Hi all,

I have gotten a number of emails from friends in the community asking where I am these days.... So here is the short answer....

It has been weeks since I last played Think Tanks (and even then I was only playing a little). I have been trying to get my schedule back to normal. On average, I was only getting 3.5 to 4 hours of sleep a night for the past year. Not a good situation when you have two kids and your own business.

So, I have now resorted to getting a prescription for a sleeping pill called Ambien. Now I am usually out cold by 10:00PM every night (as opposed to 3:00AM).

The problems are two-fold; first off, I no longer have "me-time" after I put the kids to bed, and secondly, I get visited by a WICKED amount of dreams every night. I actually wake up and have twilight sleep around 4:30AM every morning, followed by an incredibly diverse number of dreams.

Last night I had many dreams about Think Tanks. I had a dream that we all met in person and it was a hoot. In my dream it turned out that Sluggy was a wild-man, Tally-ho was a British intellectual, Napalm was sexy, and Hanky was a 98 pound weakling, and Bolo was... Well, Bolo (and never stopped telling us how incredible he was).... It was actually a very funny dream, and I was sad to wake up and realize that it was only in my imagination.

Has anyone else tried Ambien? It is wonderful, but the dreams thing is becoming a burden.

Anyway I just wanted to say hi and that I miss seeing you guys in the game.

Katherine

Actually, K8, it's kind of odd that your dreams have increased with Ambien. It is often prescribed to reduce or eliminate dreams or anxiety that cause fitfull sleep.

It also has an effect similar to short-term amnesia, commonly referred to as traveler's amnesia. It's good for long distance flights, but if you don't fall asleep before the Ambien takes effect you can end up not remembering what you did during that time, seeing double, etc. (Kinda like wearing the lamp shade to the party!) Your body can also adjust to the Ambien with extended use (over days or weeks), with diminishing effects without upping your dose.

Was just reading somewhere about how lunar phases affect the amount of melatonin released by the pineal gland, which in turn regulates the amount of MEO and DMT in your brain. The study included some guy that locked himself in absolute darkness for two weeks to trick his mind into producing more melatonin. Evidently, it is the low light during full moon nights that stimulates the pineal [sunlight inhibits melatonin production].
anyways, I have been noticing oddly visual dreams in the past week and a half... Since the full moon ended.

Do-de-do-doo
do-de-do-doo

Hiya George,
Oh boy do I know about the Ambien-induced short-term amnesia, I thought it was my imagination at first. I usually never go to sleep before I get the Ambi-buzz, partially because I like the recreational element of the drug :-)... But I am asleep within two hours of having taken my 10MG dose.

No matter what though, since I started taking the Ambien, I ALWAYS wake up between 4:00AM and 4:40AM, then I have (what I describe as) "twilight sleep" where I don't really settle back into a deep sleep for the next three hours, I come in and out of a light sleep, thus I experience a kaleidoscope of dreams. I didn't experience the dreams for the first week and I would wake up feeling very well rested, then I started waking up at 4AM+/- every morning and now I always feel tired and drained when I get up. I wasn't kidding when I said the dreams are becoming a burden. By the time I get up (around 7AM), I feel emotionally depleted from the roller-coaster ride that my brain put me through with dreams.

The really odd thing is I remember my Ambien-assisted dreams quite clearly. I NEVER remember my dreams so this is a strange new experience, and mostly kinda creepy and surreal.

I don't know how much more of the AmbienDreams I can handle, so I may be looking for another solution soon. The dream-thing is just too much to handle,

@TG: I have the perfect solution!! 4 am NY time is only 1 am pst. There are some great TS scrum games still going on!! You can just hop onto TT! Forget about those dreams and jump into the sack with us! XD

You ever consider writing down your most vivid dreams in your journal? They might be your unconscious telling you something important!

You can take half at bed and half when you wake up at 4 am. That's what I did when I was on it and it worked well for me. :)

I use good old fashioned red wine to get to sleep.

"To alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems."

I can't tell you my dreams, but I can give you a looksie. My dream name is usually Thor and they always involve a midget, a big wheel and the ghost of Yasser Arrafat.

^I'm intrigued...

Thanks Norky... That might help. I had another round of unsavory visions this morning. Not sure how much longer I can do this, it really seems to be affecting my waking state.

ROGUE, I hear that a couple of glasses of wine and an Ambien qualify as a recreational drug... Might give it a try one of these days.

:-)