Night Sweats in Children

[dispor]

Has your child ever experienced night sweats?

My 10 (almost 11) year old son has been having them several nights a week for the past couple of months. It is bad enough to make his shirt get all wet, which then makes him cold and wakes him up. He does NOT use a heavy blanket or wear heavy pajamas. He does not remember having any nightmares.

I took him to the Pediatrician a couple months ago. She ran blood work and a urinalysis, and said that everything was fine. Since it has continued, I took him back to the pediatrician again. She again said that everything was fine. Before I left her office, I asked if a sleep study might be appropriate for him since this only happens at night. She agreed that it might be worth a try and gave me a number to call. The sleep clinic said to have the pediatrican send his records and they will determine if he should have the sleep study done.

I want to be as informed as I can be in. I've read all the scary stuff on the internet, but the pediatician has ruled all of these out.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[dis-happy]

Did they check his thyroid?

 

[dispor]

Did they check his thyroid?

Yes, I was told that was part of the bloodwork and that it came back okay.

 

[NotUrsula]

Does this come with increased body odor? If so, I'd guess the culprit is impending puberty. Watch for a growth spurt.

My DD2 sweats like a horse when she sleeps -- always has. It's her normal.

(Just to be clear, if you hadn't already had medical tests I'd suggest that you have him checked out, but since you have, I'd look for more ordinary issues before I assumed that he was suffering from some rare condition.)

 

[fimac]

My middle son had them - they disappeared after the celiac and caesin intolerance were diagnosed, but he also sleeps elevated now. I never did find out the cause.

Does your son have any other symptoms ?

 

[JessicaR]

Although you said the thyroid was tested, hyperthyroidism could still be the culprit. It isn't very common in children but it still exists and I have a friend that has a boy with Graves. I also have Graves and night sweats was my first symptom, but eventually I was always warm/hot. A simple TSH test isn't always enough. A full thyroid panel would be better.

Could it be as simple as his room is too warm? What if he sleeps elsewhere - still happen?

A few things to rule out.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/night-sweats-in-children.html

 

[dispor]

Does this come with increased body odor? If so, I'd guess the culprit is impending puberty.

No increased body odor. I am hoping it is something as simple as puberty. He has been moody lately, but I don't know if that is from hormones or interrupted sleep.

My middle son had them - they disappeared after the celiac and caesin intolerance were diagnosed, but he also sleeps elevated now. I never did find out the cause.

Does your son have any other symptoms ?

No other symptoms, except the moodiness. No fevers, dizziness, infections, etc. What does celiac and caesin intolerance mean? I assume you mean the sweats went away on their own and he wasn't treated for it...? Interesting that you mention that your son sleeps elevated now. GERD is also a cause of night sweats, but my son has no other symptoms of GERD (heartburn, etc.)

Although you said the thyroid was tested, hyperthyroidism could still be the culprit. It isn't very common in children but it still exists and I have a friend that has a boy with Graves. I also have Graves and night sweats was my first symptom, but eventually I was always warm/hot. A simple TSH test isn't always enough. A full thyroid panel would be better.

Could it be as simple as his room is too warm? What if he sleeps elsewhere - still happen?

A few things to rule out.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/night-sweats-in-children.html

His room doesn't feel warm at all to me, but I am going to turn down the heat in his room to see what happens.

I looked at the list - thank you. He seems to have been tested for all of these (I took a similar list in to the pediatrician and asked her to explain how she tested for each of them.)

The one that keeps popping up in my mind is the diabetes insipidous (sp?) because I think he urinates quite frequently, especially for a boy. But the pediatrician assured me this was tested for with the urinalysis and he does not have it.

 

[fimac]

No increased body odor. I am hoping it is something as simple as puberty. He has been moody lately, but I don't know if that is from hormones or interrupted sleep.



No other symptoms, except the moodiness. No fevers, dizziness, infections, etc. What does celiac and caesin intolerance mean? I assume you mean the sweats went away on their own and he wasn't treated for it...? Interesting that you mention that your son sleeps elevated now. GERD is also a cause of night sweats, but my son has no other symptoms of GERD (heartburn, etc.)






Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease were the body cannot digest gluten, casein intolerance means he cannot have dairy products. He had a lot of inflammation in his gut due to these conditions. I think in his case the inflammation was causing the night sweats.