Night Sweats

[custardpot]

Has anyone got any ideas of making night sweats more bearable.

I get them most nights and are getting very bad. Bed covers end up soaking wet.

I have Lupus SLE

[LuzyCLL]

I get sweats all day and wake up twice at night dripping with sweat. It is very uncomfortable. I take cool showers, and change my clothes (sheets, nightgown). I have noticed a decrease in sweats since I started taking Methotrexate… I can hope

[custardpot in reply to LuzyCLL]

I take it Methotrexate is instead of Hydroxy and they won't let me have that

[sarahsch]

Hi. My husband set up a fan plugged into a remote control socket so I can turn it on and off as needed from my bed.

Sarah x

[chrisj]

I have mild SLE, currently stable, and found hydroxy helped with symptoms of sweats and fatigue. Have been up in the night taking a cool shower and changing nightwear but things are more stable now thanks to hydroxy. I keep a floor standing fan in my bedroom and that helps a lot especially in the summer...and a towel xx

[custardpot in reply to chrisj]

I cannot take hydroxy as it affects my eyes

unfortunately I can't change bedding as I need help doing that and I live on my own

[ancoats23]

This may be totally wrong - but do you have anything else going on in your life - specifically peri-menopause or menopause - I work with a lot of women who really do not expect the symptoms this brings and blame it on everything else.

[custardpot in reply to ancoats23]

No I am 68 so well past Menopause in fact I started Menopause in early 40s

[ancoats23 in reply to custardpot]

Understand - maybe just sleeping with one sheet and always cotton. nightwear - hope this helps.

[Roarah]

Are these a new symptom? If so talk to your gp it could be linked to something else. 100 percent linen sheets stay cooler than cotton. Statin use is linked to decreased hot flashes in menopause so maybe ask about that. Wicking pj’s are great as well. Good luck

[custardpot in reply to Roarah]

thank you. I was on statins a long time ago but went through all the sorts of statins and now intollerable against them. I am a long time past menapause. I can't wear pyjamas got to be a nightdress.

[marypw]

You can put a towel under you and on top of the sheets - much more absorbent and less hassle than changing the sheets . You can also get a chillow - cold pillow - that you cool down in the fridge during the day and use at night.

I’m well past menopause so I think mine are definitely lupus-related. I also think they get worse if I’ve put on weight.

[custardpot in reply to marypw]

I will try the towel.. Never thought of that. The pillow would not make much difference as I have to sit up to sleep can't lay down as in to much pain.

[Brychni]

Hi custard!

I used to get horrible night sweats which started around about the same time that all other symptoms started. Notably the Raynaud's, random swelling of knee and a few other things.

Over the years and with the benefit of hindsight I have often changed my mind about what the cause was. Definitely wasn't hormonal (they started when I was 42) and now at 52 I still haven't had a single perimenopause symptom.

It definitely wasn't anything I had eaten like caffeine.

I've been on hydroxychloroquine for about 3 years now and although before that the sweats were random, sometimes I'd get them every night for a week maybe and the they would stop and not happen again for months. Looking back now I think they stopped when hydroxychloroquine really kicked in.

However, that doesn't really help you at the moment! When it was bad I became obsessed with making sure I had the right fabrics on me and my bed. It may surprise you to know that natural isn't necessarily the best, certainly not cotton which absorbs the moisture and then cools so you wake up not only wet but freezing.

Polycotton is good. I'm not a fan of synthetics but honestly they seem much better for this particular problem and because they don't absorb the moisture they are more hygienic. I used various fleece blankets which I would whip off and replace after stripping. There are informative websites with info about this if you google. It was the one thing that really helped to deal with it in the middle of the night.

I'm not sure if temperature had anything to do with it because I would just wake up freezing cold and wet through, but perhaps I had heated up causing the sweat but didn't know because I was asleep. either way, I never experience being overheated in bed. I told the doctors loads of times but they didn't seem interested.

[custardpot in reply to Brychni]

Thank you for your answer. I don't think it is anything about overheating but saying that a lot of the time when I wake up sweating I do try to sleep with no covers on but can't do that for long as soon get very cold. I will google and see if I can get some help