What could cause severe night sweats?
Patient: Every single night my fiance has been having severe night sweats.  This has been going on for quite some time.  I have been with him for over 2 and a half years and it's been getting worse.  Around 2 to 3 am I wake us up, completely drenched in sweat.  Every night we have to take our bed sheets off, take a shower (again), and get cleaned up. The entire bed is soaked and we feel like we just got out of a swimming pool.  I talked him into going to his doctor last month to see what the problem is, but she said there is nothing wrong.  The doctor did several blood tests and everything came back as normal.  He is on a very low prescription of antidepressants and has been for several years, but nothing has been changed lately.  Other than that, he is very active, healthy, perfect weight, etc. He never gets sick and seems perfectly normal otherwise.Not only is this an annoyance to have to wash bed sheets everyday and get cleaned up at 3 in the morning, I am really beginning to get scared something is wrong with him! :( I'm not sure what it could be or what steps to take next.  I am even having a hard time of sleeping at night because I am constantly waking up or checking him to see if he is getting close to having a night sweat.  HELP!!!! I am desperate for answers....it's 3 am and it happened again for the 6th time this week! We are currently down stairs in the couch and recliner because our bed is soaked.  I usually have two sets of plastic protectors on, but I can't keep up with the laundry due to the frequency of these night sweats. Doctor: Hello!Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!I understand your concern and would explain that these symptoms may be related to many disorders (inflammatory disease, metabolic disorders, infection diseases, etc.). What are the blood tests that he has performed? Have you measured his body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate during the nights? I recommend consulting with the GP for a careful physical exam, a resting ECG, a chest X ray study, an abdominal ultrasound and some lab blood tests : -complete blood count-PCR, sedimentation rate-blood electrolytes-kidney and liver function tests -thyroid hormone levels (thyroid gland function)-cortisol plasma levels (adrenal gland function)- immunological tests (ANA, ANCA, RF, ENA, etc)- infectious disease tests (HIV, HBV-Ac, Lyme tests, Wright tests, gama INF for tuberculosis and Mantoux test). Hope to have been helpful!Best wishes!Dr. Iliri