Last night I woke up about an hour after I went to bed and I was soaked with sweat. My shirt and pajama pants were soaked as were my sheets and blankets. My hair was dripping wet and there was water running off my face. This was a night sweat and it's been happening to me at least once every night since I had my surgery (there have been a few dry exceptions). Most are not this bad. Most only wet my shirt, the sheets, and the pillow and I can change them and get back into a fairly dry bed.
But this is getting pretty old now and I can't imagine that it's normal post-surgery. For a while I thought it was my subconscious re-living the surgery or some residual effect of the anesthesia, but it's going on three months and nobody I've talked to has had this coming out of surgery.
I've seen (and been seen by ) a lot of different doctors since the surgery and I've told every one of them about these sweats. They type it in their notes and go on with the examination (listen to my lungs and heart and press around my abdomen and ask if it hurts). Then they send me on my way.
This never happens when I take a nap during the day (some are 2-3 hours these days). Nor does it happen when I get up at night and fall asleep on the couch (because the bed's too wet).
It doesn't matter whether I'm warm or cold. I can be under all our blankets (we keep our bedroom cold) or just a single sheet.
I'm told it sounds a lot like hot flashes - but this doesn't have the 'hot'. I don't get hot - I just sweat.
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