Hi Karilyn,
I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on the internet, but I think I
can give you some good talking points for his next doctor's visit.
Sleep hyperhidosis ("night sweats") can be caused by a number of
underlying factors. These can include (but aren't necessarily limited
to):
"* febrile (feverish) illness
* diabetes insipidus (the chronic excretion of large amounts of pale
urine, acompanied by extreme thirst)
* Hyperthyroidism (A disorder in which the thyroid is over-active)
* Pheochromocytoma (secretion from usually benign cells in the brain
that produces excessive sweating as one of its symtoms)
* Hypothalamic lesions
* Epilespy
* Cerebral and brain stem strokes
* Cerebral palsy
* Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania (sudden onset migrane)
* Spinal cord infarction (sudden insufficiency in blood supply)
* Head injury
* Familial dysautomia (a congenital syndrome with specific
disturbances of the nervous system)
* Can occur in pregnancy and can be produced by antipyretic
medications (anti-nausea)
* The sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome"
(Interestingly, 66% of patients with obstructive sleep apnea suffer
from night sweats. If your relative snores loudly or sounds like he's
choking at night, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to schedule a
sleep study to see if this common - and correctable - ailment is the
cause of his sweating.)
Sleep Hyperhidrosis (Night sweats, excessive sweating)
http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/sweats.html
Other causes can include reactions to anti-hypertensives or
anti-pyretics (anti-nausea drugs), acid reflux disease, HIV and
hypoglycemia:
Night Sweats
http://www.fpnotebook.com/END195.htm
Diagnosing Night Sweats
American Family Physician - March 1, 2003
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030301/1019.html
These pages also provides a list of drugs that may cause night sweats,
other diseases/disorders which may cause night sweats, and a proposed
plan of evaluating a patient's night sweats, beginning with a complete
blood workup.
You might also find this useful:
Symptom: Night Sweats
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/sym/night_sweats.htm
As alarming as all of these sound, however, often night sweats are
caused by much more harmless things such as excercising before bed,
too many blankets, an ambient room temperature that is too high,
stress/anxiety (is he high strung?) or a quick metabolism.
If your relative is very concerned about his night sweats or if they
are disturbing his sleep, urge him to go in to see his doctor and ask
for a full blood workup, including tests for hyperthyroidism and
diabetes. It's important that he see his doctor for diagnosis, to
make sure that he's just naturally sweaty and not ill in some fashion.
I hope you find this information helpful. If I can be of further
assistance, please don't hesitate to ask for clarification. I'll be
glad to help.
-- Missy
Search terms: [ "night sweats" ] |
Request for Answer Clarification by
karilyn-ga
on
20 Apr 2005 18:15 PDT
Thank you very much for your answer. However, please clarify further
on the following:
My relative (husband) sweats because his body overheats!!! If you were
to touch his body as soon as he sleeps and wait 10 min. you will feel
his skin burning!,
and if you wait 10 more he will start sweating, therefore I know
sweating can be caused by MANY factors, in this case I knwow that is
because his body is heating up, the question is: why is it heating up?
what are the reasons of body overheat?
Thank you :)
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Clarification of Answer by
missy-ga
on
21 Apr 2005 09:02 PDT
Hi again, Karilyn,
A rise in body temperature (fever) can be caused by any number of factors:
" A fever may occur as a reaction to:
* Infection. This is a common cause of a fever. Infections may affect
the whole body or a specific body part (localized infection).
* Medications such as antibiotics, narcotics, barbiturates,
antihistamines, and many others. These are called drug fevers. Some
medications, such as antibiotics, raise the body temperature directly;
others, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and
phenothiazines (such as Compazine, Mellaril, or Thorazine), interfere
with the body's ability to adjust its temperature when other factors
cause the temperature to rise.
* Severe trauma or injury, such as a heart attack, stroke, heat
exhaustion or heatstroke, or burns.
* Other medical conditions, such as arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and
even some cancers (such as leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and liver and
lung cancer)."
Body Temperature
http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/hw198785.asp
The reasons listed in the answer and the clarification above are
reasons the body heats up, thus causing sweating. I apologize for not
being more clear about that.
He might be reacting to a medication (prescription or over the
counter). It may simply be that your husband has a fast metabolism.
Mine does, we call him The Human Furnace. He gets so hot at night, he
wants to open the window in the dead of winter!
Why your husband specifically heats up is not something we can
determine over the internet - he needs to visit his doctor and insist
that tests be run to rule out any possible disorders or diseases.
(See the table entitled Evaluating Night Sweats here:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030301/1019.html )
--Missy
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