Many common conditions create night sweats and insomnia. First, night sweats frequently lead to insomnia because episodes of heavy sweating cause wakefulness. A person may need to change their clothes or sheets because they’ve drenched them in sweat. This nighttime interruption disrupts the sleep cycle and makes it difficult to resume sleep, resulting in exhaustion. Therefore, any causal factor for night sweats may also cause insomnia. In other instances, things like stress and anxiety disorders, pregnancy or menopause, infections, hormonal imbalances, sleep apnea, or medications are most commonly associated with concurrent emergence of these two conditions.
Stress or anxiety disorders are linked to night sweats and insomnia. This means most people may be vulnerable at some point in life to developing these symptoms. Night sweats don't necessarily happen to all people with anxiety, but they can be an added unpleasant symptom that worsens sleep problems. The key to symptom reduction is lowering underlying stress, which might involve a variety of self-help or therapeutic treatments.
Women who have experienced pregnancy or menopause can attest to the challenges of night sweats and insomnia. For perimenopausal women, the frequent occurrence of hot flashes impacts the ability to sleep. Both of these conditions also elevate stress levels, so the body may be less likely to get adequate sleep.
A variety of common infections may result in temporary night sweats and insomnia. Any type of virus accompanied by a fever may cause excess sweating and extreme wakefulness, and these conditions are usually resolved as the body effectively eliminates the virus. Certain viruses, like HIV, can’t be cured and might continue to produce these symptoms. Bacterial infections are also known for causing night sweats and insomnia, and some most commonly associated with these symptoms include tuberculosis and any infection that causes cysts or organ inflammation. Symptoms are usually temporary and resolve with treatment.
Hormonal imbalances create nighttime perspiration and poor sleep. One of the most common offenders, aside from hormone changes in pregnancy and menopause, is higher than normal levels of thyroid hormone or hyperthyroidism. The thyroid hormones regulate body temperature, and elevated levels can raise body temperature significantly.
Other sleep disturbances have been associated with night sweats and insomnia. Some people who experience sleep apnea report these two symptoms. The presence of sleep apnea complicates matters because it’s already negatively impacting sleep, but treating apnea may resolve all symptoms.
Lastly, many people take medications that affect sleep. Night sweats and insomnia have been associated with a variety of antidepressants, with corticosteroids like prednisone, and with drugs like Viagra® and tamoxifen. Not all people taking these medications report excess sweating and insomnia as side effects. Regular occurrence of these symptoms could warrant consultation with a doctor to discuss possible medication changes.
