Research shows that intense nightmares, which can linger even after waking, may signal the onset of chronic illnesses.
CNN reports a nightmare shared by a Canadian patient: “There’s a serial killer chasing me. For the past few years, I’ve been having the same dream. He grabs my leg, and I can still feel something at my foot even after waking up.“
Nightmares Indicate Health Issues
According to a new study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, nightmares and hallucinations may be lesser-known signs of the onset of lupus and other systemic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The lead author of the study, Melanie Sloan, a researcher from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge in the UK, states that such unusual symptoms may also signal that a pre-existing condition could worsen or “flare up” and require medical treatment.
“This is particularly the case with lupus – a disease known for affecting multiple organs, including the brain. However, we also found these symptom patterns in other rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, and systemic scleroderma,” Sloan said.
Nightmares are a concerning issue in many medical and psychological conditions – (Photo: Getty).
Jennifer Mundt, an assistant professor of sleep medicine, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, comments that while nightmares are a significant concern in many medical and psychological conditions, they are rarely given attention – except in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Although research in this area is still relatively new, a study from March 2019 found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases also experienced nightmares and other disorders during REM sleep, such as sleep paralysis, commonly referred to as “night terrors.”
The new study surveyed 400 doctors and 676 lupus patients and conducted detailed interviews with 50 clinical doctors and 69 patients with systemic autoimmune diseases, including lupus.
Researchers found that 3 out of 5 lupus patients and 1 in 3 patients with other related rheumatic diseases experienced increasingly vivid and distressing nightmares just before they had hallucinations.
These nightmares often involved falling, being attacked, feeling trapped, being crushed, or committing murder.
Important Warning Signs
Autoimmune diseases often present a range of symptoms, known as prodromes, that appear as signs of sudden and potentially dangerous exacerbation of the condition.
For instance, in lupus, headaches, extreme fatigue, pain, joint swelling, rashes, dizziness, and fever without infection are clear signs of an impending flare-up.
Sloan emphasizes that recognizing these warning signs is crucial as it allows for “earlier detection, and thus treatment of flares – some of which can cause organ damage or even be fatal in lupus patients.”
However, specific warning symptoms like nightmares are not included in the diagnostic criteria for lupus or other diseases. The study shows that doctors rarely inquire about such experiences, and patients often avoid discussing them with their doctors.
Senior study author David D’Cruz, a consultant rheumatologist, advises: “We strongly encourage doctors to ask about nightmares and other neuropsychiatric symptoms – considered abnormal, but actually very common in systemic autoimmune diseases – to help detect disease flares earlier.”
“We found that lupus patients related to other organs aside from the brain, such as the kidneys or lungs, also frequently report various neuropsychiatric symptoms leading to flares in their kidneys or lungs,” Sloan noted.
Experiencing occasional nightmares or hallucinations is “perfectly normal” and this is “more common than we think.” However, if these symptoms are severe, distressing, and occur alongside other symptoms like extreme fatigue, headaches, and other signs of autoimmune disorders, they should be discussed with a doctor.
“In some cases, reporting these symptoms early, even if they seem strange and unrelated, can assist doctors in diagnosing autoimmune diseases,” Sloan stressed.
