Sleep can be hard enough without excessive sweating. Waking up in a puddle of sweat isn’t any fun – and it’s hard to imagine being able to go back to sleep quickly after that. As a result, your sleep’s going to suffer. Then you’re going to be off your game all day. Then you try to go to sleep that night and repeat the whole cycle. If that lack of sleep builds up, you’re looking at some very negative consequences. They include weight gain, among other things. That’s why you want to get control of this sweating and sleep much better.
What Causes Night Sweats?
If you have night sweats, you need to see a doctor. They can diagnose what the problem is and then start treatment. There are several possible causes, aside from having a room that’s too hot.
- Infection – This can be anything from HIV to tuberculosis
- Menopause – This can be part of the hot flashes that women experience when they enter this stage of their life
- Hyperthyroidism – This is when your thyroid is producing too much hormone
- Anxiety – Whether there’s a lot of things going on in your life or you have things like General Anxiety Disorder, you can sweat at night due to it
- Cancer – You could have certain forms of it, like leukemia or lymphoma
- Hypoglycemia – Your blood sugar is low, which then causes you to sweat
If you have cancer, chemotherapy can also make you sweat. If you take certain medications, they can cause night sweats. Also, if you drink too much caffeine or alcohol, smoke or take drugs, that can also increase your chances of getting night sweats.
Treating It
When you see your doctor, they will figure out the reason behind it. Then they are going to have to treat the root cause of the night sweats. When they do that, they should then correct the issue of night sweats.
- Menopause – The doctor may tell you to make changes in your life, like finding a cool room to sleep in. There’s also hormone therapy, which can keep the number of hot flashes to a minimum. They may prescribe drugs like paroxetine and gabapentin. You might even get venlafaxine to take off-label.
- Infection – You’ll probably have to take antibiotics or antiviral drugs to treat this. When the infection is gone you should sleep much better.
- Cancer – This one’s tricky, since the medication that they have you take for it, whether it’s chemotherapy or other drugs, can cause night sweats too. If that’s the case, you’ll probably be given hormone therapy, too.
- Anxiety – You’ll probably be prescribed anti-anxiety drugs or antidepressants. The doctor may even give you the contact info for a therapist.
- Hyperthyroidism – Since the thyroid is producing too much hormone, you don’t need more. The treatment may include medication, radioiodine therapy, or even surgery.
You should also limit alcohol, drugs, and caffeine or just stop. After some initial withdrawals, you should be fine.
Your sleeping habits can also play a part. Do you wear light or heavy pajamas? Do you have a lot of blankets on your bed? Can you crack open a window in your room? Consider turning on the air conditioner or using a fan (though this depends on the weather, since it can sometimes only recirculate hot air). You can even get a cooling mattress. Try to keep yourself at a moderate weight. Sometimes having extra pounds can cause that. If you have menopause, you might want to avoid spicy foods.
There might be times when you have night sweats and they stop. That’s usually a sign that whatever the issue was, it’s cleared up. If you’re a woman and you have menopause symptoms before you turn 40, you should talk to your doctor. Should you have consistent night sweat symptoms, you also need to talk to a medical professional. That way, you’ll have certain tests run on you to ensure that you’re not dealing with a major health issue.
If you’re worried about your night sweats, don’t wait. See a doctor as soon as you possibly can. Otherwise, you risk having a possible health condition being left untreated for far too long and then reaching a stage where it can’t be cured. Your body is always trying to tell you things. You should listen. After you have the problem diagnosed and subsequently cured, you’ll wind up sleeping much better in the future. That’ll be no sweat at all for you.
