Popular Treatments for Night Sweats
Popular Treatments for Night Sweats

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night sweats

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Popular Treatments for Night Sweats

Popular Treatments for Night Sweats

night sweats sleepNight sweats are a condition whereby the sufferer will sweat excessively at night. The condition is not harmful, but can often be embarrassing and debilitating for those who suffer from its effects. Night Sweat sufferers will often have their sleep disrupted by waking up with damp nightwear or sheets.

What causes Night Sweats?

Deadly consequences:
In addition to tuberculosis and cancer, Night Sweats is a symptom that someone may be carrying the AIDS virus. For this reason it is important that the true cause of Night Sweats is identified.

A number of different factors can cause Night Sweats and occasionally they can be misdiagnosed as Hyperhydrosis or extreme hot flashes that have occurred at night. Other causes such as the type of medication used can also be the cause of sudden bouts of night sweats. Often time Night sweats are the symptoms of other conditions and many of these are specifically dangerous. Bacterial diseases such as Tuberculosis, along with cancers such as Lymphoma can be the root cause of Night Sweats. In middle aged women the cause of Night Sweats is often the entrance of a menopausal stage of their life. In order to find to appropriate treatment the cause of Night Sweats is fundamental.

Non-medicinal treatments

night sweats avoidLifestyle changes can be used to alleviate or eliminate the problem of Night Sweats. These include: avoiding spicy foods and the consumption of alcohol. Other easy to use methods include cooling the room using a fan or leaving the window open. Other methods can include having a cool drink to hand. Doctors advise that having a cold shower before or during an attack of Night Sweats can prevent or halt an attack respectively. The changing of night clothes is also advised; while moisture absorbent clothes can also be of assistance.

Medical treatments

A variety of anticholinergic medications have been known to be prescribed for Night Sweats. The can include:

Propranolol: Is a medication used for the stress induced variety of excessive sweating and is sometimes prescribed to patients suffering from Night Sweats.

Robinul: Is possibly the most successful anticholinergic to be prescribed to sufferers of Night Sweats. Higher doses of the drug have been known to sustain the curbing of Night Sweat symptoms.

Other drugs: Other anticholinergic drugs can also help with the symptoms of Night sweats, including: Oxybutynin and Propentheline.

Many of these drugs are useful in the treatment of Night sweats but cause a number of different side effects, particularly if used excessively. These can include: blurry vision, urinary retention and memory impairment.

Natural treatments

night sweats naturalSome women who are suffering from Night Sweats as part of their menopause symptoms opt for natural remedies such as phytoestrogenic herbs to alleviate Night Sweats. Such herbs function by replacing the body’s natural estrogen with estrogen-like plant ones. Herbs such as: Black Cohosh and red Clover are used for this purpose.

Despite not being dangerous Night sweats can cause discomfort and embarrassment for those that are suffering from them. In addition to this the symptom may be an indicator of a more serious problem. The medicinal treatments in this article can include a number of dangerous side effects. For this reason it is important to consider all of the options in the treatment of Night Flashes.

Other Related Articles:
What do night sweats indicate?
What causes heavy night sweats?
Understanding Night Sweats Causes
The causes of Night Sweats

Sources:
  • The National Institute of Health. "Signs of the Menopausal Transition." www.nih.gov.
  • Boston Women's Health Collective. "Hot Flashes, Night Sweats and Sleep Disturbances." Our Bodies, Ourselves, 2006.
  • Von Muhlen, DG, et al. "A community-based study of menopause symptoms and estrogen replacement in older women." Maturitas. Sept 1995; 22(2):71-8.