Night Sweats vs. Hot Flashes: What’s the Difference?
MenopauseManaging Hot Flashes During Menopause

What’s the Difference Between Night Sweats and Hot Flashes?

What’s the Difference Between Night Sweats and Hot Flashes?
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Updated on March 20, 2026
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Hot flashes and night sweats are vasomotor symptoms that commonly occur during menopause. Night sweats are hot flashes that occur at night. They cause excessive sweating that can disrupt your sleep.

What Are Hot Flashes and Night Sweats?

Hot flashes and night sweats are common symptoms that occur during perimenopause, the transition period leading up to menopause. They are characterized by a sudden, intense feeling of heat in the upper body, usually in the face, neck, and chest.

Also called vasomotor symptoms, hot flashes and night sweats are caused by hormonal changes that affect your body’s ability to regulate temperature. While the reason they occur isn’t fully understood, they are thought to be linked to declining estrogen levels.

Vasomotor symptoms can last anywhere from several months to several years. Up to 80 percent of women experience vasomotor symptoms at some point during the menopause transition.

“The mean duration of hot flashes and night sweats is seven to nine years, and about one-third of women will flash for a decade or more. I have seen women in their eighties who still have them,” says Stephanie Faubion, MD, NAMS medical director and a NAMS-certified menopause practitioner.

How Do Hot Flashes Differ From Night Sweats?

Hot flashes and night sweats are both sudden changes in body temperature that make you feel too hot, prompting your body to “flash” to cool down.

 They typically last between one and five minutes and may be accompanied by:

  • Flushed skin, or skin that appears red or discolored
  • Clammy skin
  • Chills
  • Rapid heartbeat
Night sweats are hot flashes that occur at night. While hot flashes may not cause sweating, night sweats cause you to sweat excessively. This sweating can be enough to soak through your clothes and bedding and disrupt sleep.

While they can occur during menopause, night sweats can also be a symptom of other conditions, such as infection, diabetes, and cancer.

What Triggers Hot Flashes and Night Sweats?

Many things can trigger hot flashes, and some of them may also cause night sweats. Common triggers of hot flashes and night sweats include:

  • Wearing heavy clothing
  • Drinking caffeine or alcohol
  • Eating spicy foods
  • Stress
  • Drinking hot beverages like tea or hot chocolate
  • Taking hot showers or baths
  • Smoking cigarettes
Experiencing triggers closer to bedtime may lead to night sweats. Some research also suggests that factors like sleep disorders, depression, and anxiety may contribute to night sweats.

What Else Causes Night Sweats?

Hormone changes during menopause and pregnancy aren’t the only causes of night sweats. They can also occur as a side effect of medications or a symptom of various conditions.

Other causes of night sweats include:

Always contact your healthcare provider to check for the underlying cause of your night sweats. Night sweats may be a sign of a serious problem.

When to See a Doctor

If menopausal hot flashes or night sweats are interfering with your sleep or daily life, contact your healthcare provider. Treatments are available that can help reduce vasomotor symptoms, including hormone therapies, prescription medications, and lifestyle changes.

The Takeaway

  • Hot flashes and night sweats are common symptoms of menopause. They are sudden feelings of intense heat in the upper body.
  • Both hot flashes and night sweats can cause flushing, clammy skin, sweating, and rapid heartbeat. Night sweats are hot flashes that cause excessive sweating at night.
  • Many things can trigger both hot flashes and night sweats, including stress, alcohol or caffeine, wearing heavy clothing, and hot showers or baths.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Menopause Topics: Symptoms. The Menopause Society.
  2. Hot Flashes. Cleveland Clinic. October 21, 2024.
  3. Khan SJ et al. Vasomotor Symptoms During Menopause: A Practical Guide on Current Treatments and Future Perspectives. International Journal of Women’s Health. February 14, 2023.
  4. Night Sweats. Cleveland Clinic. September 6, 2022.
  5. Troìa L et al. Sleep Disturbance and Perimenopause: A Narrative Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine. February 23, 2025.
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Kara Smythe, MD

Medical Reviewer

Kara Smythe, MD, has been working in sexual and reproductive health for over 10 years. Dr. Smythe is a board-certified fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and her interests include improving maternal health, ensuring access to contraception, and promoting sexual health.

She graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University with a bachelor's degree in biology and earned her medical degree from St. George’s University in Grenada. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. She worked in Maine for six years, where she had the privilege of caring for an underserved population.

Smythe is also passionate about the ways that public health policies shape individual health outcomes. She has a master’s degree in population health from University College London and recently completed a social science research methods master's degree at Cardiff University. She is currently working on her PhD in medical sociology. Her research examines people's experiences of accessing, using, and discontinuing long-acting reversible contraception.

When she’s not working, Smythe enjoys dancing, photography, and spending time with her family and her cat, Finnegan.

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Beth Levine is an award-winning health writer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping, Reader's Digest, AARP Bulletin, AARP The Magazine, Considerable.com, and NextTribe.com. She has also written custom content for the Yale New Haven Hospital and the March of Dimes.

Levine's work has won awards from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Connecticut Press Club, and the Public Relations Society of America. She is the author of Playgroups: From 18 Months to Kindergarten a Complete Guide for Parents and Divorce: Young People Caught in the Middle. She is also a humor writer and in addition to her editorial work, she coaches high school students on their college application essays.

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