Night Sweats

Hey S.,

I had my son 6 months ago (2nd baby, didn't have night sweats with first baby) and have had night sweats ever since. They are just now beginning to get better. Now instead of every night it's maybe once or twice a week. I feel your pain, there is nothing more aggravating then dealing with soaked sheets and sweaty night clothes. I had some tests run just to rule out anything else. I had my thyroid checked and all the other blood tests like diabetes etc and everything came back normal so I guess it's just still hormones working themselves out. I just grin and bear them and know that eventually they'll stop. I hope! One thing I do is keep a large thick blanket under me and wash that daily so I'm not washing sheets daily. I kind of just deal with it through the night if that blanket gets wet. I don't have time for that kind of laundry! Good luck and I'll be checking back here in case someone else offers better news or advice!

S.,

Have you talked to your OB/GYN?? Also you have to give your body time to adjust. you were pregnant for 9 months. Give your body at least that much time to try to get back to a "normal" schedule.

If I were you, I would aks the doctor, see what they have to say. But I know that you have to give your body time to get used to not being pregnant anymore. Your hormones are probably going wild. A lot goes on when you have a child.

Make the doc appointment and let us know what they say.

I know how you feel my daughter is 6 months old and I am still waking up with the sweats at night. I'm not sure if it will matter when you go back on the pill because I have been back on the pill for 4 months and I still have the sweats but not as bad.

S., I am writing becuase I am a mother, and an acupuncturist. What you describe is very typical, especially after giving birth. In Chinese medicine it is called yin deficiency. It's not serious, just annoying. I would say try to find a good acupuncturist and if you live near Chinatown, find one that's an herbalist also. Your problem could be alleviated very quickly, especiaally with the combination of herbs and acupuncture. If you cannot afford it, there's a very good acupuncture school in Chicago with a free clinic that also dispenses herbs called the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine. Check their website for a clinic schedule. By the way, there are great herbal professors there on mondays and wednesdays. Good luck, K. C.

I had the same thing. It went away somewhere between 4 and 6 months. Hopefully, it will start easing off for you soon, too.

I tend to agree with the hormone issue...but have you had your thyroid checked?
3 months is kinda long to have the night sweats....I had them awful with my first. The kind where you have to step outside in the middle of the night to cool down. I just had my second son 4 weeks ago - and haven't had one...not sure why - but with my first, my thyroid was out of wack...

S.,

This could very likely be due to early menapause. I have experienced the same night sweats/hot flashes after I had both my ovaries surgically removed due to ovarian cancer, and was thrown into abrupt menapause. You might want to ask your doctor to prescribe low doses of hormone replacement therapy. Within as little as a day the night sweats will completely go away. If you are warey of taking hormone replacement therapy you might want to try bio-identical hormones which is a natural suppliment. Suzanne Somers writes about it in her book entitled "The Sexy Years." Those are also supposed to get rid of the night sweats and other symptoms associated with menapause. I haven't tried it yet, but plan to soon. Good luck.

J.

I am not that sweaty..but I too am hot at night. My son is 3 mo old too. I think it is hormonal from being pregnant. I was the same way with the otehr 2 and it went away. Remember, especially if you are nursing it takes about a year for your body to go back to normal

I would call your doctor...maybe its your thyroid like someone said earlier or it could be an infection?

Have you talked with your doctor about this? Another thing is that your hormones have to get back to normal pre-pregnancy levels and this can take up to a year. Some things that helped me years ago was to limit my salt intake, stop drinking soda and to eat more fruits and vegetables than meat. I also drank more than 64oz of water per day. Hope this helps.

I had really bad night sweats with my first child, and now with my second I have occasional sweats, where I will get up in the middle of the night drenched and completed strip my clothes off to get comfortable. It has to be the hormones.

HI S.,
When I was in my late 30's.. (I'm 45 now) I was having really heavy bleeding with my periods..was having 2 a month..

the ob told me to go on that Yaz BC pill and insisted that would take care of it. Instead, the periods got worse and I had those night sweats. I have NEVER had those before. It was terrible. I know just how you feel.

My body was in total hormonal imbalance. When you put that synthetic hormone (ANY BC pills) in your body, it just reeks havoc with your body. I didn't want to go on them but I was so desperate with those periods.

I then read so many books on women's health (I highly recommend Dr. Christine Northrup.. she has been on Oprah and channel 11 with her talks.. and has written several books on women's health.. )

I ended up leaving that OB practice and went to a D.O/./ ob.gyn doctor..

I can't spell it.. that is the credential of the doctors.. they are more holistic.. oestopathic.. I know I'm not spelling that right but I would highly recommend you getting off those BC pills. You can google this type of doctor and they have a whole website. It really is a wonderful thing. These doctors have alternative methods of treatment, not just write out the ole BC pill prescription to make their kick backs and all.

My old OB practice was a very posh women's practice in arlington heights. I was so disappointed in the way they treat women. They would not even discuss natural progesterone. (Natural progesterone is not a method of birth control. But it does really help balance both the estrogen and progesterone levels in your body.) During childbirth, your progesterone levels are so high.. so afterwards, after the levels change and all.. that is why many of us struggle with these things and post partum depression and all..

I got off the stupid BC pills.. got myself some natural progesterone and a good multi-vitamin and behold.. the sweats stopped and my cycles became regular again.

There is a great compounding pharmacy in Roselle where you can order the cream and have the cream shipped to your home. The pharmacists there have their own radio program as well. Anyway.. just food for thought. I wish you the best of luck.