Cold sweat is not a medical condition. They can be a symptom of various ailments related to the malfunctioning of our body. They can appear both at night while sleeping and during the day. It happens that they are accompanied by chills and a lack of fever. What can cold sweat mean? What to do in case of their occurrence?

Sweating is a physiological mechanism of our body that is an element that enables thermoregulation. However, in some cases, sweating is not related to heat or exercise, but occurs at rest and even during sleep. Sweats inadequate to the situation are calledcold sweatsby many patients.

Cold sweat - what is this symptom?

The appearance of cold sweats on the body is a very non-specific symptom. This symptom can accompany many diseases, starting with a heart attack and ending with endocrine disorders. What's more, cold sweats can be associated with strong emotional tension and also result from the medications we take.

Discovering the cause of cold sweats is often difficult to diagnose. However, it is worth explaining the reason for the occurrence of this annoying symptom, as some of them are extremely dangerous to he alth.

Cold sweat and hormonal disorders

Cold sweats can be endocrine-related. Clinical conditions that may include excessive sweating include:

  • hypothyroidism - a disease resulting from a deficiency of thyroxine and triiodothyronine - i.e. thyroid hormones. Other symptoms of hypothyroidism include weight gain, dry skin, brittle nails, slow heart rate, constipation, lethargy, fatigue, and sensitivity to cold;
  • menopause (menopause) - the period of menopause is mainly associated with a decrease in the concentration of estrogen. Other symptoms that accompany this stage include hot flushes, mood lability, and sleep disturbances (mostly insomnia).

Cold sweat and cardiovascular disease

Cold sweats can also be a symptom of serious cardiovascular conditions - even a heart attack.

Although we associate a heart attack primarily with crushing, severe pain in the chest, it sometimes happens that it is accompanied by profusesweating and sometimes pale skin and low-grade fever.

If you experience chest pain accompanied by profuse sweating, it is definitely a medical emergency.

Shock and Cold Sweats

Another clinical condition related to the cardiovascular system is shock, which is a situation when the circulatory system is unable to supply the right amount of oxygen to our body's cells. The shock may be caused, among others, by:

  • blood loss e.g. due to hemorrhage,
  • intestinal obstruction,
  • vasodilation,
  • heart abnormalities, e.g. caused by heart attack or arrhythmias (shock caused by heart abnormalities is called cardiogenic shock),
  • mechanical obstacle in the circulatory system, e.g. in the course of cardiac tamponade or heart tumors.

The main symptoms of a shock are:

  • tachycardia (increased heart rate),
  • lowering blood pressure (and therefore hypotension),
  • pale and cool skin,
  • sweating,
  • anxiety,
  • confusion,
  • reduction in urine output,
  • muscle weakness,
  • nausea,
  • vomiting,
  • flatulence.

Be aware that shock does not always lead to cold sweats. In septic shock (i.e. a condition resulting from systemic infection of the body) we deal with dry and warm skin. Dry skin is also typical of dehydration which can also lead to the development of shock.

Cold sweats - what is their relationship to glucose fluctuations?

Drenching sweats may accompany hypoglycaemia and thus lower blood glucose levels ( <70 mg/dl). Za klinicznie istotną hipoglikemię uważamy sytuację, gdy stężenie glukozy we krwi wynosi mniej, niż 54 mg/dl. Przyczyną hipoglikemii jest najczęściej przyjęcie zbyt dużej dawki insuliny przez pacjenta chorującego na cukrzycę.

Hypoglycemia can be conventionally divided into:

  • mild- when the patient himself is able to control it by consuming food,
  • severe- such a hypoglycaemia requires the help of another person.

In addition to cold sweats, episodes of hypoglycemia typically include:

  • headache and nausea,
  • feeling hungry,
  • trembling,
  • palpitations,
  • entanglement,
  • sleepy,
  • visual, speech and motor coordination disorders.

Hypoglycaemia is a serious clinical condition, as failure to properly manage it may even lead to the development of a coma.

Cold sweat and cancer

Drenching cold sweats can also result from cancer. The hematological cancers that are manifested by night sweats include:

  • chronic myelomonocytic leukemia - other symptoms of this disease include weight loss, weakness, fever, as well as symptoms resulting from anemia (i.e. increased heart rate and pale skin), reduced number of platelets (i.e. bleeding tendency) and neutropenia (thus prone to infections);
  • chronic lymphocytic leukemia - this is the most common form of leukemia in adults. Other symptoms of this hematological condition include weight loss, fever, abdominal fullness, enlarged lymph nodes, as well as enlarged spleen and liver enlargement;
  • lymphomas - in addition to cold, night sweats, lymphomas are also manifested by fever, weight loss, usually painless enlargement of the lymph nodes, enlargement of the liver and spleen, as well as the symptoms of anemia and thrombocytopenia (reduced number of platelets) mentioned above.

Cold sweat and infections

The cause of cold sweats is sometimes infectious diseases, such as:

  • common viral infections, commonly known as a cold,
  • tuberculosis - an infectious disease caused by bacteria - namely Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Other common symptoms of tuberculosis are chronic cough, haemoptysis, and shortness of breath. Tuberculosis can attack a variety of organs including the pleura, lymph nodes, genitourinary system, bones, nervous system, as well as the digestive system, heart, large blood vessels, and skin.
  • brucellosis - a disease of bacterial etiology (bacteria of the genus Brucella), also manifested by fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, as well as diarrhea, sometimes constipation. The condition can even lead to the development of sepsis.
  • pneumonia - bacterial and viral,
  • presence of abscesses - an abscess is a well-delimited reservoir of pus, located in the tissue space. For example, abscesses can be found in the liver, lungs, and even the brain.

Other causes of cold sweat

The conditions listed above are not all situations that may be manifested by cold sweat. Other conditions that may be associated with the occurrence of drenching sweat include:

  • strong stress - emotions are often associated with sweating, it is worth knowing that increased sweating can also accompany neuroses,
  • diseases related to the feeling of severe pain - such as, for example, fractures, extensive injuries or renal colic,
  • pregnancy - hormonal balance in this period relieves fluctuations, which may be associated with the occurrence of sweating and hot flushes,
  • taking certain medications - drenching sweats canaccompany the intake of antidepressants and steroids.

In conclusion, based on the occurrence of cold sweat, we cannot identify the specific disease responsible for this symptom. During the visit to the doctor, it is important to collect a detailed medical history, and sometimes also to perform additional tests.

Sweating is not only infections or stress. They can also accompany cancer and cardiovascular diseases. For this reason, persistent cold sweat should not be underestimated. In this situation, it is worth visiting your family doctor who, after talking and examining the patient, will decide whether further diagnosis is necessary.

  • Sweat functions and sweating disorders
  • Excessive sweating may be a symptom of the disease
  • Sweat and excessive sweating - how to fight it?

Category:

He alth