Night Sweats Causes - Cures for Menopause Night Sweats

If you have been experiencing night sweats, you're not alone. During menopause, many women experience varying degrees of hot flashes, and night sweats are simply hot flashes that happen during the night. Problem is, they can seriously affect your sleep.

When you transition into menopause, your body's natural hormonal balance is interrupted. The fluctuation of estrogen levels causes confusion in the brain's body temperature regulator. The faulty receptors sense an increase in temperature and begin a cool down process, dilating blood vessels to expel heat and kick-starting your sweat glands.

The result of all this internal activity is that sudden sensation of a wave of heat rising from your abdomen and engulfing your chest and neck. All too often you'll also break out in a sweat, or your skin start to feel damp and clammy skin, you might get the shivers as well and your heart is working overtime.

Little wonder that night sweats can wake you up with a jolt, disrupting your sleep which in turn affects many aspects of every day life.

Common Night Sweats Causes

• Menopause - this is by far the most common cause of night sweats and hot flashes.
• Some antidepressants and psychiatric drugs.
• Medications such as niacin, cortisone.
• Infections like tuberculosis, AIDS, and abscesses.
• Certain types of cancer, as well as hypoglycemia and hormonal disorders including hyperthyroidism.

Night sweats associated with menopause may begin during the perimenopause stage. Although of all the night sweats causes menopause is far ahead the most common, you should still ask your doctor to check that there are no underlying triggers such as those listed above.

Remedies for Night Sweats in Menopause

There are many hot flash remedies and options to choose from when it comes to dealing with night sweats.

Begin by adjusting the thermostat, so the room is colder at night time. Use air conditioners and fans to circulate the air properly. You can also purchase a cooling pad for the bed. The pad slides between you and your mattress and pumps cool water through soft tubes.

A bed fan is another option, which gently blows a draught of cool air under the covers. You could try a neck cooler that is comfortable enough to sleep in, and experiment with hot flash pajamas - wicking pajamas or clothing made from natural fibers, to draw heat away from your body.

Take a cool shower before bed to bring your body temperature down. Drinking ice water during a night sweat will deliver a quick cooling sensation, and taking slow, deep abdominal breaths can help provide relief during a night sweat.

As a cure for night sweats, hormone replacement therapy is sometimes suggested, but has known side effects and risk factors. Discuss with your physician before taking this route. Other prescription treatments like Clonidine and oral contraceptives are also possibilities, but again you should weigh up the pros and cons carefully before proceeding.

You may be able to control the severity of your flashes by beginning a regimen of vitamin E, vitamin B complex, or ibuprofen. Some women have reported success with natural cures for night sweats like soya products, linseed, and black cohosh, although there is no hard evidence that these are effective.

Another strategy is to avoid triggers like spicy foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. Yoga and cardio exercise may also help reduce the occurrence of night sweats in menopause.

Whatever the night sweats causes, they don't have to control your life. Experiment with different techniques, and you may find the relief you've been looking for.

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