Night sweats suck! There, we said it. Are your hormones playing their nasty tricks? If you have night sweats, you know we aren’t joking around here. Night sweats wake you up at night. Sometimes more than once a night. Each time they wake you up, you’re lucky to get back to sleep. Why? Because you find yourself soaked in sweat. So are your clothes. And so are your sheets and your mattress. If you’re having particularly bad night sweats, and your hair may even be soaked right through. That means you either have to sleep in a puddle or get up, change your clothes, change the sheets, and do something about your wet head. It’s exhausting!
Myths to stop night sweats
- Sleeping without blankets will cure you of night sweats.
- Turning the AC down to 60 degrees will keep you cool at night so that you won’t have night sweats.
- Blowing a fan toward the bed will solve all your problems.
Sure, all of these things can help, but they aren’t cures. Because the kind of night sweats we’re talking about starts from within your body. Exterior factors don’t cause them. Instead, something going on in your body affects your body’s ability to regulate its temperature. It’s like your inner thermostat is flaking out on you, and instead of being set at a nice normal 98.6, it’s all over the place.
So what’s the deal with night sweats?
Let’s take a look at what’s going on in your body. A majority of the time, night sweats are caused by fluctuating hormones. Here’s what happens:
- Your hormone levels change because of menopause, andropause, or other medical condition and medication side effects.
- The parts of your brain that control body temperature receive new messages from your hormones and react.
- The part of your brain that controls how you perceive cold, heat, pain and pleasure, goes on high alert.
- The reaction increases your core body temperature. (Having hot flashes too? Yup, this is why!)
- Your core temperature expands out to your skin.
- Now, your body is like a pot of water on the boil with a lid. It has to rid itself of all this heat by dilating your vessels and moving your blood around.
- Now you are dizzy, anxious, or your heart may be racing.
- The upper third of your body is burning up.
- Your body can’t take it anymore, so it activates your sweat glands.
- Blood rushes to the skin across your chest, neck, and face causing you to flush.
- Your sweat glands go full throttle on the sweat and soak you from head to toe.
Ah…Relief. Except now you are lying in a puddle of your sweat.
It’s amazing how the body will take care of itself—and how you can sleep through all of that- but who wants to?
No more night sweats!
We could list off a laundry list of home remedies to help you manage your night sweats. However, we know that if you are reading our blogs, you aren’t looking to merely manage symptoms. You want to feel great and perform at optimal levels. What else can you do if your hormones are causing you to night sweats? Moreover, you are already eating whole foods, exercising, and are alcohol and cigarette-free? Hormone optimization may be the solution to your sweaty mess.
How do you know if night sweats are a problem?
Try this. Can you answer yes to one or more of these questions?
- Are your night sweats occurring frequently?
- Have they persisted over time?
- Are they interfering with your sleep?
- Do night sweats or the things that come with night sweats affecting other aspects of your daily life?
- Are night sweats occurring alongside other health changes?
If you answered yes, then night sweats are screwing up your life. Awesome news flash! For many people, they found the solution!
Hormone Optimization to the rescue!
Hormone optimization is the superior version of something you may already know as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). With HRT, your provider helps you get your hormone levels back into normal ranges. With hormone optimization, your provider works with you to get your hormones to above-average levels!
How does Hormone optimization work?
The link between nights sweats and hormones is undeniable. Maybe you have an overactive thyroid, or your sex hormones have gone out of whack. Then you need to get those hormones back into shape!
Let’s say you have low testosterone levels. Both men and women experience a decrease in testosterone levels due to aging.
When your testosterone level dips, your body receives mixed messages about what it needs to do. That’s why you can end up with the following symptoms:
- Night sweats
- Muscle weakness
- Fatigue
- Low libido
- Erectile dysfunction
- Decreased bone mass
- Trouble concentrating
- Poor recall
- Mood changes, including depression, anxiety, and irritability
Many, if not all, of the side effects, will disappear once low testosterone levels are corrected. (In women, you may also need to optimize estrogen or progesterone levels too).
Optimizing your testosterone levels can also:
- Maintain bone density
- Help with fat distribution
- Build muscle strength and mass
- Boost growth of facial and body hair in men
- Keep your red blood cells happy
- Pep up your sex drive
- Elevate sperm production
The easiest and most efficient way to increase testosterone levels is to add testosterone to your system. And they come in the form of pills, pellets, and injectables. These need to be administered at regular intervals as prescribed by a doctor. Pills and injectables can be self-administered by you in your own home, while pellet insertion requires a trained professional.
The Hormone Optimization 3-step
Hormone optimization therapy happens in three easy steps:
- Schedule a consultation to go over your health goals
- Get the recommended blood tests
- Follow your provider’s treatment plan
Just like building your best body, building a treatment plan that optimizes your hormones can take some time. You may need to do this three-step process a few times until you, your provider, and your body gets the hang of it.
Hormones and night sweats- night sweats be gone!
Contact us for a free 15-minute consultation to see if hormone optimization would solve your nighttime puddle problem!
