A recent study has investigated the use of a drug called Galantamine for inducing lucid dreams, and the results are extremely exciting!
Many people report success using this drug, which can be extracted from the red spider lilly plant, and a few very small studies have already shown that it is effective. I’ve had a high success rate using Galantamine in my own personal experiments, and also with my one-on-one lucid dreaming training clients.
The recently published study adds scientific weight to numerous anecdotal reports and is now the largest study on using Galantamine for lucid dreaming. The study included a total of 121 people who came to visit Dr. Stephen LaBerge’s eight-day lucid dreaming workshops in Hawaii.
Because the study was conducted using a workshop format, participants also attended lectures about lucid dreaming and practised the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD) technique at night.
The procedure was as follows:
Participants woke up after 4.5 hours of sleep and stayed awake for about half an hour. This extended awakening is called the Wake Back To Bed (WBTB) technique.
Then, participants took a pill containing either a placebo, 4mg of Galantamine, or 8mg Galantamine. The participants didn’t know which pill they were taking.
Finally, the participants practised the MILD technique, and then went to sleep.
When the participants took the placebo pill (no Galantamine) and practised MILD, they had lucid dreams on 14% of nights. Interestingly, this is slightly lower than the success rate of 17.4% that I found in my own recent study of the MILD technique.
When participants took 4mg of Galantamine, the success rate nearly doubled and went up to 27% of nights.
And when participants took the highest dose – 8mg of Galantamine – they had lucid dreams on a massive 42% of nights! This is a huge success rate and is very exciting, because this is the kind of success rate we need to study the many potential benefits and therapeutic applications of lucid dreaming.
Galantamine had some other interesting effects as well. People recalled more of their non-lucid dreams, and their non-lucid dreams were more vivid, bizarre and complex. This is not surprising, because many people report that Galantamine makes their dreams feel more vivid and go for longer than usual. This is something I’ve experienced myself.
Age and gender were not associated with the success rate, and Galantamine was effective even for people who had never had a lucid dream before. This is also exciting, because it suggests that Galantamine could be effective for a wide range of people – even people who are new to lucid dreaming.
Finally, it is also interesting that Galantamine changed the way that lucid dreams were initiated. The most common way for a lucid dream to occur is called a Dream Induced Lucid Dream (DILD). This is where you go to sleep, lose conscious awareness, start dreaming, and then at some point realise that you are dreaming. In contrast, the Wake Induced Lucid Dream (WILD) is where you keep your mind active during the process of falling asleep and then eventually enter a lucid dream directly, without ever losing consciousness. WILD’s are difficult to achieve but are highly sought after, because you are lucid right from the start of the dream.
Results from the new study showed that the percentage of WILDs was 20%, 37% and 44% for the placebo, 4mg and 8mg nights respectively. In other words, participants were about twice as likely to have a WILD when they took Galantamine.
So, what’s the catch?
Like all drugs, Galantamine has certain side effects and risks. In the study, 14 out of 121 participants (12%) reported mild side effects such as nausea, stomach discomfort, sleep disturbance such as difficulty falling back asleep or staying asleep, and fatigue the next day. Two participants decided to drop out of the study for these reasons. However, most of the participants did not report any negative effects.
Some people report that they experience an increased likelihood of sleep paralysis with Galantamine (I’ve experienced this myself), but nobody reported sleep paralysis in the study. The authors of the study concluded that Galantamine was generally well-tolerated.
If you’re thinking of trying Galantamine yourself, keep in mind that in some countries Galantamine is classified as a prescription only drug (it has certain uses for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, because it helps improve memory and other mental functions). However, this doesn’t stop people buying it over the internet for lucid dreaming, and there are many brands available for this purpose. The brand used in the study was called “Galantamind”.
Please don’t take this blog post as a recommendation from me to try Galantamine. Always check the applicable laws in your country, do your own research, and speak to a doctor before trying any new drugs or supplements, especially if you are already taking medication or have any existing health problems.
In the study, people were asked not to participate if they had asthma, severe mental illness, heart problems, or were taking beta-blockers.
If you’d like to learn more about using drugs and supplements for lucid dreaming, I highly recommend getting a copy of “Advanced Lucid Dreaming – The Power of Supplements” by Thomas Yuschak. It’s the only book written specifically about lucid dreaming drugs and supplements, and is an excellent resource for lucid dreamers.
You can also find out more about lucid dreaming drugs and supplements in my Lucid Dreaming Video Course, which covers a range of effective supplements and shows you how to gradually increase the dosages and combine multiple supplements for maximum effect over the six-week training program.
If you'd like to find out more about my course, simply visit:
Thank you for reading!