Heavy night sweats can be caused by various medical conditions, infections, and medications, not just menopause. Severe night sweats should be discussed with a physician, as they can be a symptom of serious conditions such as hyperthyroidism, cancer, or tuberculosis. Some medications, including antidepressants and Viagra, can also cause night sweats.
Heavy night sweats are pronounced, and people who wake up may find sleepwear and soaked sheets or blankets. They are often associated with the hot flashes women experience when they are in perimenopause or menopause, but this is just one of several common causes of heavy night sweats. A variety of medical conditions, infections, and medications can also cause this symptom.
People can suffer the rare episode of night sweats from something else, like eating very spicy food. In general, it’s best to define severe night sweats as something that occurs fairly regularly or during a period of time that a specific condition can also be defined. It’s worth noting that the potential severity of some common causes of night sweats means that this symptom should be mentioned to physicians, unless the cause is clearly benign and transient, such as several months of particularly hot, humid nights.
Some medical conditions are common causes of severe night sweats. As mentioned, perimenopause and menopause are known causative factors, and women may also experience hot flashes during the day. Pregnancy can occasionally cause night sweats as well.
Another medical condition called idiopathic hyperhidrosis leads to excessive sweating both night and day. Hypoglycemia or persistently low blood sugar can lead to this condition, as can hyperthyroidism or excess thyroid hormone. Some cancers, especially lymphoma, can also produce heavy night sweats. A tumor on one of the adrenal glands, called a pheochromocytoma, is rare but can also be a cause of profuse night sweats.
Some infectious viruses such as the influenza virus, especially when accompanied by fever, can cause night sweats. More resistant and incurable viruses such as AIDS are also known to cause this symptom. Bacterial infections that are common causes of severe night sweats include tuberculosis or bone and heart infections, but more common bacterial infections of the lungs or throat, such as pneumonia or strep throat, might produce night sweats, particularly if present with fever.
A number of medications can be a common cause of severe night sweats, and many of these medications are used frequently. For example, many types of antidepressants create this condition in about 20% of people who use them, and the popular erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra®, can have this side effect. Commonly used antipyretics such as acetaminophen and aspirin have been linked to an increased incidence of night sweats. Other medications that can create this problem include thyroxidine (Synthroid®), insulin, which can create low blood sugar if not closely monitored, prednisone, prednisolone, tamoxifen, niacin, and nitroglycerin. Patients can read the possible side effects of medications they take to see if other medications list it as a symptom; many medications that list hot flashes as an adverse effect are also capable of causing severe night sweats.
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