(DREN-ching …) Episodes of excessive sweating that occur during sleep and soak a person's bedclothes and bed sheets, which may cause the person to wake up.
Your sleepwear and sleep environment
Dr. Ram says that the most common reason for night sweats are: Bedding, sleepwear or even a mattress that doesn't "breathe" A sleep environment that's too warm.
You regularly have night sweats that wake you up at night – You may wake up drenched in sweat, unable to cool down even if your room is cool. Many describe the feeling as if they had just got out of a swimming pool and laid down in bed.
If your night sweats occur on a regular basis, interrupt your sleep, or are accompanied by a fever or other symptoms, such as unexplained weight loss, then you should schedule an appointment with your physician.
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.
“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.
Use a bedroom fan, sleep with your windows open, or crank up the air conditioning. Keep a cold pack under your pillow, then flip your pillow to rest your head on a cool surface. Avoid common night sweat triggers such as alcohol, spicy foods, caffeine and cigarettes or exercising immediately before bed.
Waking up covered in sweat despite it not being hot? If it's not a warm bedroom, it could be stress, hormones, alcohol, medications, or a medical condition.
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.
Causes of excessive sweating:
Facial hyperhidrosis is caused due to overstimulation of eccrine glands. This in most cases doesn't have any specific cause, while it can be hereditary. It can also be caused due to anxiety, substance abuse, menopause, hyperthyroidism or drugs like insulin, pilocarpine etc.”
What are the main causes of head and neck night sweats? Our body sweats during the night to keep our body temperature down. This thermoregulation it performs can be triggered by heavy and manmade covers, a foam mattress, and wearing synthetic fibers for sleepwear.
“The mean duration of hot flashes and night sweats is seven to nine years, and about one-third of women will flash for a decade or more.
Oh, and if you suffer from night sweats and hot flashes, you need even more water to make up for the additional loss. Staying hydrated will also help you lower your other symptoms like fatigue and dizziness in menopause.
During the night, hormone levels can swing even more drastically, which sometimes results in much more severe hot flashes that can leave clothes and bedding soaked. Diet – caffeine, spicy foods, and alcohol are just a few of the dietary contributing factors that can create more severe hot flashes at night.
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.
Sweats can happen at any time of the day with lymphoma, but they are most common at night. They are often described as 'drenching' and can make your nightclothes or bed sheets soaking wet. Itching ('pruritus') without a rash can be a symptom of lymphoma. It can be very uncomfortable, particularly when you get hot.
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.
Night sweats are a common symptom of obstructive sleep apnea. A 2013 study found that frequent overnight sweating (more than 3 times per week) was reported in up to 33 percent of patients with obstructive sleep apnea relative to just 12 percent of the general population.
Conditions commonly associated with night sweats include menopause, mood disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hyperthyroidism, and obesity.
Excessive sweating, especially sweating of the head, can be a sign of a vitamin D deficiency. A change in the amount you sweat or your sweating patterns should be cause for concern.
Excessive sweating of the face, head, and neck is medically known as cranio facial hyperhidrosis. This type of sweating is most often a symptom of a skin condition called primary focal hyperhidrosis that causes people to sweat excessively from specific areas of their body for no apparent reason.