Galantamine
My thoughts on Galantamine below is to share my own personal experiences only. It is not medical advice, nor a recommendation. Consult a doctor before working with any supplements, natural or otherwise.
I really enjoy Galantamine. I am happy to share my personal experiences and have documented my journey with great detail. More importantly, from my research Galantamine will impact many people in many different ways. So while my commentary is very specific to my dream world, it will likely be very different from yours.
And of course, my experiences are not recommendations nor should they be taken as medical advice.
I took Galantamine everyday for about 2 weeks before I experienced a lucid dream. At the time, I was unaware that others had advised against daily intake because the directions on the bottle said to take it every day.
In those first 2 weeks, I took 4MG everyday to build up and then upped it to 8MG. I experienced my first Galantamine lucid dream at 8MG. Now, I've been taking 8MG 2-3x per month.
It only works for me if I take it in the middle of the night. I’ve read that it takes about 30minutes for it to process, so I have been getting up around 4:30 to take it (you need at least 6 hours of sleep before attempting lucid dreaming as not to disrupt deep restorative sleep). I then stay up for about 10-20m with some meditation, and go to back to sleep. This method often produces WILDs for me.
In my experience, the peak vividness and lucidity on Galantamine would always happen in the immediate sleep cycle directly after taking it. (Between 5:00-6:30 or so if taken at 4:30). Beyond 6:30, I still have high dream recall but they aren’t as vivid and they’re no longer lucid.
On side effects: 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 60 minutes or more to fall back asleep after taking it. I’ve since done a lot of research on the topic and it happens to others as well for two reasons - 1. the supplement is stimulating for some and 2. people are so excited by the possibility of becoming lucid, that they find it harder to sleep. Both were true for me. Now that I’m more experienced with it, and use it strategically and less frequently, I no longer experience the restlessness.
When I first started experimenting with it, I felt slightly nauseous. Now, in the middle of the night I always eat a bit of string cheese or almonds or cherries with it. I no longer experience this side effect.
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’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.
