Re: virus: Dreams

Tim Rhodes (proftim@speakeasy.org)
Tue, 20 Oct 1998 08:56:00 -0700


Martin Glover:

>>Melatonin also works well for increasing and intensifying dreams (and it
>>gives you a sound sleep as well). 3-6 mg. orally or 1-2 mg.
>>sublingually.[1] Melatonin, in addition to being a naturally occuring
>>hormone, is also a tryptamine, 5-methoxy-N-acetyl-tryptamine to be exact.
>>When it's metabolized by the pineal gland[2] it's converted into
>>5-methoxy-tryptamine which has been shown to prolong and deepen the time
>>spent in REM sleep. Take it 20 minutes before you go to bed.
>
>That sounds a bit like LSD for the unconscious. Is it legal?

Completely. And sold over-the-counter in every health food store and
increasingly can be found in drug stores and supermakets everywhere.

One warning however: Melatonin is the hormone which puts you to sleep at
night and controls your bodies daily sleeping/waking rhythm. (This is why it
was first popularized by frequent travelers, airline pilots, and the like as
a way of quickly resetting their internal clock in a new timezone.) IT WILL
PUT YOU TO SLEEP. And since you need to take 2 to 3 times the normal dose
for the dream enhancing effects to be profound, you might have a hard time
getting up early the next morning. (If for some ungodly reason you have to
get up early, like school or work, save the large dose for the weekend.)

And as with all neurochemicals, it's usually a good idea to start with a
lower dose, familiarize yourself with the effects, and then experiment with
larger doses.

-Prof. Tim