What you need to know about night sweats and hot flashes

According to interviewed doctors, at least two-thirds of all women experience the symptoms of night sweats and hot flashes before and during menopause. If you experience excessive sweating at night to the point that it can even soak through your sheets and nightwear, you could be suffering from this condition.

Hot flashes are basically characterized by an increase in body temperature. This, in turn, causes the blood vessels to dilate to try to cool the skin. The end result of vessel dilation is a flushed face along with excessive sweating.

There are several causes of this disorder. The doctor must first obtain the patient’s medical record to try to determine the root cause. Here are some of the known causes that will help you understand it better:

• Menopause: One of the main causes of hot flashes is menopause. This delicate period in a woman’s life that usually begins in her fourth to fifth decade can lead to night sweats due to a hormonal imbalance of testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen. Treatment includes a quality nutritional supplement, as well as lifestyle changes that help create balance.
• Infections: Night sweats are also caused by certain infections like tuberculosis and bacterial infections like abscesses, osteomyelitis, and endocarditis. HIV infection has also been shown to be a trigger. Since most infections are accompanied by an increase in body temperature, it is not surprising that this problem is often seen in a person with an infection.
• Cancers: Night sweats can be an early symptom of cancer. For example, one of the main types of cancer associated with hot flashes is lymphoma. If you have undiagnosed cancer, you may experience symptoms such as hot flashes, fever, and weight loss.
• Medications: Taking certain medications could also trigger night sweats. In the category of antidepressant drugs as an example, we see that between 8 and 20 percent of people taking antidepressant drugs will experience night sweats. Medications such as acetaminophen and aspirin taken to reduce fever can also cause these bothersome symptoms.
• Hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar may also cause hot flashes and night sweats. People taking diabetes medications or insulin often experience hypoglycemia at night. This is the result of poor sugar control or unstable diabetes. If you have this affliction, you may want to monitor your glycemic levels.

So, as you can see from the discussion above, night sweats and hot flashes are symptoms that a person can usually control once the root cause has been identified. Talk to your doctor today for a better tomorrow!