And I hadn't even taken any melatonin

[geekchick]

Today is Pungenday, day 3 in the season of Chaos, 3272.

Last night's weird dream was that I was working for Bruce Schneier as some sort of entry-level assistant-type. What brought that on? I have no idea. I do remember at one point in the dream there was a loud alarm going off during a meeting, and after looking around for the source (and a hammer) to shut it up, it finally sunk in that it was in fact my alarm clock going off. Got up and hit snooze, collapsed back into bed and immediately ended up back in the dream, but this time I was wandering around on snow- and ice-covered streets outside my townhouse in Baltimore, which I had just discovered had been broken in to. (Buh?) Before I could really figure out what was going on, my alarm went off again and I had to actually get out of bed and stay there. Do you know how hard that is on a dark, rainy morning after a four day weekend? Meh.

The other recent-ish dream, which was actually disturbing, was being hugely pregnant, not having done anything at all to prepare for the arrival of a baby, asking my mom for help and support and getting absolutely none. That one, I didn't like so much.

(The subject line refers to the fact that melatonin gives me very vivid dreams; not any more pleasant or unpleasant than they usually would be, but very vivid. Tequila, on the other hand, gives me vivid and utterly f**ked-up dreams, which is why I usually avoid it.)

Comments

[firebirdgrrl.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know anyone else had that; I've been taking melatonin and had similar effects. I've always had vivid dreams, this just seems to amp them up like crazy!

[geekchick]

At least one other person I know says that melatonin gives him more-vivid-than-usual dreams too.

Normally I don't find this effect to be a problem, since I'm always curious to peek at just what's going on inside my skull; there are a few bad dreams I'd have been happy to not have had on melatonin though.

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

The dream-enhancing effect of melatonin is widely reported. Some people say they get the same thing from large doses of B-12. For better or worse I personally don't notice either effect.

Melatonin is also reported to regulate menstrual cycles, if used consistently. (Supposedly it makes them very regular and predictable.)

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Melatonin gives me hyped-up dreams as well, both visually intense and colorful and detailed... and I like it for overseas flights because it doesn't leave me hung-over and drowsy the morning after.

And if you were pregnant... there would be lots of support, even now, not from your mom. (hug)

[geekchick]

Well, support from my mom would be quite a challenge, all things considered. And the dream wasn't really about literally being pregnant, of course.

If I take more than about 1 mg of melatonin at night, I have to get a full eight hours of sleep, otherwise I'm groggy and stupid and slow-moving for a few hours after I wake up.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

(nods)

Interesting melatonin effect, that's how I react to other sleep aids and Benadryl...

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Interesting - I'm not sure I ever experienced that level of vividness with melatonin!

Why is vivid = bad? I love vivid dreams - if tequila causes them that might be a reason to try it, IMHO...

[geekchick]

Vivid by itself is not usually bad at all. Vivid and "all kinds of f'ed up", however, can be bad in my experience. Sometimes not, but I seem to have a 50/50 shot at having "vivid and disturbing" versus "vivid and entertaining" with tequila.