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.
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