Medical term for this: profusely sweating when startled awake from deep sleep ...

[mathnerd]

I have insomnia and am generally a light sleeper. I set an alarm for waking up in the morning (in fact, several alarms). I need to be up by 7:00 AM no matter what. I fall asleep hours after I go to bed. When my alarms go off, I seem to be in deep sleep and I wake up startled, disoriented and then I start sweating profusely for 5 minutes or so. I am trying to write this down in an email to my health care provider and am looking for the exact terminology for this in order to be descriptive (and to also google this issue so that I am better informed to have a discussion later on with my physician). Any help is appreciated.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Nightsweats? 

Actually, it sounds more like you need your bloodsugars checked.  Sounds like possible hypoglycemia. 

[mathnerd]

@Jean in Newcastle Thank you! I knew that someone here might have the correct term for me!

It could very well be hypoglycemia because I have switched to a mostly keto diet in the past 2 months and that could be affecting me as well. I will let my doctor now about this when I have my telehealth appointment soon.

[Kassia]

I wake up during the night absolutely drenched in puddles of sweat and have to change clothes several times a night sometimes.  It's awful.  I get so chilled until I change because I'm so wet.  I wake up every hour all night long and up by 5am no matter what time I go to bed.  

[WildflowerMom]

6 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

@Jean in Newcastle Thank you! I knew that someone here might have the correct term for me!

It could very well be hypoglycemia because I have switched to a mostly keto diet in the past 2 months and that could be affecting me as well. I will let my doctor now about this when I have my telehealth appointment soon.

Honestly, you should probably get a glucose monitor and check it.  They're pretty cheap at Walmart, Walgreens, etc.   My son has had 2 violent hypoglycemic seizures.  Low blood sugar when asleep is dangerous.   (Well, it is any time, but I've seen it up close and personal at night and it's can be dangerous).  He is type one, so not keto or anything, but I'd still check with a monitor.  

[Laurie]

I'm also a light sleeper, and I find an alarm clock very jarring.  I prefer to wake up to music, but because my daughter messes with my alarm clock on a regular basis I'm using a travel alarm clock right now and I hate it!   

My first thought is that your alarm clock is triggering your fight or flight response, and this is causing the sweating on awaking.    I just searched for info on this, and the term they used is hyperhidrosis:   https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/skin-hair-and-nails/hyperhidrosis/hyperhidrosis-causes.html 

[mathnerd]

7 minutes ago, WildflowerMom said:

Honestly, you should probably get a glucose monitor and check it.  They're pretty cheap at Walmart, Walgreens, etc.   My son has had 2 violent hypoglycemic seizures.  Low blood sugar when asleep is dangerous.   (Well, it is any time, but I've seen it up close and personal at night and it's can be dangerous).  He is type one, so not keto or anything, but I'd still check with a monitor.  

Thank you for your suggestion. I just ordered a glucose monitor on amazon. 

[mathnerd]

7 minutes ago, Laurie said:

I'm also a light sleeper, and I find an alarm clock very jarring.  I prefer to wake up to music, but because my daughter messes with my alarm clock on a regular basis I'm using a travel alarm clock right now and I hate it!   

My first thought is that your alarm clock is triggering your fight or flight response, and this is causing the sweating on awaking.    I just searched for info on this, and the term they used is hyperhidrosis:   https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/skin-hair-and-nails/hyperhidrosis/hyperhidrosis-causes.html 

This could be one of the reasons. I have multiple alarms because I have a hard time getting up in the morning and it is one of the worst times of the day for me. Thank you for finding the term!

[WildflowerMom]

3 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

Thank you for your suggestion. I just ordered a glucose monitor on amazon. 

Woohoo!!  I really think every household needs one!    And I hope the night sweats turn out to be nothing major!

[mathnerd]

51 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I wake up during the night absolutely drenched in puddles of sweat and have to change clothes several times a night sometimes.  It's awful.  I get so chilled until I change because I'm so wet.  I wake up every hour all night long and up by 5am no matter what time I go to bed.  

I am sorry that you are going through this as well.

I too get chilled after I sweat and have to change clothes. A month ago, I was experiencing it all night long but now, I have it in the mornings (or I stopped noticing it that often).

My googling has informed that one of the reasons could be menopause (if you are in that age bracket). And then, the other reasons on this thread including hypoglycemia, stress etc.

My niece who is a medical professional told me that it could also be due to electrolyte imbalance and asked me to try drinking either a commercial electrolyte powder dissolved in water or to make my own "snake juice" recipe and drink it before bed and observe if this gets better. Could be something you could try to see if it helps you. 

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, WildflowerMom said:

Honestly, you should probably get a glucose monitor and check it.  They're pretty cheap at Walmart, Walgreens, etc.   My son has had 2 violent hypoglycemic seizures.  Low blood sugar when asleep is dangerous.   (Well, it is any time, but I've seen it up close and personal at night and it's can be dangerous).  He is type one, so not keto or anything, but I'd still check with a monitor.  

Can you share what other symptoms are other than the night sweats?  

 

 

1 hour ago, mathnerd said:

Thank you for your suggestion. I just ordered a glucose monitor on amazon. 

Which one did you order?  I need to do this too. 

 

15 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

\

My googling has informed that one of the reasons could be menopause (if you are in that age bracket). And then, the other reasons on this thread including hypoglycemia, stress etc.

My niece who is a medical professional told me that it could also be due to electrolyte imbalance and asked me to try drinking either a commercial electrolyte powder dissolved in water or to make my own "snake juice" recipe and drink it before bed and observe if this gets better. Could be something you could try to see if it helps you. 

My sodium levels are always very low - sometimes borderline dangerously low but my other electrolytes have tested okay.  I don't know if that could be an issue with the sweating.

I'm 54 and thought I was in menopause but recently found out that my hypothalamus isn't working.  LH/FSH levels are near zero when they should be high.  Hypothalamus controls everything - sleep, sodium, appetite, mood, hormones...I don't know about blood sugar?  I assume so.  I need to get that addressed.  

 

 

[WildflowerMom]

22 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Can you share what other symptoms are other than the night sweats? 

 

 

The symptoms of hypoglycemia at night?   
For ds, when he is asleep and gets low, he will usually grunt and make similar sounds.   I'll knock on the door, he'll wake up and check his sugar.   Most times it wakes him up on its own though, thankfully.    Because of those 2 seizures, he's always let his sugar be a touch higher when he goes to bed.   That's not a good thing, but it really scared everybody. 

[mathnerd]

1 hour ago, Kassia said:

Which one did you order?  I need to do this too. 

 

My sodium levels are always very low - sometimes borderline dangerously low but my other electrolytes have tested okay.  I don't know if that could be an issue with the sweating.

I'm 54 and thought I was in menopause but recently found out that my hypothalamus isn't working.  LH/FSH levels are near zero when they should be high.  Hypothalamus controls everything - sleep, sodium, appetite, mood, hormones...I don't know about blood sugar?  I assume so.  I need to get that addressed.  

 

 

I didn't do much research, I just ordered this one because it was the bestseller on amazon (there are many other options on there):

https://www.amazon.com/Care-Touch-Diabetes-Testing-Kit/dp/B076VSN7TR

There seem to be better deals on the websites of CVS and Walgreens.

If you have low sodium levels, the symptoms could be related to that. You could try to put a tiny pinch of salt on you tongue to see if that stops the symptoms to test out this theory.

[Acadie]

Have you ever tried one of those alarm clocks that makes the room progressively brighter? 

[importswim]

2 hours ago, mathnerd said:

This could be one of the reasons. I have multiple alarms because I have a hard time getting up in the morning and it is one of the worst times of the day for me. Thank you for finding the term!

One thing that has really worked for me is a website called sleepytime (you can google it, I won't post the link). It tells you what time you should wake up to be rested if you're going to sleep at a certain time. Alternatively, it tells you what time you should go to sleep to wake up well rested in a good sleep cycle. Each option gives multiple times in different increments so you can get as much or as little sleep as you want but the goal is to set your alarm to wake up in a certain point of your sleep cycle that will make you feel well rested (as opposed to waking up to alarms during REM sleep). 

I thought it was hokey, but it really seems to work well for me!

As far as the sweating goes, DS has severe hyperhidrosis but has since birth. If it's a new thing for you then I'd get your sugars checked or see if it may be a menopause symptom.

Good luck!

[mathnerd]

10 minutes ago, Acadie said:

Have you ever tried one of those alarm clocks that makes the room progressively brighter? 

Never heard of this. I am off to google this now ...

[MooCow]

6 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

Never heard of this. I am off to google this now ...

Me too....I'm also in menopause. Well I assume I am. 

[TravelingChris]

I always thought that one of the reasons people can sweats at night is leukemia.

[Pawz4me]

10 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

I always thought that one of the reasons people can sweats at night is leukemia.

It is. Several types or cancer can have night sweats as a symptom. But what @mathnerdis having doesn't sound like night sweats to me. To my way of thinking that's waking up during the night because you're drenched in sweat. It's not having the alarm going off and then starting to sweat in response to that. If it's only happening when the alarm goes off it seems logical to me that it's much more likely to be a stress/anxiety response than cancer, blood sugar issues, etc.

[TravelingChris]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

It is. Several types or cancer can have night sweats as a symptom. But what @mathnerdis having doesn't sound like night sweats to me. To my way of thinking that's waking up during the night because you're drenched in sweat. It's not having the alarm going off and then starting to sweat in response to that. If it's only happening when the alarm goes off it seems logical to me that it's much more likely to be a stress/anxiety response than cancer, blood sugar issues, etc.

Yes, probably right.

[EKS]

Hot flash?  I know that people always say that hot flashes wake them up, but my experience is that they occur just after I wake up, as if awakening brings them on.

[mathnerd]

8 hours ago, EKS said:

Hot flash?  I know that people always say that hot flashes wake them up, but my experience is that they occur just after I wake up, as if awakening brings them on.

I am at an age where Hot Flashes are a strong probability!

Another interesting fact that I learned is that the byproduct of fat metabolism is water and it leaves the body as sweat or urine and that people who are on weightloss diets or who are burning a lot of fat sweat.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/where-does-body-fat-go-when-you-lose-weight/

The byproducts of fat metabolism leave your body: 

• As water, through your skin (when you sweat) and your kidneys (when you urinate).

 

[Kassia]

51 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

 

Another interesting fact that I learned is that the byproduct of fat metabolism is water and it leaves the body as sweat or urine and that people who are on weightloss diets or who are burning a lot of fat sweat.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/where-does-body-fat-go-when-you-lose-weight/

The byproducts of fat metabolism leave your body: 

• As water, through your skin (when you sweat) and your kidneys (when you urinate).

 

If this were the case for me, I'd have no bodyfat!  🙂  🙂  🙂  

This explanation is definitely wishful thinking for me, but one can hope...