Have you ever woke up at night all anxious with a sudden wave of heat and drenched in sweat? It’s none other than night sweats. Night sweats and hot flashes are common symptoms almost every woman faces during menopause. Suddenly you feel something boiling deep inside you, spreading a wave of heat on your face, neck, and chest. You start sweating terribly to find your clothes all drenched and soaked.
Night sweats usually occur due to hormonal imbalance in your body. Nearly 8 in 10 women endure this bothersome condition during menopause, especially perimenopause. However, what hormone causes night sweats? How to treat night sweats hormone imbalance? Do you need replacement therapy for night sweats hormones? Let’s find out.
What Are Night Sweats?
Night sweats are a common issue during menopause, disrupting your sleep with sweat-soaking clothes and bedding. You usually experience it when your blood vessels expand. It causes an increased blood flow and contraction.
The intense blood flow and contraction cause your body to feel a sudden wave of heat at night. The heat spread from your face to neck and chest, usually your upper part. Sweat, red-flushed skin, and rapid heartbeat are the three companions joining the wave of hot flash heat. Often you feel a cold chilled sensation after the night sweats.
The intensity and frequency of hot flashes and night sweats differ from person to person. For some women, they are mild and manageable. However, for some, they become highly severe and intense, affecting the quality of life drastically.
Menopause and Night Sweats
Menopause, especially during the perimenopausal phase, women experience the severity of hot flashes and night sweats. Menopause is a natural stage of a woman’s life that denotes the end of her menstrual period. Every woman goes through perimenopause to menopause and lastly post menopause that may last for 7 to 10 years.
Perimenopause is the transition tread to approach menopause that women face at the age of 40 to 50. You can consider reaching menopause if you don’t have periods for one year in a row. During perimenopause, your ovaries produce less estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, the primary three female sex hormones regulating the growth, maintenance, and repair of reproductive tissues.
Therefore, your body encounters dramatic and drastic shifts in hormonal level, causing several symptoms- hot flashes, low sex drive, insomnia, etc. The night sweat is also a problem-causing product of this hormonal imbalance.
What Causes Night Sweats
However, nights sweats are primarily linked to menopause; there are several other reasons you may face night sweats.
- Several bacterial infections- endocarditis, osteomyelitis, pyogenic abscess, etc
- Hormonal diseases- overactive thyroid, diabetes, endocrine tumors
- Neurologic disorders- autonomic dysreflexia, autonomic neuropathy, syringomyelia, stroke, etc
- Cance- leukemia, and lymphoma
- Infectious diseases- tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Colds, flu, fever
- Hyperhidrosis
- Panic disorder, anxiety
- Side effects of medications- few antidepressants and diabetes medications, steroids, acetaminophen, aspirin, and high blood pressure drugs
- Substance abuse- Alcohol, heroin, cocaine
Do You Need Replacement Therapy For Night sweats Hormone??
During menopause, your estrogen level drops drastically, causing frequent night sweats.
Hormone replacement therapy, aka HRT, can help you restore the night sweat hormone, estrogen, to regulate your hormonal levels. In short, HRT is the most effective way to treat your many menopausal symptoms, including night sweats.
However, if you need HRT or not, to determine that consult your doctor first. The replacement medication depends on the severity and frequency of your condition. Your doctor will provide a tailored replacement therapy plan considering your medical condition, history, risk factors, preference, and convenience. You can get only estrogen replacement or a combination therapy plan.
Estrogen Replacement Therapy
Doctors usually suggest estrogen therapy if you have had a hysterectomy or have had your uterus removed. Typically, you will get a low dose of estrogen that may take in different forms, including-
- Estrogen Pills- It’s the most common form of HRT that you have to take once a day without food.
- Estrogen Patches- You usually wear patches on the skin of your abdomen. Depending on the dose, you may have to replace the patches every few days or wear them for a week.
- Tropical Estrogen- Tropical estrogen is available in several forms- gels on the arm, cream on the legs, or sprays on the arm. Like patches, they quickly absorb into the bloodstream that you may have to apply once a day.
Combination Therapy- Estrogen and Progesterone
If you still have your uterus and ovaries, doctors suggest a combination therapy of estrogen and synthetic progesterone. Combining these two hormones may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer compared to administering estrogen alone.
- Oral progestins- You take synthetic progestins pills once a day usually. Nowadays, doctors prescribe natural, bioidentical progesterone that lowers the risks of several side effects.
- Intrauterine progestin- It’s a T-shaped plastic frame that you insert into the uterus, where it releases the hormone progestin. However, a birth control medication can manage several menopausal symptoms, including night sweats.
Benefits of Replacement therapy
Do you need replacement therapy for night sweats hormone? HRT is the most effective treatment to manage your night sweats. However, with night sweats, it offers several other benefits to you-
- Reduces the intensity and frequency of hot flashes
- Improves the quality of your sleep
- Relieves vaginal dryness and itching
- Improves sex drive
- Reduces the risk of osteoporosis
- It helps you to have painless sexual intercourse
- Lowers the risk of heart disease
- Reduces the risk of colorectal cancer
- Prevents dementia
Side Effects and Risks Of Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy works magic in treating your night sweats. However, like every medication, it also contains some side effects-
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Breast cancer
- Diabetes
- Bloating
- Nausea
- Headache
Who Should Not Take Replacement Therapy
Night sweats are bothersome some issues, and HRT provides a perfect answer to solve the problem. However, if you have the following condition, you may not get a replacement therapy-
- Several cancers- breast cancer, uterine or ovarian cancer
- Blood clots
- Heart, liver, or gallbladder disease
- Stroke
- Pregnancy
- Heart attack
- Unexplained vaginal bleeding
Take Away
Night sweats are an annoying problem that disrupts your sleep and life tremendously. However, you can manage your night sweats, hot flashes, and several other hormonal imbalance symptoms with replacement therapy. However, do you need replacement therapy for night sweats hormone? It depends on your condition and preference.
If you want a solution for your night sweats, contact Hormone Replacement Therapy, LA. The expert doctor and staff are ready to assist you in determining if you need replacement therapy. They will provide you with an individualized medication plan, considering your body and symptoms and regularly monitoring your progress.
You don’t have to suffer from your night sweats due to hormonal imbalance any longer. Contact Hormone Replacement Therapy, LA, today to get your solution.
