A Treatment for Night Sweats

What are Your Options to Treat Excessive Sweating During Menopause

A treatment for night sweats (and also hot flashes) is essential during menopause. Excessive sweating is one of the hallmarks of night sweats and certainly contributes to the misery of the change.

To assure a good nights sleep again, any treatment has to keep the body cool by lowering your body temperature. This can be accomplished through personal cooling systems (hot flash pajamas, cooling sheets or bed fan) and through herbs or hormones.

Traditional hormone treatments will help with night sweats because estrogen helps to adjust the body temperature control in the brain. But you may want to give the following natural methods a try before using hormones.

Remifemin Good Night

Night sweats certainly contribute to menopause insomnia. – who can sleep if the sheets are wet?

So a good treatment for night sweats should address those aspects, the sweating and the sleeplessness.

One standardized treatment which is specifically formulated for insomnia and night sweats is Remifemin Good Night to battle nighttime sweating. It contains standardized Black Cohosh but also Valerian, Lemon Balm and Hops, – herbs that are known for their relaxing qualities.

Many women find relief with this supplement because they can either sleep through their attacks or they have a reduction in their frequency. Either way, both groups of women get a better night’s sleep.

Sage

Sage is another great night sweat treatment. Sage has strong anti-hydrotic(anti-perspirational) effects and is recommended for the relief of hot flashes and night sweats.

We have found a reference to an unpublished study about Sage that showed significant reduction in sweating in people.

Sage is one of the oldest documented medicinal and culinary herbs. For example, it was used traditionally for the reduction of nighttime sweating in tuberculosis patients.

Sage grows well in most parts of the United States as a perennial and is readily available as tea, extract or supplement.

If you grow your own sage or purchase dried sage, you can easily make your own treatment for night sweats and hot flashes.

Motherwort

Motherwort is also a great natural remedy for your symptoms. It is available as a tea but it is very bitter and tastes terrible.

An easier way is to use Motherwort Tincture. Use 5-25 drops for several months daily to get its full benefits. You can even use it when you are already in the middle of a “powersurge” attack.

Motherwort is also effective for some of the other menopause symptoms such as anxiety and irritability because of its great calming and relaxing effect. So even if you are using Motherwort regularly, use it before going to sleep.

Progesterone

If these herbal night sweat treatments are not enough to help with your symptoms, you may want to give Progesterone a try. A low progesterone level is one of the causes of menopause insomnia.

Progesterone is the “feel good” hormone (Yes, we know this is not a very scientific explanation) and reduces anxiety and increases sleepiness. So it is a good idea to take it at night to take advantage of this fact.

There are several options available to boost your progesterone level, with the most common being pills or creams. You may want to avoid Progestins, which have a similar chemical structures to progesterone but have several reported side effects. Natural progesterone is now easily available, either through pills like Prometrium® or through compounding pharmacies.

 

Treatment for Night Sweats -Other Options

Yoga: According to a recent study undertaken in India, relief may be on the way for women suffering from menopausal symptoms. Yoga has been shown to possibly have a significant impact on the reduction of night sweats and hot flashes.

Bed-Socks: Some women reported that wearing socks to bed helps to prevent the sweating. Allegedly warm feet send a signal to your hypothalamus that the body temperature is in the normal range and so the onset of night sweats is avoided. (Give it a try, even if it didn’t work for me. I just woke up with hot feet AND night sweats.)

You can always combine any of these methods with menopause sleepwear, a bed fan and cooling sheets.

The combination of these methods will ensure a good nights’ sleep again.