New research determined that horrific nightmares can be the first sign of autoimmune disease. But other chronic diseases like Long-COVID were also fund to have an association with nightmares in 18% while only 5% of normal controls had nightmares. Vivid nightmares are not usually what people dream. So, when a person who normally just has ordinary dreams develops consistent nightmares, the physician must start doing tests. These nightmares can be part of prodromal symptoms that indicate that the patient comes down with a chronic illness. Often these are due to autoimmune diseases like lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis or a bowel disease like Crohn’s disease. A 2019 study described first that nightmares can be part of the initial symptoms of an autoimmune disease.
About the nature of nightmares
Patients describe the nightmares as intense and horrifying. Others describe the nightmares “where I can’t breathe and where someone is sitting on my chest.” Others perceived them as violent visions in their sleep. Nightmares can even turn into “daymares,” which are dreamlike hallucinations that appear when awake. Melanie Sloan is a researcher in the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She was one of the lead authors of the 2024 study and said: “This is particularly the case in a disease like lupus, which is well known for affecting multiple organs including the brain, but we also found these patterns of symptoms in the other rheumatological diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and systemic sclerosis.”
Flares of autoimmune diseases have an association with nightmares
Researchers recently detected that nightmares can be harbingers of flare-ups of autoimmune diseases. But this is not yet included in medical textbooks. As a result, your doctor may forget to ask you about nightmares as a symptom. If a patient has the finding of new nightmares, this can be a valuable pointer that a flare-up of a chronic underlying disease is just happening now. Blood tests like the C-reactive protein, and RA and ANA titers may show a worsening of the condition. The physician may adjust the medication to bring the chronic disease under control. When the chronic disease is under control again, the nightmares disappear. The linkage of nightmares and chronic diseases can help to monitor how well an autoimmune disease is under control.
Horrific Nightmares Can Be the First Sign of Autoimmune Disease
Conclusion
Normally people do not have vivid nightmares. Vivid nightmares can suddenly occur in a person who normally has regular dreams at night. This is the time you should seek advice from your doctor, as there could be an autoimmune disease developing. The doctor can order blood tests that monitor the development of inflammation. The blood tests can also become the basis for treatment of the newly diagnosed autoimmune disorder. Nightmares can also indicate flare-ups of a known autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Waxing and waning symptoms are typical for these autoimmune diseases. Due to these pointers an autoimmune disorder can be treated in a timely fashion. Also, the good news is that with appropriate therapy from a rheumatologist the nightmares can turn into normal dreams.
