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Cold sweats are not a medical condition, but rather a non-specific symptom that may indicate various ailments. Cold sweats can appear in diseases of the thyroid gland, disturbances in blood glucose levels, as well as during menopause or during the menstrual cycle. How to recognize what contributes to the appearance of cold sweats?
What are Cold Sweats?
Cold sweat is a symptom that does not clearly indicate a specific disease. Cold sweats can be a symptom of stress, strong emotions, and can also indicate a serious medical condition. When diagnosing the cause of cold sweats, the time of day or night when they occur, as well as their type, is indicated. Cold sweats can appear during the day and then most often indicate viral or infectious diseases. Cold sweats that appear at night may indicate more serious health problems and such cases should be consulted with your doctor immediately.
Fortunately, it does not have to wait long for an interview with a doctor – it is enough to use an online consultation. You can make an appointment within five minutes, and have the entire conversation conducted via video chat without leaving the comfort of your home.
Cold sweat – causes
Cold sweat, as already mentioned, is a symptom that makes a diagnosis very difficult. However, the most common causes of cold sweats can be indicated. These are:
- severe stress and emotional agitation;
- infections;
- hypoglycemia;
- myocardial infarction;
- significant and sudden blood loss;
- severe anxiety and panic attacks;
- pregnancy; in pregnancy, cold sweats alternate with hot flashes;
- menopause in women and testosterone reduction in men;
- Hypothyroidism;
- reaction to taking medications;
- hemorrhagic shock or anaphylactic shock;
- viral infection or inflammation;
- myocardial infarction;
- heart arrhythmia;
- cancers.
See also: Why do chills appear?
Cold sweats – accompanying symptoms
The list of reasons behind cold sweat is very long. Therefore, the symptom of cold sweat alone does not constitute a basis for diagnosing a specific disease entity. However, cold offspring are accompanied by other symptoms that are helpful in determining the correct cause of this ailment. Cold sweats in hypothyroidism go hand in hand with a general feeling of tiredness and weight gain. Cold sweats that accompany sudden and severe blood loss are associated with a drop in blood pressure. If cold sweats occur in middle-aged women, it is usually associated with the cessation of menstruation. Stress or strong emotions that trigger cold sweats are associated with dizziness, nausea or diarrhea. Cold sweats can also appear after excessive alcohol consumption, then the accompanying symptoms will be identical to those of a hangover.
People suspecting heart problems should take care of their health and perform a diagnostic test package, which can be found in the offer of the Polmed medical center. These tests are an important element in the prevention of heart disease.
Do your symptoms require medical consultation? Check it out for yourself in a short medical interview.
Cold sweats at night
Particular attention is paid to cold sweats that appear at night. If cold sweats wake the patient up from sleep and are of high intensity, there is a possibility that it is a symptom of developing cancer. Patients diagnosed with cancer have repeatedly stated that they wake up in the middle of the night with sweat, and this symptom was not accompanied by fever, inflammation or infection. Nighttime cold sweats combined with sudden and unintentional loss of body may indicate cancer. Therefore, such symptoms should be consulted with a general practitioner as soon as possible, who will refer the patient to a specialist.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to emotions. Often times, a particular sight, sound or smell brings to mind a similar situation that we have already experienced. What opportunities does this give us? How does our body react to such an emotion? You will hear about this and many other aspects related to emotions below.
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- Night sweats – why you shouldn’t take them lightly?