Waking up overnight DRENCHED in sweat

[cinnamonrolls3]

Posting here in case anyone else has had this and knows what it is!

ive been struggling with really bad night sweats recently. All my life I’ve naturally been a cold person but for a few months now I’ve been feeling absolutely boiling hot at night. It usually starts about midnight or so, feels like I’m unbelievably hot and the sweat literally soaks my pjs and bedsheets and I’m dripping wet with it. If I’m up late then I’ll feel it start but if I’m in bed early then it’ll wake me up during the night when it starts . I’ve tried light bedding, no bedding, light pjs, no pjs, windows open (my bed is literally right beside it). I live in northern Scotland where it’s been baltic recently and my car is iced up every morning but I’m still waking up roasting. Heating thermostat is set to 15 overnight but I’ve tried even lower and it makes no difference. My room isn’t particularly warm or a heat trap, I’ve never had this issue before and I’m completely fine during the day. Does anyone know wtf this is and what I can do to stop it? Frankly I’m fed up having to wash my hair in the morning because it’s wet with sweat from during the night

i went to the gp who checked my thyroid and hormones and it was all normal. I even went privately for amother full hormone check so I could make sure the levels were normal and they were all completely fine. I’ve had a few full blood tests recently (for a completely separate thing) and I remember on once instance the doctor said my white blood cells were high, I think it was 15.5? Then another doctor said whilst it’s high it doesn’t matter because they’ve seen that for me in my other recent blood tests so that’s normal for me. Otherwise it was all fine

I’m just at a loss for what it is! I’m not menopausal, I’m 28, female, I’m not stressed, I exercise regularly and don’t drink or take drugs. Just at a bit of a loss! The doctor said not to worry about it and it’s just one of those things but it’s having a big impact on me

Any foreign travel or breathing symptoms? Night sweats can be a sign of TB were you vaccinated as a child?

Peri-menopausal night sweats.

the only time I have ever had this except for perimenopause reasons was when I hugely increased my exercise levels when training for a marathon and was taking lots of protein supplements. After running long run I would get terrible night sweats.
I wouldn’t let the gp fob you off especially as it’s a new symptom, as it can be a sign of various pituitary and hormonal issues. Plus it’s horrible and the additional tiredness has knock on effects on your life.

Op is 28...hardly likely to be this

Any weight changes? With a high white cell count I’d want further testing to rule out more serious conditions like lymphoma.

Have you ever had Malaria? Sounds mad I know, but I know whereof I speak!

fwiw I get night sweats if I’ve eaten too much sugar or if I’m under a lot of stress.

28 isn't too young. Plus so-called 'peri' can last for years with different symptoms coming and going. I had a few instances of night sweats at least 10 years ago and I'm still not in menopause.

Is it every night? How long has it been going on?

I would want to be tested for blood cancers (lymphoma, leukaemia, those sorts), especially with the high wbc. Those are the classic two markers of blood cancers. Don’t be fobbed off with its ‘just perimenopause.’ 🙄

Nah no foreign travel recently. I’m not stressed or undergoing any life changes right now, I’m so happy apart from this😅 I don’t think I’m perimenopausal plus my hormones were all normal which I’m asssuming wouldn’t be the case if I were perimenopausal? Might be wrong though

Anti depressants?

I struggled really badly with a certain type of anti depressant:

how were your liver function results?

Read the OP!!

Does it follow a pattern with your menstrual cycle or is it more frequent or random? The fact that it happens at night makes it sound hormonal, but I'm no expert.

Have you any children? How old are they of you do?

No not every night but happening more regularly. I’d say it started a few months ago but was infrequent at the start and it’s happening a lot more often now. Probably most nights a week now

i initially thought it was hormone related because I had a different weird symptom (I had bleeding in between my period, not like slight spotting, like proper bleeding) but that was a few months ago. I’ve had slight spotting since and then today funnily enough had another period despite it finishing last week so definitely not due. That was new when it started a few months ago and not something I’d ever had bother with before and made me wonder about hormones but they checked me and I was fine. I don’t get any pain or cramps with it, it’s just extra bleeding, they said sometimes it just happens and they don’t always know why. They said it’s unrelated to the night sweats because my hormones etc are all fine but that’s what initially prompted me to request a hormone test

I don’t have any children, never had malaria, I’m healthy weight, no changes in lifestyle/diet/exercise regimes, I’m not on any medication either

it’s so bizarre but I wish I knew how to stop it. I don’t just mean I feel a little hot during the night, I’m talking full blown soaking wet with sweat. It’s awful and having an impact on my life now

Raised white cell count and night sweets is a red flag for a number of things that need further investigation. Go back to a different GP.

Yeah I remember at the time the first doctor (it was in hospital) was concerned about the high white blood cells and said it can show some more serious things, but then the 2nd doctor said it’s fine because that’s something I’ve had before in recent blood tests and she said if it was anything serious it would be much higher and it wasn’t that much higher than normal. I remember she said it was 15.5 and should be 12 I think?

I had this when I had an ovarian cyst. I thought it was because I was in perimenopause but everything became okay after surgery.

My mum had night sweats when she had pneumonia. So it can be caused by infection with or without fever.

I would be asking for a pelvic exam and swabs, ultrasound scan, repeat blood tests including blood borne virus screening and infection screening.

OP: this is not “one of those things”. There will be a medical reason - as PPs have said, push for a second opinion, esp in context of the high white cell count.

As other posters have said. This can be a red warning flag for blood cancers, you should go back to the GP and request further testing.

I had exactly this at the same age. It passed after a few months, i never found a cause. I got married two years later and had two kids. I am now 40 and think peri menopause is starting now.

Sorry if I missed this but did you have a vitamin b12 level checked? It’s somewhat routine but not always done so just worth checking the list you had done. Low B12 can cause sweats.

How do you know it was perimenopause related then?