Excessive sweating at night can be embarrassing and difficult to manage, causing distress especially if the condition means disturbances to your sleep. It is possible for women to experience this problem at any stage of life, as it can be a symptom of a number of different matters relating to health and natural body processes. Even though, most of the time severe night sweats are nothing to be concerned about. Explore some different options in order to lessen, or even stop the problem.
What Causes Severe Night Sweats?
Excessive sweating during sleep can be caused by a multitude of different factors, some of which are sadly unavoidable and some of which can be prevented altogether. Common reasons for this affliction include:
Hyperhidrosis. This is the medical term for simply “excessive sweating”. It is a fairly common condition which is not yet fully understood by scientists, but it is thought to be caused by a malfunction in the nervous system. Sufferers of hyperhidrosis will produce an excessive amount of sweat, for seemingly no reason - such as while sleeping.
Hormonal fluctuations. Excessive night sweats are especially common among menopausal women. This is because decreased estrogen levels at this time interacts with chemicals in the brain that influence temperature control - causing both hot flashes and severe sweating at night and during the day.
Fear and anxiety. Sometimes when we are going through emotionally difficult periods of life, the stress can exhibit itself in the form of heavy sweating during sleep. If your mind is consumed with fear or anxiety about anything, many women will experience troubling dreams - this will also increase the likeliness of extreme night sweats.
Infections. Unfortunately with bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, often sufferers will experience fever and unsteady temperature changes. This too can result in sweating a lot during sleep.
What Can I Do About Profuse Night Sweats?
To treat extreme sweating during sleep, it is necessary to first realize what the underlying cause of your problem is. Once that has been determined, it is possible to explore the wide range of treatments and management options that exist for this condition:
Lifestyle changes. An often overlooked course of action is to examine your day to day habits. Avoiding alcohol and spicy foods, wearing cool pajamas, and keeping bedrooms windows open as much as possible can all be highly effective in reducing night sweats.
Seeing a therapist. If your night sweats occur in conjunction with negative thoughts and distressing dreams, it is recommendable to consider seeing a therapist in order to get to the root of the emotional problem, with a view to resolving it.
Hormone-influencing medication. To decrease menopausal night sweats - and other menopausal symptoms if necessary - talk to your doctor about treatments designed to reinstate hormonal balance. There are prescribed medication available, but they carry side effects.
- Medication. Profuse sweating associated with fever will only diminish when the infection has been addressed. It might be necessary to administer antibiotics, or embark on a course of specific medication.
Sweating a lot during sleep can understandably cause women to worry, particularly if they are not sure why it might be occurring. Whether or not you have experienced this condition, it can be advisable to find out more about the causes and treatments, because unfortunately, it is a common problem among women.
