[bengalltigerr]

Great post hydrogonian. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. I neither drink nor smoke.
2. My sleeping pattern is very screwed-up, most nights I go to sleep at 4:30 am and I usually wake up really late, around 12 pm, but on weekends I wake up at around 3 pm. I know I gotta change the sleeping pattern, I'm working on it.
3. I do eat saturated fats (ground beef,peanuts, choc-chip cookies,etc)
4.My last meal is usually around 11.30 pm, so it's really really late.

I don't jerk off more than twice a week, in fact now I am limiting myself to once a week. I was thinking about getting a massage.

I went to the doctor today. He thinks that my irregular sleep pattern could have lowered my testosterone levels, he also feels that I may have UTI, but he ruled out blood-flow problems.
On 23rd I'll have my testosterone levels checked.

[hydrogonian]

Alright, in my opinion, the single largest probable casue of your hormone defficiency is your sleep habits.

I'd bet money on it.

I used to have serious insomnia issues, as well as migraine issues that were interelated to the insomnia, before I learned how to counter these symtoms. As I before stated, some sexual response dysfucntion was a secondary symptom.

What that means is that I became very atuned to what sleep does for a body, and what differnet sleep patterns do to the body. Learn from my past suffering.

Here's my personal model for health as it's related to sleep, which I beleive is roughly accurate for all men:

1. Sleep is not only the period of time wherein anabolic hormone production occurs, but also the time in which your body counters inflammation. Anabolic hormone production and inflammation management are interelated. Too much inflammation, and your hormone levels will decline. Too much catabolic hormone production (reverse of anabolic) causes excessive inflammation.

2. As I before stated, the earlier to sleep the better. I fast sometimes, and during those times when I want to get the optimal benefit from sleep, I aim for a 9 pm bedtime. However, I shoot for between 9-10 pm as a realistic goal. Every hour after 10 pm I consider to be eating into my optimum hormone production during sleep. If you have to go to bed at 11 or 12, then so be it, but just keep the model in mind, with the 10 pm cutoff as being the maximum cutoff for optimal production. If you go to be past 12, and you have a health issue, you aren't trying hard enough to fix your issue. Frankly, 11 pm shouldnt be a problem for most people to adjust to. Shoot for between 9 and 10 should you see ANY health issue as pressing and worthy of fast intervention.

3a. 4 AM is the latest time to go to bed to get a signinficant amount of hormone production at all. Personally, I can't go to be past 3 without feeling like shit the next day. But, 4 is the cutoff where I feel that you are really endangering your health should you make a habit out of it. Why?

3b. well, I personally beleive that sleep is controlled by very slight temperature fluctuations in the brain, where sleep is initiated by a circadian rhythm that initiates a drop in temparature and therefore a drop in inflammation. I beleive that the relative ability of your brain to drop into this anti-inflammatory state of slightly decreased temperature (the deeper the better) is the degree to which you will produce anablic male sex hormones.

Here's the thing: there is a point in time at night where your circadian rhythm begins the process of increasing the temperature again. This is the process of waking up. It should happen slowly, over a period of four hours or so, but insomniacs tend to wake immdediately. In my experience, the body is set to begin waking up very close to 4 AM. This means that the natural circadian rhythm of , in my opinion, most men, determines that the male brain is programmed to stop hormone production almost exactly at 4 AM.

This means that you are going to bed, consistently, after your body was suppsoed to start and stop your anabolic hormone production. That's why when I heard that your normal bedtime is after 4 AM, it made it imemdiately obvious to me that this is very likely your issue.

IMO, your also setting yourself up for other old men issues, born out of hormone defficency or imbalance, like heart disease (especially with the late eating), and perhaps some other terrifying issues like anxiety attack, heart arrithymia, nervous disorders, or even depression because of your consistent extreme late hours. However, Im not a Doctor and you shouldn't take this as medical advice. Also, everyone is different. But, we do acknowledge that you have at least one symptom that currently worries you.

Correcting your dinner schedule will play a large role in being able to wind down enough to go to bed earlier. Eating that late is just fueling your brain to go until 4.

I whole-heartedly recommend the book:

"Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival" by Wiley

as one of the top health books that I've ever read and and as book that directly addresses this very issue. Its a game changer as far as perspective on health is concerned. You'll find it enlightening and invaluable.

[bengalltigerr]

Thank you hydrogonian! I will try to sleep by 12 from tomorrow.

[_DC_]

Hydrogonian,

This all sounds interesting. Does this 9PM rule presume a normal work schedule, e.g. getting up for a normal 9-5 job?

The question is, does this hormonal imbalance stem from a lack of sleep or an erratic sleep cycle rather than defined hours of the day/night?

I ask because I don't sleep til 3-4am also, but I always get a consistent and sound ~8 hours of sleep. Its been this way for years.

I can obviously see why getting up at 8am on weekdays and then 1 or 2pm on weekends could screw with things. Or else only getting 6 hours of sleep at night (staying up late, getting up early).

[FretDancer]

Amazing post Hydro. I have been struggling with early sleep for the rest of my life, and I have decided to change it once and for all.

What are your thoughts on sleeping with music/ambient sounds? Does it help you sleep better or worse?

[hydrogonian]

(01-16-2012 08:24 PM)bengalltigerr Wrote:  

Thank you hydrogonian! I will try to sleep by 12 from tomorrow.

Yeah, that's a rational goal. I think you'll find yourself able to adjust within a couple of days. Also, try and stop internet / television at least a half hour before bed. They both stimulate your brain to a great degree, via the intense light that enters through your eye, and I alwyas realize better sleep when I follow this practice.

After you adjust to midnight, try to bump it back one more hour to 11 PM. But, baby steps first.

(01-16-2012 09:01 PM)_DC_ Wrote:  

Hydrogonian,

This all sounds interesting. Does this 9PM rule presume a normal work schedule, e.g. getting up for a normal 9-5 job?

The question is, does this hormonal imbalance stem from a lack of sleep or an erratic sleep cycle rather than defined hours of the day/night?

I ask because I don't sleep til 3-4am also, but I always get a consistent and sound ~8 hours of sleep. Its been this way for years.

I can obviously see why getting up at 8am on weekdays and then 1 or 2pm on weekends could screw with things. Or else only getting 6 hours of sleep at night (staying up late, getting up early).

Yeah, it presumes a normal schedule. But, to answer your next question, the hormone imbalance definately stems from defined hours, unfortunately. Of course, lack of sleep takes precedent. No matter what time you go to bed, if you don't sleep long enough, you'll be in trouble. But assuming 8 hours, then I have found that the 24 hour clock does matter. I suspect it has to do with how your brain resets itself due to the light signals that it gets from the sun. Some people, like second and third shift workers, can shift their clock enough to function, even to where it feels normal, but in my eperiments with trying to do that, nothing ever quite equals the sleep quality that occurs when the natural sleep schedule is adhered to that is roughly in sync with the rising and the setting of the sun. Who knows, there may be other subtle signals that work on your brain to maintain that natural circadian rhythm, such as changes in magnetic fields at night versus during daytime hours. Its hard to know, and I don't think science understands the circadian clock compeltely.

If you are going to bed between 3 and 4 as a consistent lifestyle schedule, then its my opinion that this raises the disease risk in men over time. It'll probably lead to faster aging due to the decreased capacity for inflammation defense in addition to lower sex hormones. That's just my opinion based in my experience with my own body and what I know of a little but of research (see the book that I recommended - its heavily footnoted).

(01-16-2012 09:52 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  

Amazing post Hydro. I have been struggling with early sleep for the rest of my life, and I have decided to change it once and for all.

What are your thoughts on sleeping with music/ambient sounds? Does it help you sleep better or worse?

Good question, and I have a definate answer that I feel quite certain about - based on my experience. White noise/ambient sounds CAN lead to faster sleep, due to its hypnotic effect, but it certainly leads to WORSE sleep for me. When I say 'worse', I mean sleep that is not as deep as it could be based on my subjective criteria for what good, deep sleep is. For instance, when I know that my sleep will be normal to good, based on how I feel, if I have some type of white noise device then I feel that it leads to sub-par sleep every time. The REM part of sleep seems to hit a floor, below which I can't go. I ALWAYS get up and turn the machine off, which is most often a fan for me, to go back and realize deeper sleep. The fan is ususally on if I'm in unbearable heat with no AC. I always use AC for this reason, when its available.

Music isn't as bad because it changes, which somehow seems to matter in it not having quite the same sleep limiting effect, and it often ends sometime after your asleep. If it doesn't end, I invariably get up to shut it off - as it does eventually disturb me. For some reason, the repetitive white noise is the worst in terms of keeping my mind on 'alert' and physically preventing it from getting maximum deep sleep.

I used to depend on music to go to sleep in my early twenties, and your mind can become dependent on it. I recommend that you break your mind of the necessity for sound to sleep. First, becasue you can. Second, becasue of the possibility of shallower sleep.

[hydrogonian]

Another important tip is that if your going to take any type of sleep aid, they will inhibit your hormone production if you take them at night. My technique is to take all medication or other sleep aids after 4 AM. Its a strict rule for me, and I find that I can still get the maximum benefit from sleep, even if I take a sleep aid, if I wait until after 4 AM to take it. (As opposed to taking a sleep aid that puts you to sleep, but you don't feel well rested upon waking) It's rare that I wake up before four, if Im having trouble sleeping, with the average time being 4-530 AM if I awake early at all. Anytime before 3, I feel that you interrupt your bodies ability to regenrate those important hormones - perhaps due to the extra stress on the liver or kidneys, but Im not entirely sure. I just know that this rule works for me.

If your in an emergency situation for some reason (you feel really ill and unable to sleep, you have a test or work and you fear that you will NOT get to sleep in enough time to get 8 hours, etc) then take the sleep aids at night during the emergency. Otherwise, follow the 4 AM rule and the other tips to normalize your sleep schedule. I only take sleep aids when I have migraine issues, these days.

Strong morning erections are a good, loose measurement of your nightime hormone production. In short, you should get them every morning and they should be significant. If you don't on any morning inparticular, look for behavior that prevented it (going to be too late, drinking, drugs, sleep aids before 4 AM, sex at night, too much emotional stress, eating too late at night, etc.)

[hydrogonian]

This is likely my last tip, but it works very well and so I wanted to post it.

If you need to calm your mind, or other part of your physiology like your heart or breathing, especially for the prupose of falling asleep, then try this method out. It can take the place of sleep aids easily, and works better in many instances. I also use it after working out to slow my heart and breath rate.

Breathing Method:

1. Take a very deep breath. For however long it takes you to breath in, aim for at least twice as long of an exhalation. The goal is to make the exhalation as long as possible. If you can do it without getting out of breath, then 4-5 times longer or more is great.

2. At no point in time will breathing become labored or unnatural. This means that you shouldn't get out of breath at any point in time. If you have to gasp for the next breath, then your doing it wrong. Your continued breathing should be slow and natural, with no uncomfortable breath shortness. Sometimes I hold the breath at the top, or let it out slower at the top, becasue I can hold my breath for a log time without getting out of breath, and I only breath out when I feel that the breath out will take about as long as the oxygen supply tht I have left. This is fine as long as you don't stress your system with a shortness of breath at any time, but it is by no means necessary. It's just a personal variation. A normal, albeit slower, breathing cadence is fine. Breathing should be slow, unlabored, and natural.

3. Keep doing it until you get bored or tired.

Here's the thing, you won't feel 'sleepy' from doing this. There won't be a realization of the fact that it has made you more ready for sleep. However, all of a sudden, you'll be asleep. That's just how it works. Its tough to beleive that it works, even right after you do it, until you wake up the next day.

Its a great technique for reducing stress, anxiety, physical pain, a racing heart or shortness of breath, and, of course, for sleep.

I think that it works by increasing the carbon dioxide in your system, but that's just a guess. There are a lot of benefits to that, supposedly. Think of it as the most physiologically effective way to approach the "deep breathing" that is so popular with certain crowds.

[FretDancer]

Golden stuff Hydro! Will try your breathing tip tonight early to bed

[bengalltigerr]

My Serum testosterone level is 675 ng/dl (above average), I have no blood flow problem whatsoever.
The doctor is almost certain that I have no physiological problem, but yet he wanted to prescribe Cialis, but I declined and told him that I'd try supplementing L-citrulline (precursor of arginine) and Pycnogenol (antitoxidant) first.

[bengalltigerr]

So yesterday I banged this not so good-looking Brazilian Blonde, she did have a big butt, but other than that there is nothing special about her. I was not really attracted to her, but I did get hard and was able to maintain the erection for five minutes and then it went AWAY. I even took 3g L-arginine an hour before fucking her, and refrained from masturbating for nearly two weeks. My sex drive is the lowest it's ever been.

[Caligula]

It must be nervousness or something similar if there's no physiological problem.

I read somewhere that pressure to perform is the leading cause of this problem among younger men.

[bengalltigerr]

I believe there might be physiological problems! It could be nerve damage from super-tight condoms. Back in October, I started wearing super-tight condoms, and my erections were fine, but after wearing those couple of weeks, my erections got weaker and harder to maintain, and here I am today.

[babelfish669]

You didn't cum for 2 weeks, and then you lost your boner 5 minutes in? Your testosterone must be at rock bottom levels. Thats more than a sleep issue.

[Moma]

bengaltiger - Final thing, try supplementing with zinc. One tab 5mg a day, report back in two weeks. If you still flopping, then it is definitely a psychological thing. One more thing, when you go bareback (raw), do you also come up soft?

[bengalltigerr]

My testosterone level is higher than most people at 686 ng/dl.

Moma, I've been taking 30mg zinc daily for the last 5 months. When I go go bareback, I can usually maintain the erection. However, I haven't raw-dogged in a long time. It usually takes around 30 minutes for me to cum without a condom,and I think it takes so long because I am circumcised.

[Smitty]

Are you actually turned on when you're trying to fuck these women? Are you horny for them? Or just going through the ringer to try and bust a nut?

[bengalltigerr]

(02-19-2012 08:51 PM)Smitty Wrote:  

Are you actually turned on when you're trying to fuck these women? Are you horny for them? Or just going through the ringer to try and bust a nut?

The foreplay turned me on, and I did get hard initially. However, her face was quite a turn-off. From now on, I'll stay away from anything under a 7.

[kosko]

Ill fuck down to 5's lol. 5 is that grey zone where she's got mad flaws but a passable face or body.

First time bangs are a write off tho, I've stopped even caring about how I perform because I realized it just makes things worse. I have the EXACT same issues as you man, like your testimonials have been me thru out the years. Its all physiological, your doctor does not know shit. Its a deep down wiring issue, I have been getting better simply not caring, working on my breathing, and taking myself away from the moment. I am far from perfect but my erection problems have been non-exsistant lately. I still supplement with arginine but have been off it for a week now to cycle off.

I do appreciate your honesty in these posts, I gave you a hard time earlier but I am happy to see you being pro-active and seeing some gains. Its a fucked up puzzle to try and solve. My mind is a garbage dump full of demons and ramifications from too much porn, if I can make positive strides then you can also.

Great posts on sleep too by Hydro, this another thing I need to get in check! I have always thought that humans sleep patters are wired to sun cycles, it makes too much sense. So maybe does this mean that kids and elders sleep longer for growth and regeneration purposes?

[_GQ_]

What is a good generic brand of viagra available on the internet? I'm going to be fucking two at the same time pretty soon and I want to fuck them hard for hours to seal the deal on a regular thing.

[Acute Angle]

(02-06-2013 06:24 PM)_GQ_ Wrote:  

What is a good generic brand of viagra available on the internet? I'm going to be fucking two at the same time pretty soon and I want to fuck them hard for hours to seal the deal on a regular thing.

I've used Kamagra with good results in the past, but I prefer generic Cialis (Tadalafil) because it lasts 36hrs or more. A good generic is Tadacip, or Forzest.

[_GQ_]

What's the difference between Cialis and Viagra? Which one is more potent?

[billbudsocket]

I tried Cialis this past weekend, took 1 20mg pill, didn't care for the headache it gave me the first day but was kinda interesting getting wood super easy over the next 48 hours.

[Acute Angle]

(02-07-2013 10:58 AM)_GQ_ Wrote:  

What's the difference between Cialis and Viagra? Which one is more potent?

Both are PDE5 inhibitors which means they increase blood flow to the penis. They are not aphrodisiacs - their effect is purely 'hydraulic' rather than libidinal.

Viagra takes effect fast (within a few minutes if you take the gel) and wears off relatively quickly (3 or 4 hours). It is also less effective when taken with food. Common side effects are headache and stuffy nose.

Cialis takes effect slowly, maybe 4 to 6 hours, but can be taken with food and it lasts so, so long, maybe 36 to 48 hours. A low dose of 2.5 or 5mg has been tested and approved for long-term daily dosing, rather than on-demand. Possible side-effects include headache and muscle pain, which abate as you get accustomed to the drug. There is some evidence that cialis may reduce the incidence of prostate enlargement. It may even have a slightly anti-depressive effect, but that's not been investigated properly.

Both can be somewhat psychologically addictive, in my view.

[Freedom]

How do you deal with getting soft while in bed with a girl? Mainly, what do you tell the girl if you think that it's her and not you? Hold on a second now... Before you answer let me explain in detail... We're both naked and the girl is definitely attractive. I do get hard from foreplay especially kissing but I think the problem is the condom and the girl being a fish. Right after I put on a condom and pump for a few minutes I can explode, but rather make the session longer so I pull out. I'll switch positions and get softer and sometimes too soft.

Also let me tell you, why I think it's not me. I banged an ex-g/f many times without getting soft b/c she was a freak in bed and turned me on a lot by talking dirty and blowing me throughout. So back to the situation with a new girl, if you're not getting head and she doesn't reciprocate with dirty talk, but just lies like a fish, what do you do?

Since it's happened 2-3 times, I would explain, I just jerk off to get hard again and tell the girl that it's b/c of the condom and she says "that's okay, we'll do it another day" but I am not done. Are there better solutions? Perhaps I should say "suck my dick" or "do a sexy dance to turn me on again"?