6 Ways To Combat Night Sweats
indrani karmakarBA Hons Experience: 2.5 yearsIndrani is a writer and artist who likes to add a dash of humor to everything she does. She has two years of experience in writing articles across beauty, health, and lifestyle genres. After graduatin... more
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Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat? As alarming as it sounds, night sweats can happen for numerous reasons. You might think it is because of the high room temperature, but if it is a recurring problem, it may need medical attention. Some of the most common reasons for night sweats are heavy medications, perimenopause, menopause, low blood sugar, hormonal problems, and neurological problems (1). The symptoms include shaking, frequent mood changes, fever, and dryness of lady parts (2). Lesser common causes include cancer and infections. Let us now understand what causes night sweat and how to beat it without the help of medications.
In This Article
Causes Of Night Sweats
One thing to keep in mind is, flushing of skin is not the same as night sweat, so regulating the room temperature may not be a permanent solution to your sweating at night. Here are some common causes of night sweat and their symptoms.
Menopausal Symptoms
Menopause can affect your emotional and physical health and lead to problems in intimacy (3). These include anxiety, insomnia, hot flashes, feeling no pleasure in getting intimate, mood changes, forgetfulness, and failure of concentration.
Hormonal Disorders
Sweating can be a cause of several hormone disorders like pheochromocytoma (4), carcinoid syndrome (5), and hyperthyroidism (6). It can also result from idiopathic hyperhidrosis (7) (when your body produces a lot of sweat without any identifiable cause).
Body Infections
Tuberculosis is the most common infection linked with night sweats. However, many bacterial infections can potentially escalate the effect of night sweat. These include – endocarditis (8), osteomyelitis (9), abscesses (10), and AIDS virus.
Cancers
Early symptoms of cancer include night sweat (11). People diagnosed with lymphoma complained about symptoms like weight loss, fever, and night sweating.
Strong Medication
There are certain medications that may trigger night sweating. They are mostly side effects generated from medications of tumor infection.
Neurologic Conditions
Neurological conditions like autonomic dysreflexia (12), autonomic neuropathy (13), post-traumatic syringomyelia (14), and stroke can give way to night sweats.
Diabetes
Night sweats may also be a sign of diabetes. The medications that treat diabetes, such as sulfonylureas or insulin, lower blood sugar levels and cause excessive sweating at night (15).
Home Remedies To Cure Night Sweats
Even though these signs and symptoms might scare you, there are some easy ways by which you can cure and reverse night sweats. These require nothing more than easy kitchen ingredients and will heal you from within.
1. Keep It Cool
This might seem like an obvious option, but drinking enough water throughout the day will help you keep night sweats at bay. Also, make sure you sleep in an airy room. Keep the window and door open and choose a room that allows cross ventilation. Also, make sure you sleep in comfortable cotton pajamas that lets your skin breathe.
2. Lifestyle Changes
Simple changes in your lifestyle may help you avoid night sweats. Studies prove that consuming spicy food, hot drinks, and alcohol before going to bed will increase your body temperature and keep you sweating. Keeping your food simple and doing regular exercise will reduce the symptoms of night sweats.
3. Acupuncture
Acupuncture is believed to heal and reduce night sweat (16). Ensure you get it done by a professional and have the needles sanitized before getting them plunged in your skin!
4. Oils And Herbs
There are specific herbs that are known to reduce overheating during sleep. These include black cohosh (17). They are members of the buttercup family and help alleviate symptoms of menopause.
5. Take Vitamin Supplements
Vitamins are not only a part of a healthy life; they also help reduce night sweat (18). Including foods rich in vitamin C will help you beat the symptoms of night sweat once and for all.
6. Maintain Your Body Weight
It might get challenging to maintain your body weight after the age of 50, but gaining excess weight puts a strain on your organs and might cause you night sweat (19). Being on the lower end of the weight chart will keep your body cool and keep every age-related health problem at bay.
Now that you know the tricks to fight off night sweat, reversing it won’t be a problem anymore. But make sure you try to heal the symptoms naturally and keep your lifestyle as healthy as possible. Also, it is advisable to get regular health checkups to deal with ailments at the first stage itself. Take care!
