Night Sweats (cont.)
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR
Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
In this Article
- Introduction to night sweats
- What are the causes of night sweats in women, men, and children?
- What are the symptoms of night sweats?
- Idiopathic hyperhidrosis
- Hormone disorders
- Neurologic conditions
- Night sweats treatment
- Sweating (Perspiration) FAQs
- Find a local Internist in your town
What are the symptoms of night sweats?
Depending upon the underlying cause of the night sweats, other symptoms may occur in association with the sweating. For example:
- With certain infections and cancers, fever can develop along with night sweats
- Shaking and chills can sometimes occur
- With cancers such as lymphoma, unexplained weight loss can occur.
- Night sweats due to the menopausal transition are typically accompanied by other symptoms of menopause such as vaginal dryness, daytime hot flashes, and mood changes.
- Night sweats that occur as a side effect of medications can be accompanied by other medication side effects, depending upon the specific drug.
- Conditions that result in increased sweating in general (as opposed to only night sweats) will result in increased sweating at other hours of the day.
The hot flashes that accompany the menopausal transition can occur at night and cause sweating. This is a very common cause of night sweats in perimenopausal women. It is important to remember that hot flashes and other symptoms of the perimenopause can precede the actual menopause (the cessation of menstrual periods) by several years.
Idiopathic hyperhidrosis is a condition in which the body chronically produces too much sweat without any identifiable medical cause.
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