Things like alcohol, spicy foods, caffeine and smoking can be sweating triggers. Keep your bedroom cool and sleepwear light. Adjust the thermostat, use fans, open windows (if it's cold outside), wear breathable pajamas and use lightweight bedding.
Causes of night sweats
medicines – some antidepressants, steroids and painkillers. low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) alcohol or drug use. a harmless condition called hyperhidrosis that makes you sweat too much all the time.
Night sweats can be a manifestation of simple infection, underlying malignancy, more complex infections – including TB and HIV – connective tissue disorders, menopause or certain prescribed drugs. It's also important not to overlook possible psychological causes, such as night terrors secondary to PTSD.
Schedule a visit with your health care provider if night sweats: Occur on a regular basis. Interrupt your sleep. Are accompanied by a fever, weight loss, pain in a specific area, cough, diarrhea or other symptoms of concern.
Infections—Bacterial infections like endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valves) and osteomyelitis (inflammation within the bones) may result in night sweats, with tuberculosis being the most common infection associated with the condition.
Leukemia and lymphoma are among the cancers associated with night sweats. Those associated with leukemia usually occur in conjunction with symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, or excessive bruising. Leukemia-related sweats may also result from daytime fevers.
Excessive Sweating
When the arteries become clogged, your heart is forced to work harder to keep blood flowing. In response, your body sweats to keep your temperature down. Night sweats are a common symptom in women who are having heart problems, though the symptom is sometimes mistaken as a sign of menopause.
Some signs of leukemia, like night sweats, fever, fatigue and achiness, resemble flu-like symptoms. Unlike symptoms of the flu, which generally subside as patients get better, leukemia symptoms generally last longer than two weeks, and may include sudden weight loss, bone and joint pain and easy bleeding or bruising.
“Bedding and sleepwear are the most common reasons people sweat in their sleep,” says Dr. Harris. “Even if the bedroom temperature is cold, sleeping in materials that aren't breathable and don't promote airflow can cause overheating and night sweats.”
There are several common reasons for night sweats – from spicy foods to warm bedrooms – but excess sweating can be a sign of a medical condition such as an infection, menopause or cancer. “Just being hot at night should not worry anyone,” says Dr.
Memory foam mattress: The synthetic material used in memory foam relies on your body heat to mould and support you while you sleep. However, the lack of breathability and the additional heat can cause excessive sweating at night in some people. For others, it can make existing night sweats problems worse.
Other medical conditions that can cause night sweats include hypoglycemia, infection, HIV and certain cancers, such as lymphoma or leukemia. Medications for depression, diabetes and hormone treatments can also play a role. And, as we mentioned earlier, so can alcohol and tobacco use.
People with diabetes often suffer night sweats due to low blood sugar levels, or nocturnal hypoglycemia . A drop in blood glucose can cause all sorts of symptoms, including headaches and severe sweating.
Warning signs and symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, chronic coughing or wheezing, swelling, fatigue, loss of appetite, and others. Heart failure means the heart has failed to pump the way it should in order to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
In women, night sweats are often caused by decreased estrogen levels—which can be due to the menopause transition or the body's hormone fluctuations after giving birth.
Autoimmune disorders: Night sweats can sometimes be a symptom of autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, and lupus. Autonomic neuropathy: This can lead to problems with excessive sweating.
Why does my head sweat so much when I sleep? Fevers and other medical conditions can result in head sweats and neck sweats while sleeping. Menopause in women, low testosterone in men, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and certain types of drugs can all cause us to wake up with a drenched pillow in the morning.
Myth: People with high blood pressure will experience symptoms, like nervousness, sweating, difficulty sleeping or facial flushing. Truth: High blood pressure is a largely symptomless “silent killer.”
“Almost any kind of infection can cause night sweats,” she says. This includes kidney infections and much rarer infections like tuberculosis. In other cases, the cause may be thyroid or liver disease, or a sleep disorder like obstructive sleep apnea.
Hot flushes and night sweats can dehydrate you, but being dehydrated will put more pressure on your nervous system, which will also trigger more hot flushes and night sweats.
People with thyroid issues may experience night sweats. However, night sweats are not one of the hallmark symptoms of hypothyroidism. Heat intolerance and sweating are symptoms more commonly linked to hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid).
Certain problems such as diabetes, heart failure, anxiety, and overactive thyroid can cause heavy sweating. And some drugs may cause heavy sweating as a side effect.