Ever get these? One wakes up and all the sheets and you are completely soaking wet. It’s almost like someone threw a bucket of water onto the bed. I sleep alone, but I can imagine it would be really embarrassing to have them with a partner.
I had them in my early 20s, and then off and on over the next 20 years. I’m neither hormonal nor a woman, and I have no other symptoms, so I haven’t worried about them. I’ve had them the last two nights and I’m hoping I don’t go for a third round. And I never get them just once a night. I wake up, towel off, then go back to bed in a dry area (I’m too tired to change the sheets that night) and then wake up again later all drenched. Fortunately I never seem to have more than two sets a night.
Googling seems to turn up discussions of anxiety and night sweats. I have anxiety, and although I’m not currently seeing my psychologist, I’ve often wondered if there was a connection. I’m always anxious, but lately my level has been elevated.
I get night sweats occasionally, maybe a few times a year now. They first started freshman year of college, I’d wake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat. The first time it happened I assumed I wet the bed, until I realized that my shirt and hair were soaked while my boxers were comparatively dry. Usually I’d only get them once a night, although occasionally I’d be soaked in the morning as well. Happened maybe once a month, then increased to maybe two or three per month as freshman year progressed. Only very rarely would I have them two nights in a row.
It was very alarming, I had no idea what the cause was and it annoyed the crap out of me. Google didn’t help me much, neither did the doctor at the health center. Anxiety seems to be the number one cause, but I didn’t suffer from anxiety, and it didn’t correlate with my stress level at all. The temperature in my dorm was cool and stable at night, I was healthy, I didn’t take any medications, etc. I thought it might have been caused by the cheap vinyl non-breathable mattress, so I bought an extra foam pad (I already used one) and thick flannel sheets to provide more air circulation. It made my bed soft as a cloud of marshmallows, but didn’t solve the problem.
I finally figured it out. It was alcohol. More specifically, some sort of delayed hangover/mild withdrawal symptom. It took almost all year to connect the dots but I noticed it tended to happen on a Tue or Wed, and only after particularly epic weekends, i.e. if I partied Thu, Fri, and Sat nights (ahh, college…). Because they were delayed a few days I didn’t connect them with alcohol right away - my hangover would be gone by Sunday evening, and I wouldn’t get the night sweats until Tues or Wed night, when I felt fine. They increased in frequency because as freshman year progressed I made more friends and partied more. Cutting down on extended periods of heavy drinking solved the problem, and if I did happen to really cut loose one weekend, one or two mid-week beers would be enough to keep them away.
I don’t drink as much now (I graduated in 2005) so they rarely happen currently. I will occasionally still get them after 4 or 5 days of steady, non-binge drinking; the week surrounding Christmas being a good example, not necessarily getting smashed but definitely drinking more than I usually do.
I get them occasionally. I’ll wake up, and the sheet looks like the Shroud of Turin.
And I agree about the alcohol connection, but not the delayed reaction: I particularly get it the night after an epic consumption of adult beverages. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s totally worth it.