{"id":4179,"date":"2022-05-03T11:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/nightsweats\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T11:25:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T10:25:41","slug":"nightsweats","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/haematology\/nightsweats\/","title":{"rendered":"Night sweats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Definition <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Significant generalised night time sweating that <em><u>soaks bedclothes or bedding<\/u><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Night sweats are a fairly common symptom and the majority of patients do not have an underlying haematological malignancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Medical causes are very varied and include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>infection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>menopause<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>anxiety<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>endocrine causes:<ul><li>hyperthyroidism<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>nocturnal hypoglycaemia in diabetics<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>acromegaly<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>phaeochromocytoma<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>obstructive sleep apnoea<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>connective tissue disorders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>neurological:<ul><li>parkinsonism<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>neuropathies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>medications:<ul><li>antipsychotics<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>SSRIs<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>hormonal agents such as Tamoxifen and GnRH agonists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;alcohol excess or withdrawal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>drug abuse (including cannabis use \/ withdrawal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>gastritis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>haematological malignancies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Please see the Primary Care Management page for guidance on further investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>C.M &amp; L.W 21-04-25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients with night sweats and unexplained weight loss &gt;10% can be imaged as per the GP access to CT for suspected cancer (no clinically obvious primary) to enable more rapid and appropriate specialist referral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only refer patients with&nbsp;<em>genuinely<\/em>&nbsp;drenching sweats and any of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>significant additional systemic symptoms: fever or alcohol induced pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>unexplained weight loss &gt;10%, fever or alcohol induced pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>associated nodal enlargement and \/ or splenomegaly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>abnormal FBC<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who not to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Night sweats only; otherwise well with normal FBC \u2013 these patients should be investigated in primary care as are unlikely to have lymphoma<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with sweats which are not&nbsp;<em>genuinely<\/em>&nbsp;drenching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with clinically significant <em>isolated<\/em> neck nodes should be referred directly to <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/ENTADULT\/NeckLump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>ENT neck lump clinic<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;for consideration of biopsy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with clinically significant <em>isolated <\/em>axillary nodes should be referred directly to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/BreastDisease\/BreastLump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Breast Clinic<\/strong><\/a> for further management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>SCI Gateway to the Department of Haematology WGH or SJH.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Primary care investigations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>FBC<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Blood film<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CRP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thyroid function tests<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quantitative immunoglobulins+ serum electrophoresis&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gonadotrophins and oestradiol where appropriate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CXR<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definition Significant generalised night time sweating that soaks bedclothes or bedding. Night sweats are a fairly common symptom and the majority of patients do not have an underlying haematological malignancy. Medical causes are very varied and include: Please see the Primary Care Management page for guidance on further investigation. C.M &amp; L.W 21-04-25<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3981,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"class_list":["post-4179","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-nightsweats"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/haematology\/nightsweats\/\" rel=\"tag\">Night Sweats<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Definition Significant generalised night time sweating that soaks bedclothes or bedding. Night sweats are a fairly common symptom and the majority of patients do not have an underlying haematological malignancy. Medical causes are very varied and include: Please see the Primary Care Management page for guidance on further investigation. C.M &amp; L.W 21-04-25","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4179"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23834,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4179\/revisions\/23834"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}