loss of morning erections and how to get them back

Loss of morning erections and how to get them back

Ever wondered why you get morning wood? Or why you have stopped getting morning wood on a regular basis?

Waking up with an erection on a regular basis is a good sign that your testosterone levels are at their peak. The higher your testosterone levels are the easier it is to get an erection.

A lack of morning erections or none can be a sign of:

Low testosterone levels Low nitric oxide levels You having porn introduced erectile dysfunction



There was a period of my life where I was only sleeping 4 to 6 hours a night at best. After a couple months I noticed I wasn’t waking up with any morning erections . It didn’t help I was waking up at 3am as well to start work.

I knew what was happening, my health took a slight decline along with my sex drive. My lifestyle had to change. I valued my health and sex life too much to continue with this poor lifestyle (which was due to my job). After some lifestyle changes. It’s safe to say my health has never been better. I am always improving thanks to experimenting with some lifestyle and nutritional changes which I want to share with you in this post.

So Why do we get morning wood/erections?

Morning wood, or known by its scientific name “nocturnal penile tumescence “(NPT) occurs during our REM sleep cycle. This is when, norepinephrine becomes less active. Which opens up blood vessels and increases circulation throughout our body including to the penis.

The extra blood flow means more oxygen for all parts of our bodies, which is important for standard maintenance and repair. So during REM sleep, our brain isn’t paying attention which could lead our penis to go rogue and do what it wants.

How to get your morning erections back

1: Increase your testosterone levels

It is very important to have high testosterone levels. Testosterone is commonly associated with masculinity and it is commonly referred to as the male hormone, even though women produce it in smaller amounts. This hormone is responsible for everything from the deeper voices that men have to the development of lean muscle mass.

There is a collation between having no morning wood and low testosterone levels. If your testosterone levels are low there is less chance of having erections. Our testosterone levels should be peaking in the morning. If you have low Test levels there is a good chance you won’t have peak testosterone levels in the morning. Therefor no morning erections.

When testosterone levels drop, blood sugar levels usually rise and arteries harden quickly when you have too much sugar in your blood. And hard arteries make soft erections.

Also, Low-t also causes insomnia in many men and nothing will terminate morning wood faster than poor sleep patterns (more on this below). Low testosterone is also a marker for obesity, metabolic syndrome and estrogen dominance, all which have a direct impact on your ability to achieve an erection.

If you are not sure if you have low testosterone levels check out this post for a better understanding of the symptoms of having low T levels (Signs of low and high testosterone levels).

2: Increase your Nitric Oxide levels

It’s also been suggested that morning wood is triggered by the release of nitric oxide (NO). NO is released by cells that line the inside of blood vessels which then diffuses into smooth muscle, causing it to relax. This also causes blood vessels to dilate, hence increasing blood flow to the penis creating, an erection.

REM sleep triggers a cascade of events that ultimately lead to NO release by nerve fibers. This is also regulated by androgens such as testosterone.

There are many ways to increase nitric oxide production such as:

Avoid eating high-fat meals

Eating high-fat meals lead to temporary disruption of production of nitric oxide which is produced in the inner lining of the arteries. To maintain optimal testosterone and nitric oxide levels avoid these foods (link).

Increase Icariin intake

Icariin helps with boosting the amount of nitric oxide within the cells that are found in the interior wall of blood vessels. This allows the blood to flow through the blood vessels with less resistance throughout the circulatory system, making it easier to obtain an erection. This was shown to be the same effect as Viagra in a research study performed in 2006.(Ning et al 2006). Icariin is the active ingredient in Horny Goat weed which also helps increase libido and testosterone levels.

Exercise regularly

Excising regularly can boost your baseline nitric oxide levels. I suggest doing High-intensity interval training which has proven to cause short bursts of testosterone levels during and after your workout. This provides your body with less stress and more chance to recover and repair at a faster rate all while burning fat long after your workout.

Increase quality of sleep

Nitric oxide is released during the REM cycle of sleep which is actually hardest cycle to reach during sleep. So sleep quality is a major factor when trying to bring back morning erections. There are many ways to increase your quality of sleep which could be figured out with some common sense. For some awesome tips for better sleep check out my post (Sleeping Hacks For increased sex drive and testosterone levels).



There are many other ways to boost nitric oxide production such as:

Having a healthy diet and eating foods that promote nitric oxide production – Some good food sources are dark chocolate , pomegranate juice , walnuts, spinach, and oranges.

walnuts, spinach, and oranges. Reducing body fat

Increasing testosterone levels

Here are some good posts that can guide you on how to boost nitric oxide production:

3: You have porn introduced ED

Morning wood is often lost in men addicted to porn. Not because of blood flow issues but because of problems with the brain. I have also had slight porn introduced ED in the past which I fixed in about 3 months.

Porn releases endorphins within the brain providing similar feel-good feelings as doing drugs. Anything that releases endorphins is very easy to become addicted to such as porn.

The problem is that the more you watch porn the more you desensitize your brain from real interactions with women. This interrupts the natural connection between the brain and penis. Your brain becomes so used to being rewarded with endorphin’s every time you watch porn when you do have real interactions with women you don’t respond as well due to your brain being desensitized.

This mismatch with your brain and the penis will make it harder to get turned on by real interactions with women or harder to have spontaneous erections

Once this mismatch is created between your brain and your penis, you’ll likely lose your morning wood entirely as well. Especially if you don’t take steps to get the porn out of our your life. One of the best books that can help you understand and beat porn addiction is Your brain on porn.

Read Your brain on porn reviews In summary Loss of morning wood should be taken seriously especially if they use to occur on a regular basis. You may have one or more of the issues mentioned above. This is okay because these can be corrected with some lifestyle changes. For methods on how to increase testosterone production and erection quality feel free to check out more posts on this website.

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