Prescription medication · Vasopressin Analog
desmopressin
Also sold as DDAVP. This medicine treats central diabetes insipidus, a condition where your body doesn't make enough of a certain hormone, causing you to urinate too much.
Data updated 2026-05-15
- 1,464
- FDA reports
- 3
- InteractionsFew interactions
- In shortage
- FDA status
What the data shows
desmopressin (DDAVP) is a prescription Vasopressin Analog, with 1,464 FDA adverse-event reports on file, with 3 documented drug interactions.
Reporting volume reflects how widely a drug is used and studied, not how dangerous it is, a FAERS report documents a temporal association, never proof of cause.
desmopressin (DDAVP) is a prescription Vasopressin Analog. This medicine treats central diabetes insipidus, a condition where your body doesn't make enough of a certain hormone, causing you to urinate too much.
Desmopressin is a medicine that helps your body control how much urine it makes. It is a synthetic form of a natural hormone.
Verify with FDA → · CMS NADAC pricing →
Drug Shortage Alert
desmopressin is currently listed as in shortage by the FDA. Affected manufacturer: Ferring. Status: Unavailable.
View all drug shortages →Drug Pricing (NADAC)
Brand Price
$7.48/unit
Generic Price
$24.04/unit
Generic Available
Yes (16 manufacturers)
Pricing data from NADAC (CMS), effective December 18, 2024. Compare all drug costs →
What it does
This medicine treats central diabetes insipidus, a condition where your body doesn't make enough of a certain hormone, causing you to urinate too much.
Common side effects
Headache
Key warnings
This medicine can cause water intoxication and low sodium levels in your blood (hyponatremia).
The sections below are summarized in plain English from desmopressin's FDA-approved prescribing information. They describe what the official label says, and are not personal medical advice.
How It Works
Desmopressin works by acting like a natural hormone in your body. This hormone helps your kidneys reduce the amount of urine you produce. This helps to decrease urination and thirst.
Side Effects (from patient reports)
Based on 1,464 FDA adverse event reports.
Most-reported reactions
Adverse reactions in FAERS for desmopressin, by number of reports
- Low sodium levels in the blood
Low sodium levels in the blood
333 reports
- Headache
Headache
182 reports
- Feeling sick to your stomach
Feeling sick to your stomach
169 reports
- Feeling tired
Feeling tired
142 reports
- Throwing up
Throwing up
137 reports
- Feeling lightheaded 111
Feeling lightheaded
111 reports
- Loose stools 107
Loose stools
107 reports
- Pain 103
Pain
103 reports
- Weakness 96
Weakness
96 reports
- General feeling of discomfort 84
General feeling of discomfort
84 reports
What this shows Bars show how often each reaction was reported, not how likely it is to happen, a report records a temporal association, never proof that the drug caused it.
Serious Warnings
This medicine can cause water intoxication and low sodium levels in your blood (hyponatremia). To prevent this, follow your doctor's instructions about limiting fluid intake. Be especially careful to limit fluids from 1 hour before taking desmopressin until at least 8 hours after.
Known Drug Interactions
tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, chlorpromazine, opiate analgesics, NSAIDs, lamotrigine and carbamazepine) should be performed with caution.
Mechanism: Taking lamotrigine with desmopressin can increase the risk of your body holding onto too much water and lowering your salt levels.
tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, chlorpromazine, opiate analgesics, NSAIDs, lamotrigine and carbamazepine) should be performed with caution.
Mechanism: Carbamazepine can increase the effects of desmopressin, which may cause your body to hold onto too much water. This can lead to a dangerous drop in the salt levels in your blood.
tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, chlorpromazine, opiate analgesics, NSAIDs, lamotrigine and carbamazepine) should be performed with caution.
Mechanism: Chlorpromazine can make desmopressin more powerful, making it harder for your body to release water. This increases the risk of developing low sodium levels in your bloodstream.
This is a plain-language summary of FDA-label interaction records and does not provide individual medication-combination directions.
Common Questions
Can I drink a lot of water while taking this medicine?
What should I do if I get a headache?
Can I take this medicine if I have kidney problems?
How long will it take for this medicine to work?
Can I take this with other medicines?
What are the signs of water intoxication?
Can older adults take this medicine?
How will I know if the medicine is working?
Is desmopressin a cure for bedwetting?
What do the tablet markings mean?
What are the common side effects of desmopressin?
Does desmopressin interact with other medications?
What drug class is desmopressin?
What pregnancy or breastfeeding source fields are listed for desmopressin?
Has desmopressin been recalled?
Is desmopressin currently in shortage?
Active Recalls
Defective container: defect in a batch of bottle caps, specifically involving dislodged or missing cap liners.
Apotex Corp.
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Medication Guides
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What the FDA Data Shows for desmopressin
The FDA label for desmopressin (sold under brand names such as DDAVP) classifies it as a prescription-only medication in the Vasopressin Analog class. This medicine treats central diabetes insipidus, a condition where your body doesn't make enough of a certain hormone, causing you to urinate too much. Official labeling lists 1 commonly reported side effect, including Headache.
Post-market surveillance from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) captures real-world experience. For this drug, FAERS contains 1,464 voluntary reports. The database also lists 3 documented drug interactions derived from FDA labeling, with the top-flagged interaction rated moderate severity. NADAC pricing from CMS shows a generic unit cost of $24.04 versus $7.48 for the brand.
Report counts do not establish causation, a FAERS entry documents a temporal association, not proof that the drug produced the outcome. Widely prescribed medications naturally accumulate more reports than niche therapies, so raw totals must be interpreted alongside total exposure. Shortage status, recall history (currently 1 recall record on file), and patent information are separate source-record fields. This page is a public FDA/CMS registry and does not provide medical, treatment, substitution, or medication-change directions.
Data Sources
Drug labeling: FDA Drug Labels (SPL/DailyMed). Adverse events: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Pricing: CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC). Shortage status: FDA Drug Shortages Database.
FAERS reports are voluntary and do not establish causation. Drug interactions are derived from FDA labeling and clinical references. This registry does not provide medication decisions.
Last updated: November 13, 2025
PlainMeds is rendered directly from FDA openFDA/FAERS extracts, DailyMed labels, and CMS drug-pricing files, no number is typed in by an editor. FAERS counts, recalls, shortages, and price figures on this page are queried live from those federal extracts. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-15. Primary sources: openFDA / FAERS, DailyMed and CMS Part B ASP.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Data currency: FDA FAERS adverse-event reports through 2025, CMS NADAC acquisition-cost pricing effective December 2024, compiled from the source snapshot dated . See our methodology for per-source dates and refresh cadence. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a data issue.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FDA Orange Book - approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence. accessdata.fda.gov/cder/ob
- FDA DailyMed - NIH-hosted drug labeling for FDA-approved meds. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
- FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) - post-marketing safety surveillance. fda.gov/drugs/faers
- NLM RxNorm - standardized clinical drug nomenclature. nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/rxnorm
- CMS Medicare Part B Drug Average Sales Price Files - federal drug pricing data. cms.gov/medicare/part-b-drugs/asp
- FDA Drug Shortages Database - current and resolved drug shortage tracking. accessdata.fda.gov/drugshortages