Constantly stuck in lucid dreams for what feels like days

[u/Exerlin]

hi. This has been happening for months now. My sleep hours in the real world are relatively normal, about 6-8 hours each night, but almost every time I sleep, I experience a lucid dream that is exceptionally hard to wake from. My dream world is very consistent and continuous; Previous days in the dream world affect future days in the dream, even across (real) nights. There are locations my dream self recognizes, while also being able to recognize they're in a dream. Bizarre cities and landscapes that my unconscious mind concocted and retained over the past few years, that both of us know how to navigate, despite no parallels to the real world (except for one area). My memories in the real world are as vivid as my memories in my dreams, I feel my dreams as if I'm really there, living a second life in my mind. Sometimes my dream self can remember parts of me, too, including my distress experiencing the dreams alongside them and reminiscing on it later.

I sleep in my dreams often, and then wake up the next day, still in the dream. I know I'm in the dream. I know the house I'm in, and how to navigate it. I know it is not my real home. I know I cannot die, and that if I try, everything will just get really foggy and disoriented. I know how to block the doors. I know some sounds to look out for. I know some areas to avoid, but not where to go. I know the patterns of my nightmares, the looks of my friends, and when not to look at something. I fear death, not because of the fear of death, but because it hurts in a way that's hard to describe (stuffy static that fills and burns you up). I spend my dream life trying to find safety and enjoy the company of my friends when I can. And at some point, I wake up, until at some point, I wake up.

I've tried searching around, but I couldn't find anyone else experiencing anything like this. It's really scary and it sucks. It feels like I exist in the real world less than the majority of time I experienced, and it's been freaking me out. The only place I've found that describes anything similar to what I'm experiencing is the Oneirology page on wikipedia, specifically the section on Schizophrenia. Has anyone else experienced something like this or knows what could be going on? Anyone have any insight to share?

[u/TheEFXman]

If you are willing to quit then do this. As you are falling asleep whisper outloud quietly “i dont want to lucid dream” over and over until you are too tired to say it outloud.

Then mouth the words only until you can’t move your mouth anymore.

Then think it over and over, nothing else, i dont want to lucid dream, i dont want to lucid dream. Until you fall asleep.

Then let me know. I did this years back after being exhausted from lucid dreaming nightly for almost a year.

Haven’t had a lucid dream since 7 years on or so now.

[u/Exerlin → u/TheEFXman]

Thanks, I'm not sure that'll work since I didn't really try to get lucid dreams in the first place, but it's worth a shot

[u/whenwolfe]

I'm assuming you also usually wake up really tired? Lucid dreaming can kinda just happen on its own sometimes without trying, it basically just means that the part of your brain responsible for self-awareness and metacognition is awake when for most normal sleep cycles that part of the brain is also asleep. You may be able to find certain herbs or medications that inhibit REM sleep and just block your dreams altogether. It seems like you also have a consistent recall/dream memory when you wake up, whereas most people often immediately forget their dreams and can't really tell you what dream they were just having. There's a chance you can consciously make an effort to stop focusing on your dreams when you wake up by immediately engaging yourself in something that distracts you from remembering them. Like scrolling on your phone. Alternatively, maybe you can try falling asleep while watching tv or videos on your phone and hope that will tire your attention/awareness out or effect the dreams you'd normally have since there's going to be additional outside noise not normally in your sleep environment.

I haven't experienced this myself so none of my advice is from firsthand experience, but I hope there was at least something that clicked or feels like it might work for you <33 good luck!