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Shambhala Music festival, XTC, and Nightmares

A

AmateurRaver

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This was originally posted on icmag.com but was told to fuck off and go to bluelight :P Well here I am...


Hey ya'll just got back from Shambhala. It's a music festival/rave just outside of a small town called Salmo, BC.

My friends have been going for five years and they finally convinced me to come. It was AWESOME!! It's pretty much a huge hippy/love fest fueled by E and MDMA. During the four days I was there I didn't see ONE aggressive incident. There was so much love in the air.

I'm a pothead, but not a very big drug user. While at Shambhala I tripled my total lifetime intake of MDMA/ XTC. I did pretty much two pills of E each night. Probably 90% of the people at Shambhala are high on E. The E creates this atmosphere where everyone loves everyone. You feel this closeness with complete strangers.

Well the parties over and it's back to reality. First day off the drugs I felt relatively good, but I was assured I would feel some depression in the coming days.

My friends weren't lying. I've felt pretty shitty the last couple days; feeling slightly depressed and slightly nauseated and disoriented. Was it worth it? I'm not sure yet.

Last night I had a nightmare for the first time in probably over 8 years. It was very bizarre. It felt like I was awake and aware, but I was sleeping and going through this weird loop of thoughts.

In my nightmare I would 'wake up' and go grab some water, then I would be instantly transported back to my body and realize I was asleep. This happened over and over and over again. Eventually I got the feeling that I wanted to stop this dream.

The last cycle it felt like i was lying on my carpet. It was so VIVID. I could look under my door and see my dogs. I put my hand out to touch then and my one dog began to bite me. I could feel the pain. At that moment I became aware that I was dreaming and became aware of my body lying in my bed. I then snapped out of my dream to my relief and woke up feeling panicky.

This was probably a poor description of the dream, because it is difficult to explain what i was seeing and feeling. It was almost like an Out of Body experience.

Hours before this dream I woke up in a panic attack because I thought I couldn't breathe. I don't remember what I was dreaming there though.


These effects have freaked my out a bit and have me thinking if taking E at this festival is even worth it. The feeling of unity the E gives everyone is amazing, but I realize the brain chemistry is a fragile thing and should probably not be fucked with.

Anyways sorry for the long post, I just thought I'd throw this up here if anyone had any experiences with Shambhala, XTC, and XTC induced nightmares.

I found a few similar storys on google in relation to E and nightmares. Here's the link for those interested

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=264838

http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=43168


It looks like it might be something called Sleep Paralysis. Heres the wiki link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
 
Hi mate and welcome to Bluelight! We sure as hell aren't going to tell you to fuck off! ;)

Your nightmares are most likely a result of you overdoing it. It is recommended that you space your MDMA sessions at least 6-8 weeks a part and you were doing back to back nights. Give it a few days and I bet you will be back to normal :) I'd also wouldn't roll for a while. You did enough damage during timespan of the festival.

I'd recommend purchasing some melatonin or taking some other sleep aid at night.


FM
 
Thanks for the reply mate.

I originally wrote that post yesterday.

Last night I had a great sleep and feel pretty damn good today.

The atmosphere from Shabhala was so amazing, it would be hard to resist not popping pills multiple days.

I think Shambhala will be my one time of the year I indulge in such things. Although I might just go for 2 or 3 days instead of the full 4.


Thanks again for the post.
 
I have a very shaky theory about the relationship between sleep paralysis and serotonin depletion from using MDMA. Take it for what you will. :)

Basically, melatonin controls your sleep cycle -- its concentration in the brain wanes during the day, but peaks at night, especially when you're in darkness. It promotes sleep by paralyzing your body, so that you don't act out your dreams physically or get bothered by external stimulus. Sleep paralysis, from what I've read about it, is a state in which you are incompletely tranquilized; your body is still slightly aware of stimulus, but your mind is in a dreamlike state. The biggest result of this is that terrifying sensation where you're awake, but your body feels like a block of wood, utterly unable to move. In addition to this, I think it also causes very realistic "waking dreams"...going to the bathroom, for instance. The dreams repeat over and over, because some stimulus (e.g. a full bladder) is telling you that you do need to go to the bathroom. Your body, feeling partially in control of itself, goes through the mental motions of going to the bathroom, but of course you're sleeping and can't actually do so. When you mentally assess your situation, you find yourself still in bed, but still needing to go to the bathroom...repeat ad infinitum. :\

Melatonin is naturally synthesized from serotonin, so melatonin stores are also depleted by serotonin depletion. Also, MDMA is a stimulant, which puts you in even more dire need of a tranquilizer like melatonin to sleep. Combined with the inevitable 5-HT receptor downregulation from MDMA, this likely makes sleep very difficult for the first few days.

I've found that taking melatonin supplements dramatically improves this situation -- I sleep easier, more deeply, and with few strange dreams. My brother, who doesn't use MDMA but does suffer from sleep paralysis, has noted a definite improvement in his symptoms since I suggested he start taking melatonin supplements before bed. Once again, this is all unfounded speculation and anecdote, but it might help some of you out. :D
 
RGB said:
I think it also causes very realistic "waking dreams"...going to the bathroom, for instance. The dreams repeat over and over, because some stimulus (e.g. a full bladder) is telling you that you do need to go to the bathroom. Your body, feeling partially in control of itself, goes through the mental motions of going to the bathroom, but of course you're sleeping and can't actually do so. When you mentally assess your situation, you find yourself still in bed, but still needing to go to the bathroom...repeat ad infinitum. :\
Click to expand...

...aaaaand then you pee the bed and you have warm rushing feelings of happiness and then your dreams get REALLY good. :D

...not speaking from experience of course. Really! ...8)
 
i sometimes have night mares after taking e. i think my reason for it that i am just not sleeping that deeply. normally i cant remember my dreams unless i wake up out of the dream. another time i am able to remember dreams vividly is when i lay there in the morning desperately trying to sleep but i am unable to get back to a good sleep. in stead is lay there waking up every 5 minutes it seems like. when this happens i seem to get stuck in a dream loop. or i am even able to fall back asleep and re enter a dream or replay the entire thing.

sorry for not capital letters fucking shift button is broke and i am tired of clicking caps on and off each time.
 
only thing ive had on the few times ive rolled is ive crashed in my bed after the party, closed my eyes, still been conscious, but then have started dreaming as if the parties still happening in my head. Im dreaming ie. my brains gone to sleep, but im very much aware that im still conscious.
 
This was the best Sham yet! I was so fucked up on Friday I actually experienced a walking K hole. I had no idea where I was but I felt like I was in a futuristic circus war zone rave, with all the lights and lasers along with all the crazy costumes... it was a trip I will never forget :)
 
I actually had a few incidents of panic attacks ever since I started E (but I only very very rarely drop so I've only dropped 3x). Sometimes it gets really bad, so I went to the doc. She told me panic attacks are due to a low level of serotonin in the brain. E floods your brain with massive amounts of serotonin, so that afterwards your brain is not going to function as well in terms of serotonin regulation and your amount of serotonin may be depleted, especially after so much rolling! Please take a break and I think 5-HTP could help.
 
new to shambhala

hey guys im new to bluelight and 2bfair forums altogether....i saw this conversation nd i joined the site cos i red a few replys nd everyone here seems so sound!

so yh umm ive been rolling for about 2 years but not everyweekend or anything crazy just maybe like once a month or less depending on wat my rolling party r up 2, but yh ive only got nightmeres once and it was freakin scary! so i feel for you, i felt like my head was twisted up completely but it only happened once so could hav just been dodgy pills or sumthing, so sorry i cant realy help you man, it was bad but it definatly stops nd u said it stopped so sound. :)

ive just got my shambhala ticket for 2010 nd im sooo fucking excited man! im going with just my best mate nd im abit nervous cos theres just 2 of us, but ive heard amazing things and im glad to hear theres no violence cos raves in england r now just FULL of aggy chavs. is it easy to get hold of pills then? and ive never done lsd but i rekon sham seems like the place to go 4 it! wat do u guys rekon? it wud b sound 2 tlk and meet people who are going this year. cheers and sorry 4 rambaling. sound :)
 
shambhala is an amazing place, this year will be my second year and I cannot wait. Prepare to be blown away! Don't worry about there only being two of you, you will meet tons of people there because everyone is so friendly, great vibes all around. When I went last year I saw no violence whatsoever which was amazing because I was so used to all the stuff that happens at clubs in toronto, I felt so safe at sham.

Prepare for a great time and feel free to PM me if you have anymore questions.

Welcome to BL by the way
 
Glad you had such a great time

sleep paralysis is a scary thing and really common amongst MDMA users - it’s your brains revenge, you fry it for a few days so it frightens the shit out of you in retaliation .

Fewer drugs next time?
 
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