Night sweats in men over 50

Night Sweats Characteristics

Many people suffer from the night sweats. This condition involves feeling extremely hot while sleeping and sweating excessively. After a night suffering from this fit, you are bound to have all your sheets wet and still be unable to sleep due to experiencing sensation of being hot. For all these reasons, this condition is quite an uncomfortable one. However, the reasons behind it may be quite simple and more or less harmless, therefore making it easily treatable. Unfortunately, sometimes the causes are not so positive and an underlying illness may have night sweats as a symptom, making things significantly worse.

Reasons Behind Night Sweats in Men over50

Men over 50 undergo many physical changes and their organisms become much more sensitive to food, lifestyle and many other factors. Thus, it is not strange that this condition may be triggered by numerous different factors, when it comes to men of this age.

A most common cause of night sweats in this age is andropause. Similarly to women and their menopause, some men experience drastic hormonal changes once they are past their 50s, and even 40s sometimes. This results in a decline of their testosterone levels, having hot flashes and night sweats as some of the most common symptoms.

Alternatively, some kind of nervous disorder may send incorrect signals to your brain during the night, causing it to trigger excessive sweating while you sleep. This condition is called idiopathic hyperhidrosis. Unfortunately, other illnesses may be behind this as well. Namely, cancer, AIDS, Lyme disease along with numerous viral and bacterial infections, all can be possible causes of night sweats in men over 50.

If you are prone to drinking alcohol excessively, you might easily suffer from night sweats. Moreover, if you are in the process of quitting alcohol indulgence completely, this condition may be one of the withdrawal symptoms, especially if it is accompanied by nightmares, hallucinations and similar fits.

As the list goes on, stress comes next. In fact, numerous nervous system disorders like post-traumatic stress syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and others, along with standard, stress-induced anxiety all may cause night sweats too.

One's diet may be closely connected to experiencing night sweats while sleeping. Thus, make sure you avoid spicy food, along with garlic, onion and red meat before going to bed. Also, check the instructions on any medications you might be taking since many of them, especially antidepressants, tend to have night sweats as a side-effect. Finally, if you are suffering from low blood sugar, which is common for men over 50, and you are taking some medications for this purpose, there is a high likelihood that these are causing night sweats in your case.