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

Just thought I’d post a quick update as I had the ultrasound this morning.

honestly it was quite a weird experience- they clearly thought I was dramatic and made a point of saying over and over how it was barely there. Then while the sonographer was writing the results his assistant starting pressuring me to leave them a Google review and kept asking to see my phone to say what I say. I told her I’d write my review later and she kept hassling me to do it, it was frankly bizarre

anyway the good news is the lump is fine. He said it’s ’thickened Synovium’ at the joint and not a tumour etc. although his description of it was weird- he said it’s very common in young anxious woman (not sure how that would cause joint thickening) but when I googled it it said it’s uncommon in young people?!

who knows, I’m just thankful it’s nothing nasty. The other symptoms must be hormones or something lifestyle related

I’ve had the same symptoms as you regarding sweating all through the night and day in my case and it turned out it was spinal bone infections from previous surgery. I had back surgery before the infections were found. Have you had any surgery in the past especially where you have metal in you? If so ask your GP to do a CRP blood test.
it’s horrible waking up wet through with sweat I sympathise, truly awful. Have you also had your hormone levels checked for Pery menopause or menopause as unfortunately that can happen (rarely) at any early age.
I do hope you find the cause shortly as it’s most uncomfortable and draining.

Glad you’re ok and just ignore the weird man! Probably a salesman on commission

I'm hesitating whether to write this OP as I'm not qualified to question medical advice (I'm not a medic but do have some medical knowledge). I'm also not generally prone to health anxiety, despite my past health issue.

However I am still a bit concerned about you. The combination of that very specific lump plus the drenching night sweats is still a red flag for lymphoma to me. The lump itself isn't necessarily cancerous but can be the collarbone being pushed forward by a mass in the chest cavity. I'm not sure an ultrasound would pick this up - would generally be a chest x-ray or CT scan. I note you said you had an x-ray but that it was a while ago.

I think if it was me I'd be going back to the GP and mentioning the concern about lymphoma specifically.

Of course I hope I'm wrong and that it is actually nothing serious!

I've been avoiding writing exactly the same because I don't think you want to hear it OP and I don't want you to feel that you've wasted your money, but an ultrasound can't detect lymphoma. My lump wasn't cancerous, it was just swelling caused by the underlying tumour. It was picked up on a CT scan looking deep into the chest.

But even if the lump is completely benign, the night sweats are still very concerning and you haven't had them explained yet. I know it sounds like a lot of people are badgering you, but I do think you should go back to another GP and ask for more investigations - about the night sweats, not the lump.

Op do you suffer from anxiety, health anxiety or generalised?

I don't think this is relevant here because the OP is describing very specific symptoms which most medical advice would say need to be investigated to rule out possible serious illnesses.

I don't have anxiety or health anxiety but I am worried about the OP unless she gets this properly investigated.

I have to agree with this. My lymphoma is in my chest and therefore there were no visible lumps/swollen lymph nodes. But one of my major symptoms was drenching night sweats.

I too am concerned @cinnamonrolls3 is not pushing for this to be investigated further.

An ultrasound on the lump will not solve anything as this appears to be a symptom rather than the root cause.

Drenching night sweats are a major red flag for lymphoma and simply cannot be ignored. Many posters on here have experience of suffering from them and were subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma of one type or another.

I know this message is being conveyed to the OP sensitivily and kindly, but to ignore this advice is madness.

My DH was suffering from fatigue and drenching night sweats, and he was fobbed off by our GP for a couple of months. Try this / that medicine - and nothing helped.

DH ended up in A & E not long afterwards, and two weeks later, after every test under the sun, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. Without treatment, his consultant said he would certainly die in a few weeks.

DH had treatment, and thankfully it worked. The night sweats stopped, he is in remission, and he is back to his old self again. It could have been such a different outcome if he had buried his head in the sand and carried on regardless. 😔

It may be something simple, and so far nothing has shown up in routine tests - but if the OP chooses not to request further investigations, then I really don't think we can do any more. 🤷

Those are severe night sweats! You need to go back to your GP, OP. There are so many possibilities. You need to be referred - probably to a gynaecologist and an endocrinologist. And possibly an oncologist.

Just wanted to add - my DH's white blood cell count was raised too. The very last test he had was a bone marrow biopsy, which confirmed it was indeed lymphoma. Once the bone marrow results were back, his feet didn't touch the floor, and treatment went ahead at breakneck speed.

@cinnamonrolls3 please push for further investigations.