If you're going through menopause, chances are you know all about night sweats. This dreaded symptom is known for waking women up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and unable to go back to sleep. If you're suffering from night sweats, you don't have to suffer in silence. There are immediate adjustments you can make to find relief.
Treating night sweats takes a two-step approach: managing the existing symptoms and seeking to prevent them in the future. Keep reading for tips on how to manage and relieve night sweats during menopause.
Prepare Your Room
Arranging your room so that it's comfortable and relaxing is a great way to make this symptom less of an ordeal. Keep the room at a mild temperature to accommodate the extremes between hot and cold that you might feel. Also, keep a towel near your bed so that you can dry your face and body.
Wear Moisture-Wicking Clothing
Wearing tight clothing to bed that doesn't allow your skin to breathe can make night sweats even more unpleasant. Try wearing moisture-wicking materials and light, airy fabrics. You could also try sleeping on moisture-wicking sheets to prevent waking up in a pool of sweat.
Make Lifestyle Changes
The most effective way to manage night sweats is to focus on their cause - hormonal imbalance. Exercising regularly and eating healthfully is a great way to balance hormone levels as well as improve overall health.
Alternative Medicines
A significant number of women have reported benefits from taking alternative medicines to fight their menopause symptoms. This includes estrogenic herbs like black cohosh and dong quai. While these are believed to improve hormonal balance, they can also cause some side effects. Hormone-regulating herbs have no known side effects and are thought to even out the body's natural production of hormones.
Talk to a Doctor
If other methods are ineffective and night sweats have become too hard to manage, talk to a medical professional. You will be able to determine the cause of your symptoms and develop a treatment plan. However, prescription drugs can come with a host of side effects, and should only be used as a last resort.
With a little foresight and effort, you can successfully manage night sweats during menopause. Click on the links below for more information.
Sources
- Boston Women's Health Collective. (2006). Hot Flashes, Night Sweats and Sleep Disturbances. Our Bodies, Ourselves.
- National Institute on Aging. (2015). Signs of the Menopausal Transition. Retrieved January 7, 2016, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/menopause-time-change/signs-menopausal-transition
- Von Muhlen, D.G. et al. (1995). A community-based study of menopause symptoms and estrogen replacement in older women. Maturitas, 22(2), 71-78.