Question

About 3 years ago I had flu, and ran a high temperature. After recovering I would sweat extremely during my sleep. This went on for about 2-3 months, gradually becoming less and less often. But recently I have had a fever and recovered and now I am sweating excessively in my sleep again. What is the cause and is there any way I can cure this?

Answer

The possible causes of night sweats are numerous, and I will list a few of them. Night sweats, however, are not the kind of continuing symptom that you should try to deal with by self-diagnosis. There are some serious conditions among the variety of things that can cause night sweats. It may well turn out to be nothing to warrant treatment, but the safe bet is to see your doctor.

Most women know that night sweats are a classic symptom of menopause. But they don't always realize that these symptoms occasionally start years before menstruation ceases, or that some things, such as smoking, can bring on early menopause. So it's possible for a woman in her early forties or late thirties to have night sweats related to menopause.

Night sweats can stem from hormonal imbalances or hormonal conditions such as thyroid disease. They can be caused by fever, bacterial infection, diabetes, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and the chronic fatigue syndrome. Other diseases that may cause night sweats include infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever), AIDS, tuberculosis, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and several other kinds of cancer. Certain cancer treatments may be at fault, too.

Some people have night sweats when they have been exercising vigorously right before going to sleep. Endometriosis may sometimes cause night sweats. They occur fairly commonly as a side effect of certain anti-depressant medications, as well as a few other medicines. Night terrors, which are like panic attacks that happen while sleeping, may also be a culprit.

So as you can see, the causes are many. I'm sure that your doctor can pinpoint the problem in your case, and suggest appropriate treatment.