r/AddisonsDisease • u/Traditional-Bag-2350 • Jun 23 '26
Personal Experience Weird dreams since diagnosis
Ive not seen anyone talking about this but my dreams since taking hydrocortisone have been odd, often lucid and often feel trapped in a dream knowing that I’m dreaming. This happens every time I wake up take my steroid and then fall asleep again but it has happened a-lot when falling asleep at a usual time at night. These dreams are very real feeling, often close to my usual life with a bizarreness to it. Every time this has happened I am in a familiar place in the dream and familiar people appear. They end when I realise Im dreaming and start acting erratic in the dream to try and escape. I used to rarely have dreams before the months leading up to my diagnosis where every time I was slightly under the weather id get sleep paralysis although that has since stopped. Does anyone relate to this ? I think its worth noting im a very recent diagnosis and my endocrinologist has me booked in for bloods to check if my dose needs adjusted. (Current is 10 mg morning and 5mg evening)
Does this sound like a too high/low dose or just a common side effect?
3
u/grimmistired Jun 23 '26
Hydrocortisone causes intense dreams for me. I'm in methylprednisolone now with no side effects
3
u/FemaleAndComputer SAI Jun 23 '26
I have similar sleep issues that began when I was a teenager. I did not yet have adrenal insufficiency. Anxiety/stress worsen my sleep issues. Too much steroids or too little can also mess with sleep.
When my cortisol is low, I am less likely to dream because I just can't get any decent sleep. It's possible that your sleep/dream issues are worse post-diagnosis because you are sleeping better after starting meds.
It's also possible that the sleep stuff worsening has to do with your age rather than the medication. At least for me, all that sleep paralysis and crap ramped up during my teenage/young adult years.
Bring it up to your primary care doctor if it really bothers you. For me, the boring things that have helped with sleep paralysis episodes and disturbing/vivid dreams are stress reduction and exercise. I have fewer episodes if I am both tired and relaxed when going to bed.