I'm a 57 years old male and on several medications, which are as follows. Amitriptyline, Lexapro, Klonopin, Atenolol, Lipitor, and Niacin. I know that Amitriptyline makes you sensitive to the sun and that Niacin can result in hot flashes. My problem started well before I was on any of these medications, so I doubt that they are the cause. Here is my problem. First, when I go outside, regardless of whether the temperature is 60 degrees or 80 degrees, my skin feels so hot, that I immediately have to get out of the sun. This is likely exasperated by the Amitriptyline. The biggest problem, however, is that I am unable to cool off when I'm inside, even if the temperature is below 70 degrees, with the air conditioning running non stop. I'll get into the shower at night, and by the time I have towel dried off, my entire body breaks out into a sweat. It is incredibly uncomfortable. The only way I can prevent this, is to immediately sit directly in front of a fan for about 30 minutes until my body finally cools down, otherwise I'm dripping with sweat. This happens even when I'm not taking Niacin, so I know that this is not the cause. When I'm outside on a comfortable day, temperatures in the low 70's, very low humidity, I'll break out into an uncontrollable sweat after walking for only a few minutes. I'm in excellent health, excercise regularly, but have this one very frustrating problem. Please advise

One other unrelated issue I'd like to bring up, is that some of my finger nails have ridges in them, and on my right pinky, the ridges are so bad that it causes a crack of the nail going right down to the cuticle. Any advice on this would also be welcome. Thank you very much.

31pumpkin

Hi Andyrose -

Lexapro can have a side effect of increased sweating. Check with your Dr. before abruptly stopping the med.
If this is not the case, then the symptoms you describe could be from HYPERHIDROSIS (excessive sweating) see:http://www.sts.org/doc/4097

Good Luck

Andyrose

Thanks!

educatedhorse_2005

Have you had any heart problems.

Could be an early warning signs.

Andyrose

No heart problems. I'm thinking it must be related to the medications that I'm on.

Bauke73

1) Regarding the tendency to feeling hot, a simple check of thyroid function at your doctors office could rule out one common cause of this symptom. I agree that a medication, even if not the main cause, has the potential of making the problem worse.

2) Ridges can form in the fingernails in association with iron deficiency, kidney disease and some forms of arthritis. It has been observed with thyroid problems, too! That can be easily checked if you have your thyroid function checked. But don't worry, it's usually just a feature of getting older, even if you are otherwise quite healthy.
(physician)

Andyrose

Thank you very much.