This podcast is for you, the Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne Truong,

your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor and best

selling author of the book, Erectile Dysfunction Fix. I'll

do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how

it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get

started, and be sure to visit my website at

sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and

resources from the show. See you on the inside.

Hello there, Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne Truong, I'm a sexual health

specialist. I treated over 7000 men. In this episode, we're

going to talk about what is the relationship between sleep and

your morning erection. Because, as you all know, morning

erection is kind of like your best thing. Kind of like you

wake up and you're like, are you there? Are you awake? Are you

alive? And it's also your barometer on how you're doing.

And I know it's important for men, because you start having it

in puberty, and you have it throughout your life, and when

you don't have it, you kind of miss it, right? Let me know what

you think.

Well, morning erection, or the formal medical term is called

nocturnal penile tumescent (NPT). So they are normal

physiological phenomena that occur during sleep, and

particularly REM sleep or rapid eye movement. It is considered a

sign of healthy vascular and neurological function in the

penis. So what I'm trying to say is, when you have morning wood,

it is considered that everything is working down there. You have

healthy vascular system. You have healthy neurological

system. However, the absence of morning erection can have

multiple causes, both benign and pathological. We're just gonna

focus on sleep today. There are many other factors that will

affect your morning erection, but let's focus on sleep as

something that is so simple, but yet so pivotal in your life, and

particularly for your sex life, for every day. Because if you

don't sleep well, you're not going to function that day or

the day after. Sleep is like blinking your eye. It is a must.

Now consider this so the normal sleep cycle is common to wake up

without an erection, but if awakening does not coincide with

REM sleep, then your morning erection may not appear. So

we're going to talk about common causes for no morning erection.

So sleep, it's important. We'll dive into that later. Number two

is aging. So the frequency and rigidity of morning erection

tend to decrease with age due to natural decline in testosterone

and changes in your erection tissue such as age related

atrophy, collagen or scar tissue development that leads to venous

leakage. I have talked about it in my previous episode about

what venous leakage is. So check it out here. So sleep quality

and disturbances, what it does is that it disrupts your

circadian rhythm and can really, really disrupt the mechanic of

your morning erection. Now other physical condition can affect

your morning erection, such as diabetes, heart condition, high

blood pressure, kidney disease, nerve disorder and Peyronie's

disease. Of course, low testosterone could contribute,

but it's not the only reason. Something to consider,

medications, such as high blood pressure medication,

antidepressant, tranquilizer like anxiety medication,

appetite suppressant. I know appetite suppressants are kind

of the big deal now where people are taking it to lose weight,

but that will also affect your morning erection. And medication

for enlarged prostate will affect your morning wood, as

well as any type of painkillers. Depression, anxiety will play a

role into this. And I gotta mention lifestyle factors such

as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, overweight and

sedentary lifestyle can really impact the vascular health of

blood flow, which then will reduce morning erection.

Now the absence of morning erection is not always a cause

for concern, especially it occurs with aging. But if it is

persistent loss of morning erection and accompanied by

erectile dysfunction during sexual activity may indicate

underlying vascular nerve or hormone that really need an

evaluation with your doctor. Now when to seek advice? Well, you

seek advice is when you have persistent loss of morning

erection with ED. And the first thing you should do is to get

blood work and to really look at your diet, your exercise, your

weight. Are you smoking? How much alcohol you're drinking,

like I talk about my other episode here as well.

So let's dive a little bit into sleep. How does REM sleep affect

morning erection? Rapid eye movement or REM sleep play a

central role because it often happens during sleep, of course,

but that is when dreaming is most common. Dreaming only

occurs in REM sleep. The body experiences a shift from

sympathetic, which is fight or flight, to parasympathetic,

which is rest and digest. Parasympathetic is where you get

your erection. That's where you are relaxed, you want to be in

parasympathetic for morning wood an erection. Sympathetic takes

away your erection. So the parasympathetic nervous system,

especially the nerve that around the pelvic area, stimulate blood

flow to the penis. So REM sleep, stimulate the parasympathetic.

Number two is that men typically experience multiple REM cycle

through the night, and with each REM phase, an erection can occur

4 to 6 times each night, lasting 5 to about 30 minutes. So mother

nature is already helping you exercise your penis at nighttime

as many as 4 to 6 times a night. And what happen is that REM

sleep get longer towards the morning, and the likelihood of

waking up during or just after an REM phase increases. That's

how morning wood is more noticeable in the morning. You

may not notice Morning Wood at nighttime. So during REM sleep,

inhibitory signals from the brain in the area called the

locus coeruleus are reduced. So it's reduced, allowing more

excitatory testosterone mediated pathway to induce an erection.

So the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system

during REM sleep leads to smooth muscle relaxation and also

opening of the penis artery and therefore increasing blood flow

and erection. Now interestingly, testosterone levels are the

highest also in early morning, and also contribute to the

frequency and rigidity of the morning wood. Although it's not

the primary driver at this point, it's really the driver is

REM sleep. So the clinical significance is that the

presence of morning wood is a sign of healthy nerve, healthy

vascular system, and that the absence may indicate issues with

your sleep, your hormones and your vascular and your nerve

health.

Okay, Modern Man, you are not alone and you don't have to

suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even

defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of

not feeling like yourself is exhausting. But here's the

truth, you are not broken. You are not alone. You don't have to

figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost Program

is your step by step, path to sexual confidence and

restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and

error, just real solution, real result and the confidence you

deserve. It's time to take back your power on your term. Let's

get this journey started together. Check out the course

at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there.

Now, I'm gonna give you some tips in today's episode to how

to improve your REM sleep. Because more REM sleep, more

morning wood, more testosterone, more erection, and better

erection. So number one, maintain a consistent sleep

schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day,

including the weekends. This regularity helps regulate your

circadian rhythm and ensure you cycle through all your sleep

stages, including REM sleep.

Number two, prioritize sleep duration. REM sleep increases in

the second half of the night, so getting enough sleep, usually

around seven to nine hours for adult is crucial. Short sleep

duration can significantly reduce REM sleep.

Number three, optimize your sleep environment. Keep the

bedroom dark, quiet and cool, ideally cool to 60 to 67 degrees

Fahrenheit. I know that's kind of cool, and your partner may

complain, because I'm always kind of cold nature. Right now

it's 70 degrees, I'm sitting here with a jacket on. So you

got to talk with your partner how much you want to lower that

temperature down to, because I'm always fighting with my husband

when it's around like 67, 65 degrees. But coolness will

actually help you sleep better. And then you can add blackout

curtain, and you can also add white noise machine. Yes, white

noise machines. I'm gonna leave you a link for blackout curtain

and white noise machine in the episode description, because I

use a white noise machine to actually sleep, and also use

that in my office. Also use comfortable bedding on your bed

to minimize this disturbance that can fragment your REM

sleep.

And, number four, avoid substances that disrupt REM

sleep. Yes alcohol. Limit or avoid alcohol before going to

bed, because it could suppress REM sleep by 25%. As well as

caffeine and nicotine, which are stimulant that would delay REM

onset and reduce its duration. So do not take caffeine or

nicotine, at least 6 to 8 hours before bedtime. Yes, 6 to 8

hours. Believe me, I am a caffeine drink or two. I know

that I have to probably stop at around 3pm if I want to have my

good REM sleep.

Number five, establish a relaxing bedtime routine,

meaning engaging in calming activity before bed, such as

reading, not on your iPad or on your phone, no screen. Just

reading simple old fashioned take out a book or newspaper or

magazine to read. Or even listening to soft music or

taking a warm bath or practicing gentle stretching exercises. But

avoid screen time. Avoid anything that stimulates your

brain, especially blue light. That's what comes from the

screen. That will also interrupt your sleep. So avoid the blue

light and screen time, guys.

Number six, exercise regularly, because moderate exercise, which

is about 30 minutes 4 to 5 times a week, or total 150 minutes per

week, is associated with improved sleep quality and more

REM sleep. But avoid intense workout close to bedtime, I

would say, probably not like at least 4 hours before you go to

bed, because it can be very stimulating.

Number seven, manage stress and mental health. So what that

means is that stress and anxiety can really disrupt your REM

sleep. Haven't you noticed sometime when you're kind of

stressed? You know, sleep throughout the night, you keep

waking up. Next day, you wake up more tired, because that's what

happened. You didn't get your REM sleep. So what you can do is

meditation, and then you can also do yoga practices, will

really minimize the stress. And also, if you have sleep apnea,

you need to use your equipment or get diagnosed and control the

sleep apnea.

Number nine, dietary consideration such as consuming

foods rich in magnesium, which is spinach and almond and

tryptophan, which is Turkey, bananas and eggs, may really

support sleep quality, and indirectly benefit sleep. Now I

take a magnesium supplement at nighttime because I don't really

have a lot of time during the daytime to eat a lot of these

vegetables or even eat turkey. So I'll put my favorite

magnesium supplement that I take myself at nighttime. So my

husband and I, we take magnesium and a melatonin chewable for our

sleep routine.

And then number ten, my favorite, replace your old

bedding. Uncomfortable pillows or mattresses can cause

disruption in your sleep. So updating the bedding or fine

sheets, like satin sheet, satin sheet helps with skin, help with

your hair, even satin pillows, I'll put that recommendation

here in my Amazon store. See all these links. And just even

putting a little bit essential oil on the bedding may also

help.

So these are the 10 tips to improve your REM sleep that will

give you better morning erection. Doing better

improvement in your testosterone and better erection overall. So

I hope you find this helpful, and I really, really want to

make sure that I give you all the tools that you need to get

out of ED. So it will mean the world to me if you subscribe to

the channel, get notification, share it with somebody that you

feel may benefit from this. And know that you do not have to

suffer with ED in silence. They're all alternatives to ED.

That's why I created the Modern Man Club to give you the pathway

to get out of ED and the support that you need for things that

really work, to avoid all the confusion that's out there in

the internet. The Modern Man Club is here for you. Check it

out at noedman.com and also know that there are options.

Having said that, I will see you in the next episode, modern man.

And just know that we together can create a sexual revolution

to help men and women have the best sexual health. See you in

the next episode.

Okay, Modern Man, you are not alone and you don't have to

suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even

defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of

not feeling like yourself is exhausting. But here's the

truth, you are not broken. You are not alone. You don't have to

figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost Program

is your step by step, path to sexual confidence and

restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and

error, just real solution, real result and the confidence you

deserve. It's time to take back your power on your term. Let's

get this journey started together. Check out the course

at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there.

Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men Podcast.

If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your

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what's great for you and I would love to give you the most

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get the book, The Five Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When

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can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you until

next time.