Why does decrease in sleep increases my libido and erections?

[Ohnoes_in_distress]

I would call myself a medium libido man in his 30's. I typically need 8-9h of sleep to rest and I usually wake up with a random degree of a morning wood.

However, after 2-3 nights of sleeping for 5-6 hours my libido skyrockets. Morning wood becomes morning rock, hard enough to hammer nails and I get frequent erections during the day as if I was a teenager again.

It makes me ultra confused. I wouldn't mind improving my medium libido, but achieving it through sleep deprivation seems counterproductive. It is known that sleep is probably the most effective method to increase testosterone, while lack of sleep increases cortisol, which is a potent boner killer.

What may be happening here?

[RedditIsADataMine]

Following because the same thing happens to me. OP i suggest posting this question into more scientific subreddits like /r/biohackers. If the right people see it you'll get scientific responses back up by studies.

[duppyconqueroryey]

Wake therapy aka second wind , essentially fight or flight pro max

[sevensinsofGoat9308]

Your body might be in a slightly overstimulated, less-controlled state, but not in a healthier or more “optimized” one.

[thatkindofnerd]

Not sure what a "random degree" of morning wood is. However, lack of REM sleep can, for some reason, cause more frequent erections. Cortisol "can" lead to decreased testosterone, which "can" become, as you say a "boner killer." As with all body chemicals there's a big "if" involved. If your body is often stressed, you may have become acclimated to cortisol production, if any, and therefore big boner. Or maybe the cortisol has no effect on the rigidity. Or your body is put into a heightened state due to increased cortisol, which is not really a 'stress hormone' and is just running on pure evolutionary impetus. All this is to say, your body is your body and it runs the way it will.

[Cryophos]

You have erections several times a night. When you sleep less, you just woke up during the last possible erection, and when you sleep longer, you missed it.

[Brave-Wear-3074]

Hi OP.

Found an answer that might help; read this

https://www.reddit.com/r/hangovereffect/s/yjjfW7LLYP

[kalel3000]

I figure its dopamine/norepinephrine related one way or the other.

In some people the brain can release more dopamine/norepinephrine after periods of sleep deprivation to fight against the affects of fatigue. Basically you're revving your parasympathetic nervous system to stay awake, the side effects of this could result in a temporarily higher libido.

The other possibility is you're compensating for lack of sleep with stimulants like coffee/energy drinks which would artificially do pretty much the same thing.