What Causes Night Sweats in Men? 10 Causes, When to See Doctor

Night sweats might happen because of nonmedical causes, such as working out, taking a hot shower, or having a hot drink shortly before going to bed. But some medical conditions can also cause them in men.

Read on to learn more about common and less common causes of night sweats, along with potentially serious symptoms to look out for.

Night sweats can often be linked to one of these common causes.

1. Anxiety or stress

Increased sweating often happens if you’re dealing with anxiety or stress. You might notice you’re sweating more during the day when you’re worried about something. But this sweating can also occur during the night.

People experience stress and anxiety in very different ways. You may have more emotional symptoms than physical symptoms or vice versa.

Other signs that you might be experiencing anxiety or are under a lot of stress include:

• persistent worry, fear, and tension
• trouble focusing on things other than the source of your stress or worry
• efforts to avoid the source of worry or stress
• a feeling of dread you can’t explain
• difficulty sleeping
• weakened immune system
• troubled dreams
• aches or pains
• stomach issues
• rapid breathing and heart rate
• increased irritability
• weakness or fatigue
• dizziness and trembling

Without treatment, stress and anxiety can have a big impact on daily life. Talking to a therapist can often help you deal with the source of anxiety and improve symptoms.

2. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

Night sweats have been linked to GERD, which occurs when the muscle that usually keeps your esophagus closed doesn’t work properly. When this muscle doesn’t contract like it should, acid in your stomach can rise into your esophagus and cause the burning feeling you may know as heartburn.

If this happens more than once a week, you may have GERD.

GERD can happen during the day or at night.

Symptoms include:

• heartburn
• pain in your chest
• trouble swallowing
• food or liquid that rises back into your throat (regurgitation)
• cough, asthma symptoms, or other respiratory issues (generally with nighttime reflux)
• trouble sleeping

If your night sweats frequently interrupt your sleep and you need heartburn-relieving medication at least once or twice weekly, you may want to see your doctor.

3. Hyperhidrosis

Sweating occurs as a normal response to warm temperatures, activity, and nervousness or fear. But sometimes, the nerves that activate your sweat glands send signals to these glands even when you don’t need to sweat.

Experts aren’t always sure why this happens, but it can cause extreme sweating across your body or in just one or two specific areas. This is called hyperhdrosis disorder.

Idiopathic hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating that happens for no clear medical reason. Secondary hyperhydrosis has an underlying cause, such as a medical condition, or it may be induced by medication.

With hyperhidrosis, you may:

• sweat through your clothes
• sweat during the day, though you could also sweat at night
• notice sweat on your feet, palms, face, or underarms
• sweat in one area or multiple areas
• sweat on both sides of your body

If hyperhidrosis affects your sleep or day-to-day life, your healthcare provider can recommend treatment, including prescription medications.

4. Medication

Certain medications could make it more likely you’ll experience night sweats.

Many different drugs can cause night sweats as a side effect. Some types linked to excessive sweating include:

• SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants
• steroids, such as cortisone and prednisone
• acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, and other pain relievers
• antipsychotics
• diabetes medications
• hormone therapy drugs

If you believe night sweating relates to a medication you’ve recently started taking, let your prescribing provider know. They might recommend an alternative medication or methods of coping with night sweats, if sweating continues to disturb your sleep or have other negative effects.

If your night sweats don’t result from one of the above issues, your healthcare provider may want to rule out these less common causes.

5. Low testosterone

If your testosterone levels are low, you might experience night sweats. Your body naturally produces less testosterone as you get older. But other factors, including injury, medications, health conditions, and substance misuse, can also decrease the amount of testosterone produced.

Other symptoms of low testosterone can include:

• muscle weakness
• fatigue
• less interest in sex
• erectile dysfunction
• decreased bone mass
• trouble focusing and remembering things
• mood changes, including depressed or low mood and irritability

If you experience bothersome or unpleasant symptoms, your healthcare provider may recommend testosterone replacement therapy to help raise your testosterone levels.

6. Other hormone issues

Hormone disorders that can cause night sweats include:

• hyperthyroidism
• carcinoid syndrome
• pheochromocytoma

Along with night sweats, some common symptoms among these conditions include:

• increased heart rate
• difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• tremors or shakiness
• diarrhea
• head or abdominal pain
• sleep issues
• anxiousness, nervousness, or other mood changes

If you experience increased sweating and have any of these other symptoms, you may want to talk to your healthcare provider to rule out hormonal issues.

7. Sleep apnea

Night sweats in men can sometimes indicate sleep apnea. With sleep apnea, you stop breathing while sleeping. This can happen many times in a night, but if you sleep alone or if your partner is a sound sleeper, you may not be aware anything has happened.

Sleep apnea is more common in men, and approximately 25 percent of men have this condition.

It can develop when tissue in your throat blocks your airway (obstructive sleep apnea) or when a stroke or other medical issue affects your central nervous system’s ability to function properly (central sleep apnea).

In addition to night sweats, you might also:

• snore
• feel very tired during the day
• wake up often in the night
• wake up choking or gasping for breath
• have a sore throat when you wake up
• have trouble focusing
• have mood symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, or irritability

Since sleep apnea may increase your risk for other health issues, it’s best to talk with your healthcare provider or a sleep specialist to rule it out.

8. Infections

It’s also possible for infections to cause night sweats. These can range from mild viral infections that come with a low fever to serious infections that can be life-threatening.

Some of the more serious infections can include:

• tuberculosis, a bacterial infection
• endocarditis, commonly bacterial and involving the heart
• osteomyelitis, commonly bacterial and involving bone
• brucellosis a bacterial infection

Some general signs of infection to look out for include:

• fever and chills
• aches and pains in your muscles and joints
• fatigue and weakness
• decreased appetite and weight loss
• redness, swelling, and pain at a specific site

It’s a good idea to see your healthcare provider as soon as possible if these symptoms get worse or don’t improve after a few days, or if your fever suddenly spikes.

In some rare cases, night sweats can occur as a symptom of cancer or certain neurological conditions, including stroke.

9. Neurologic conditions

A neurological condition is any issue that involves your nervous system —your brain, your spinal cord, and the nerves in the rest of your body. There are hundreds of neurological disorders, though some are more common than others.

Some neurological issues may, in rare cases, have night sweats as a symptom. These include:

• stroke
• syringomyelia
• autonomic dysreflexia
• autonomic neuropathy

Symptoms of neurological issues can vary widely. Along with night sweats, you might also experience:

• numbness, tingling, or weakness in the hands, feet, and limbs
• decreased appetite
• pain and stiffness throughout your body
• dizziness or fainting

Seek emergency medical care if you suddenly:

• can’t speak or can’t speak without slurring
• have one-sided blurred vision or vision loss
• have paralysis in an extremity
• have droopiness in the lower part of one side of your face
• have severe head pain

These are signs of stroke, which can be life-threatening. Your chances for recovery increase with immediate medical attention.

10. Cancer

Night sweating can be a sign of cancer, but this is very uncommon. Keep in mind that cancer typically involves other symptoms, such as persistent fever and weight loss. These symptoms may vary and can occur early or later, depending on the type and severity of cancer present.

Leukemia and lymphoma (either Hodgkin’s or non-Hodgkin’s) are two main types of cancer that could have night sweats as a symptom.

Again, you’ll likely notice other symptoms, too, including:

• extreme tiredness or weakness
• weight loss you can’t explain
• chills and fever
• lymph node enlargement
• pain in your bones
• pain in your chest or abdomen

Sometimes, early signs of cancer can be missed because they seem to relate to other issues. If you have frequent night sweats, feel very tired and run-down, or have flu-like symptoms that don’t seem to improve, it may be best to see your healthcare provider just to be safe.

If you have night sweats, you aren’t alone. Excessive sweating at night is fairly common, according to the International Hyperhidrosis Society.

You can try to address sweating by lowering the temperature in your bedroom, sleeping with fewer blankets, and avoiding hot drinks and very spicy foods just before bed.

If these changes don’t help and you keep having night sweats, it’s a good idea to talk to a healthcare provider, especially if you:

• have episodes of night sweating more than once in a while
• have a fever that won’t go away
• have recently lost weight without trying
• feel generally tired or unwell
• aren’t getting enough sleep due to night sweats

8 Causes of Night Sweats: Menopause and More

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

Medically Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on June 05, 2023

Doctors often hear their patients complain of night sweats. Night sweats refer to excess sweating during the night. But if your bedroom is unusually hot or you are wearing too many bedclothes, you may sweat during sleep, and this is normal. True night sweats are severe hot flashes occurring at night that can drench your clothes and sheets and that are not related to an overheated environment.

It is important to note that flushing (a warmth and redness of the face or body) may be hard to distinguish from true night sweats.

There are many causes of night sweats. To find the cause, a doctor must get a detailed medical history and order tests to decide what medical condition is responsible for the night sweats. Some of the known conditions that can cause night sweats are:

1. Menopause. Vasomotor symptoms, which include the hot flashes that come with menopause , and those that can occur at night and cause sweating, is a very common cause of night sweats and hot flashes in women. For most people, a hot flash isn’t just a rise in body temperature; other symptoms can occur as a result of a hot flash or night sweats: a sudden warmth that’s most intense across your head and chest; reddened skin; sweating, either light or heavy; or a rapid heartbeat.
2. Idiopathic hyperhidrosis. Idiopathic hyperhidrosis is a condition in which the body chronically produces too much sweat without any identifiable medical cause.
3. Infections.Tuberculosis is the infection most commonly linked to night sweats. But bacterial infections, such as endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valves), osteomyelitis (inflammation in the bones), and abscesses can cause night sweats. Night sweats are also a symptom of HIV infection.
4. Cancers. Night sweats are an early symptom of some cancers. The most common type of cancer linked to night sweats is lymphoma. But people who have an undiagnosed cancer frequently have other symptoms as well, such as unexplained weight loss and fevers.
5. Medications. Taking certain medications can lead to night sweats. Antidepressant medications are a common type of drug that can lead to night sweats. From 8% to 22% of people taking antidepressant drugs have night sweats. Other psychiatric drugs have also been linked to night sweats. Medicines taken to lower fever, such as aspirin and acetaminophen, can sometimes lead to sweating. Many other drugs can cause night sweats or flushing.
6. Hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar can cause sweating. People who are taking insulin or oral diabetes medications may have hypoglycemia at night that comes with sweating.
7. Hormone disorders. Sweating or flushing can be seen with several hormone disorders, including pheochromocytoma, carcinoid syndrome, and hyperthyroidism.
8. Neurologic conditions. Uncommonly, neurologic conditions, including autonomic dysreflexia, posttraumatic syringomyelia, stroke, and autonomic neuropathy , may make you sweat more and may lead to night sweats.

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Why does the head sweat during sleep?

Waking up in a cold sweat is unpleasant, even if you don’t have nightmares. Excessive sweating at night not only reduces the quality of sleep and spoils the mood, but can signal serious malfunctions in the body. Let’s try to figure out why the head sweats during sleep and how to deal with this problem by adjusting daily habits.

What is Wet Pillow Syndrome

Sweating is a natural process that helps the body avoid overheating. When we are hot, during physical exertion or during illness, the sweat glands remove moisture more actively. The internal air conditioner continues to operate even when the rest of the body goes into sleep mode.

Our body sweats unevenly. First of all, sweat appears under the armpits, on the back and scalp. With increased sweating, moisture does not have time to evaporate, soaking bed linen. Hence the second name for nocturnal hyperhidrosis is the “wet pillow” syndrome.

The armpits sweat most actively during sleep – the sweat glands are concentrated here in greater numbers and work more intensively than on the rest of the body. If sweat is pouring down, Rexona Clinical Protection antiperspirants will come to the rescue. They protect against sweat 3 times more than a regular antiperspirant* and 40 times more effective at preventing bacterial growth than an evening shower**. The innovative Defense+ formula with nanoparticles of the active substance and glycine turns sweat into a viscous gel, deeply and evenly blocking the channels of the sweat glands. Skin stays dry record 96 hours even under a hot blanket.

What to do if your head sweats a lot while sleeping

No matter how reliable a deodorant is, it will not work to protect the whole body with its help. If the head continues to sweat in a dream, first of all, you need to determine the causes of the problem. It usually takes a little change in diet, hygiene habits or bedroom environment – and the level of sweating will return to normal.

Create a good sleep environment

To get a good night’s sleep, it’s not enough to draw the curtains tightly and put your smartphone away. It is important to create a comfortable microclimate. In a dream, the body tries to recover as much as possible and puts the daily processes on pause. Body temperature drops at night, so we sleep better in a cool room. According to the American National Sleep Foundation, the optimal temperature for a bedroom is 16-20°C, for a nursery – 18-21°C. *** To let fresh air into the room, do not forget to ventilate the room before going to bed. If the noise from the street or a draft does not interfere, the window can be left open until the morning.

If your head sweats while you sleep, the problem may be with your bedding. Synthetic pillows and pillowcases prevent the skin from fully breathing, creating a greenhouse effect. It is better to rely on natural materials: linen, cotton or satin.

Try to isolate yourself from stress

The more we are nervous, the more we sweat. Prolonged nervous tension can remind you of yourself even at night. Difficulty falling asleep, sudden awakening, disturbing dreams, sleep apnea are often accompanied by profuse sweating. Hyperhidrosis can also develop as a result of panic attacks or depression.

Evening and night should be devoted to rest. It is better to spend a few hours before going to bed with your family or reading a paper book. Outdoor walks, warm baths, yoga, and other relaxing activities can also help you sleep better.

Balance your diet

A serving of spicy chicken wings or ginger tea is not the best option for dinner. Any fatty, peppery, spicy, pickled food has a diaphoretic effect. For an evening meal, it is advisable to choose lighter dishes and give the body a head start of 1.5-3 hours to assimilate them.

When an adult’s head sweats in a dream, the reason often lies in doping. An extra cup of coffee, alcohol, energy drinks or nicotine excite the nervous system and increase blood pressure. As a result, thermoregulation is disturbed, it is more difficult for us to fall asleep and in the morning we get up less rested.

A damp pillow is a reason to check your health

All external factors are excluded, but does your head continue to sweat regularly during sleep? Thus, the body may hint that it is time to make an appointment with a doctor. Excessive sweating is one of the symptoms of viral infections (SARS, influenza) and bacterial diseases (pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis). It can occur against the background of diabetes and other endocrine disorders, diseases of the heart or gastrointestinal tract, tumors, autoimmune diseases. Taking certain medications can also cause profuse sweating – after the course is completed, the activity of the sweat glands will return to normal.

* 3 times more effective than the base antiperspirant aerosol among Unilever products at protecting against sweat, hot room test 96h Unilever R&D, United Kingdom, 2018.

** Based on in-vivo microbiological test: reduction 40 times the number of bacteria 24 hours after application compared to using bare soap alone without the use of antiperspirant (Unilever R&D, UK, February 2018). More details on the website www.rexona.ru.

***National Sleep Foundation. The Best Temperature For Sleep // https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/best-temperature-for-sleep

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Why the head sweats in a dream: how to stop waking up on a wet pillow

Sweat is the body’s response to heat. It lowers your body temperature so you don’t overheat. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the heat of summer or after sports you sweat intensely. But what to do if the head sweats especially strongly? Hair quickly becomes dirty, styling does not last long, and waking up on a wet pillow is simply unpleasant. The trichologist will tell you how to deal with this problem.

Dermatovenereologist, cosmetologist, trichologist at DoctorPlastic clinic

Why does my head sweat

When I hear about night sweats, my first reaction is tuberculosis, because this is a classic manifestation of this disease. But, fortunately, this problem is becoming less and less common.

The most banal causes are much more common: insufficiently ventilated room before going to bed, too high a temperature in the bedroom, poor-quality bedding made of synthetic materials, bad synthetic pillows. All this leads to excess sweating on the scalp.

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@adjustablepuffs

Also, the head can sweat due to insufficient cleansing of the scalp, the abuse of wearing warm hats, neglecting the evening hygienic shower, as well as the active use of styling and styling products.

These are all non-medical causes that can cause problems with excessive sweating on the scalp. When all these reasons are excluded, then you can already think about what is happening inside.

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@gingerandpearlhair

Medical causes of head sweating:

• Teenage hormone surges. In this case, sweating will improve with age.

• Anemia. This disease often causes sweating: all anemic diseases are associated with increased sweating.

• Chronic inflammatory diseases. Of these, bowel disease is the most common cause of sweating.

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How to deal with sweaty scalp

First of all, you need to normalize sleep hygiene, that is, deal with bedding.