Contents:
- Medical Video: What Are Fever Dreams?
- A dream experienced during a high fever
- Why did you experience a nightmare during a high fever?
- Body temperature increases
- Effect of drugs
- Self-protection mechanism
- Steps to prevent nightmares
Medical Video: What Are Fever Dreams?
Have you ever had a frightening nightmare when you were hit by a high fever? Usually high fever accompanied by nightmares often occur in children. However, it is also possible that adults will experience nightmares when they are sick. This of course greatly disrupts your rest, especially when you need a lot of rest to quickly recover from a fever or illness. So, it's important to know the cause of the nightmare when high fever and steps that can be taken to prevent it. Check out the full answer below.
A dream experienced during a high fever
Usually a nightmare that occurs when someone is having a high fever occurs at the stage of REM sleep or rapid eye movement. This stage is achieved about 70 to 90 minutes after you fall asleep. Dreams that occur during a fever usually feel very real and threatening, as if a frightening event actually happened in the room where you slept or related to things that happened that day. I was so frightening, many people would wake up from sleep and be able to remember clearly the contents of their dreams. Some people also report that after successfully falling asleep again, the same nightmare will continue or repeat itself. Nightmares when high fever is also not infrequently accompanied by delirious conditions, anxiety, or even sleep walking.
You will also wake up with an unpleasant feeling, between fear and fatigue but also upset because you just want to rest. If you or your child experience this, calm yourself by drinking warm water or turning on the light sleep with a soft light. Also make sure that your body temperature doesn't rise as long as you fall asleep.
Why did you experience a nightmare during a high fever?
There are various factors that can trigger you or your child to experience a nightmare when a high fever. Here are things that can cause nightmares.
Body temperature increases
When you are hit by a high fever, your body temperature, especially in the head, will increase. Temperature changes will have a direct impact on the work of your brain. Temperatures that are too hot or above 37 degrees Celsius run the risk of causing you to hallucinate and experience disorientation if you are awake. However, when you fall asleep, the brain will emit a picture that feels very real and clear through a nightmare. This happens because fever will disrupt and slow down the work of enzymes in brain cells. This causes chemicals in the brain to be out of balance.
Also, when you reach the REM sleep stage, you will lose control of your body temperature. This happens because the body's function to regulate body temperature is also rested when you fall asleep. As a result, when you have a high fever, your body temperature can increase to become even warmer when you reach the REM sleep stage. A heated brain will become very active even though your body sends a signal to keep resting. This is what will cause a nightmare.
Effect of drugs
High fever is generally caused by certain diseases. The drugs you consume to cure the disease can seem to cause nightmares. Antibiotics, antihistamines, and drugs for blood pressure are some examples of drugs that risk causing your sleep to not sound and nightmares appear. Because, these drugs can affect the level of chemicals in the brain and disrupt your normal sleep stages.
Self-protection mechanism
A very high or hot body temperature will be read by your brain that is sleeping as a form of threat or a sign that something is wrong. The brain tries hard to wake you up so you can protect or escape the threat. On the other hand, your body tells the brain to rest. This ultimately manifests in a nightmare, where the brain becomes active because it feels threatened but your body stays asleep.
Steps to prevent nightmares
If you or your child is hit by a high fever, try to sleep as comfortably as possible. Make sure you wear cotton shirts that are lightweight and can absorb sweat. So if your body temperature rises and you start sweating, you will not feel hot during sleep. So, it's also important to maintain room temperature, not too cold but not too hot.
You or your child should also sleep in a room or bed where you or your child usually sleeps everyday. Moving rooms or mattresses, for example to a parent's room, will increase anxiety in the brain when sleeping. A strange place will be translated by the brain as a threat and you will find it harder to rest.
Also avoid eating too much before going to bed. This can cause your body's metabolism to fall apart because when you fall asleep, your body tries to digest and burn calories from the food you consume. Sleep also doesn't sound good and your brain can't really rest.
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