Megace Causing Frequent Urination and Night Sweats

Megace, or megestrol, is a medication that can be prescribed to women with breast and endometrial cancer. I was prescribed it for the latter. I continue to take it though I was successfully treated. This medication is a progesterone hormone - though man-made - and works to treat cancers by affecting the female hormones associated with cancer growth. This medication has a mile-long list of potential side effects and I was fortunate enough to not experience the majority of them. However, frequent urination (especially at night) and night sweats are something that started pretty much from day one and just never stopped. Of course, I keep taking Megace because the benefits far outweigh these two side effects, but it is important to talk about these side effects because they seem to be more common than most women realize.

Frequent Urination with Megace

When I first started to take this medication and started noticing that I was getting up sometimes as often as three to four times a night to urinate, my first thought was that I was simply drinking too much water. I do drink a lot of water and even more caffeinated coffee. Caffeine can also cause frequent urination. So, I cut back on both, but the urination was still just as frequent so I took to some research and discovered that I was certainly not alone in this medication causing this side effect. Frequent urination is often listed as a serious side effect of this medication. Definitely do as the warnings say and contact your doctor immediately if you experience this. My frequent urination seems to only occur at night for the most part and has caused me no other issues. I did notify my doctor, who at least in my case, seemed to not be worried and she is an excellent doctor whom I fully trust. So, now this is a side effect that I just have to deal with. I was never a great sleeper to begin with so getting up a few times in the night to use the restroom - while mildly annoying some nights - is not a major disturbance in my life.

Night Sweats with Megace

This side effect caused me quite a few medical tests that were unnecessary and a major health scare. Unlike frequent urination, night sweats are often not listed as a side effect of this medication. So, when I started to experience them I went and saw one of my doctors. Now, this was a few years back when I was just 26, so they thought that menopause was out of the question. Things like lung cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma came up though. I went through chest X-rays, a PET scan and more blood work than you want to know about. Turns out, it was simply a side effect of the Megace and my lungs and lymph nodes and very healthy. So, if you are on Megace and start getting night sweats, don't sweat it (no pun intended). Definitely go see your doctor because as you can see night sweats can indicate some pretty serious health threats and it is better to be safe than sorry, but know that this medication can cause them. My night sweats can be mild one night and soaking the next. They fluctuate and while this side effect can be very annoying, especially when coupled with the frequent urination at night, I still live a pretty normal life despite a little less sleep each night.