What Causes Night Sweats & Can They Be Stopped?

Night sweats are episodes of excessive sweating during sleep that go beyond simply feeling warm. The most common causes include overheating, alcohol, stress, medication side effects, and hormonal changes, including menopause. Most cases can be managed by cooling your sleep environment, adjusting your bedding, and making a few evening routine changes.

If you’ve been waking up with damp sheets and no obvious explanation, you’re not imagining it. Being too hot is one of the most common reasons people have disrupted sleep – according to our 2026 Sleep Survey, nearly 1 in 4 people (24%) say overheating regularly disturbs their night. Among women, that rises to more than 1 in 4.

That said, not all night sweats come down to a warm bedroom. Sometimes there’s more going on underneath. This article covers the full picture: what night sweats are, what’s most likely causing yours, and what to do about them.

Night sweats can have a range of causes, from the straightforward (your room is too warm) to the medical (a condition or medication affecting your body’s temperature regulation). Here are the most common:

The most common culprit. The ideal sleep temperature sits between 16°C and 18°C – cooler than most people keep their bedrooms. If your room is warmer than that, or your mattress traps heat underneath you, your body temperature creeps up through the night, and sweating follows. A breathable mattress, lighter duvet, and some airflow go a long way.

Alcohol can make night sweats more likely and can disrupt sleep, so some people notice they wake hotter or sweatier after drinking. A couple of drinks in the evening might feel relaxing, but your body is doing a fair amount of work while you sleep it off. If you regularly wake up sweating after a drink, that’s the connection.

When your body is in a state of stress, it activates the same physiological response as physical danger – elevated heart rate, increased body temperature, and sweating. If you go to bed anxious or stressed, that response can carry into your sleep. Managing stress before bed is genuinely useful and worth taking seriously. Our articles on reducing anxiety for better sleep and relaxation techniques are a good starting point. If anxiety is persistent, speaking to your GP is the right move.

Some medications make it trickier for your body to control just how warm it is. These include, but are not limited to:

• Some antidepressants
• Steroids
• Some painkillers
• Some hormone-related treatments

If you’ve started a new medication and noticed night sweats shortly after, it’s worth mentioning to your GP. There may be an alternative that suits you better.

Hot flushes and night sweats are among the most common symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. When oestrogen levels drop, the hypothalamus (the part of the brain that regulates body temperature) becomes far more sensitive to small changes in heat. The result is sudden, intense waves of warmth that can drench you in sweat and pull you from deep sleep. The NHS estimates that around 75% of women going through menopause experience hot flushes, with night sweats being their nocturnal equivalent. And just to be clear, this is a genuine physiological response to hormonal change, not something to push through or minimise.

In some cases, night sweats can be a symptom of an underlying condition. This is less common than the causes above, but worth knowing about. Conditions that can cause night sweats include:

• Thyroid problems, especially an overactive thyroid
• Obstructive sleep apnoea
• Autoimmune conditions
• Serious infections, such as tuberculosis or endocarditis
• Some cancers, including lymphoma
• Obesity

If your night sweats are persistent, unexplained, and accompanied by other symptoms such as weight loss, fever, or fatigue, see your GP. See the ‘when to see your GP’ section below for guidance on red flags.

Night sweats can affect anyone – but the reasons behind them aren’t always the same. Your age, your hormones, and your biology all play a part:

Night sweats in women
Women are more likely than men to experience night sweats as a result of hormonal changes during perimenopause, menopause, pregnancy, and at certain points in the menstrual cycle. Our 2026 Sleep Survey found that more than 1 in 4 women (27.3%) who experience disrupted sleep say being too hot is a regular cause, compared to around 1 in 5 men.

Night sweats in men
Men can experience night sweats for all the same environmental reasons as anyone else – a warm room, too many layers, a couple of drinks before bed. But if it’s a recurring thing with no obvious cause, it’s worth knowing that sleep apnoea, anxiety, and hormonal changes, including lower testosterone levels (which naturally decline with age), can all play a role.

Night sweats in children
Kids sweat in their sleep too – usually for exactly the same reasons as adults. The room’s too warm, too many blankets, too many layers of pyjamas. Night terrors are another common culprit in younger children. They’re more intense than a bad dream and can cause sweating, rapid breathing, and sudden sitting bolt upright. Unsettling to witness, but they are usually harmless. A cooler room, lighter bedding, and a calm and consistent bedtime routine all help.

Most cases of night sweats respond well to changes in your sleep environment, bedding, and evening habits. Work through these in order; the first few are the easiest wins:

1. Cool your bedroom down before you go to sleep
   Aim for your room temperature to be between 15.6–18.3°C. Open a window an hour before bed, use a fan to circulate the air, or invest in a smart thermostat to keep the temperature consistent overnight. Even a degree or two makes a meaningful difference.
2. Switch to a mattress that doesn’t trap heat
   Dense traditional memory foam retains body heat beneath you, worsening sweating throughout the night. Cooling mattresses use breathable open-cell foams and moisture-wicking covers to prevent heat build-up. Gel mattresses actively draw warmth away from your body rather than letting it accumulate.
3. Replace your duvet with a lighter, breathable alternative
   Swap a 10.5 or 13.5 tog for a 4.5 to 7. Cotton and bamboo absorb moisture significantly better than synthetic fills, which tend to trap heat and stay damp. If you share a bed with someone who runs colder, two single duvets rather than one shared one lets you each manage your own temperature.
4. Wear loose, natural or moisture-wicking sleepwear
   Tight or synthetic fabrics trap heat against your skin. Loose-fitting cotton or bamboo pyjamas breathe far better. Moisture-wicking fabrics, originally developed for sport, are now widely available in sleepwear and handle sweat more effectively than anything synthetic.
5. Keep cold water and a damp cloth by your bed
   A glass of cold water on the bedside table costs nothing and genuinely helps when a flush hits at 2 am. A damp flannel stored in a small bowl with a couple of ice cubes is a reliable old trick that works for the same reason – cooling the wrists and face lowers your overall temperature quickly.
6. Turn your pillow regularly throughout the night
   Flip your pillow to the cool side when you wake – it’s a small thing that genuinely helps. Or consider a cooling pillow designed to stay at a lower temperature throughout the night. Keeping your head cool has a noticeable effect on how hot the rest of you feels.
7. Cut common evening triggers in the hours before bed.
   Alcohol, spicy food, and caffeine after midday can all raise your body temperature and increase the likelihood of night sweats. Eating a heavy meal too close to bedtime has a similar effect. None of this means avoiding them completely; it just means being more deliberate about timing.
8. Take a lukewarm shower before bed
   Not cold, lukewarm. The goal is to gently lower your core temperature ahead of sleep. A cold shower can backfire, triggering your body to generate heat in response. Aim for warm enough to be comfortable, cool enough to leave you feeling settled.
9. Build a proper wind-down into your evening
   Arriving at bedtime already stressed or anxious can worsen temperature regulation. Even ten minutes of calm activity – reading, slow breathing, or gentle stretching – helps bring your nervous system down before sleep. Our guide to creating a good bedtime routine covers this in more detail.
10. Try sleeping separately if sharing a bed is making things worse
    As much as you might love your bed partner, another warm body doesn’t help with the temperature situation. If night sweats are a persistent problem, it’s worth testing a night or two sleeping solo to see if it makes a difference. Separate duvets are a good compromise if sleeping apart doesn’t appeal – each person manages their own temperature without affecting the other.

Night sweats are usually nothing to worry about – but if they’re happening regularly, waking you up, or coming with other symptoms like unexplained weight loss, a fever, swollen glands, a persistent cough, or ongoing fatigue, it’s worth a GP visit. The same goes if you think perimenopause or menopause might be behind it. Treatment options have come a long way, and a conversation with your GP is always a good place to start.