Why You Sweat When You Poop and What You Can Do About It

No single explanation exists for sweating during a bowel movement. Rather, several factors may contribute to poop sweats:

You’re Constipated (and Straining)

Constipation can lead to large poops that are hard and difficult to pass. “As you bear down, you take a deep breath in and push, which decreases the amount of blood returning to your heart and therefore the amount of blood leaving it,” Dr. Wolfman says.

“Pressure receptors in the blood vessels in your neck detect the increased pressure from straining and trigger a slowing of the heart rate to decrease the blood pressure,” he explains. “This low blood pressure can lead to sweating, dizziness, and fainting.”

You Have IBS

If you have certain chronic conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Wolfman notes you may be more prone to experiencing this vasovagal response.

“People with IBS have hypersensitivity to their viscera, or organs in their abdomen, which can trigger a hyper-response that leads to a vasovagal response,” he says.

In this way, sweating isn’t a symptom of IBS. However, having the condition may make you more likely to sweat when you poop.

You’re Taking Certain Medications

Sweating is a common side effect of constipation, and certain medications make constipation more likely.

“The classic category is medications that doctors describe as having anticholinergic properties,” Dr. Poppers says. The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons lists anticholinergic medications among those commonly associated with constipation and recommends reviewing medication lists for such drugs when evaluating patients with constipation.

These include medications prescribed for:

• Muscle and bladder spasms
• Tremors
• Slow heartbeat, known as bradycardia
• Excessive drooling
• Nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness

You Had a Spicy Meal

If you recently ate spicy foods, it’s also common to experience sweating during a bowel movement the following day, according to Niket Sonpal, MD, a New York City–based internist, gastroenterologist, and faculty member at Touro College of Medicine.

“By the time that food has made its way to the bowels, it still has capsaicin (the active component of chili peppers), which binds to our TRPV1 receptors,” Dr. Sonpal says. “These receptors detect heat in multiple parts of the body, including the anus, which signals to the brain that the body needs to sweat to cool down.”