A rather awkward thing to ask.

**Waidh** · 03-30-2012 04:26 PM

I have a rather awkward question about dream recall and lucidity.

Does having an orgasm right before sleeping have any effects on your ability to recall and attain lucidity? It makes me feel very tired and usually makes me fall asleep right after.

**Bimpo** · 03-30-2012 04:54 PM

when I am in bed and can't sleep
I usually think about having sex which helps me get to sleep

**Waidh** · 03-30-2012 05:59 PM

Well I'm don't mean thinking about it, I mean actually having one. Does it has any influence on your dreams afterwards?

**Fuzzman** · 03-30-2012 06:09 PM

Some people claim that having an orgasm can expend a lot of your energy, and may reduce the amount you dream or how lucid you are, but I don't know how true that is.

Here's a thread about someone who stopped masturbating and their lucid dreams increased:
http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/so-hel...ve-try-127661/

**Myke Gregory** · 03-30-2012 06:12 PM

a couple of *ahem* Tests i did showed that personnaly dreams are less vivid and harder to recall ofter orgasm.

**Enjyu** · 03-30-2012 06:31 PM

Some people say it helps with lucid dreaming, others say it makes lucid dreaming more difficult. I think it's best for you to try this out yourself. See if there are any differences in dream recall on nights you masturbated compared to nights you didn't.

Keep in mind that dream recall can also be affected by other factors (e.g. stress), so you might want to try something like masturbating for one week (at night that is, not constantly) and not masturbating the next week, and see if there are any obvious changes in dream recall.

You also might want to wait until you have regular lucid dreams before trying this. It might be, for example, that masturbating before going to sleep increases dream recall, but decreases lucidity.

**Evolventity** · 04-01-2012 09:04 PM

Make it an experiment, Waidh, record your results and post them online.

**DinoSawr** · 04-02-2012 03:56 AM

Originally Posted by Enjyu

...so you might want to try something like masturbating for one week (at night that is, not constantly) and not masturbating the next week....

Wait, did you say not constantly?

Oh...

*cough*

Well this is awkward.

**Mancon** · 04-02-2012 05:59 AM

There have been so many more awkward things people have asked...don't worry about it. 0.0

Anyway I believe it does not have an affect on how many dreams you recall and your chance of being lucid. It might affect some people, but like other said make an experiment and see for yourself.

**Waidh** · 04-08-2012 10:36 PM

Okay, I underwent a couple of tests and I can say that on days that I did not masturbate before going to sleep I was able to recall a dream. Which I couldn't on evenings that I did do it.

However! My recall is really badly and could easily be influenced by other factors.

**DinoSawr** · 04-09-2012 12:36 AM

Chances are that after shaking your meat, you were tired and passed out rather than having a chance to relax before going to bed. I've noticed that when I wind down and think about dreaming before I go to sleep I remember my dreams in the morning.

**Zoth** · 04-09-2012 12:45 AM

We need proper testing in this, it's not something you can find by yourself since there are so many factors into play. The even placebo of "I will have better recall because I did not masturbate" is important one.
It's true that although you spend energy reaching an orgasm, it also releases "pleasure" substances into your organism, which can lead to a higher state of relaxation when going to bed. Masturbation is really healthy so in my opinion don't think too much about it. Besides, holding it when you feel "horny" can stress you and lead to sexual content dreams, and in the other hand, it might have no impact.

In conclusion: it's not because you masturbate that you won't have a good recall. So don't worry about when you do it.

**Waidh** · 04-09-2012 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by zoth00

We need proper testing in this, it's not something you can find by yourself since there are so many factors into play. The even placebo of "I will have better recall because I did not masturbate" is important one.
It's true that although you spend energy reaching an orgasm, it also releases "pleasure" substances into your organism, which can lead to a higher state of relaxation when going to bed. Masturbation is really healthy so in my opinion don't think too much about it. Besides, holding it when you feel "horny" can stress you and lead to sexual content dreams, and in the other hand, it might have no impact.

In conclusion: it's not because you masturbate that you won't have a good recall. So don't worry about when you do it.

Well, I ran another test last night and I can confirm I did not recall anything. But there are indeed many factors which have to be taken in account.

**hermine_hesse** · 04-10-2012 02:08 AM

I haven't noticed any difference in my recall and lucidity if I have sex right before bed. I just try not to fall directly to sleep. I get up, have a glass of water, go back to bed and do my normal meditation/intentions before sleep and WBTB throughout the night. It does help with not having distracting dream sex in the middle of the lucid when I'm trying to accomplish a goal.

**saltyseedog** · 04-10-2012 02:48 AM

Masturbation is a sort of energy release and you will have less energy for dreaming. Dreams are more vivid and you have better control when you have more energy.