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

I had similar and it was because I had a cheeseboard left over from a party, so was eating a lot of cheese. I had been going to bed wrapped in a sheet with no pyjamas, so that when I woke up freezing cold and soaking wet, I could take off the sheet and put on dry pyjamas. Even my shins were sweaty 🤮

it didn’t start immediately - as in, I had had a couple of cheese evenings with no trouble, but as soon as I stopped the cheese the sweats stopped. And it’s never happened since.

How strange! I'm the same, soaking wet and freezing cold.. I am a very cheesy person but always have been 🤣

It happens me randomly every 5 years or so, no
meno yet. I personally love it as I’m always freezing. It’s a thrill to feel so hot. I doubt I’ll feel the same about full on menopause.

15.5 is high, mine was 16 when I had lymphoma. I'd ask for another blood test and if it's still high get referred to a haematologist for further investigation. Sending hugs either way!

thanks everyone for the advice!

in all honesty, I don’t think it’s early menopause. I guess it could be but it just seems really unlikely with my age and the fact my hormone tests were fine

the lump is a really weird one and I never really got any clarity of what it is. They just said it’s normal for there to be asymmetry, but didn’t say why it would have suddenly started. I definitely didn’t have it before. But the x ray was fine and didn’t pick up any abnormalities. It hasn’t grown over the last year and if it were anything bad, would it likely have grown much bigger? I’ll attach a picture of it below

im going to go back and request another blood test or even go privately. I know serious things are rare but id like to get it double checked because I don’t know why these symptoms are happening

thats really interesting about cheese causing it for some people! I actually don’t eat cheese but that’s a funny one! I’m not sure its diet related either- I haven’t changed anything, eat healthily and have no allergies

it’s such a strange one but hopefully I’ll find it what’s causing it soon because it’s driving me mad x

Not to alarm you but as someone else mentioned it could be a sign of leukaemia. This was one of the symptoms of my partner and we had no idea what was causing it till he went to the GP…

How can your post NOT cause alarm?

Covid jabs….when I had the second one I sweat profusely.

Sorry I hope I don’t come across dismissive but I don’t believe for me it’s the Covid jag which caused this x

Drenching night sweats were the main symptom of my Dad’s leukaemia. I have night sweats but I’m peri menopausal. None of us want to scare the OP but we are sharing our personal experiences of night sweats as requested.

OP, you have symptoms for which your doctor hasn’t yet given a diagnosis. I sincerely hope that it’s not anything serious but you need to advocate for yourself and request further investigation. If he/she won’t, request to be seen by a different doctor. x

Well the things that people are suggesting are scary, there's no way around that. OP is asking so it's OK to raise them, I'm just not sure that prefacing with not wishing to alarm or scare makes it easier to read.

OP I wanted to give you a positive "worst case" story.

I went to the doctor with a lump exactly like yours, no other symptoms. I was 27 and otherwise healthy. It was Hodgkin's lymphoma.

I had 6 months of chemo (which while not lovely, wasn't that bad either) and that was it. That was 20 years ago and I've been fine since and also went on to have two children.

Of course I know not everyone has such a good outcome, but for young otherwise healthy people with lymphoma the prognosis is generally very good. Not wanting to seem flippant but if it is lymphoma, your treatment could be over and done with by Christmas. Of course it may be something else.

Please do get checked and, if needed, treated. Good luck OP.

That looks almost identical to my lymphoma lump. But, my blood tests were all over the place and my xray showed the tumour very clearly.

Funnily enough I have my last ever clinic appointment today, 2 years post treatment. I am completely fine now. As a pp, I had 6 months of chemo and it worked. Even stage 4 lymphoma is very treatable.

Fair enough .it was just my experience

Please push for more tests OP. My lump in the clavicle and night sweats were Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I've been in remission for a year. If it's that, it's usually very treatable but you should act now. If it's not, then all the better.

Also, it didn't show up on any of my blood tests in the beginning. Just wondering - persistent cough? Fatigue? Pain in the lump if you drink alcohol? Be aware of any of those symptoms

Honestly so grateful for all the advice on here!

Thinking it might be worthwhile to look at private options. At the moment I’m just going round in circles with the NHS.

Regarding the lump, I’m assuming they were wondering about lymphoma as the ENT DR immediately said there are no lymph nodes where the lump is. It feels like it’s at the end of the clavicle bone itself rather than in soft tissue. But no one has actually told me what the lump is. The consultant’s letter just says the X-rays showed no abnormality. I’m assuming it’s normal asymmetry as that’s what they kept saying it would be. I just don’t understand why it would suddenly appear when I didn’t have it before.

i found a private place that does self referred ultrasounds on lumps/ bumps. Just not sure if it would be a waste of money because if it is a lump on the bone then I’m assuming ultrasound won’t pick anything up, and if it’s something underneath the bone pushing it forward then I’m guessing it would be too deep to be found on ultrasound?

One of my dc had Hodgkins, no symptoms at all just a lump in the collarbone. Luckily our gp sprung into action and a few days later we were having ultrasounds and fine needle biopsies. Her bloods came back as a bit raised white blood cells and esr. A chest x ray revealed a shadow in the chest which turned out to be lymphoma in the chest. The ones in the neck couldn’t be felt or seen. Just the lump in the collarbone.

I had this from about 26-30 years old. I think it was to do with my metabolism as I was really into running at the time. I got pregnant at 30/31 and since then I haven't had them. I have also calmed down the running! Nothing I tried worked, it would be sporadic, so my guess was hormones and metabolism

Friend had similar it was lupus.
Another thing to consider is Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Have you got other GPs in your practice? You really need a second opinion.
Have you got a partner, friend or family member to take with you to the Doctors who can advocate for you?
Sometimes you have to be a pain to be taken seriously.

Disclaimer I am perimenopausal. I found taking magnesium each morning helped reduce my night sweats. Not completely but I am not drenched every night. If you don’t like to take pills you can get it as a cream but the absorption will not be as good.

Bit the bullet and booked an ultrasound check of the lump. It was only 100 quid so not too bad

I have a similar lump. Had CT scan: arthiritis in the joint.

But then I'm a lot older than you are, so you're right to pursue it.

thanks! Yeah I guess it could be arthritis, although it doesn’t hurt or feel stiff at all

just hoping the ultrasound can give me some information tomorrow, not sure it will because I read that bones can block the view, so if the lump is under the bone and pushing it forward then I’m guessing to won’t show up, still worth checking though just in case

It might just be genetics, I had these my whole life (sometimes not for years, sometimes every nights in a given week) and just learned recently that my dad does as well!