Wet and Wild: Coping With Night Sweats
Fact: I sweat while I sleep. Honestly, I can't count the number of times I've gone to bed with sleek, blown-out hair and woken up to damp, frazzled, kinky strands or how many morning I've found myself drenched in sweat, with sheets that are distinctly moist on my side of the bed. Not attractive, I know...but very common amongst women, and more so during certain times of the month, when hormonal variations can cause a spike in your temp.
Night sweats are also a frustrating side effect of tons of medications, and menopausal women are particularly prone to being hot under the sheets. (A 2002 study found that of nearly 2300 people who saw their doctor, 40 percent said they'd had at least ONE episode of night sweats in the prior month.)
Until I figure out a way to actually stop the perspiration—there are a clutch of herbal remedies to try—I've tried out some products that at least make the droplets less distracting or even cut down on the number of moonlit pajama changes!
Which brings me to Bamjamz! The name itself never ceases to inspire jokes and jabs from my husband—something about saying the word as a reply to "What are you wearing?" makes him laugh. But beyond that, these simple items of organic lounge-wear and sleep-wear, made of super-absorbant, super- soft bamboo fibers, are actually sort of awesome at making the sweats less disturbing! Now that I have tried them, I can't go back to my old cotton tees. The company says they actually can keep you two degrees cooler—and when it comes to one's inner thermostat, those two degrees can be the difference between drenched and dry!
Down the hall in my toddler daughter's room, it seems that she got the penchant for perspiration. She's often damp upon waking (her hair in a similar state of Einstein-esque glory) and so when Sheex sent me a new piece from their line of "performance" sheeting to test on her crib, I quickly swapped out the sheet. (I'm biting my tongue so that I don't crack a joke about "performance" sheets. This is a G-rated, "family" blog!)
Anyways, the pale-pink fitted crib sheet was soft and lustrous, especially silky compared to her standard cotton sheet, and after a few days under her clammy little body, I did notice that it didn't get as wrinkled or otherwise disturbed by her perspiration. As promised, the microfiber fabric dried super-fast, too—so when I put her back down a few hours later for her nap, there was nary a still-damp patch! WIN! (My only quibble: I wish it came in a fun pattern—in part because it disguises any small stains that accumulate during the week!)
Sheex—which was founded by two former women's college basketball coaches—also makes these super luxe sheet sets for adults in search of bedding that does more than, well, just lie there. Sure, the $200 price tag (for a queen sheet set) is admittedly quite steep, but many people spare NO expense when it comes to making their bed a sanctuary. After all, we DO spend one-third of our lives in bed, so why not? While you can already buy them online, Sheex will also hit the shelves at Bed, Bath & Beyond in the first week of April.
