Running with Crohn’s: Night sweats

What are night sweats?

Night sweats are a side effect of your body’s inflammatory response.  It is the same fever response that your body uses when fighting an infection.  People who suffer from IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) experience night sweats frequently.  When my disease is in remission, I experience 1-3 night sweats per month.  When I experience a disease flare-up, I can experience two or more night sweats per night.

What are night sweats like?

The night sweats I experience vary in severity from mild to extremely severe.

In fact, I experienced a very mild night sweat last night.  My wife woke me up and told me that my cotton t-shirt was damp (it did not feel damp to me) and that my body was very hot (I did feel a bit too warm).  After my mild night sweats, I do not need to change my clothing for comfort.  In fact, I usually sleep through them and do not realize I had one until I awaken in the morning.  When I do awaken from a mild night sweat, I usually feel hot as if I had a fever and I want to remove some of my blankets.  If I took my temperature, I would not be surprised if I registered a mild fever.

When I experience severe night sweats, I thoroughly soak my bed clothing, sheets, and sometimes my blankets.  For comfort, I must get out of bed, take off my clothing, towel myself dry, and put on new clothing before going back to bed.  When I awaken from a severe night sweat, I feel extremely cold without the blankets but often I still feel too warm with the blankets.  I believe that if I took my temperature after a severe night sweat, I would register a normal temperature (as if my fever had broken).

What should I do about night sweats?

If you suffer from IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), inform your doctor about your night sweats, their severity, and their frequency.  If the severity or frequency of your night sweats increases, it can indicate that you have entered a flare-up phase of your disease and he may want to adjust your medication.

If you you have not been diagnosed with an underlying condition and you begin suffering from night sweats, you should always speak to your doctor.  Night sweats are usually a side effect of your body's inflammatory response and can indicate an infection or other underlying disease.  They may also indicate hormone imbalances (such as those associated with menopause).  Only your doctor can determine what that cause might be.

Otherwise, night sweats are simply an annoying symptom of an underlying issue, so you should treat them by alleviating their side effects.

How do I deal with night sweats?

My tips for dealing with night sweats:

• Wear loose fitting cotton clothing to bed (do not use man-made fibers like nylon or polyester that do not breath).
• Keep a spare set of loose fitting bedclothes near your bed
• Leave a towel by your side of the bed (for toweling off in the middle of the night)
• Use cotton sheets (avoid man-made fibers)
• Use several thin blankets/comforters (this allows you to peel back layers when you become too hot)
• When you experience night sweats very frequently, sleep on a towel (it absorbs your sweat and is easy to discard in the night when you are half-asleep)
• Keep a spare blanket by your side of the bed (very severe night sweats soak my blankets too, it is nice to have a readily available dry blanket to use)
• If you suffer a severe night sweat and your sheets are soaked, place a dry towel on your bed.  The towel provides a dry spot for you to sleep on. 

Other stuff

My wife recently had a hysterectomy.  Since the doctor placed hormone pellets during her surgery, she has not suffered full blown menopause symptoms, however, she still experiences a few of the symptoms of menopause.  She is blogging about her experiences.  One of those experiences she blogged about today was a hot flash and sweating she experienced while in the store.

Ironically we do NOT coordinate our blog entries!