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Staff member
I'm a 59 year old male whose main health problem is severe osteoarthritis in my hips. About 2 1/2 years ago I started drinking six 12 ounce glasses of water a day instead of just two because I read that more water would help lubricate the joints and lessen pain. It seemed to help for a while, so I've kept it up, but cut back a glass or so recently. I've always had the vast majority of water my first 5 or 6 hours of being up, to reduce having to get up in the middle of the night. For the first year or so, unsurprisingly I would have to pee every two or three hours after I started drinking, but less in the evening. I would always wake up once in the middle of the night and pee quite a lot more than other times in the day, and again a lot when I woke up. A gradual change has happened, six months or a year ago, I started having much less need to go in the daytime. Even on days when in addition to the water I'm having fruit, tea, and milk, I now usually have to go just once every six hours or so. I do a "one Mississippi" count, (which I probably count too fast), that in the daytime is about 15 or 20, but in the middle of the night it can be up to 45 and on waking another 30 or 35. And I always go right before bed of course. I take no prescription medicine, though I take lots of supplements. I feel great other than my hips. It seems like this ADH hormone which is supposed to suppress urine production while sleeping is only working in the daytime for me instead. It's not a problem now (unless it's a sign of something else developing), but after I get my hip replacement, I'd rather not have to get up at all in the middle of the night until I've healed at least. I mentioned to my doctor, who knew nothing about it. I'm sure a urologist might know, but I'm wondering whether any members might have a similar situation.
