Is the lack of morning erections a sign of a physical problem or could it also be psychological?

Symptoms Sexual
#1

Is it a huge problem and does it determine erectile dysfunction?

Since quitting fin just over a year ago i would say ive had about 5 erections (various sizes) just upon waking. Though my erections throughout my days are improving slowly which is good.

Also does poor quality sleep and stress cause this? I don’t think my mind totally switches off when i go to sleep due to all my worries and stresses. As a result my quality of sleep is not restful and don’t wake up with an erection. Either that or fin caused a physical problem, i’m confused!

#2

Morning erections (which are actually just nocturnal erections – Nocturnal Penile Tumescence – upon waking) are typically correlated with Free Testosterone levels.

antonioaversa.net/public/PDF/42.pdf
antonioaversa.net/public/PDF/4.pdf

Low free T – less nocturnal/morning erections.
High free T – more frequent nocturnal/morning erections.

#3

Nice pick up Mew!

#4

I see. My testosterone levels turned out good, so i’m confused as to why i rarely get erections upon waking…

#5

maybe you are waking up after your last erection happened already,a morning erection is basically your last nocturnal erection.Many guys are in such a deep sleep that they dont realize they are even getting them.

#6

‘maybe you are waking up after your last erection happened already,a morning erection is basically your last nocturnal erection.Many guys are in such a deep sleep that they dont realize they are even getting them.’

Maybe. But before taking finesteride just over a year ago i was getting thick morning erections upon waking every day. Now i do usually get one (though not as thick) say few minutes after waking. Its weird i tend to wake up feeling exhausted, as though i’ve woken too early.

However, i must point out that for just over a week i have had some erections upon waking, though they are not as full as pre fin this is looking like a good sign. I’m not going to keep my hopes up just yet though, will see how it goes over next few weeks…

#7

It can be physical or psychological. I have read ( sorry I don’t have resources) and my therapist I use to see also told me that in extreme cases psychological issues will overide nocturnal erections.

#8

I have good morning erection… but I’m not having any erections during the day time… Is this due to testosterone level… I was off the fin 3 weeks back and I still didn’t take any blood tests… I just want to give it some time…

#9

I find that ZMA helps with morning wood, but the last few days I’ve tried 5-HTP at night with the zma which would boost my serotonin up quite a bit (the B-6 in the ZMA would boost the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin). I had very vivid dreams which are rare for me, and crazy morning wood. I have secondary hypogonadism and my free t is low. I think that morning wood might have more to do with dreaming and “sleep quality” than testosterone levels to be honest.
There also looks to be no real correlation between libido and morning wood for me either. There’s been a few times where I was very horny and had no morning wood to speak of.

#10

In numerous published papers, morning erections are correlated with Testosterone, and more specifically, Free Testosterone levels.

This can be verified by reviewing the studies posted previously in this thread and further literature: scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en& … stosterone

#11

jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/conten … /80/6/1934

“Thus, finasteride did not consistently suppress sleep-related erections compared to placebo”

sciencedirect.com/science?_o … 26b21b0fca

" These results indicate that, whereas androgen reduction adversely affects sleep-related erections, it does not eliminate them over a 12-week trial in healthy young adult men. Further study in a larger sample is needed. Nonetheless, these preliminary findings support androgen having an important role in sleep-related erections."

springerlink.com/content/rk463974x17ltv86/

“The mean of all hormonal determinations for the five subjects did not show significant differences in plasma LH and testosterone between fully and partially tumescent episodes and nontumescent periods”

Basically it’s not as simple as more free T = more morning wood. REM sleep plays a role, and serotonin would increase that, which is what I experienced. I don’t think it increased my T however, as serotonin would decrease it if anything. It’s a combination of REM and T that seems to cause the erection, and my T hasn’t changed (well as much as I can feel) but my REM definitely increased.

#12

Absolutely REM sleep plays a role – and GABA-A is implicated in playing a role in enabling REM sleep to occur.

Finasteride disrupts the GABA-A pathway via inhibition of neurosteroids, and many guys here have reported disrupted sleep/wake cycles and lack of deep, refreshing sleep or dreams (REM) while on/after Fin.

Serotonin may factor in as well, but in terms of documented effects of Finasteride, the GABA-A connection is quite prominent. Either way, sounds like you had some success with your regimen, which is great.

#13

I am aware of the allopregnanllone, gabaa connection, but if anything it’s effect on sleep would be it acting on serotonin levels. Which brings up interesting connotations regarding the effect of FIN on serotonin. Personally as it stands right now I’m a strong believer in the FIN side effects being caused almost entirely by alterations in neurotransmitter levels. Hence you have people with high or normal T but still have sexual issues. But anyway I’ll save that for a thread I plan to make in the future after some more research.

#14

Are you suggesting that through Finasteride’s effects on GABA-A, that this would affect serotonin levels?

If so, can you provide research that substantiates this statement? Just curious why you believe in what you are proposing… but as you mentioned, that would best be served by a seperate thread once you’ve had a chance to research further.

Cheers.

#15

What is ZMA?

#16

No sorry that’s not what I meant. Though after you mentioned that I found this: neuro.cjb.net/cgi/content/abstract/21/17/6502 Which doesn’t surprise me a whole lot, even with my super vivid dreams and mronign wood I haven’t felt any better and maybe a little worse. But it might just be I’m taking too much and it’s converting to melatonin and making me groggy in the morning.

I meant that if anything the issue with fin users and reduced dreams would be resulting for depressed serotonin levels.
B6 alone increased REM and causes more vivid dreams, the theory is it increases conversion of precursors to serotonin. I backed that up by taking 5-htp alone and it caused better dreams, but when combined with ZMA (contains B6) I had very strong dreams and very strong nocturnal erections.

ZMA is a supplement typically used by athletes to boost testosterone levels, though studies on that are mixed. All it is, is a specific mix of Zinc, Magnesium and B6.