Does anyone else have problems sweating?!

[Dap1948]

It might sound great, finding you don’t perspire anymore. However, even Scotland is having a heatwave at the moment, and my body is not coping. Because I don’t perspire, my body gets hotter and hotter. I feel hot and bothered, nauseous and exhausted. Is this a Parkinson thing or just an old lady thing? I cope by sponging myself down frequently and plugging an electric fan in where ever I am. Does anyone else have this problem?

[Juliegrace]

I get really hot and sweaty, definitely don’t handle heat well which I think goes along with PD. But, the not sweating part sounds most concerning. I would recommend you talk to a medical professional about that. Maybe purchase those things that go around the back of your neck that can be soaked in water. If you search Amazon for “ neck cooler “ a bunch of stuff comes up that is very affordable that might be helpful.

[BootsOn]

Yes, but it's been an issue for me for about 20 years, starting with the perimenopause. Long before PD reared its ugly head. I have a fan in every room, all running at present. Two showers a day and mist my neck, chest and shoulders with water in between. I felt nauseous over the weekend too, which has worn off now. Thank goodness it's cooling down from Friday. Have a sympathetic sweaty hug!

[Dap1948 in reply to BootsOn]

So an old lady thing!! I thought when we moved to Scotland, six months ago, I wouldn’t be bothered by heat!

[GymBag]

try consuming a bit more salt. No salt no sweat

As a young man in Military we would take salt pills and water.

If not our brain would explode and it took days to recover

[park_bear]

The fancy medical name for inability to sweat is anhidrosis. It can be caused by a variety of conditions and by certain medications. Check the medications listed at the link to see if you are taking any of them:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK5...

[Dap1948 in reply to park_bear]

Thanks, that is helpful. No I don’t take any of those drugs. My doctor tells me it’s a Parkinson’s symptom!

[Marimar70 in reply to Dap1948]

Mom has parkinsonism and she has this issue. I don't know what the cause is but she gets really warm a lot in the summer and winter

[glenandgerry]

My husband doesn't sweat either Dap. He used to sweat profusely prior to having Parkinson's. Even in this spell of very hot weather we've been experiencing, he still hasn't been sweating. He doesn't seem to feel the effects of the heat as much as I do though. Yesterday I noticed some beads of sweat on his forehead at the highest heat of the day but that's a first, and I saw it as a good thing!

[Dap1948 in reply to glenandgerry]

What PD meds does your husband take? Jmwg45 suggests inability to sweat might be caused by meds...

[glenandgerry in reply to Dap1948]

He doesn't take many as they don't seem to do much for him. He takes Amantadine and Madopar (50mg 3 times a day) but he takes a whole host of supplements which I give him as well.

[Jmwg45]

I was reading an article a couple of days ago about coping with heatwaves and they mentioned the importance of sweating then gave a list of risk factors that stop people sweating and in that list was 'some parkinsons medications'.

Didn't say which but might be worth checking your med pamphlet

[Dap1948 in reply to Jmwg45]

That is really helpful though I don’t want to fiddle with my meds really as everything else is managed well!

[Jmwg45]

Certainly don't mess but if your medication is one that stops sweat it might be worth mentioning to your care provider (doctor, neoro team, pd nurse).

I know if I found a combo which worked I would never change a thing!

Did a little more digging and it looks like it is anticholinergics (procyclidine, trihexyphenidyl) that cause the problem so probably isn't relevant to most people here.

[Despe]

Dap,

It is a PD symptom. Not all symptoms appear at diagnosis. Some are experienced during the course of PD.

[Dap1948 in reply to Despe]

Thanks

[Resano in reply to Despe]

Yes, a symptom of Autonomic Dysfunction confirmed by Lim & Tan (2016). And also one of High Dose Thiamine refeeding syndrome (Dr Londsdale)..

[jackedmonston]

I have been battling night sweats for about 8 months. Last night I changed my shirt 11 times. °in one instance, it was only seven minutes between shirts.

[Dap1948 in reply to jackedmonston]

Have you tried anything like magnesium?

[Kia17]

Thermoregulation and PD

Objective thermoregulatory testing in Parkinson disease reveals deficits of sweating and vasomotor tone which often correlate with the severity of other autonomic deficits. Tests of thermoregulatory function can also be used to differentiate Parkinson disease from other neurodegenerative disorders.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/304...

[Hidden]

I too have this problem. I prefer to think that it is because I am so ladylike that I don’t even perspire.

Thank you for bringing this up.