The Relationship Between Sleep Quality And Sexual Function In Men

Does sleep affect your erections? Does it have an impact on your sex drive? The short answer is – yes! Your body needs sleep to be strong and healthy. When it comes to sexual function, however, a few hours of zzz can accomplish a lot more than that.

Researchers have long been intrigued by the link between sufficient sleep and sexual performance in guys. Here are some of their most enlightening findings.

More Sleep, More Sex?

It’s obvious that people who haven’t slept enough and who are subjected to chronic stress will not get in the mood for sex easily. After all, sex is a physical activity. It requires energy and it requires a bit of stamina.

In men, sleep plays a very important role when it comes to reproductive health.

The first and the most important element to examine is testosterone. The primary male sexual hormone regulates fertility and it also has an impact on the male libido. Large quantities of testosterone are produced during the night and in one’s sleep. Several studies confirm the link.

Analysis from 2011 involved 28 men who were subjected to sleep deprivation. For eight days, the volunteers were allowed to sleep solely for five hours per night after they were previously allowed to sleep for 10 hours per night over the course of three days.

Researchers found out that the testosterone levels of the volunteers were significantly lower after the sleep restriction. The decrease was anywhere between 10 to 15 percent in comparison to the testosterone levels measured during the period featuring sufficient sleep.

Another experiment was carried out in Brazil in 2011. Researchers had once again established lower levels of testosterone in the men who didn’t get a sufficient number of sleep hours per night.

Thus, it’s obvious that in order to have more sex, you have to enjoy a bigger number of sleep hours. Insufficient testosterone production is a powerful libido killer, plus being underslept doesn’t allow you to recover from chronic stress (which messes up with your hormones even further).

Sleep And Your Erections

The lack of sleep can affect a lot more than your sex drive.

Experts still don’t have a specific idea about the manners in which sleep quality and erectile function are linked. There’s been some research that the lack of sleep doesn’t just cause people to be too tired to have sex. Often, they’ll be incapable of performing.

Urologists have long been telling older men who suffer from mild erectile dysfunction to try having sex at a time of the day when they’re most rested. It doesn’t have to necessarily happen in the evening. For some, having sex in the morning leads to much more satisfactory experiences.

While there still isn’t an explanation, a couple of studies demonstrate the claims mentioned in this section.

One of the studies was presented in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2005.

The clinical trial involved 3,363 men who were asked to reply to questionnaires after visiting a clinic for erectile dysfunction. Of the men, 870 of the volunteers suffered from moderate to severe ED.

Researchers established a link between sleep disorders and erectile dysfunction in these men. The results were taken after men with other risk factors for erectile dysfunction were excluded from the experiment.

Other sleep disorders could also possibly have a link to ED. The national sleep foundation https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/possible-link-between-sleep-apnea-and-erectile-dysfunction reported there could possibly be a link between sleep apnea and ED.

Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person stops breathing for short periods of time during the night. It’s most commonly caused by being overweight or obese.

The study involved 870 men who went through a cardiac screening program. Of these men, 63 percent suffered from obstructive sleep apnea. Most of them experienced erection problems, as well. The good news for the sufferers was that the therapy for sleep apnea (continuous airway pressure therapy) also reduces the symptoms of erectile dysfunction.

The Link Between Lack Of Sleep And Depression

The obvious ways in which the lack of sleep affects one’s sexual function have been examined already. Unfortunately, not giving your body a chance to rest properly can produce much bigger problems than that.

Insomnia and depression are linked to each other. Researchers aren’t certain whether insomnia causes depression or the other way around but the connection is there.

Depression is a condition that manifests itself in a number of emotional and physiological ways. It can have a profoundly negative impact on one’s libido. In addition, anti-depression medications have also been known to cause sexual problems in men.

Sleep deprivation can increase the likelihood of experiencing anxiety and even depression. As you can see, the lack of sleep can destroy your health in so many profound ways. A healthy schedule is essential – if necessary, you should get in the habit of going to bed earlier. The faster you internalize this schedule, the easier it will be to get enough sleep.

Is Your Sexual Judgment Good Enough?

Being underslept can affect you sexually in more than one ways. We’ll take a look at one more interesting impact it can have.

It’s been well-established that men who are underslept can misjudge the sexual interest of a woman.

Researchers worked with a group of 60 university students. The men’s behavior was examined after quality sleep and after a night of sleep deprivation. In order to judge their behavior, researchers asked the volunteers to fill out a questionnaire.

When the volunteers hadn’t had enough sleep, they tended to judge the sexual interest that women had in them as much higher than it actually was. This is so because the lack of sleep affects the functioning of the brain’s frontal lobe – the one linked to reasoning and risk-taking.

Researchers reported that the effect of alcohol on the frontal lobe was much similar, causing guys to often engage in risky sexual behavior.

So, all of this information indicates that a healthy sex life requires enough sleep. This is particularly true for the men who have a stressful job (being subjected to chronic stress) and the ones who are experiencing some kind of sexual dysfunction.

Before rushing to the conclusion that your sexual function is poor due to insufficient sleep, you should see your doctor. Often times, sexual problems are caused by other health issues. A few simple exams will be used to rule out common medical problems. If you happen to be perfectly healthy, you can consider lifestyle changes like getting more sleep per night.