In the article, we will consider whether it is normal to wake up in a cold sweat.
Sweat secretion is a natural physiological response of the human body. Such a mechanism exists to maintain a constant temperature in the body and regulate heat transfer. With increased sweating, this can cause some inconvenience. The problem is equally relevant for both the female and male population. Especially worrying is the situation when a strong cold sweat appears at night. This may be a sign of the presence of serious pathologies, so it is very important to determine the causes of this condition and eliminate them if possible.
In this connection, you can wake up in a cold sweat?
Factors causing sweating in men at night
Hyperhidrosis, which refers to excessive perspiration, is becoming a social problem that causes concern to so many people. Male and female physiology have their own differences.
Male representatives often complain to doctors that they wake up in a cold sweat. Causes and symptoms are discussed in more detail below.
If we are talking about men, then night sticky sweat can be caused by the influence of the following factors:
- A sudden drop in blood pressure.
- The presence of pathologies of the heart and blood vessels.
- Frequent headaches. If a man suffers from a migraine, a very large amount of adrenaline enters his bloodstream, causing excessive sweating. It is very important to establish the source of persistent migraines. We can talk about both a common cold and a serious pathology of the internal organs. If a person wakes up in sweat every night, the cause may be alcohol addiction.
- Excessive alcoholic beverages. Due to toxic poisoning by alcohol decomposition products, perspiration appears on the body. At the same time, even moderate alcohol consumption disrupts thermoregulatory processes, which may be accompanied by chills or sweating.
- Against the background of emotional conflicts and overloads, constant stress at work or at home, idiopathic hyperhidrosis forms. Such a disease causes sweating at night and day. A person feels that he woke up at night in a cold sweat, his palms are wet, a frequent heartbeat appears.
- Sweating at night can cause hormonal imbalance. Too much testosterone is released or synthesis is reduced. This problem often happens in old age with impaired sexual function or in adolescents.

If a man wakes up completely wet every morning, then you can judge the presence of significant problems. These may include tuberculosis, diabetes. Intense sweat is an occasion for an urgent appeal to a specialist.
It is very unpleasant to sweat in a dream. The causes in women are described below.
Causes of female sweating
Of course, they can be the same as those listed above for men, but there are a number of special factors that are characteristic only for the woman’s body. The physiological sources of hyperhidrosis can be:
- Menstrual irregularities. A woman 3-4 days before the expected menstruation can wake up under a blanket wet with sweat. This is due to an increase in estrogen in the blood, which also causes general weakness and even an increase in temperature.
- During pregnancy, the body's work is significantly rebuilt. Strengthening sweat separation is observed mainly in the first trimester, after which everything is normal.
- A woman can sweat a lot during menopause. Characteristic for menopause are sleep disturbances, hot flashes and increased irritability.
Possible pathologies
Night sweats in women can be a sign of a number of pathologies:
- high blood sugar;
- dysfunction of the endocrine system;
- infections in the body, for example, intestinal;
- pathology of the spine and joints;
- oncology;
- pneumonia, accompanied by fever and fever;
- vegetative-vascular dystonia.
At night, excessive sweating can indicate intoxication, for example, due to heavy smoking and addiction to alcohol. The liver does not cope with the disposal of toxins, and they begin to intensively stand out in the form of sweat through the skin.
The same reaction can cause treatment with a number of drugs, for example, designed to lower blood pressure.
Pathology of the kidneys. When organs cannot naturally remove toxic substances, it is necessary to do this through the skin integument.
If there are no apparent reasons for waking up in a cold sweat at night, it is best to consult a specialist.
And what does it mean if a child wakes up in a cold sweat. The causes are important to identify in a timely manner and eliminate.
Causes of cold sweat in childhood
This phenomenon often occurs in children. If a baby wakes up while feeding sweaty and cold, this is completely normal. On the forehead of a baby, perspiration protrudes because of his efforts to extract milk.
If the child has cold sweat after waking up, this can be triggered by:
- rickets due to vitamin D deficiency;
- hereditary predisposition to the appearance of hyperhidrosis;
- lymphatic diathesis;
- sleep in a very warm room;
- teething, due to which the process of inflammation appears;
- violation of the thyroid gland;
- pathology of the heart and blood vessels.
Parental actions when sweating a child
Sweating is quite common in children. The problem in most cases goes away with growing up and growing.
However, when observing it for a long time, it is advisable to still consult a specialist and, if necessary, conduct an examination.
What needs to be done first to help the child?
- maintain comfortable conditions in the home, both during the day and at night;
- try not to eat foods that provoke sweating: smoked meats, spices, Coca-Cola, etc .;
- strolling before bedtime: moderate physical activity and fresh air positively affect the condition of the child's body;
- you should wear natural, lightweight, breathable clothing;
- remove thick blankets;
- with the appearance of a cold sweat in a child, it can be judged that this is a symptom of stress: you need to try to determine if he has any fears, feelings and other reasons.
Hyperhidrosis
Baby sweating can be a sign of hyperhidrosis. This most often applies to adolescents, but in principle age does not really matter.
The task of parents is to monitor the provoking factor: any food, physical activity, drinks, anxieties, stressful situations, etc. This is difficult to do, so specialist advice is required.
Diagnosing hyperhidrosis at an early stage will help to cure the child and prevent future psychological problems.
So, a person wakes up in a cold sweat. What to do?
When do I need to see a doctor?
Naturally, sweating can cause discomfort, insomnia, however, it is not always a symptom of a serious illness. An adult often sweats due to age, if significant changes occur in the body, due to eating disorders, high weight, and many other reasons.
However, there are cases when the sign of sweating cannot be left without due attention:
- throws sticky, cold sweat every night;
- prolonged stressful situation, especially when you join the sweating sensation of anxiety, fear, excessive irritability;
- when there are signs of systemic diseases, for example, suspicion of HIV;
- a clear unpleasant odor of sweat;
- when sweat not only interferes with sleep at night, but also perspiration occurs when the temperature drops, after exposure to the sun.
Why do I wake up at night in a cold sweat? This is a frequent question for patients. To get rid of such a problem, you need to determine the cause of sweating, and not try to self-medicate, since the situation will only worsen.
Visit to a dermatologist
If you have severe sweating at night in a dream, you need to go to a dermatologist. The specialist examines the skin, learns about the sensations and symptoms. There is a possibility that the doctor will direct for tests and other necessary studies.
When observing sweating in adolescence, you must first visit a pediatrician. If there is a suspicion of developing a cold as a source of sweating, you need to pay attention to other signs, for example, a runny nose, cough.
When a patient wakes up in a cold sweat, therapy should be comprehensive.
Hyperhidrosis treatment
With a little sweating and periodic torment, medication will not be required. Most often, it is possible to cope with the problem if you normalize the gastrointestinal tract, exercise physical strength and get rid of bad habits.
The following measures will help eliminate sweating:
- An excellent remedy is taking a shower before going to bed. The alternation of cold and hot water makes it possible to relax, reduce the intensity of sweat glands. And this is the main reason for sweating in the morning. What to do with the problem is interesting to many.
- Create comfortable conditions for sleep: clothing should be made from natural fabrics, comfortable, the same applies to bedding. Before going to bed, the room is ventilated.
- Use antiperspirants.
- Before going to bed, eat low-fat meals.
- If there is excitement before bedtime, drink a decoction of soothing herbs.
- You can resort to meditation.
- The bedroom should have a normal microclimate. The temperature should be maintained at about 18-20 degrees.
In the absence of the effectiveness of the listed measures and the preserved manifestations, if a person wakes up in a dream from a cold sweat, you will have to use other ways to combat such a pathology.
I wake up in a cold sweat in the morning, what should I do? What medicines to take?
The use of medication
In the absence of serious reasons for excessive sweating, the following medicinal methods can be advised:
- The use of medical antiperspirants. Such preparations contain salicylic acid, aluminum salts, ethyl alcohol, clogging the ducts of the sweat glands.
- You need to know that prolonged use of antiperspirants can cause swelling, dermatitis and inflammation in the ducts.
- You can use medicines that prevent sweating. These include: Bellataminal, Belloid, Bellaspon.
- When determining the quality of the source of hyperhidrosis, disorders of the nervous system are prescribed sedatives based on belladonna, valerian and motherwort.
- With lability of the nervous system, you may need a course of tranquilizers that help relieve irritability and help you survive a stressful situation. However, it must be borne in mind that they should be taken only as prescribed by the doctor and a short course, otherwise there is a danger of addiction.
In addition to medicines, you can also resort to physiotherapeutic procedures.
A man woke up in a cold sweat, why this happens, now it’s clear. What else can be done to get rid of the disease?
Physiotherapy to combat sweating
A visit to the physiotherapy room can be added to the drugs to eliminate the problem of sweating. Effective procedures are as follows:
- Coniferous salt baths.
- Hydrotherapy.
- Electrosleep. This method is based on the use of low-frequency pulses that affect the brain. Such sessions help relieve excitement, strengthen the patient’s nervous system.
- Electrophoresis It affects the neck area with current along with drugs. The procedure temporarily dehydrates areas of the body with high perspiration. Drugs, getting into the skin, block the formation of sweat for the next twenty days.
When taking a course of physiotherapy and taking medications at the same time, you can see significant relief and a decrease in sweating.
Folk remedies for excessive sweating
Thanks to folk recipes, sweating can be reduced. Among the effective tools are the following:
- The use of vinegar, which wipes body parts with increased sweating.
- Reception bath with broths of sage and chamomile.
- The use of birch brooms in the bath.
- Coniferous baths with potassium permanganate.
We examined why you wake up all wet in sweat. He also told what to do with such a pathology.