Night sweats is an uncomfortable occurrence, but can actually be quite common. Night sweats refer to any type of excess perspiration or sweating at night. In many cases night sweats aren’t attributed to wearing too many blankets or the balmy temperature in your bedroom, but rather an underlying medical condition.
In most cases, night sweats are not a serious symptom, but if it occurs on a regular basis, it may be helpful to assess what may be triggering it. If you’re struggling with night sweats, there are a variety of common medical causes that could be beneficial to be aware of. Here are 12 common medical causes of night sweats.
1. Menopause
If you’re female, and at a certain ripe age, your night sweating may be contributed to menopause or perimenopause. Cleveland Clinic explains that night sweats are the nocturnal counterpart to hot flashes, and are common during the menopausal transition as hormone levels change. When you experience night sweats because of menopause, you may wake up feeling cold and your sheets could be soaked from your sweat. In addition to this unfortunate scenario, your heart may also be pounding. To help cope with these symptoms, set your temperature lower at night, use low thread count sheets (the higher the thread, the less they breathe), and try some deep breathing exercises before bed and when you wake up from the sweats.
Waking up in the middle of the night is bad enough without the cold sweats, and it can be difficult to get back to sleep because of it. While menopausal or premenopausal women can experience this, men, younger women and children can also get night sweats due to hormonal imbalance if they suffer from pheochromocytoma, an adrenal gland disorder.