The Serendipitous Facilitation of Lucid Dreaming Ability in a Single Subject

Abstract

My usual reaction to first person accounts of dramatic and/or unusual occurrences during routine stimulus situations is to view them with many grains of salt, but never to entirely dismiss them as they, ultimately, are the basis of most hard scientific inquiry. The phenomenon to be described falls squarely within the anecdotal category, the lowest level of scientific evidence, and should be appraised only as such. A while ago, I suffered a very painful back injury which left me with an inability to sleep more than 2-3 hours per night. I knew that the amino acid tryptophan had been used successfully both to alleviate pain and to promote sleep (and as an antidepressant).On the advice of my neurologist, I used 7 grams -divided into two equal parts, as I would usually awaken within 3-4 hours after administering the first dose. While this is a large dose, it is not as high as some therapists recommend for depression.(The best popular treatment of the subject I have encountered is Slagel, P.,M.D., The Way Up From Down, 1986, Random House). Tryptophan in that amount was most effective in promoting sound sleep. One very prominent effect, though, was that dreaming became very erratic or altogether nonexistent " -an effect not at variance, though not fully explained, by the literature. I reasoned that my lucid dreaming work would consequently have to be placed on the back burner for a time.