Causes

• Some possible causes of night sweats include gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD), diabetes, certain medications like high blood pressure drugs, antipsychotics and nonprescription fever relief drugs, idiopathic hyperhidrosis (or the production of too much sweat), alcohol abuse, drug abuse, menopause and anxiety. In some cases, the cause of night sweats can be as simple as excessive blankets on the bed or too warm of a room.
  
  

Significance

• If you feel that your night sweats are too frequent and that they are disrupting your healthy sleep pattern, you should consult a medical professional. There are cases in which night sweats can be a symptom of a much more serious underlying condition, such as cancer (usually lymphoma) or an infection like endocarditis.
  
  

Medication

• There are several medications that can trigger night sweats. Some common medications that cause night sweats include antidepressants, acetaminophen, aspirin, prednisone, cortisone, prednisolone, hydralazine, nitroglycerine, niacin, sildenafil and tamoxifen.
  
  

Less Common Causes

• There are some causes of night sweats that are less common. Some rare conditions that can trigger night sweats include neurologic conditions such as autonomic neuropathy and autonomic dysreflexia, hypoglycemia or low blood glucose, and hormone disorders like hyperthyroidism and carcinoid syndrome.
  
  

Severity

• There are some things to look out for to help determine just how severe a night sweating condition is. For mild night sweats, there is no change of clothing or bathing required. Moderate night sweats might require sleep being interrupted in order to wash your face or other parts of your body, but changing clothes is not required. Severe night sweats require a change of clothing and bathing.