Hello. This is my first Steemit post, a post that will mark the beginning of a series of posts about lucid dreaming, for beginners and intermediate oneironauts alike. In this first post, I'm going to address a favorite supplement of mine - the powerful combination of Galantamine and Choline. First, a bit about the two:

Galantamine, or in its trade name, Razadyne , is an alkaloid isolated from flowers, mostly from the group Amaryllidaceae, and more often than not in your over-the-counter dream supplement, from the Red Spider Lily. The Red Spider Lily has very poisonous bulbs, and people in Japan and other Eastern countries such as China and Korea plant them around fields to drive pests away. In our case, Galantamine can be isolated from it. But what is Galantamine anyway, and what does it do? Galantamine is classified as an AChE inhibitor. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the substance that breaks down acetylcholine within the brain. By inhibiting this breakdown, acetylcholine can build to increased levels. Galantamine (as well as other AChE inhibitors) is the subject of intense research because of its apparent ability to increase memory and actually improve Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Furthermore, there is actually some evidence that Galantamine also acts as an acetylcholine agonist, as well as an acetylcholineestrate inhibitor. This means that Galantamine gives a double boost to the apparent levels of ACh within the brain.
Choline: Choline is a macronutrient that’s important for liver function, normal brain development, nerve function, muscle movement, supporting energy levels and maintaining a healthy metabolism. Choline is present in the form of phosphatidycholine, a compound that makes up the structural component of fat, and thus can be found in different types of foods that naturally contain certain fats. Choline plays a part in several important processes within the body that are carried out hundreds of times, every single day. It can be found in almonds, chickpeas, salmon, beef liver, cauliflower and a wide range of types of food.

Why does this matter? Why am I emphasizing the levels of ACh in the brain so much? Well, here's a short breakdown, which I will elaborate on in a future installment. Basically, the sleep cycle is divided into 2 segments, and there are 4 major neurotransmitters playing around in different levels in each of those two states. Our sleep generally moves in cycles, first moving from wakefulness down into a deep, regenerative sleep, then coming back up toward wakefulness, then back down again and so on. Sleepers generally move through four to six of these cycles per night, with each cycle lasting roughly between 70 and 110 minutes. Each sleep cycle is divided into two distinct phases: non-REM sleep and REM sleep. Furthermore the non-REM sleep phase is sub-divided into four stages that transition us from wakefulness (or REM) into deep sleep and then back up again. The cycles merge and transition from one to another in the smooth continuum we call sleep. During the deepening stages of non-REM sleep the body becomes increasingly relaxed with brainwaves becoming slow and regular and with blood pressure, temperature and muscle tone all decreasing. Deep sleep is also characterized by delta waves, slow frequencies waves with high amplitude. REM sleep, on the other hand, is characterized by an increase in heart and respiratory rate, rapid and irregular eye movements, increased blood pressure, as well as paralyzed muscles from the chin down. REM sleep is also characterized by faster frequencies, resembling that of a waking person's brain. The first cycles of the night tend to have shorter REM periods and longer periods of deep sleep. This trend reverses as the night goes on. The later cycles have longer REM periods and shorter deep sleep periods.

By morning, most sleepers spend almost all of their time in stages 1, 2 and REM sleep with very little or no deep sleep (stages 3 and 4). Infants are unique in that they spend approximately 50 percent of their sleep time in REM sleep.

According to a fascinating article called ' DREAMING AND REM SLEEP ARE CONTROLLED BY DIFFERENT BRAIN MECHANISMS' (written by Mark Solms, Academic Dept Neurosurgery, St Bartholomew's & Royal London School of Medicine.) that was amazingly dissected by Thomas Yuschak in his work (ADVANCED LUCID DREAMING: THE POWER OF SUPPLEMENTS), there are two predominate theories regarding dreaming.

The first theory can be called the REM dream theory, the brainstem dream theory, or perhaps the cholinergic dream theory. The second theory can be called the Forebrain dream theory, the cerebral activation dream theory, or perhaps the dopaminergic dream theory.

On one leg, the cholinergic dream theory suggests that REM sleep is crucial for dreaming to occur, and that the cholinergic brainstem mechanism could switch on or off the REM sleep phase and therefore dreaming by controlling the release of specific neurotransmitters. According to this theory, REM sleep (and hence dreaming) is switched on by the release of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (ACh) and turned off by the release of a different neurotransmitter called serotonin.

The dopaminergic theory tries to fill in the holes left by the cholinergic theory. For example, between 5-30% of REM awakenings do not elicit dream reports and at least 5-10% of non-REM awakenings do elicit dream reports that are indistinguishable from REM dream reports. According to the dopaminergic theory, it is the forebrain that causes dreaming to occur and not the brainstem. We will be taking advantage of the cholinergic dream theory, as it is shown that there are high concentrations of ACh during REM sleep and low levels of Serotonin and vice-versa in N-REM sleep. (High Serotonin, low ACh) By taking an Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which also acts as an Acetylcholine agonist, combined with choline itself, we can boost our ACh levels significantly during REM sleep. There are two preferred methods for this, but all produce amazing results. 1) The first method is the beginner method:

Go to sleep, preferably without smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol several hours before going to sleep. These activities change your Serotonin levels, which we as we established is present in low levels compared to ACh during REM sleep.
Set up an alarm clock to 5-6 hours after the time you assume you will fall asleep. (Generally 20 minutes after you go in bed for me personally). You can skip this phase if you're very proficient in waking up naturally when you always need to.
Wake up. If you keep a dream journal, which you really really should, write everything you remember. Then keep yourself half awake, but not forcefully, and then take the supplement which should include Galantamine and Choline, on a 4mg to 200 mg ratio. (That is 4mg Galantamine for every 200mg Choline. Try not to exceed 16mg Choline to avoid side effects which I will cover below)
Go back to sleep.

You will experience the most vivid, colorful, realistic dreams you've ever experienced in your life. It will feel like real life to you in every sense imaginable. You will most likely remember minute details that you never pay attention to even in your day to day life. I'm talking about colors of shoelaces a dream character wore or the sound of a specific dream bird flying above your head. You will remember how the sun felt on your skin. Even if you don't become lucid, you will still be mind boggingly amazed by how real your dreams will feel to you. But, we're here to dream lucidly, and dreaming in an extremely increased attention will help you gain lucidity easier. It is easier to consciously pay attention to dream details like characters or plots or places this way, and this in turn increases your chances of becoming lucid exponentially. This sort of eliminates the 'dreamlike' factor in dreams, by making dreams as real as real can get. If that makes sense. 2) The second method is for experienced dreamers who are familiar with the WBTB method, another future post I plan on doing. The first steps are the same:

Go to sleep, preferably without smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol several hours before going to sleep. These activities change your Serotonin levels, which we as we established is present in low levels compared to ACh during REM sleep.
Set up an alarm clock to 5-6 hours after the time you assume you will fall asleep. (Generally 20 minutes after you go in bed for me personally). You can skip this phase if you're very proficient in waking up naturally when you always need to.
Wake up. If you keep a dream journal, which you really really should, write everything you remember. Then keep yourself half awake, but not forcefully, and then take the supplement which should include Galantamine and Choline, on a 4mg to 200 mg ratio. (That is 4mg Galantamine for every 200mg Choline. Try not to exceed 16mg Choline to avoid side effects which I will cover below)
Here is where things differ: You want to lay down on your bed in a comfortable position and hold still. Keep in mind the dream you just dreamed and woke up from, and relive that moment. Try to breath as calmly as possible, relaxing all your muscles. Fight the urge to fall asleep, but not aggressively. Keep floating in that limbo space that usually summons hypnagogic hallucinations. If you haven't fallen asleep yet, or moved abruptly, you will notice you can clearly enter a lucid dream state without a break of conscious, or what is more commonly known as a WILD. (Wake induced lucid dream)

Your WILD will be like nothing you've experienced before. Depending on how proficient you are in exploring the lucid state and maintaining it, you can utilize the combination of Galantamine and Choline to live your lucid dream in a way more detailed approach. It really kicks the lucid part of the term into overdrive. Side effects and tolerance: There are numerous side effects listed for Galantamine: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, decreased appetite and weight loss. However, it is very important to note, these are dosage related. Due to its positive impact on memory, Galantamine is commonly taken to reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s disease at doses up to 24 mg per day. Lucid dream enthusiast and oneironauts will find that no more that 8 mg are necessary to trigger a lucid dream in the vast majority of uses. Also we should note that Galantamine remains in our system for about 48 hours. This means that the acetylcholine levels are boosted well beyond the time you set aside for lucid dreaming. This can lead to tolerance and desensitization issues. Desensitization and tolerance, although related, do not mean the same thing. Whereas desensitization is mainly a physiological effect, tolerance involves psychological aspects coupled to both direct and indirect physiological effects. The net result is the same however: The supplements just don’t work as well as they use to. Galantamine causes increased levels of acetylcholine to be present in the brain for up to 48 hours after you take a dose. This increased concentration can literally cause the receptors that the acetylcholine binds with to start to lose their sensitivity. This means that in order to have the same physiological effect you will need to increase the acetylcholine levels even further (i.e. take a larger dose of Galantamine) in order to get the same effect as you had with the initial doses. The larger dose causes further desensitization and hence a vicious cycle continues until one reaches a high enough dose that negative side effects begin to surface. Fortunately clinical studies show that Galantamine does not cause long term desensitization. Short term desensitization can be countered by letting the level of acetylcholine within the brain return to its normal state for some period of time before taking another dose.

YOU SHOULD NEVER TAKE MORE THAN IS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE YOU SET GOAL. DON'T TAKE A LARGER DOSE THAN NEEDED TO GET YOUR DESIRED RESULT.

This is all for this first post. I borrowed a lot from Thomas Yuschak's amazing work as well as other materials that can be found online or in books about lucid dreaming. This is a reach out post, to see if there's any interest in the subject. About myself: I'm currently undergoing my neuroscience studies, I have my own introspective research about the possibilities of lucid dreaming for over 4 years now, I've experimented with a lot of different things in regards to dreaming to some amazing results, and I want to spread the information. Basically, dreaming and lucid dreaming is a big part of my life, and it's going to get bigger as I decided to devote my time in life to study and research dreams and lucid dreaming specifically. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see. Peace! Happy dreams.