Sweating is how our body regulates temperature. It doesn’t just happen while we’re awake; our bodies are still trying to maintain our body temperature at night. Most of the time, you don’t even notice it happens. For some people, they can sweat so much that their clothing and sheets are soaked through. This occurrence is known as night sweats, and can sometimes be linked to an underlying disease.
For some people, night sweats happen frequently — and not just because they’re a hot sleeper or have too many blankets on their bed. Night sweating often points to something bigger that’s impacting your sleep. Let’s review the common causes and what you can do about it.
4 things that might be causing your night sweats
Besides using too heavy of a blanket or having your temperature cranked up a little too high, there are several reasons why you may wake up with significant sweating.
Hormonal changes
During significant hormonal changes in the body, like menopause or pregnancy, night sweats are more likely to occur. Heat flashes are a staple in perimenopause and menopause, with more than 80% of women reporting regular hot flashes. Low testosterone and hyperthyroidism have also been linked to excessive sweating.
Your nightly routine
Sometimes, sweating at night is directly associated with what we do before sleep. Activities that may increase sweating at night include drinking caffeine or alcohol, eating spicy foods, and exercising too close to bedtime.
To see if your night sweats are related to your routine, it’s best to eliminate them consistently and note if your sweating decreases. Small changes in your routine could significantly impact your comfort at night.
Anxiety and stress
If you’ve been under increased stress or feeling particularly anxious, you may experience night sweats.
Anxiety is a common mental health condition that evokes physical responses. Stress and anxiety trigger your sympathetic nervous system, and the fight or flight response takes over. Adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol are released, which causes your heart rate to increase, your breathing to quicken and your sweat glands to activate.
Unfortunately, anxiety doesn’t just plague us when we’re awake. Night sweats are a known symptom of anxiety disorders. Anxiety and sleeping can become a vicious cycle if not addressed. Your anxiety can keep you up at night, but if you don’t get enough sleep, then your anxiety symptoms can get worse.
Consider adding journaling, meditation, deep breathing or relaxing activities into your nightly routine to try to ease anxiety before bed.
Underlying medical conditions and medications
Night sweats can be related to something you ate, the stress you’re under or regular life changes, like menopause. Other times, there’s no obvious source of your night sweats, which suggests something like an underlying medical condition may be causing it. According to the American Family Physician Journal, serious disorders can cause night sweats, but it’s not the norm.
Conditions that can cause night sweats include but are not limited to:
- Hyperhidrosis
- Mood disorders
- Infections
- Diabetes and hypoglycemia
- Some types of cancer, like lymphoma and leukemia
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- Neurological disorders
- Hyperthyroidism
- Sleep apnea
New medications also may be triggering your night sweats. Medications that are known to have this side effect include antidepressants, pain medications, diabetes medications and insulin, cardiovascular medications, and hormonal medications.
3 things to do about your night sweats at home
Night sweats are uncomfortable and can disturb the quality of sleep you can get. Thankfully, you can change your sleeping environment to ease symptoms at home.