Effective Remedies for Night Sweats

Get a Fan

Sometimes all the black-out curtains and cooling mattresses in the world won’t work. That’s when it’s time to invest in a half-decent oscillating fan.

Electric fans are relatively inexpensive and come in a staggering variety of shapes, sizes, and functions. If your budget permits, you may consider a fan with a built-in cooling component. Those can be pricey, but prolonged sleep deprivation due to night sweats can be costly too.

Keep Calm

Persistent anxiety and stress puts a strain on your body’s stress response, and can dramatically impact your body temperature, among other things. It’s one of the reasons why so many medical professionals encourage the development of a healthy bedtime routine.

Decompressing after a long, stressful day won’t just help you fall asleep faster and feel more rested in the morning, but it could alleviate the night sweats that you’ve been experiencing. If stress is an issue for you, try meditation, a warm bath, yoga, or anything else that you find relaxing an hour or so before bed.

Cut Out Alcohol

Frequent alcohol consumption can wreak havoc on the central nervous system and circulatory system. More specifically, alcohol withdrawal can lead to excessive sweating.

If you’re a regular drinker and often wake up sweating in the middle of the night, it may be a sign that you need to slow down. Night sweats could be a sign of physical alcohol dependence and often signify a drinking problem.

Limit Caffeine

Coffee is so commonplace that it’s easy to forget that it contains a powerful stimulant. Just because caffeine has proven to be safe doesn’t mean we should neglect its effect on the body as a whole.

Consuming coffee on the regular can affect your central nervous system, and lead to night sweats in some people. If night sweats are a problem for you, and you tend to drink caffeine throughout the day, consider easing up a bit to see if that solves your issue with night sweats.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Addressing and solving your night sweat problem is often a matter of making slight changes to your lifestyle. One doctor-recommended option is maintaining a healthy weight. There is indeed a link between a person’s weight and their ability to keep cool throughout the night.

More than that, maintaining a healthy weight offers a long list of benefits including more effective blood circulation, more energy, and a decreased likelihood of developing diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

Take a Cool Shower

Cool showers aren’t for everybody. A lot of people can’t so much as tolerate even the idea of a cold shower. More to the point though, taking cool showers as a night sweat preventative measure isn’t always effective. However, if you’re brave enough, try it out and see if it works.

We also want to point out there are many other benefits of a cold shower that might make it worth trying. Healthline says other benefits include increased circulation, reducing sore muscles post-workout, potentially boosting weight loss, and promoting glowing hair and skin.

Run Cool Water Over Your Wrists

When access or time prevents you from taking a cool shower, you could always try running cool water over your wrists. This old cooling trick works to bring your body temperature down by cooling the blood vessels in your wrists. By running water or holding ice to these critical pulse points, you should be able to make do without a full-on shower.

Wear Breathable Pyjamas

This may seem self-evident, but it bears repeating. Investing in a few sets of breathable pyjamas will help beat back the side effects of night sweats. Look to linen and cotton for ultra-breathable and ultra-light options.

If those fail, consider something composed of light wool. Wool will absorb any sweat that you do generate while keeping you cool all night long.

Black Cohosh

A perennial plant native to North America, black cohosh, is an all-natural herb that’s often used to beat back the sweaty symptoms of menopause. Its roots are harvested, dried, ground into a powder, and sold as supplements at most health-food stores.

Though the efficacy of black cohosh supplementation is questionable, it may work for you. If you are suffering from menopause or have tried just about everything for your night sweats, black cohosh supplements may be the way to go. As with all supplements, just be sure to clear it with your doctor first.

Phytoestrogens

Another plant compound to consider are phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are present in a lot of the food that you already eat including fruit, some grains, vegetables, and legumes. You can supplement them too. Why would you want to do that?

While limited, there is some evidence that phytoestrogen supplementation relieves some symptoms of menopause, including night sweats. Just like black cohosh, talk to your doctor before you start taking it.

Medications

If you’re currently taking medications prescribed to you by your doctor, your night sweats may be a side effect. Depression medications, drugs used to treat diabetes, and the hormone-blocking drugs used in hormone therapy are known to cause night sweats in some people.

As with all prescribed medications, report any uncomfortable symptoms to your doctor as soon as you are able, and maybe they can get you switched to an alternative that works better for you.

The Takeaway

I can hear you scribbling down notes from here, and I don’t blame you! There are so many effective remedies for beating back night sweats that are easy, cost-effective, and available for you to try right now.

Whether you begin to integrate cold showers into your pre-bed routine or head to your local supplement store, know that your doctor is always available to help you sort out whatever it is that your body is experiencing. They may be able to get to the bottom of your night sweat problem, and solve it once and for all!

Patty Weasler, RN

Patty is a freelance health writer and nurse (BSN, CCRN). She has worked as a critical care nurse for over 10 years and loves educating people about their health. When she's not working, Patty enjoys any outdoor activity that she can do with her husband and three kids.