What Causes Night Sweats And Fatigue While On Lutera For Irregular Periods?

Posted on Sat, 5 Apr 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 5 Apr 2014 Answered on

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm 24 years of age and I just recently started taking Lutera for my menstural cycle to help regulate cramping and pre menstural fatigue. I've taken Lutera before when I was around 19-20 years of age and I don't recall anything like I'm going through now, I'm having night sweats that soak my bed sheets and cause fatigue when I wake from the night sweats and of course, not getting the comfortable sleep I need makes me grumpy in the morning. The room I'm sleeping in is upstairs and it can get rather warm but I leave the window open all night to allow cool air inside. I've always slept with two comforters so the blankets aren't the issue, it has to be the Lutera. I take the Lutera at 10:00 every night to prevent nausea from interrupting my day and so far that has been working on and off. What can I do to prevent these exhausting night sweats from the Lutera?

Answered by Dr. Madhuri N Bagde (57 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Detailed answer given Detailed Answer: hello and welcome to HCM, I understand your trouble. There are two reasons for the symptoms: 1. they are due to the hormones estrogen and progesterone in the pills that are known to dilate blood vessels and cause sweating or feeling of warmth. 2. second reason may be that this is not due to pills and is due to another condition like thyroid disorder, or infection. You are already taking low dose types of pills to regulate the cycle. So decreasing the dose is not of any use. As of now I suggest that if you suspect the symptoms are due to the pills, you may stop the pills [ you may get an unexpected period if pills are stopped suddenly] and see if you continue to get symptoms. If they continue then pills are to be blamed. In this case try other pill like cerazette that contains a different type of progesterone. If even that is not suitable then other remedies will need to be sorted for depending upon the cause of the irregular period. Your doctor may be able to help you in this as he must be aware of the examination findings and investigations. If you have not been investigated for causes of irregular period, get them done before beginning any treatment. Another possibility is that the room may be warm or you may be using too many sheets. So try a cooler room and lesser sheets. Unfortunately there is no remedy to decrease the sweats if they are caused by pills and I feel very sorry to say this. You may need to change the brand or try another treatment. Hope this satisfies your query. Thanks for using HCM. Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have. Dr Madhuri Bagde Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar