Medications that Cause Excessive Sweating

Do you find yourself sweating profusely even when the temperature is cool outside? Are you experiencing more temperature intolerance than normal? If so, you may want to check your medications. There are a surprising number of medications that cause sweating. Although sweating can be due  to a variety of reasons including medical problems such as hyperthyroidism, panic attacks, low grade fever, and low blood sugar, medications rank at the top of the list of potential causes of excessive sweating. Which medications are most likely to result in excessive sweating?

One of the most common drug culprits are the antidepressant group of medications. Most prescription antidepressants have the potential to cause sweating with up to fifteen percent of people on some brands of antidepressants experiencing this problem. This seems to be true regardless of the class of antidepressant used. It's thought that sweating is a result of changes in neurotransmitter levels in the brain such as norepinephrine which plays a role in the perception of sweating. Sweating with some antidepressants can be so bothersome that it results in patients discontinuing their medication.

Another class of medications that cause sweating are certain painkillers with a narcotic component such as synthetic forms of codeine and fentanyl. These drugs can also induce sweating that occurs after bedtime known as night sweats. Other drugs that cause sweating are certain medications used to treat psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia which alter levels of brain neurotransmitters that play a role in the production of excessive perspiration.

Read the rest of this article