This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart! I have had problems regulating my body temp for years! I have learned to always bring two jackets or coats with me, one light and one heavier, when it is cold I will wear the heavier one, untill I get in the car then I will change and put on the lighter one, and when I get to where I am going a store if it is just a short walk I will leave the lighter one on, other wise when I get in the store or where ever the heavier one is just to much! Unless it is extremely cold out, I try and keep the lighter coat or jacket on and just put the heavier winter coat in the car to have with me! Also I keep my house (now I am divorced and alone) at 66 degrees all year round, I just can not take the heat, and if it gets above 72 I sweat like crazy.
Along this same line, I use to have bed drenching night sweats, I mean where you could see the out line of my body on the sheets from my head to my toes, sometimes I would have to get up and change the sheets two and three times a night, and take a shower, this went on for years, I think I had every blood test imaginable, one doc swore I had some kind of lymphoma or something because he said the night sweats were typical of that. Anyway no one asked me about my sleep habits or anything. Well many many years later, I was tested for sleep apnea, and I had it bad! But I just didn't have the regular obstructive sleep apnea where your throat collapses on to its self, I also had Central Apneas where your brain stops telling you to breath, Central apneas are common, among people with conjestive heart failure, and upper brain stem damage, and nervous system desease, and also people that use certain pain meds that are opiate based. So I had a combination, of both, known as Complex Sleep Apnea which can normally not be treated with normal CPAP or the normal BiPAP machines but instead you usually have to have a special machine that is made specifically to treat Central and Complex sleep apnea, this is a Adaptive or Auto Servo Ventilator machine known as the ASV and they are actually a type of ventilator, but are a Godsend for those that need them.
Anyway after a year and a half and over 5 in lab sleep studies, ( I had a sleep doctor that did not beleive in the ASV machine as he thought it was to new of technocology in 2008 and even though the sleep center was recommending it, he refused to order it, and I didn't even know about this) I finally found out after I had to get a new sleep doctor! He was a Pulpmologist and he immediated ordered a ASV titration sleep study and I then got the right prescription and I was put on the ASV machine immediately!. Well within two weeks of being put on the machine the drenching night sweats completely disappeared! I mean Puff! they were gone! and also I was not getting up every two hours or so to go to the bathroom, I was actually being able to go all night long without having to get up to pee! I also was not waking up choking and gagging, I didn't do that very often but I wasn't doing it at all after I got put on this machine! And I wasn't tired and wanting to take a nap all the time during the day either! You don't have to be overweight, middle aged male to have sleep apnea, you don't even have to snore! You can be a skinny small female and have it, and anything in between. Over the many many years, I was complaining about my night sweats nobody connected them to sleep apnea, nor my frequent need to urinate, heck the urologist even scoped my bladder, but never asked about my sleep habits, both of these, night sweats, frequent nocturia, are common symptoms of sleep apnea!
Now I am not saying that everyone that has sweating problems has sleep apnea, but some of you might, and some of you might not, but it might be well worth while checking out, especially since central apneas can be caused by the use of certain pain meds, and also certain neurological conditions, and upper spinal cord damage. I have have several of the conditions that could be the cause of my central apneas, but the treatment is the same the use of the ASV machine. With mine I also have 3 liters of O2 bled into the hose going to my mask. I don't use oxygen during the day but I do need it with my ASV machine at night.
Anyway I just thought this might be something that maybe some of you might want to consider and maybe have it checked out! My regular doctor was rather surprised at it being sleep apnea, but he was not all that familiar with it either, now that was over five years ago, I would hope things have changed allot since then, but I am not sure! But it definitely might be worth while checking it out especially if you have the drenching night sweats!
White Beard