DH wakes during night soaked in sweat and clammy…

Sunnyside42

My DH was diagnosed 3 years ago with Alzheimers. He is 85 and in good physical condition although he doesn’t remember 5 minutes ago. We are doing okay as he is normally pleasant. I attend a weekly support group which has educated me on how to communicate with him and prevent escalations when he is anxious or fearful. He take meds for Type 2 diabetes and thyroid. My concern today is that he often wakes up in the middle of the night totally soaked and clammy with sweat. We have to change his night clothes and the sheets and pillows because they are wet. Also, sometimes he complains of being cold although the skin feels warm. I don’t know what is causing these nightly events, whether it is the disease (Alzheimers), the Diabetes, or the thyroid. But something causes his internal body dysfunction. Has anyone experienced this with their loved one?

gampiano

Hello,

Have you had his urine checked for a UTI? It's wprth investigating.

Best,

Maureen

Sunnyside42

Good idea. I will call his doctor next week. Thanks.

Marta

Have you checked his blood sugar during the night? He may be having episodes of low blood sugar, causing sweating as well as other symptoms. Is he having fevers, leading to sweating? Easy enough to check.

Alzheimers by itself typically does not cause night sweats. Do these simple checks: temp and blood sugar. If no obvious cause, have him seen by his PCP.

Sunnyside42

Marta,

Thank you. I have not thought to check blood sugar during the night but I will. Checking with his doctor too. This happens frequently enough that we need to identify the cause.

M1

Would echo exactly what Marta said...a medication would be a third possibility, though less likely. A fourth (even more unlikely) would be a cancer of some sort (but without other signs, far far less likely). I would be he's having hypoglycemic episodes at night, if I had to bet.

ButterflyWings

Sunnyside, this happened to us twice in the last 6 months, out of nowhere.

DH started having vasovagal fainting episodes in the last year - no warning, and no prior issues like that. But once when it happened, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. It was pouring off of him all of a sudden, and when I tried to wipe some of it away from his forehead so it wouldn't drip into his eyes, his skin was chilly and clammy like you describe.

(As I type this, I now recall it happening once on a flight maybe 7 years ago also. Scared the crap out of me and they called for any Drs on the flight (2) to check him out. He was seated but started losing consciousness and then the beads of sweat started appearing on his face like he was in a sauna, but his skin was cold to the touch. But once I wiped his face it stopped.) Hmm...ok this gives me something to think about as that was BD (before dementia), and long before our current Alz late stages which I was assuming it was part of). Back then, as now, he recovered in a few minutes, and we went on like it never happened. With the current vaso thing, days and weeks may go by with no issues, and then it happens again (losing consciousness) though rarely with the sweating thing. (Sorry, I was up with DH every couple of hours last night and my word retrieval is suffering a bit =))

But the last time he had a vaso episode, I got him seated on the couch before he collapsed within a few seconds of the weakness or trance-like signs starting -- and he sweated profusely for a good hour. Drenched his two t-shirts and a light blanket. I had to keep putting chuks behind him on the couch as it was getting wet too. He was breathing but unresponsive to me even after several minutes and oxygen, which is not usual with these episodes. So, I contacted our 24/7 on-call NP to describe what was happening and ask what to do. They said just watch him. lol. Which I do anyway. When he still was sweating through his clothes and couldn't be awakened for his nighttime meds an hour later, I called them again. They said he might inhale or choke on the meds if I gave them to him in this unresponsive state (usually crushed), so just let it go until he wakes up. That's what I did, but he sweated out so much liquid it's amazing he wasn't dehydrated. I had to change out his wet shirt somewhere in there so he wouldn't catch a chill or worse, but I've gotten pretty skilled at that without his help by now, so unconscious or asleep is not a big deal.

I don't have any real answers as you can see, but just know that yes, I have actually watched one of those nighttime sweats happen and it was bizarre. He woke up no worse for wear in the wee hours and drank his water or juice with the meds that I was anxious to get into him so our upcoming day wouldn't go off script. I have no idea what caused the sweats and the 2 (3) times it happened were after totally different activities so no pattern I can figure out. If you learn anything let me know. Seems harmless compared to some other things so far.