Are night sweats a symptom of crohns?

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Barbie

Barbie

Joined
Jun 14, 2010
Messages
108
Hi,

Anyone get night sweats when they have a flare? Even though they don't have a consistent fever?

xx
 
When I am in a flare (or sometimes even just not feeling well) - I will run a low-grade fever (99 degrees) and have night sweats.....

So yes - the night sweats are a symptom something is going on......
 
hi Barbie :)

yes - i used to get awful night sweats, without actually feeling hot (different from the horrid hormonal ones i get now lol).

as a teenager, i would wake up cold, clammy, and there'd be a me-shaped damp patch on my bed sheet :( it's more like a cold sweat than anything.. and not nice at all. it was definitely linked to my having active Crohn's Disease.. as after i'd had my surgery, these sweats stopped immediately.
 
Yes.. I get night sweats when I have a really bad flare.. To the point where I'll wake up soaked, my whole back and the back of my neck is always the worst
 
I asked the same thing of my consultant yesterday, and he said it was a generalised sign of being under par, when you have a flare.

I am waking 3 or more times a night, drenched, with the sheets soaking.It's horrible.
I too thought I was going through the menopause!

Just another undignified aspect of Crohn's, it seems.:frown:
 
I get night sweats as well, usually when I'm in a flare, but I've also had a few when I felt otherwise mostly okay. As Dingbat said above, mine are also cold sweats - I wake up soaked and freezing cold and shivering. It's sometimes so bad that I have to get up and change clothes & bed sheets because my pajamas will be soaked through and the sheets will be damp too. It's kind of gross. I had never had night sweats before I got ill with gut problems so I assume they must be related.
 
Mine are definitely worse when in a flare, but I do get them when I am not in a flare as well. I think I have found that if I eat before I sleep, I sweat in my sleep. I think this because it can happen in the middle of the day as well...like if I have a nap right after lunch, I will wake up all sweaty....

But during a flare, I will get them whether I eat or not... lol...and like Maple said, they can occur with different meds too, especially prednisone.
 
ooo lovely to see you Mary!

I don't have any night sweats, but I did when I was really ill back in Jan, but I did have an infection.
Before my hysterectomy, I was swimming in sweat tho! day and night, tropical moments!
I still advocate to all lady Crohnies to see their gynae and cross ref with your gastro, there's usually a correlation. hormone wise
xxx
 
I would sweat terribly on my legs mainly. And only at night. Would wake up with legs drenched. My doctor said sometimes anemics can get restless leg syndrome. Now that my iron levels have come up, i don't have the RLS anymore/no night sweats.
 
Astra that's interesting you say about that as I went through a stage where my periods seemed to be making the crohns worse and as soon as I started taking the depro provera injection I have been so much better than before up until now. Can you elaborate?? x
 
Hi Barbie

I've posted quite a lot on this, but basically, in a nutshell, I was so poorly for 3 weeks in every month, that I just wanted to die!
nearly 10 years ago, I went down the gynae route, they found a fibroadenoma on an ovary, so I had everything removed, cervix, uterus, both ovaries. the relief was instant!
gynae said everything was 'glued' together, bowels to bladder, bowels to ovary, etc,full of endometriosis, but bearing in mind that the gynae wasn't looking for bowel stuff! anyway, after recovery I still had pain but not period stuff, that was gone! so I went down the gastro route, they found the Crohns in 2005. It was then that I was told that hysterectomy was unnessary, but I'm glad I did it, no regrets. If I'd known then what I know now, I would have both these specialists (in the same hospital!) talk to each other!
I now know that periods exacerbate Crohns, in that hormone levels rise, and with the contractions during ovulation, triggers the activity in the bowel. A lot of lady Crohnies have mentioned they feel worse during a period, this is why I believe we should inform gastros of period problems, and tell gynae that they have Crohns, and to be checked for endos, cos they form outside our lady bits and glue themselves to the bowels, exacerbating the Crohns during a period!
it worked for me! I'm only a quarter in pain than I used to be, life is so much easier without the lady bits! and I'm on HRT too, wonderful stuff!
xxx
 
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Thanks, Joan, for the wonderful insight. I have often wondered about the connection because my period always brings about aggravated bowel issues. This, coupled with my recurring rectovaginal fistula problem, led me to ask my GI for a referral to a GYN with some Crohn's knowledge, but he was unable to help. I like my current GYN from a personal standpoint, but she has no knowledge of Crohn's and actually seems to be a little intimidated by the whole situation. I agree that there is a strong connection, especially when it comes to overlapping symptoms. I would really like to switch GYNs, but I don't want to go through the trouble and end up with the same situation...I need to know what I'm getting in advance. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to find a good GYN with Crohn's knowledge?
 
I was going to ask the same thing, re; periods and Crohns.
My syptoms are always at their worst in the few days leading upto my period - I was wondering whether it was *just* hormones, or whether hormones and Crohns are inextricably linked?
 
Hi Shady, Barbie & Tracey

I don't really think that the gynae needs to know about Crohns stuff as such, but just to be aware of your Crohns, and that maybe thro a routine ultra sound with gynae, ask if there are any endos, if there are, then gastro need to know this, as like I mentioned, endos 'glue' themselves to bowels. I don't think endos can be spotted during a scope tho, but defo during an ultra sound cos they're on the outside, yeah?
This is why gastos aren't looking for endos, and gynae aren't looking for bowel stuff, yeah? For example, when surgeon opened me up, he wouldn't see the Crohns, and if a gastro surgeon opened you up, he wouldn't see any gynae issues, two separate entities. two different specialists, two different ops, but, I believe that each should know about the other, and the separate problems to help with diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
hope this makes sense? cos I can talk a glass eye to sleep at the mo!
xxx
 
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Thats fascinating as i was referred to the gyne and prescribed the depo injection from her she only did like a minor internal exam thing but did mention endometerosis but nothing was ever confirmed or looked into further because the injection seemed to turn EVERYTHING around it has been amazing. I even have to have the injection every 10 weeks rather than 12 as after 10 weeks I start to flare if its late. Ive often wondered if there is something else gyne going on somewhere. I'm now very tempted while Im off anyway to get an ultrasound like you say on these parts to rule it out as I thought the only option was a keyhole thing? Thanks so much for the advice there.

loadsa luv xx
 
Hi Barbie

You're welcome hun

I had a laparoscopy too tho, and this defo confirmed the endos, I also had a cystoscopy, cos endos were stuck to my bladder.
Actually, thinking about it, I was completely F***** up down there!! quite a car crash!
My gynae surgeon gave me a good clean up!
xxxx
 
YEP. Although Im not sure why they call them night sweats when I sometimes wake up in the morning with them. Me too - worse on my chest, head and back of neck. Always great to know I am not the only one out there. I dont shiver with them unless I get out of bed b/c Im wet. My pillow is usually soaked.
 
I used to wake up with a puddle of sweat in the nape of my neck. That was the grossest thing ever! Haven't had any since my surgery though.
 
Nyx said:
I used to wake up with a puddle of sweat in the nape of my neck. That was the grossest thing ever! Haven't had any since my surgery though.
Click to expand...

I'll often wash my hair at night and wake up in the morning and have to wash it All Over Again because of this problem.

Till the Crohn's dx, I'd been blaming my pillow, since memory foam retains heat.
 
Okay can someone define night sweats to me as i think i get them but just not as bad as some of you,
I have times where i come over so hot and sweaty and feel like i have a temprature for around 10 minutes and then it goes away again, some mornings i wake up and i feel hot and sticky around my back, is this a night sweat, im really not sure lol
 
I have night sweats all the time. They coincide definately with a flare for me, it's like almost a forewarnig that a flare is coming and then when it's gone so are the sweats. But I hate them!!! It's just gross waking up drenched in sweat and I'm tired of washing bedding all the time...ugh
 
Porter

Night sweats are caused by a fever spiking repeatedly during the night. You sweat when this happens. For me my pillow is soaked and my bed clothes are usually soaked especially my chest, back of neck and hair as already mentioned. If you had them, you would know. I use to think it was the temperature in my room but instead of kicking off the covers, they are pulled up to my ears when I wake up. Before all this, I was an avid runner and I would have to run for quite awhile to get to that amount of sweat.
 
Thanks guys I cant belieeeeeeeeeeve after all this time I just didn't realise they were a sign of the crohns! Explains a lot and makes a lot of sense! :0) xx
 
Hi I'm still a bit confusd. I do get tempratures at night sometimes I can sit there and just. Come over all hot and sweaty and then it goes after 10-15 minutes and some nights I wake up and my back and my legs are sweaty, is this defined as a night sweat?
 
I was getting night sweats before this flare and didn't make the association. I would wake up with my pajamas, pillow and sheets soaking. Last year I splurged on an expensive water pillow and now the pillow top is yellow where I sweated so bad. It's totally disgusting. I now have a nice comfy new cheap pillow. :thumright:

@ Joan - I know what you're saying with the Gyn issues. I was diagnosed with Crohn's 3 weeks after a partial hysterectomy. I use to always put the extreme pain off as PMS, but looking back I think the Crohn's just aggravatged everything. My recent flare was so bad I told my husband I'd rather have a baby. Labor pains aren't half as bad as the Crohn's pain. And I am so glad I don't have to worry about the monthly cramps anymore. Thanks for all of your input. It helps alot.
 
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I have started getting bad night sweats again- I had them before I went on the pred, but they went away for a while. But does anyone else find their night sweat smells different to normal? I find there is a chemically 'tang' that reminds me of marker pens, whereas in the day my sweat just smellsof sweat.
 
Rebecca! OMG yes!!! I had never thought of that before but my sweat does smell different too...I wish my night sweat swell was like a marker pen though....I find mine smells more like a .......fusty old caravan smell lmao sorry for the detail there! x Ive started taking paracetamol before bed at the moment to see if it makes any difference x
 
Porter that sounds like a night sweat.

As for the other topic Crohns being aggravated during periods - the uterus and small bowel are both made of smooth muscle tissue. In labor and delivery when we wanted to get things stirred up, we would give the mom to be an enema, which served two purposes. Obviously to clean things out and to stimulate uterine contractions. The two organs are so close together I think the stimulation of one causes stimulation of the other (they are both regulated by the autonomic nervous system - meaning you can't control it). So it would make perfect sense (to me) to have problems during this time. Joan, I have been through the exact same thing as you and yes I definitely did have endo and was a train wreck. It would be interesting if they did more studies and they come up with a subspeciality similar to reproductive endocrinology - but more along the lines of reproductive gastrointestinal specialists?
 
I'm with pasobuff in that I too get cold sweats rather than hot ones!

I also get awful hot/ cold sweats when I have been on huge amounts of pain relief for a period of time - with drawal symtoms I guess.
 
Ugh yeah night sweats for me too, even when it's not warm! I'll wake up in the middle of the night totally drenched and have to change clothes. Yuck!
 
Yes! Tammy!
I couldn't agree more!
This is why I believe both specialists should talk to each other, and why lady Crohnies need to tell their gynaes
xx
 
belle1999 said:
I would sweat terribly on my legs mainly. And only at night. Would wake up with legs drenched. My doctor said sometimes anemics can get restless leg syndrome. Now that my iron levels have come up, i don't have the RLS anymore/no night sweats.
Click to expand...

My RLS also went away when I got my anemia under control but my night sweats are CRAZY! Mosly my head and back of neck and my butt/upper legs - which leads to ass zits that are so unsightly and crazy huge. The other night Levi had to pop one for me because it was so painful, and I almost fainted! Sorry to be gross, but they are out of control. Gold Bond Medicated Powder helps but I am still going to have to wear a bathing suit with a skirt this summer to cover them up!!!

Crohn's is so much fun!!!
 
Hi Barbie and all - as far as my sweats go, and yes I have them at night and during the day, especially when on pred., but I have found that SOMA actually helps relieve the sweats while also helping me sleep and/or keeping me calm somewhat.

Discuss with your dr, see what they say and if they seem open to this give it a try.

Hope this helps.

Colette the crohny for 24 years and counting.......
 

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