forum here: http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/board,12.0.html @ http://mortalmist.com
References :
February 21st, 2010 at 10:35 am
I have taken melatonin before for my insomnia and it helps a lot, but after about 1 or 2 weeks of consistent use, the effects start to wear off and you have to take a break without it if you want to feel the effects of it again. The only problem is that during these few days it makes insomnia even worse because your body is used to having an excess amount so it does not produce as much as it should naturally.
It is true that it increases dream vividness greatly with few side effects. I can sometimes clearly recall up to 4 or 5 dreams a night with it if I focus my mind to dream recall. It also increases lucid dream frequency without a specific trigger telling you that is a dream… you just sort of realize that is is a dream out of nowhere.
The dosage varies from person to person so it isn’t really possible to give an exact amount. I am about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds and my doctor recommended that I take no more than 2 mg unless I am having very bad insomnia on certain nights. You should not take any more than what you need because it will make you very tired in the morning and dosages more than 5 mg have given terrifying nightmares to test subjects. Start out small and increase the amount if you need to, but try not to take it for extended periods of time.
References :