I didn't dream for years until trying pot, then they started again and usually at least a few times a week
this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024
1 points (100.0% liked)
Autism
6868 readers
1 users here now
A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.
We have created our own instance! Visit Autism Place the following community for more info.
Community:
Values
- Acceptance
- Openness
- Understanding
- Equality
- Reciprocity
- Mutuality
- Love
Rules
- No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
- Posts must be related to autism, off-topic discussions happen in the matrix chat.
- Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
- Do not request donations.
- Be respectful in discussions.
- Do not post misinformation.
- Mark NSFW content accordingly.
- Do not promote Autism Speaks.
- General Lemmy World rules.
Encouraged
- Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
- Funny memes.
- Respectful venting.
- Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
- Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
- Questions regarding autism.
- Questions on confusing situations.
- Seeking and sharing support.
- Engagement in our community's values.
- Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
- Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it. Chat Room
- We have a chat room! Want to engage in dialogue? Come join us at the community's Matrix Chat.
.
Helpful Resources
- Are you seeking education, support groups, and more? Take a look at our list of helpful resources.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Strange, I've heard most who smoke (daily) don't dream. And when they stop smoking, they get very vivid dreams for awhile.
I Don't do it daily, but something about it got things going again
I dream every single night. When I am going through stressful periods, I journal my dreams down immediately as best as I can remember them. There is usually a symbolic meaning in them that helps me connect with myself. It's as if my unconscious intuition is communicating with me indirectly because it doesn't have a language center, but it still exists and can communicate with fantasy stories. I kind of think that part of me is smarter than my conscious mind in some ways too. It's pretty observant and wise.
I have never had many dreams, but they experienced an uptick when I started melatonin. Stress also makes me have more nightmares.
There is growing evidence that autism involves a dysfunction of the serotonergic system, particularly the central nervous system (CNS) pathway (Tryptophan -> 5-HTP -> Serotonin -> N-Acetylserotonin -> Melatonin). There are also studies showing that the conversion from N-Acetylserotonin (NAS) to melatonin is impeded in autism.
I did a lot of digging into this to try to aid my sleep and general health. Here are the key takeways:
- Vitamin D regulates serotonin synthesis and Vitamin D deficiency can reduce the amount of Tryptophan entering the CNS, so make sure you're not deficient. Unfortunately Tryptophan competes with other large amino acids for entry into the brain, so if you can't get enough through your diet, you can use 5-HTP supplements to aid serotonin production.
- Vitamin B6 is required for the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin.
- Low magnesium has been correlated with a reduction in serotonin production.
- Melatonin supplements (anywhere from 5mg to 20mg) can help a lot with making up for the poor conversion from NAS to melatonin.
If anyone's interested I can dig up the studies/references I used.
(As an aside, sleep apnoea will also reduce the amount of REM sleep, as past a certain point your brain will keep pulling you back into light sleep in order to breathe. If you haven't checked if you have sleep apnoea, please do so!)
Thanks for sharing! I find this quite interesting as I continue to have this nagging need to establish what is the fundamental difference between autistic and NT neurotypes that result in the practical differences we experience. Do you know where I can read more about the latest science that focuses on this?
20mg sounds like quite an excessive amount. Are you sure about that? Do you have a source to support that claim?
You're welcome. Unfortunately there's no one place where you can read up on it; in my case I searched for any studies or papers on autism and/or serotonin to get a better understanding of how the system worked. Whilst some research is behind paywalls, a lot is still publicly accessible (ResearchGate is one such site). Google Scholar is probably the easiest way to search for relevant papers, though, as it usually lists where the full paper (as a PDF) is available.
Some of the papers I've come across that may be of interest to you:
- Serotonin is a key factor in motor function - Jacobs, B.L. and Fornal, C.A. (1999) ‘Activity of serotonergic neurons in behaving animals’, Neuropsychopharmacology: official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 21(2 Suppl), p. 9S–15S.
- Serotonin seems to play a role in "hot" vs "cold" processing; this may be why emotional processing is affected in autism - Robinson, O.J. and Sahakian, B.J. (2009) ‘A double dissociation in the roles of serotonin and mood in healthy subjects’, Biological psychiatry, 65(1), pp. 89–92.
- One form of the serotonin transporter is linked to increased sensory sensitivity, often found in autism - Homberg, J.R. et al. (2016) ‘Sensory processing sensitivity and serotonin gene variance: Insights into mechanisms shaping environmental sensitivity’, Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 71, pp. 472–483.
- Vitamin D's role in serotonin synthesis and relevance to autism (this paper notes that CNS serotonin is lower in autism than in NTs) - Patrick, R.P. and Ames, B.N. (2014) ‘Vitamin D hormone regulates serotonin synthesis. Part 1: relevance for autism’, FASEB journal: official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 28(6), pp. 2398–2413
- Serotonin-NAS-Melatonin pathway affected in autism (Melke et al in particular notes the genetic basis for this) - Pagan, C. et al. (2014) ‘The serotonin-N-acetylserotonin-melatonin pathway as a biomarker for autism spectrum disorders’, Translational psychiatry, 4, p. e479., Martinez-Cayuelas, E. et al. (2022) ‘Melatonin Rhythm and Its Relation to Sleep and Circadian Parameters in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder’, Frontiers in neurology, 13, p. 813692. and Melke, J. et al. (2008) ‘Abnormal melatonin synthesis in autism spectrum disorders’, Molecular psychiatry, 13(1), pp. 90–98.
- The TPH2 gene (which controls the rate-limiting enzyme for serotonin synthesis in the brain) may be involved in autism - Coon, H. et al. (2005) ‘Possible association between autism and variants in the brain-expressed tryptophan hydroxylase gene (TPH2)’, American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics: the official publication of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, 135B(1), pp. 42–46.
As for the quantity of melatonin, that was in discussion with my doctor. He expected that the commonly available 2mg supplements wouldn't do anything and that it would probably take 10mg to have a significant impact. He also said not to go above 20mg. In my case, 10mg works very well, but was increasing the risk of being tired the next day - so I am currently on 5mg (this helps, but I don't sleep through the night as well as I did on 10mg).
Also on the safety side of things, be aware that 5-HTP should not be taken with SSRIs without careful medical supervision due to the interaction and risk of serotonin syndrome.
I never dream where I can remember if. I smoke weed daily. If i stopped a week, for sure they come back vivid as anything
For the longest time I didn't ever dream. Now the only dreams I have are pointless brain dumps of random bs that come up after I wake up and fall asleep for 20 more min. Don't ever remember them but they're real garbage.
I dream a lot. But I am also on melatonin.
Do you smoke weed? I only experience or remember my dreams if I quit for at least a few weeks.
I have dreams every single night, and remember at least one of them once I wake up. Always have. Only exceptions are when I'm extremely tired or when I drink chamomile tea before bed. Found out about the latter last summer, and it admittedly kind of freaked me out; not having/remembering dreams is just... weird.
Many people report that keeping a dream journal significantly improves their recollection of dreams.
Makes sense. Sometimes you wake up and you're still in a semi-dreamlike state where your brain is switching over from unconscious to conscious. I know when I'm in that state, I often still feel like the dream is still real. I'm sure if I wrote it down right away, I'd be able to remember it.
But then again, what's the point of remembering your dreams? Like I guess it's a bit interesting but it's basically just the brain's way of reformatting and optimizing memory.
One cool thing about remembering dreams you've had is that some stories might turn into storylines. For the past few years there has been a dream story going on in my sleep. Every now and then randomly there's another dream that either continues or relates to that story. It's pretty fun, like following an interesting TV show and waiting for new episodes!
There's a difference between not dreaming and not remembering your dreams.
I've heard that you only remember your dreams if you happen to wake in the middle.
If you're not getting enough sleep, or you're not sleeping well, you won't wake up enough to remember any dreams.
Sleep apnea seems to be a big reason for disrupted sleep. You might want to ask a doctor.
Under stress or low sleep, yes. I think I don't start to dream until near the end of my night sleep, I'm very vividly recalling them only if uninterrupted through a full night