We can all agree that nightmares aren’t pleasant. They disrupt our sleep, leave us feeling off in the morning, and, in the case of night terrors, can even impact our mental health. Even scarier, researchers recently found evidence that adults who have nightmares every week are almost three times more likely to die before age 75 than those who rarely have bad dreams. They suggest that this is because the underlying triggers of nightmares, as well as the stress and sleep disruption they cause, accelerate the aging of cells.
“So much of our brain health relies on restorative sleep,” Luke Barr, MD, board-certified neurologist and chief medical officer at SensIQ, tells Best Life. “If someone is having persistent nightmares, it’s often a signal that something in their routine—or their nervous system—needs to be addressed.”
With that in mind, we consulted Barr and other doctors to learn about the bedtime habits that could be fueling your nightmares. The bad news is, they’re all surprisingly common—but the good news is that means they’re also relatively easy to fix.
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One of the most common responses we received about nighttime habits triggering bad dreams is eating too late.
Not only can this upset your stomach or cause heartburn, which can wake you up, but “late meals can increase metabolism and brain activity during REM sleep, the stage when most vivid dreams—and nightmares—occur,” explains Barr.
Emma Lin, ABIM, board-certified pulmonologist and the sleep medicine specialist and co-founder of ReadyO2, adds, “If REM is broken or stressful, dreams can turn into nightmares.”
Nicholas Dragolea, MD, a London-based general practitioner at My Longevity Centre, adds that when you’re digesting food late at night, your body temperature may rise (more on why that’s problematic in a bit).
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Regardless of when you eat it, consuming too much cheese could be the stuff of nightmares.
A recent article published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found “a strong association between nightmares and lactose intolerance—potentially because gas or stomach pain during the night affects people’s dreams,” according to a press release.
“These new findings imply that changing eating habits for people with some food sensitivities could alleviate nightmares,” said lead article author Tore Nielsen, PhD, a psychiatry professor at the Université de Montréal. “They could also explain why people so often blame dairy for bad dreams!”
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“Some medications, especially antidepressants, blood pressure medications, and sleep aids, can affect neurotransmitters that regulate dreaming,” says Raj Dasgupta, MD, chief medical advisor for Sleepopolis. “Taking them at night right before sleep may increase vivid dreaming or disrupt REM patterns, both of which can lead to nightmares.”
Andrea Matsumura, MD, board-certified sleep medicine physician, menopause expert, and founder of the Sleep Goddess Method, specifically points to the class of antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors): “Some are known to cause nightmares, even in those who haven’t experienced them before.”
Dasgupta advises speaking with your doctor “if nightmares started around the time you began a new medication.”
Warding off nightmares could be as easy as lowering the thermostat before bed.
“Your body needs to cool down in order to transition into restful sleep,” notes Dasgupta. “If your room is too warm, your sleep can become fragmented, and your brain may not move smoothly through the sleep stages. This kind of disruption can make REM periods more erratic, which can trigger strange, intense dreams, or even wake you up from nightmares.”
The Sleep Foundation says the ideal temperature for sleep is between 65 and 68°F. They also recommend using cooling sheets if you tend to get hot at night.
A 2004 study published in the journal Sleep and Hypnosis found that people who sleep on their left sides have significantly more nightmares than those who sleep on their right sides.
Why is this the case? In speaking with Tom’s Guide, dream decoder and best-selling author Theresa Cheung, explained that sleeping on your left side “puts more stress on the heart. Whenever there is stress, sleep quality is poor, and nightmares are sure to follow.”
Sleeping on your back may not be any better.
“The work of breathing is harder when you’re on your back. Your tongue slides backwards and your breathing is more labored,” Rafael Pelayo, MD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, told PopSugar.
When your breathing is labored, your brain turns its attention there and can more easily slip out of REM sleep.
That glass (or two) of wine may relax you before bed enough to fall asleep, but there’s a good chance it won’t help you stay asleep.
“It tends to fragment sleep later in the night and suppress REM in the first half, then you get a REM rebound later on. That sudden jump in REM can make dreams more intense, and for some people, that means nightmares,” says Dasgupta. “Alcohol also lowers your ability to regulate emotions during sleep, which can make bad dreams feel even worse.
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Surveys conducted by the National Sleep Foundation show that 58 percent of Americans look at a computer, tablet, or smartphone screen within an hour of bedtime.
This is cause for concern because all of these devices emit blue light, which “blocks the natural rise in melatonin that your body relies on to fall asleep,” says Dragolea.
“This means that your sleep is delayed and your brain is still buzzing with all the latest social media updates, so it’s not ready for the deep sleep part,” he explains. “This can give rise to more vivid or nightmare-like dreams.”
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Not only will watching a video on your iPad before bed expose you to that dreaded blue light, but if what you’re viewing is unsettling, that can further increase the likelihood of nightmares.
“If you’re watching horror movies, true crime, or even the news right before bed, that content can get pulled straight into your dream world,” shares Dasgupta. “The brain uses sleep, especially REM sleep, to process emotions and memories. So if what you’re taking in before bed is stressful or violent, you may be more likely to replay that stress as a nightmare.”
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It’s not surprising that engaging in anxiety-producing activities or thoughts at night can lead to nightmares.
“Going to sleep with a racing mind doesn’t just make it harder to fall asleep; it can also make dreams more emotionally charged,” says Dasgupta. “When your brain is processing stress during REM, those unresolved feelings can show up as anxiety-fueled dreams or nightmares. Sleep is when your brain tries to make sense of things, and if your day was stressful, your dreams might reflect that chaos.”
PsychologistLeah Kaylor, PhD, MSCP, adds that feeling stressed before bed “can raise your stress hormones (like cortisol) and make it harder for your brain to wind down.”
As Cleveland Clinic explains, cortisol is typically lower in the evening and higher when you wake up in the morning, which “suggests that cortisol plays a key role in your circadian rhythm.”
Trying to get to bed around the same time every night and getting a good seven to eight hours of sleep can help alleviate nightmares.
“When you’re overtired, your body often rebounds with longer or more intense REM sleep once you finally do get rest. That REM rebound can lead to bizarre or unsettling dreams,” explains Dasgupta. “If your sleep is all over the place, late nights, early mornings, no routine, that instability can increase your chances of having nightmares.”
According to the American Medical Association (AMA), roughly 30 million people in the U.S. have sleep apnea (about 9 percent of the population), but only 6 million are diagnosed. And if you’re in the latter group and aren’t treating your breathing issues, it could be triggering nightmares big time.
“People with sleep apnea stop breathing for short moments during sleep. This drops their oxygen levels and causes the brain to panic,” notes Lin. “The brain might respond with fear or stress, which can show up in dreams as nightmares. I’ve seen this a lot with my patients, and once we treat their breathing issues, the nightmares often go away.”
If you’re experiencing concerning nightmares for any reason, speak to your doctor about possible causes and treatments.
We offer the most up-to-date information from top experts, new research, and health agencies, but our content is not meant to be a substitute for professional guidance. When it comes to the medication you’re taking or any other health questions you have, always consult your healthcare provider directly.
