Ask a doctor on the topic of General medicine

Night sweats

March 28, 2013 | 15,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Hello,

I have a question. I sometimes sweat at night. My legs are not affected, mostly between my chest and neck, so my upper body is affected. I wake up because sometimes I have to change my shirt. I noticed that it usually happens before my period and sometimes also during ovulation, then it stops again. But it also happened yesterday and last night, and neither of these apply, as my period has been over for 4 days.
I also noticed that it always happens at the same time, between one and two o'clock at night, then I change clothes and then nothing for the rest of the night.
Since I am a hypochondriac and of course I am very worried and have googled on the internet, it mentioned possible hypoglycemia.... I don't have diabetes and this morning after waking up, my blood sugar was 82. I didn't measure it last night, so I can already rule out hypoglycemia, right? I have been fasting since last night. Or can you have low blood sugar overnight and the value is normal in the morning?
My doctor recently did an ultrasound of my thyroid, which was normal. Blood was not taken because of this.
Best regards.

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good morning,

Hypoglycemia is ruled out; one can only seriously experience hypoglycemia at night if they are taking diabetes medication, which you are not, or have a severe metabolic disorder that would also cause hypoglycemia during the day. So that is ruled out.

Night sweats, however, are often a sign of inflammation, so your primary care physician should also check the inflammation markers CRP and ESR (in addition to thyroid values; hyperthyroidism cannot be ruled out by ultrasound). Also, a urine test should be done to rule out a urinary tract infection, which does not always cause pain.

Unfortunately, you did not mention your age. If you have been smoking for several years, a lung function test would be useful to rule out chronic bronchitis. If you have not been to the dentist for a while, they should check for cavities or periodontal disease.

Warm regards, Dr. Höllering, Specialist in Internal and General Medicine