Hi alysson! It's great you're getting to experiment more with the BHRT. Interestingly, yesterday I met with my CIRS evaluation doc and we discussed my low antidiuretic hormone (ADH), aka Vasopressin, and low osmolality. ADH is supposed to be higher at night to keep people from having to get up when they are sleeping. I only get up 0-1 times and I haven't thought of it as an issue, but maybe even 1 is too many?! Hadn't even occurred to me I'm so used to it.
So last night I was trying to understand ADH and osmolality better. This
post by SelfHacked is about ADH and mentions that estradiol, progesterone and testosterone lower ADH. I'm thinking this is the mechanism behind progesterone being a diuretic. Maybe it does so more than estrogen and testosterone and that's why Amen singled it out among these hormones? Well I'm on all three and my ADH is
too low and I do get up at night once most nights, but I need those hormones. In addition he mentions the role of ADH in circadian rhythms and that low ADH can cause insomnia in the elderly. Okay, we're not elderly yet, but the tip here is that apparently there's a vasopressin nose spray that improves sleep quality in the elderly. It would be interesting, given our similar sleep issues over time, if you also have low ADH, and if a simple nose spray (assuming it's safe) supported our circadian rhythms and helped (or is something to try in our later years).
Have you had your ADH tested? Otherwise you might want to test that with osmolality for baselines, and if the ADH is low you can see what on SelfHacked's list of all the things that might help increase ADH you could add to your mix so you can continue to get the level of hormones you want.
Caveats:
I'm just assuming for the moment that Self Hacked is right, because I can't go down all those rabbit holes.
I've read that you can't tell much from just ADH and osmolality and need to look at more related factors.
I'm also guessing that ideally two or three low ADH in a row would be more telling than just one, since it probably fluctuates with diet, water intake etc.
Interestingly, if SelfHacked is right, many of the inputs that influence ADH one way or the other are things we discuss relating to brain health, and they're finding more brain connections with ADH over time. So as I push some parameters toward better brain health, if they're not well enough balanced by their opposing (from the perspective of ADH levels) but also brain healthy parameters my ADH will suffer ... or so my exploratory thinking is going today.
Parameter's I'm pushing that could be lowering ADH:
lowering insulin
supplementing progesterone, estrogen and testosterone
supplementing melatonin (may have to reconsider this if not influencing sleep)
Parameter's I can push further that could increase ADH to balance out the above:
further increase exercise
further increase sodium [apparently not to do if osmolality is high but mine's low]
further increase SIRT1
further inhibit IGF-1
get my rear in the sauna
increase acetylcholine
Interestingly he also notes (if correct) that WGA lectin in wheat and CONa lectin in legumes 'was found to bind to animal vasotocin neurons which are very similar to human vasopressin [ADH]'. Although I don't eat those I wonder about other lectins WRT this, albeit this wasn't human ADH. I have eating more lectins lately than I was earlier in the year.
I can see where trying out taking your progesterone mid-day is a good idea. Maybe its full effect will kick in more during your sleep cycle. I'm not sure what it's half life is.
I can just hear Stavia chiming in that it's all more complex than my little breakdown, and you chiming in that your ADH is high. All in a day's work

ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.