The accompanying symptoms | The nightly hot flashes

The accompanying symptoms

Other accompanying symptoms of night-time hot flashes can be very diverse depending on the cause. In addition to the sensation of heat, those affected often feel a fast heartbeat, which is due to the increased turnover of the body during this time. If the blood vessels are dilated, their surface area is increased and more heat can be released to the outside world via the circulating blood volume.

At the same time, however, this also means that the increased volume in the peripheral vessels is missing in the central ones. As a result, the heart beats faster to compensate for this loss. Sweating is a further reaction to the increased body temperature, as the body tries to cool down due to the evaporative cold. If an infection is the cause of the nightly hot flush, symptoms such as fever or sore throat as well as local inflammatory symptoms such as “redness, swelling, overheating” can occur. In the case of a tumor disease, the classic combination of the symptoms “fever, night sweats and weight loss” (so-called B-symptoms) is often found.

Tachycardia as a symptom

Hot flushes at night can occur together with palpitations. However, they are often not classic hot flushes, as they are more a physical reaction to the circulatory dysregulation in the context of tachycardia. For one to be able to speak of tachycardia, a heart rate of over 100 beats per minute must be present at rest.

If an affected person experiences palpitations during the night out of the blue and wakes up sweating, this is by definition a temporary cardiac dysrhythmia with symptoms of circulatory dysregulation such as sweating and a brief sensation of heat. Sleep disorders are a very complex clinical picture, which may well be accompanied by hot flashes at night. They are most frequently found in connection with sleep disorders.

Very often, nightmares in particular are found as triggers for nightly hot flushes, as the strong tension during the dream leads to an increase in bodily functions. Metaphorically speaking, the person affected does “competitive sports” during this dream phase and the body warms up. By a blanket and sleeping clothes the warmth cannot be given off adequately and the person concerned begins to sweat until he finally wakes up during his dream experience.

Hot flushes are always accompanied by a sweating outbreak, as they are the reaction of the own body to the increased temperature. With the help of sweat the body tries to cool down. A characteristic feature of hot flashes is excessive sweating, which often leads to soaking of clothes and the formation of beads of sweat. Those affected find this very unpleasant because it is visible from the outside and they cannot influence the occurrence of hot flushes.