Vasopressin dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
Vasopressin is the natural hormone that makes you hold on to water. As a drug, it is FDA-approved to raise blood pressure in very sick patients.
Evidence grade for Vasopressin: Moderate. The rule: at least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. The sum on this page: 1 completed trial, 778 people given it. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 778
- Human studies
- 1
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses
Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose.
FDA-approved (Vasostrict) to raise dangerously low blood pressure in a type of shock (vasodilatory shock)
3 effects reported, 1 unwanted, 2 wanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Ageing and longevity, Heart and circulation
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Vasopressin is the hormone that makes your kidneys hold on to water. It also squeezes blood vessels to raise blood pressure. As a drug, it is used in very sick patients to hold up blood pressure in shock. It is approved and prescription only.
What people take it for
- Holding up blood pressure in septic shock.
- Its cousin, desmopressin, is used for bedwetting and diabetes insipidus.
What studies in people showed
The biggest study had 778 people in septic shock. They got low-dose vasopressin or the usual drug, norepinephrine. After 28 days, 35.4 percent on vasopressin had died, and 39.3 percent on the usual drug had. That gap could be chance. In another study, 409 people got vasopressin first, early on. They did not get more days free of kidney failure. Fewer of them needed dialysis, but that was not the main question.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- In the studies on this page, it worked about as well as the usual blood pressure drug.
- Fewer people needed dialysis when it was started early.
The bad
- It did not save more lives than the usual drug.
- The studies on this page do not list side effects, and we have not collected user reports on this one yet.
Where these come from: Everything here is from the two human studies on this page. We have not collected forum or user reports for this one yet.
My bottom line
This is an intensive care drug. It is a fair option in shock, not a step forward. It has no place in a self-experiment.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Measured in people
Goals Vasopressin has been tested for in people, biggest studies first. We count only what the studies on this page say, so the real numbers may be higher.
- Living longer778 people · 1 study
- Kidney function409 people · 1 study · 1 found nothing
34 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind Vasopressin
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove Vasopressin does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about Vasopressin and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is Vasopressin?
Vasopressin is the natural hormone that makes you hold on to water. As a drug, it is FDA-approved to raise blood pressure in very sick patients.
Vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone, controls how much water your body keeps. It works on the kidneys to make urine more concentrated. It also squeezes blood vessels, which raises blood pressure. As a drug, it is FDA-approved as Vasostrict to raise blood pressure in shock caused by wide-open blood vessels. The study results are mixed. In VASST, 778 people in septic shock got low-dose vasopressin or the usual drug, norepinephrine. After 28 days, 35.4% on vasopressin had died and 39.3% on the usual drug had. That gap could be chance. In VANISH, 409 people got vasopressin early. They did not get more days free of kidney failure. Its lab-made cousin, desmopressin, is used for bedwetting and diabetes insipidus.
How does Vasopressin work?
It switches on V2 receptors in the kidney, which makes the body keep water. It switches on V1 receptors on blood vessels, which raises blood pressure.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
1,187people, across 2 studies in people cited here
| Study | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| VASST, New England Journal of Medicine 2008 | 778 | 66% |
| JAMA 2016 | 409 | 34% |
One study holds 66% of these people, so the total rests more on one study than its size suggests. Counts are the number of people each study on this page says it signed up. That includes studies that only watched people and gave nobody the compound. Studies still signing people up are left out, and only studies cited on this page are counted.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
All 2 sources here are studies in people.
- Study in people · done in people2100%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Sources here come from just two years, 2008 and 2016.
Too few different years on this page to draw a timeline. The newest source on file is from 2016, more than five years ago. Research on it may have gone quiet.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Approved
UK
Approved
AU
Approved
CA
Approved
Approved in all four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Peptide
- Molecule weight
- 1,084.2 Da
- Half-life
- About 15 minutesUltra-short, minutes
- Chain length
- None on file
No amino acid sequence is on file for Vasopressin, so none is drawn rather than guessed from a name.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2008Vasopressin versus norepinephrine infusion in patients with septic shock (VASST)
Swapping one blood pressure drug for another did not save more lives. Seven hundred and seventy eight people in septic shock were given low dose vasopressin or the standard drug, norepinephrine. By 28 days, 35.4 percent of the vasopressin group had died and 39.3 percent of the standard group had. That gap is small enough that chance explains it. A trial this size would have picked up a real difference. Vasopressin is a reasonable alternative here, not an improvement.
778 patients: 28-day mortality 35.4% with low-dose vasopressin versus 39.3% with norepinephrine, not significantly different.
- Study in people2016Effect of early vasopressin vs norepinephrine on kidney failure in patients with septic shock: the VANISH randomized clinical trial
Starting vasopressin early did not protect the kidneys. Four hundred and nine people in septic shock were given it first, instead of the usual drug. The number of days they spent free of kidney failure was no better. Fewer of them ended up on dialysis, which is a real difference but a lesser one, and it was not what the trial was built to answer. Two trials now point the same way. Vasopressin is an option in septic shock, not a step forward.
409 patients: early vasopressin did not improve kidney-failure-free days, though renal replacement therapy use was lower.
Where to buy Vasopressin
Vasopressin is an approved medicine. The approved product comes from a pharmacy, with a prescription. The vials below are sold “for research” and are not the approved drug.
No seller we track lists Vasopressin yet. We read sellers’ public product lists every week, and this section fills in as soon as one does. Every seller, graded
Common questions
Has Vasopressin been tested in people?
Yes. 778 people given it across 1 completed trial cited here, 0 of which found nothing. Vasopressin is the natural hormone that makes you hold on to water. As a drug, it is FDA-approved to raise blood pressure in very sick patients.
What is the Vasopressin dosage?
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses. Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose. FDA-approved (Vasostrict) to raise dangerously low blood pressure in a type of shock (vasodilatory shock)
Is Vasopressin FDA-approved?
FDA-approved (Vasostrict) to raise dangerously low blood pressure in a type of shock (vasodilatory shock)
How is vasopressin different from desmopressin?
Desmopressin is a changed copy that mostly just makes the body keep water, with little effect on blood pressure. It is used for bedwetting and diabetes insipidus. Vasopressin itself also raises blood pressure.