TiredUrinatioin

April 20, 2005 6:59 PM

Is there a reason why I pee more when I stay up all night working?
posted by srboisvert to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

Do you drink more caffeinenated beverages (which are diuretics...)?
posted by dersins at 7:03 PM on April 20, 2005

More or more often? Maybe the total volume is the same?
posted by Pattie at 7:11 PM on April 20, 2005

Umm ... I think it's because you are awake and conscious of the sensation of having to go, or am I not understanding your question?
posted by terrier319 at 7:11 PM on April 20, 2005

Third caffeine.
posted by rooftop secrets at 7:20 PM on April 20, 2005

I tend to get very hot when I have to work an all nighter, whatever the temperature is. I can't say I've noticed any difference in urination though.
posted by tomble at 8:29 PM on April 20, 2005

Stress can make you want to urinate. Staying up all night causes stress. (IANAD)
posted by callmejay at 9:33 PM on April 20, 2005

caffeine or adderall, maybe?
posted by foraneagle2 at 10:57 PM on April 20, 2005

When you sleep, some of the water in your urine leaches back into your bloodstream. (I seem to recall this function is actually activated by a sleep hormone.) This is how you make it through the night without peeing, and why your urine is often darker in the morning.

Caffeine is a diruetic, so if you're drinking any of that, then what others have said.
posted by kindall at 12:06 AM on April 21, 2005

Best answer: When you are awake or asleep your bladder fills with pee. When you're awake, you go to the bathroom and pee but when you're asleep your body makes a hormone called vasopressin. Vasopressin (or vaso as it is sometimes called) concentrates the urine. As I understand it, when you drink alchohol the the creation of vasopressin is inhibited. So when you're drinking you're 1) filling your body with liquid that you'll eventually need to pee out, and 2) you're keeping your body from making vasopressin so you'll have to pee that beer our sooner. Think "popping the seal."

Additionally, Vasopressin is a "smart drug" used to get a clear head and learn new things (as opposed to memorizing things you already kind of know...)
posted by pwb503 at 12:17 AM on April 21, 2005

While you might want to consider the source (the study was funded by the National Coffee Association) new research shows that caffeine is not a diuretic.
posted by norm at 9:47 AM on April 21, 2005

Yeah, vasopressin was what I was thinking about.
posted by kindall at 11:19 AM on April 21, 2005