Night sweats: Causes and Solutions

Do you wake up bathing in sweat? You've transpired so much that even your sheets and nightwear are wet and you're shivering with the cold. Night sweats, it's a common complaint to both men and women. But what is the cause and what can you do against excessive sweating at night?

What is Night sweat?

Why do we sweat on our own? Wouldn't the world be much more beautiful without the annoying loss of fluid that creates too often axillary ponds on your clothing? On the contrary, sweating is very important. Transpiration causes your body to cool down and prevents it from overheating.

Unlike just sweating, night sweats are a nuisance. You wake up at night, wet and cold from the sweat. Sometimes sweat attacks are so bad that you have to replace your bed linen and night clothes immediately. Sweating in your sleep has several causes. Most of them are innocent, but there are causes that indicate a deeper problem.

Causes of Sweat in Bed

1. Warm Environment: If you are experiencing night sweats, one of the possible causes is too warm a environment. Perhaps your bedding is too hot, your mattress and protector is too little or your heating is too high. The sweat can hardly evaporate in bed, leaving the sweat glands active. In that case, you usually wake up from the heat in the middle of the night.
2. Nightwear: Most likely you don't wear your winter pajamas in summer. If you are too hot, it might be the fabric from which your night clothes are made. If your synthetic fabrics are used to sleep, you sweat faster in your sleep.
3. Physical Exercise: Do you go to work or do you like to move a little after work to clear your head? Good idea, but you shouldn't do that just before sleep. If you are active, your body warms up and doesn'T cool it down immediately. As a result, you start sweating heavily in bed.
4. Food: Beware of spiced food and alcohol. These foods and beverages can cause night sweats. Alcohol dilated the blood vessels, which releases heat. The result? Excessive sweating. In food, the substance capsaicin is a culprit. You will find it in chili pepper, among other things. Capsaicin stimulates nerve endings and brain blood vessels which warms the body.
5. Medicines: Perspiration at night is also a common side effect of certain medicines. Look at the package leaflets. Some medications known to have this side effect are Aspirin, Paracetamol, De Pil, antidepressants, Viagra, insulin, Predison and prednisolone.
6. Fear and Stress: Fear and stress also affect the sweat glands, because adrenaline is produced that increases heart rate and blood pressure. Energy is released, which gives you a warmer and faster sweat.
7. Hormones: Women in the transition to menopause often have to deal with night sweats. They suffer from hot flashes or vapers. Suddenly they get very warm, their head turns red and the sweat drops really flow along their bodies.
8. Underlying Disease: Sweating in bed can also be a symptom of an underlying disease such as sleep apnea, diabetes, tuberculosis, HIV virus, pituitary disorders, Hodgkin's disease, adrenal gland disorder.

Solutions for Night sweats

In the middle of the night wet with sweat and chilling from the cold, everything is almost pleasant. But what can you do about it? To limit moisture production you can use the following tips:

• Make sure your body cools down enough after an exercise. Your body needs on average four hours to cool off for a healthy night's sleep without excessive sweating.
• Put on fresh cotton nightwear and choose cotton bed linen. Synthetic sheets and pillowcases are anything but air-permeable. In winter they hold the heat, but in summer you can hardly breathe in it. This makes you sweat remarkably faster. Cotton, linen and silk bed textiles are a good alternative.
• If you want to prevent a clammy mattress, you benefit from a temperature control protector. Thanks to the moisture regulating action it absorbs your perspiration fluid and immediately drains it.
• If it's too hot or too cold in your bedroom, it can cause a profound disturbance to your sleep.
• Avoid alcohol and seasoned food . .
• Doesn't sweat still run past your body? Drink a little cold water, rinse off with lukewarm water and put a clean bath towel over your sheet.

In short

Night sweats can therefore have several causes, such as a warm environment or nightwear, physical exercise, nutrition, medications, hormone fluctuations or and underlying disease.