Waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake because of night sweats is not a comfortable position to be in. Worst off is that excessive sweating at night disrupts your sleeping patterns making it difficult to get a full night's rest with all the proper sleeping cycles that one needs each day.
Night sweating can be caused by excess weight, hormonal imbalances caused from things like menopause, sickness, aging, and other factors. If it's a sudden episode of night sweating, it can be a health problem and should be checked by a doctor.
While there are prescription drugs for hormonal control and prescription products to reduce sweating not everyone wants that type of treatment.
Water and being properly hydrated does help with sweating issues. Get a nice cool glass of water before bed. Obviously not too much right before sleeping else you will be interrupted in the middle of the night for other reasons.
Drinking sage tea a few times a day helps with excessive sweating. This tea can also actually be applied onto the skin in problem areas as a natural antiperspirant. Both uses actually can help you with your night sweating problems.
Stop eating heavy meals before bed. When you are digesting food, your internal body heat is much higher because of the energy it takes to digest a heavy meal.
Many imbalances in the body can be helped by exercise. Exercise also helps the body to learn how to be more efficiently deal with body heat and cooling off.
Learn how to really relax. Stress can cause sweating at any point in the day. After a busy day, your might might be racing with the problems and issues you have in your life as you are trying to fall asleep. This extra stress and anxiety can cause extra sweating just as much as one might sweat on a first date when nervous.