Do Antidepressants and Anti-Anxiety Drugs Cause Sweating and Insomnia?

In most parts of the country, people are suffering from the heat. In many places, humidity is also making life more challenging. For some people, the medications they are taking will make them even more vulnerable because some drugs cause sweating. When temperatures are over 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is greater than 60%, you will feel sweaty, sticky and stinky.

We moved to North Carolina in the summer of 1975. I met a fellow pharmacologist at a picnic. The Dean of the  Duke School of Nursing always held an annual outdoor picnic for faculty members. Terry would soon start teaching in the Duke Anthropology Department and the Duke School of Nursing. She welcomed the chance to meet fellow faculty members.

The pharmacologist made it clear that he did not like being outside in the summer because of H&H (heat and humidity). He shared that he went from his air-conditioned home, to his air-conditioned car to his air-conditioned laboratory at the medical school. That faculty picnic was one of the few times he spent more than a few minutes outside sweating profusely.

What Drugs Cause Sweating To Be Even Worse?

There is a side effect that is rarely mentioned by prescribers or dispensers: SWEATING! Doctors have some fancy medical terms to describe excessive sweating: hyperhydrosis or diaphoresis. If you are outside working or exercising when the temperature is over 90° F and humidity is greater than 80%, you will be sweating up a storm. 

If you are also taking certain medications, the sweating could be much worse! At last count, over 40 million Americans are taking antidepressant medications such as sertraline, escitalopram, fluoxetine, duloxetine, citalopram and paroxetine. These are referred to as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors).

Such drugs cause excessive sweating for some people. Doctors even have an acronym for this condition: ADIES (antidepressant-induced excessive sweating).

A letter published in the journal Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience (Nov-Dec, 2013) offers this insight into the condition:

“Antidepressant-induced excessive sweating (ADIES) is a common antidepressant-related side effect, and its prevalence is estimated to range from 4 to 22 percent.”

If we are to believe these stats, as many as 1 out of 5 patients taking an antidepressant could suffer from hyperhydrosis.

When Drugs Cause Sweating:

Many years ago we received this complaint from a reader:

Q. I was prescribed Paxil and Ritalin for anxiety, depression and adult ADHD. Ever since I started taking them, I sweat profusely at night and do not sleep well.

I told my doctor about this at my last visit and she took me off Ritalin and gave me Strattera. It has been more than a week on the new regimen, but my sweating and insomnia haven’t subsided. Could Paxil be causing these side effects?

Paxil Can Trigger Sweating,  Insomnia and Anxiety:

Here is what we advised when drugs cause sweating:

A. Paroxetine (Paxil), like similar antidepressants such as fluoxetine and sertraline, can cause insomnia and sweating. It may also trigger nervousness or exacerbate anxiety. Consequently, the problem might lie with the Paxil.

Don’t stop it on your own! Sudden discontinuation of antidepressant medications could trigger some very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. More about that at this link.

Please get in touch with your doctor immediately! Paxil can increase blood levels of atomoxetine (Strattera) significantly (Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Nov., 2002; Clujul Medical, online Nov. 15, 2015). This could increase the possibility of Strattera side effects such as sweating, sleep problems, fatigue, headache or dry mouth.

Other Drugs Cause Sweating:

Here are just a few of the comments we have received from visitors to this website:

Wolfie should not have stopped duloxetine suddenly:

“I’ve been on duloxetine for about 1 1/12 years. I’ve experienced many side effects including weight gain. I recently got a bad respiratory infection and forgot to take it for 7 days.

“My temper is off the charts; I am sweating buckets; I can’t sleep; I have zappy feelings in my head; dreams! This is day 8. I’m never taking it again. How long will the withdrawal symptoms last? The doctor gave me this for depression, anxiety, and murderous temper!”

Anna experienced sweating after stopping a drug for neuropathy:

“I’m in week 6 of Lyrica (pregabalin) withdrawal. I don’t see an end in sight. I’m sweating so bad I’m always wet, I throw up all day long and I feel like I’m dying. This is torture. All because of a bad doctor. I’m all alone in this as medical care doesn’t exist where I live. I feel like my body is cooking from the inside out.”

Isabelle shared this reaction to sertraline:

“I wish I had never taken sertraline. I think I have been on it for at least 30 years. Let me say that when I turned 70, it was as if it stopped working at all; brain zaps, night sweats, chills, nightmares, sweating, sadness, crying all the time. I have had no adjustments to the dosage, but it is as if I stopped cold turkey.”

Final Words When Drugs Cause Sweating:

Even though antidepressants can cause sweating, stopping them suddenly can make the situation far worse. Anyone who has to stop such medications needs a very gradual withdrawal process managed by a health professional who understands this “discontinuation syndrome.”

If you are suffering from sweating and stinking because of a medication that you cannot stop, why not consider our Magnesium-Rich Aluminum-Free Roll-on Deodorant? We believe we were the first to come up with the idea of creating a milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) roll-on deodorant. And yes, this is the same ingredient that is found in the ever-popular Philips’ Milk of Magnesia laxative.

We originally called our product MoM (for Milk of Magnesia), but younger people were not familiar with milk of magnesia, so we recently changed the name to Magnesium-Rich. Even though it won’t stop sweating (only an antiperspirant with aluminum-based ingredients can do that), we think this product will gently control odor really well. Milk of magnesia can also be helpful for the sensitive places where we sweat a lot. Some visitors sing its praises for jock itch or under-breast rashes.

If you would like to try our 2 oz. Magnesium-Rich Aluminum-Free Roll-on Deodorant, here is a link.