Ever woken up in the middle of the night with your nightwear and bed sheets soaked in sweat? Then you have probably experienced nighttime sweating. Don’t worry; you’re not alone! The usual conditions of sweating could be due to high temperature. Otherwise, if you sleep in a cool temperature and still experience night sweats consistently, then there’s more to it. It’s even more puzzling when you try all you can, like opening a window, using air conditioning or an air purifier, and even sleeping n***d.

 

“Night sweats are severe episodes of excessive sweating that can drench your pyjamas and sheets,” internal medicine specialist Keri Peterson MD says.

 

Taking into consideration the effect of sleep disruption on your productivity, finding a solution is paramount. However, you need to find the cause in order to know what you’re dealing with.

 

Five causes of nighttime sweating

 

1. Menopause

One root cause could be menopause. Menopause could cause certain symptoms. They include hot flashes that lead to night sweats, chills, irregular or absent periods, mood changes, vaginal dryness, a slower metabolism and thinning hair.

 

Therefore, if you find yourself soaking up the sheets at night, then you should consult your doctor. Menopause usually occurs in your 50s, but could appear in your 40s, only one per cent of women experience it earlier than that. “If patients are having night sweats that are intolerable, they can discuss with their doctor whether hormone replacement would be a good option for them,” says Dr Weinstein.

 

2. Period

Another cause of nighttime sweating could be your period. This rules out any fear of early menopause if you’re a woman of reproductive age and still have your menstrual cycle.

 

Keep track of your cycle and find out if your bouts of sweats are consistent with when your period starts or ends. Your hormones could be the culprit.

 

3. Anxiety disorder

Anxiety often goes beyond fear and worry. It could result in some symptoms, one of which is sweating. Other symptoms include fatigue, muscle tension, a rapid heartbeat, trouble breathing, stomach issues like nausea and diarrhoea, and more.

 

When you experience nighttime sweating, it’s a sign that your anxiety disorder is not under control. You need to seek help from your doctor on what measures to take. As a solution, therapy, meditation or medication could go a long way in helping you. Other causes of night sweat related to this could also be depression, panic attacks and more.

 

4. Hyperthyroidism

According to Mayo Clinic,

“Hyperthyroidism is a condition where your thyroid—that’s a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck that essentially governs how your body uses energy—lets loose too much of the hormone thyroxine into your system.”

This could lead your body to overwork itself. That, in turn, leads to symptoms like night sweats, unintended weight loss, an increased appetite, a racing heart, anxiety and more.

 

You can use drugs to stop your thyroid gland from churning out too high a level of thyroxine. However, the first step is to consult your doctor. If you do have hyperthyroidism, they’ll advise you on the best solution or drugs to use.

 

5. HIV/AIDS

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that’s spread through bodily fluids such as blood, semen and pre-seminal fluid, vaginal and rectal fluids, and b****t milk. It “batters a person’s immune system by damaging their T cells (also called CD4) cells, which are integral in fighting infection,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains.

 

HIV can develop into AIDS when left untreated. That can subsequently make you prone to infections like tuberculosis or pneumonia. These can lead to death. The symptoms of HIV include fever, rash, muscle and joint aches, headache, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands. The fever could lead to profuse nighttime sweating.

 

According to Mayo Clinic, people with AIDS experience symptoms such as recurring fever, along with night sweats, chronic diarrhea, persistent fatigue, unintended weight loss and more.

 

Fortunately, there are treatments like antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV that can help infected persons manage the disease and live long. Or you can take preventive drugs like PrEP.