It's safe to say that everyone has had their sleep disturbed by a few frighteningly realistic nightmares over the years, but if they are suddenly becoming more and more frequent, it could suggest that something sinister might actually be going on.
If you notice that your dreams keep taking a scary turn, health experts have warned that it could be your bodies way of letting you know you that you need to brace yourself for a bumpy ride.
A new study has found that a spike in the number of nightmares or hallucinations you experience could be an early sign that you are suffering from an autoimmune disease such as lupus - or that your symptoms are about to erupt.
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Now, doctors are being advised to check in with their patients about what is going on in their dreams so that they can catch these conditions early and forecast when symptoms might 'flare' up in those who have already been diagnosed.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge and King’s College London surveyed 676 different people who have lupus, which is an illness which causes the body's immune system to attack its own tissues and organs.
As well as this, they also got 400 clinicians to weigh in on the topic.
The study, published today in eClinicalMedicine, also included detailed interviews with 69 people living with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, including lupus, and 50 clinicians.
Participants were asked to explain the timing of when they started to experience 29 neurological and mental health symptoms - such as depression, hallucinations and loss of balance.
They were also tasked with putting these in chronological order of which symptom seemed to come first before symptoms of their autoimmune disease started to flare up.
Three in five patients reported disrupted dream sleep as one of the most common hallmarks, with a third of these also claiming to have experienced this for over a year before they were diagnosed with lupus.
Complaining of 'vivid and distressing nightmares' which occurred shortly before hallucinations, those who took part in the study said their bad dreams typically involved being attacked, trapped, crushed or falling.
One described how when they started feeling 'overwhelmed' and 'under stress' when their illness flared up, they would often see 'horrific' things when they fell asleep.
But only one in four patients reported experiencing hallucinations, although the majority said this did not begin until the onset of the disease or a bit later down the line.
They preferred referring to these episodes - which one participant compared to feeling like they are 'in Alice in Wonderland' and disorientated - as 'daymares'.
The lead author of the study, Dr Melanie Sloan, said of the findings: "It’s important that clinicians talk to their patients about these types of symptoms and spend time writing down each patient’s individual progression of symptoms.
"Patients often know which symptoms are a bad sign that their disease is about to flare, but both patients and doctors can be reluctant to discuss mental health and neurological symptoms particularly if they don’t realise these can be a part of autoimmune diseases."
Professor David D’Cruz of King’s College London added: "For many years I have discussed nightmares with my lupus patients and thought that there was a link with their disease activity.
"This research provides evidence of this, and we are strongly encouraging more doctors to ask about nightmares and other neuropsychiatric symptoms — thought to be unusual, but actually very common in systemic autoimmunity — to help us detect disease flares earlier."
It is hoped that the discovery will also help people get diagnosed faster too, as some participants with lupus reported that they were misdiagnosed with mental health problems.
Topics: Sleep, Health, Mental Health, Science
Olivia Burke