Vivid Dreams: Early Pregnancy or PMS?

If you just woke up from one of those terrifying dreams that leave you all sweaty and panicky, you might be wondering what this portends. Could these vivid dreams indicate early pregnancy, or is it just PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome)?

Early pregnancy and PMS share a lot of symptoms. Both conditions influence your hormones bringing about vivid dreams. Due to this, it’s often impossible to tell whether you should prepare for your period or a newborn. The only way to be sure what your vivid dreams mean is by taking a pregnancy test.

If you’ve had dreams that border on the line of nightmares, you might be wondering what it signifies. Read on as we try to 

Are Vivid Dreams Signs of Early Pregnancy?

Women’s bodies go through numerous changes as soon as conception occurs. Unlike normal, healthy sleep, dreams become more vivid and intense during pregnancy. 

Pregnancy dreams are distinguished by the frequency with which they occur, the intensity, and the types of dreams that one has. It’s not uncommon for the dreams to recur, and you may recall specific details. So don’t be surprised if you remember the color of the bunnies or the type of fish you see while dreaming.

Scientific research has yet to determine the cause of pregnancy dreams definitively, but ongoing research provides us with an idea. These intense nightmares are thought to be caused by:

Increase in Hormones

If you find yourself sobbing because someone ate the last piece of chocolate in the box, here’s one more thing those zany hormones bring along. Hormonal changes influence how your brain processes information and emotions, resulting in changes in intense dreams.

Emotional Changes

Mothers-to-be who report feeling anxious or depressed are more likely to have weird dreams, including a large number of first-time moms. In 2013, researchers investigated how pregnancy influences maternal mental representations (MMR). They discovered that emotional fluctuations resulted in feelings and perceptions about the self and the unborn baby, manifesting in dreams.

Disrupted Sleep Pattern

Pregnant women tend to wake up more during the night, whether due to a frequent urge to urinate or difficulty finding a comfortable sleeping position. When combined with daytime fatigue, this creates the ideal recipe for increased dreams during pregnancy. Sleep disruptions in the middle of dream cycles show that pregnant women have more dreams.

Are Vivid Dreams Signs of PMS?

Some women report more sleep disruptions in the days leading up to their monthly menstrual periods, resulting in vivid, action-packed, or emotional dreams. Experts attribute this to a hormonal shift.

Estrogen is the primary hormone before ovulation. It does not affect your sleep. And even if you dream, you may not remember them because you spend more time in REM (deep sleep).

Following ovulation, falling estrogen and progesterone levels disrupt the regular sleep pattern, resulting in PMS-related insomnia. The more sleep disturbances there are the less rapid eye movement (REM).

During PMS, an increase in core body temperature is also associated with a decrease in REM sleep. If you wake up close to a REM sleep stage, you have vivid dreams that you can easily recall.

How Can You Tell Whether The Vivid Dreams are a Sign of Early Pregnancy or PMS?

Many women are unsure whether they are pregnant, have PMS, or are about to start their period. These conditions’ symptoms include mood swings, back pain, increased urination, and tender breasts (mastalgia). And now you know that vivid dreams are a common symptom. Because of these similarities, it’s difficult to tell if you’re pregnant or just having a bad case of PMS.

The bottom line is that it is impossible to tell if a woman is pregnant or experiencing symptoms related to her upcoming menstrual period based on early signs alone. The only way to know for sure what those intense dreams mean is to take a pregnancy test.

What to Do When You’re Experiencing PMS Dreams

If you’re experiencing vivid PMS dreams, what actions can you take?

Watch What You Consume Before Going to Bed

Whether you’ll get a good night’s sleep or not is influenced to a considerable extent by the foods you consume just before bedtime. For instance, coffee is likely to keep you awake, so you should endeavor to reduce (or even skip) its consumption before retiring to bed. Alcohol could have a similar effect and should also be avoided.

Avoid Activities That Might Make It Harder For You to Fall Asleep

You might be following your favorite series on Netflix or love spending your last hours awake in front of your laptop. But such activities will limit your ability to fall asleep. Some well-known sleep-inducing activities you should consider engaging in before bedtime include listening to soothing music and reading a book.

Regulate the Temperature in Your Bedroom

If your bedroom is either too cold or too hot, you can never be sure of getting quality sleep. To avoid sleep disruptions, make sure that you have proper beddings to fight off the cold and try regulating the temperature in the room for maximum comfort.

Try To Get Adequate Sleep

While you might have hectic schedules that make it impossible for you to allocate enough hours for sleep, you should endeavor to sleep for at least seven hours every night. That might mean cutting down on the nights out or ceasing bringing office work home.

In Summary

Vivid dreams are not necessarily a sign of early pregnancy. They could be the effect of PMS. Since the dreams could make you uncomfortable or disrupt your everyday life, you might decide to address them depending on how scary they are. 

In most cases, you don’t need to worry about the dreams, and you can take consolation in the fact that they could be the result of PMS and will not bother you after a few days. However, should you fear that they might be evidence of early pregnancy and wish to prepare for the coming baby, you should consider taking a test and consulting your doctor.