Dealing with sweating
The treatment you have to stop your sweating depends on what is causing it. If you have an infection, antibiotics will treat the infection and stop the sweating. If your sweating is due to cancer then treating the cancer can stop it.
If you are sweating because treatment has changed your hormone levels, it may settle down after a few weeks or months, once your body is used to the treatment.
Talk to your doctor or nurse about your sweats. There are different treatments you can try.
Some drugs help to reduce the number of hot flushes and sweats you have and can make them less severe. They include drugs such as:
clonidine (a blood pressure and migraine medicine) can help women with breast cancer
anti depressants such as paroxetine or venlafexine
gabapentin (an epilepsy drug) can help women with breast cancer
medroxyprogesterone or cyproterone acetate (hormones) can help men with prostate cancer
cimetidine (a drug to reduce stomach acid) can reduce sweating caused by morphine
All these treatments have side effects. It is important to talk to your doctor about them before you start and discuss how long you should take them. We need more research to find the best way to reduce hot flushes and sweats.
People sometimes use complementary medicines to help control sweating. Research has had varying results so far.
Last reviewed: 16 May 2023
Next review due: 16 May 2026
Sweating can be a cancer symptom or may be due to cancer treatment. Knowing what can cause sweating and how to treat and manage it can help you cope better.
Cancer and cancer treatment can cause skin problems. But skin problems can be treated, and there are ways you can manage them at home.
Cancer and its treatment can affect the skin in different ways, causing problems such as itching, sweating or pressure sores (sore skin).
Cancer and its treatment can damage the skin cells and stop them from working properly. Knowing more about how the skin works and what may affect it can help you care for it better.
There are lots of organisations, support groups and helpful books to help you cope with symptoms and side effects caused by cancer and its treatment.
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