Drenching in sweat as a sign of recurrence?

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fifthyear
fifthyear Member Posts: 225
edited May 2016 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

I posted this once before under hotflashes which is the wrong description, so here goes.
Months before I was diagnosed in 2007, I was often drenching in sweat, mostly during the day. After the surgery, it went away abruptly. For over 5 years, no sweat. Now I begin to have these episodes again, and thinking that there might be a connection. I was strong ER/PR+. Could it be that the tumor robbed my body of estrogen to support itself?
I am NOT on any meds, just typical multi vit, vit D etc... and nothing changes in my routine and food consumtion.
Anyone experiencing similar? Am I way off base on this thought process?

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  • snorkeler
    snorkeler Member Posts: 145
    edited September 2013

    At my first consultation with the breast specialist, she specifically asked me about night sweats, and I told her I'd been having them occasionally for the year prior to diagnosis. At my first follow-up appointment post-treatment, I mentioned that the night sweats had stopped and she said "good." I was also strongly ER/PR+. There seems to be some connection, but I don't know exactly what it is. I hope others can shed some light on this.

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  • pupmom
    pupmom Member Posts: 5,068
    edited September 2013

    I did not have that experience before dx, and never heard of it as a sign of recurrence. Just curious as to why, if you are highly ER+, you are not on an anti-hormonal. (Or maybe you were on them for the 5 years and are now off.) Those drugs are our best line of defense. Also, the original tumor wouldn't permanently rob your body of estrogen, but if it had that would be a good thing. You don't want estrogen feeding the stray cells.

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  • MmeJ
    MmeJ Member Posts: 167
    edited September 2013

    fifthyear, congratulations on being five+ years out!



    A sign of recurrence? IMO, doubtful to highly unlikely. You mention you are not on anything now, except supplements and vitamins, but were you on anti-hormonals for five years and recently gone off them? That might have something to do with it. What is your menopausal status? That, too ...



    I was put into menopause via chemo starting in September 2010 at age 50 and had night sweats for about 8 months. Ugh.

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  • mamabee
    mamabee Member Posts: 546
    edited September 2013

    Have you had your thyroid function checked? My mom (a stage 1 survivor) started having drenching sweats last year. She was diagnosed with Graves disease, is being treated for it, and is much better now. 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited September 2013

    Advanced cancers can cause night sweats (not day ones, for some reason).  But they are other symptoms: obvious weight loss, obvious fatigue, etc. I'm going to venture a guess and say it's hormones, but you should have them checked and talk to your MO about that.

    I bet your are fine, but won't you worry about this annoyance till you find out it isn't anything to worry about ? That's why a call to your MO is needed.

    Hugs/C

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  • fifthyear
    fifthyear Member Posts: 225
    edited September 2013

    Hi ladies, many thanks for letting me know i am not insane in my theory, well, maybe just a little :-)). I am not on hormonal therapy due to family history of stroke. Had my thyroid checked couple months ago. It's just that I had the same symptoms before my last dx, and then now, it's the same thing. Once we are dx with BC, it's hard not to draw some links even tho (hopefully) it's nothing. Seeing onco in a couple weeks, will post if issues.

    Thanks again for your thoughts i really appreciate.

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  • HLB
    HLB Member Posts: 1,760
    edited September 2013

    I was having occasional night sweats before mets dx. I wondered afterward if it was related. It wasn't very often but it was noticable because the only other time it happened was many years ago, sometimes right before my period.

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  • fifthyear
    fifthyear Member Posts: 225
    edited September 2013

    HLB, My thoughts on the same line of what you describe. I am worried it's related. Seeing onco in mid Sept will report back what he said. This thing sucks, it is a life sentence, can't escape the d#*F thing.

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  • HLB
    HLB Member Posts: 1,760
    edited September 2013

    Yes it bites the big one. Try not to worry too much. Probably a lot of things it could be. It sucks waiting to know too! Keep us posted. :-)

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  • fifthyear
    fifthyear Member Posts: 225
    edited September 2013

    Saw the onco today. Had a comprehensive exam. Said it is rare that sweating is related to cancer, but it must have a rootcause. Something that causes the body to produce that much sweat. Ordered a detailed panel blood work so will know more. One interesting point tho, since I have very densed breast and the last mamo did not find my lump, I did, for my yearly screening, he will send me to have High Def Ultrasound. I am going to post to find out if anyone has experience with it, is it better or worse than mammo.

    Thank you for caring, how are we going to survive without one another? Not.

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  • Rufhewn
    Rufhewn Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2016

    Overall feeling good but admittedly freak out over every possible symptom of recurrence. Over the past six nights I've woken up with some moderate to mild sweating for no discernible reason. I didn't suffer much at all with hot flashes during menopause seven years ago or at allwhen I started Arimidex almost a year and a half ago. No new medications or any reasons why night flushing or light sweating. Any one experience this?

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  • cive
    cive Member Posts: 709
    edited May 2016

    I've had hot flashes causing night sweats for 20 years since I went through menopause. There was improvement after about 5 years so at least I didn't wake up freezing anymore because I was soaked. That's the thing that bothered me most, although I'm not exactly a fan of breaking out in a sweat anytime the temperature changes, I eat, or wake up. Mostly you need to make sure you keep your electrolytes in balance and drink enough water to make up for the loss. The improvement went away when I started on Femara - which just means the lack of estrogen is messing up my internal temperature modulator again! I wake up generally because I'm cold because I'm wet, so I cover up and then get the "wake up" hot flash and uncover again, once that's settled I can cover up again and go back to sleep. I do get less intense sweats during the day with temperature changes. The lack of estrogen seems to mess up the body thermostat.

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  • Rufhewn
    Rufhewn Member Posts: 45
    edited May 2016

    thanks for responding. What concerns me is waking up sweating is a new symptom for me, I've never really suffered from hot flashes and after being on Arimidex for almost 15 months with no sweating, this is out of the blue for me and happening nightly. I am making up stories in my head no doubt but any reassurances would go a long way. I am weakly positive ER (3%)


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  • cive
    cive Member Posts: 709
    edited May 2016

    That you are responding may be due to the length of time it took for the AI to affect you. If you are taking arimidex then you must be post menopausal, but it could be that some other factor in your life is helping it to decrease your estrogen level. Excessive sweating is usually a sign of hot flashes, thyroid problems or diabetes. So if you're clear on the thyroid and diabetes, it is hot flashes. The good news is, the worse the hot flashes the less estrogen and the better to keep cancer at bay!

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited May 2016

    Any sudden change in something like this warrants a call to your MO

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