Ever wonder what it is about sex that makes men want to pass out immediately afterwards? Yeah, we feel you.
To find out why the hell dudes can go from doing the humpty dance to assuming the horizontal position, we asked the experts, "What's up with that?"
You can thank the hormone prolactin for that male post-coital sleepiness, says Men’s Health sleep advisor W. Christopher Winter, M.D. Prolactin suppresses dopamine—a stimulating neurotransmitter that makes you feel awake, he explains. And his body releases it in spades when he splooges. Your body, however, doesn’t produce nearly as much, says Winter.
The “feel-good” hormone oxytocin also surges during sex, which helps squash any stressful thoughts from his mind and makes it easier for him to relax and fall asleep afterward. And (fun fact) if you have sex with the lights out, it signals to your body’s internal clock that it’s time for bed. When that happens, the hormone melatonin ignites his sleep cycle.
When prolactin, oxytocin, and melatonin all come together, it's basically the natural version of any serious sleeping pill—and he's in for a fantastic snooze. While that's great for him, if you've got stuff to do, like cuddle, run errands, or really anything that's not sleeping, hanging with a zombie S.O. isn't ideal.
To keep your post-sex time from looking like Weekend at Bernie's, make sure you pick a sex position that’s not horizontal, says Winter. Sure, it obvious, but lying on your back signals to your body that it’s time to sleep.
Another way to fight his sex coma: Do it with the lights on. That way, he won’t kick-start his sleep cycle, he says.
Winter's final tip is to get out of bed once you’re finished. Over your lifetime, your brain has come to associate the bed as a location for dozing. So it'll be nearly impossible for him to fight the urge to hit the hay if you just lie there quietly. So maybe move the snuggle party to the couch.
This article was written by Cassie Shortsleeve and provided by our partners at Men’s Health.
SOURCE: Womenshealthmag
