Melatonin-induced dreaming

I've been taking melatonin strips lately to help me fall asleep. One of the side effects, however, is vivid dreams.

I don't really have recurring dreams so much as recurring themes, people, and places. Vampires are one example. The latest vampire dream I had is one I'm going to turn into a piece of writing, which I'll post here when it's done.

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Another dream I had recently was of a bear. I was walking in the woods on a path that edged around a steep drop. This bear came out of nowhere. It had the body of a bear but its fur was grey and its head was strange. It kind of floated and bobbed around the bear's shoulders, as if it wasn't attached to its neck at all. The bear headed right for me. Somehow I actually fought with it hard enough to push it off the path, making it fall down the cliff.

A few minutes later it climbed back over, but it had died and was returning as a dog - a friendly, grey dog with that same strange, bobbing head.

What does this mean?

DreamMoods.com says, "To see a bear in your dream symbolizes independence, the cycle of life, death and renewal. It may signal of period of introspection and thinking....
"To dream that you are being pursued or attacked by a bear, denotes aggression, overwhelming obstacles and competition. You may find yourself in a threatening situation."

Unless you kill it and make it your friend, of course...maybe I'm about to have my own personal war.