Night Sweats: Causes, Symptoms & When to See a Doctor

Question
Hi,

I am a 28 year old male. For the past year or so I would occasionally wake up with a damp collar and pillow.  The sweat is only concentrated to the back of my neck, back of head and top of back which will leave the area around my collar damp.  When this happens to me its usually a few consecutive nights but then it wont happen for a month or 2.  One thing I want to note is that when I get the flu or a random sickness and it comes with a fever I experience night sweats as most do when sick with fevers.  Those sweats are far different than what I experience now, my entire upper body will be soaked and I will need to change my shirt and sheets before going back to bed.  When my current sweats happen I may have to turn over the pillow and I am left with a damp collar.

When I look this up online I see a lot of things point towards cancer which freaks me out.  I realize it could be a slew of things or just simply too many sheets.  I have no other symptoms and feel fine.  I went through a lot of doctor visits and multiple blood work orders for a different issue I was having about 6 months ago which all came back fine.  I look forward to your response.

Answer
wow... that is a big jump to go from a sweaty neck to cancer....  There are very few cancers that occur in someone your age, so since you have been screened... you shouldn't worry about that.  Sweating is a normal mechanism in general, if you get a little overheated in the bed, you will sweat.  Since it happens occasionally, I don't see that as indicating illness.  I hope this helps.