Sweating is a natural function of the body. With its help, body temperature is maintained at a constant level. Even in the cold season, a person loses about 700-1000 ml of fluid per day with sweat, and this is completely normal.
However, sometimes patients complain to the doctor that they sweat a lot, and sometimes not so much during the day as at night, in a dream. Some people sweat a lot at night. Sweating can be so intense that in the morning a person finds a damp sheet and pillow, and he wakes up with a wet body and hair.
Do you have night sweats that you suspect is related to sleep disturbances? Contact the Center for Sleep Medicine of the sanatorium "Barvikha". We will consult and examine you, help to establish the cause of the symptom and eliminate it. To book a consultation call: +7(495) 773-31-95, +7(495) 635-69-07.
People who have such complaints are always interested in the question: “Why do I sweat a lot in my sleep?” There can be many reasons for this.
1. Night sweats as a result of poor sleep hygiene
If the bedroom is hot or stuffy, if a person covers himself with an overly warm blanket or sleeps in a room with high humidity, he will definitely sweat in his sleep.
2. Night sweats 
Chronic insomnia may be accompanied by mental disorders, in particular, a feeling of fear or anxiety. Such disorders lead to overexcitation of the autonomic nervous system, which is manifested by palpitations, increased blood pressure and severe sweating at night.
It is caused by oxygen starvation that occurs during sleep apnea and leads to the release of stress hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine by the adrenal glands. At the same time, blood pressure rises, heart rate and breathing become more frequent, and sweating appears. With this condition, the patient may not sweat, but 30.6% of men and 33.3% of women with sleep apnea say they sweat during sleep.
case from practice. Patient Z., 48 years old, 2 years ago turned to the therapist with complaints of excessive sweating at night. It was expressed to such an extent that in the middle of the night a person had to wake up, change underwear and turn the pillow over to the other side. He also talked about weakness, daytime sleepiness, fatigue. When asked about the quality of sleep, he said that he sleeps a sufficient amount of time and does not snore.
For several months the patient was examined in all respects. He was ruled out for tuberculosis, other infectious processes, oncology ... But the symptoms continued to bother him. In the end, one of the specialists nevertheless sent him.
During the (sleep study) it turned out that the patient snores, and at night he has respiratory arrests (that is, there is). The fact is that the patient had false information about his own sleep, since he lived alone and simply did not know that he was snoring.
After the examination, the man was prescribed. After the first night of treatment, all symptoms were eliminated. The patient has been successfully using CPAP so far, already for 8 months. He not only disappeared all complaints, but also decreased blood pressure.
You can learn more about sweating and other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea from a video lecture on the clinical picture and diagnosis of this disease.
4. Sweating during pregnancy
The main reason for increased sweating during this period is a change in hormonal levels, especially in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy. Night sweats usually go away after the baby is born. For others, this problem can be observed for several weeks after giving birth, until the hormonal levels normalize. Even more rarely, women sweat profusely throughout the entire period of breastfeeding.
5. Sweating in various diseases
The causes of excessive sweating can be a number of diseases of an infectious nature (tuberculosis, AIDS, abscesses, osteomyelitis, SARS, pneumonia, bronchitis) and endocrine diseases (diabetes mellitus). Also, the problem can also be triggered by medication.
The above reasons mostly apply to adults. But a few words must be said about excessive sweating in children.
A child, like an adult, can sweat for a variety of reasons, ranging from improperly fitting pajamas to some medical conditions. Since the child's heat exchange system does not work perfectly, there are increased requirements for the choice of bedding and clothing, temperature and humidity in the bedroom. If these requirements are not met, the appearance of night sweats in the baby is likely. Its causes may also be insufficient physical activity of the child during the day, rickets, infectious diseases, vegetative-vascular dystonia.
