Why Do Women Get Tired After An Orgasm? (Reasons & Guide)

Have you ever felt the need to fall asleep after an intimate session? Well, you are not alone. Many women end up getting tired after sex.

And the reasons for this aren’t as obvious as you might think.

Of course, physical exertion plays a role. After all, sex leads to an increase in heart rate, not all that different from what is achieved during exercise.

There are also a variety of other reasons for feeling a bit drowsy after achieving orgasm.

But what happens to the female body during orgasm to cause this? In this article, we’ll look at all the reasons for post-coital drowsiness.

We’ll also look into just how exhausting orgasms can be, especially when taking into account the effects of multiple female orgasms.

What this article covers:

Why Do Women Get Tired After an Orgasm?
Just How Exhausting Are Orgasms for Women?

Why Do Women Get Tired After an Orgasm?

Women get tired after orgasm due to physical exertion, emotional reasons, neurochemicals, or changes in brain activity.

Let’s look at each of these reasons in more detail below.

Physical Exertion

Physical exertion is probably the most common and obvious reason for feeling tired after having intercourse or achieving orgasm.

This is also a big factor when having sex or masturbating after a long day of work, which is when most people do it.

And you don’t need to have a rough sex session to become physically exerted.

It also does not depend on how long female orgasms last.

Sex qualifies as cardio because your blood pressure and blood flow increase and endorphins are released.

This also means people with underlying heart problems may experience orgasms as extra tiring.

Heightened Emotions

In addition, sex, and even masturbation, can also be an emotionally charged activity.

This is why some people orgasm as a way of releasing stress, one of the biggest benefits of a female orgasm.

Others may experience intense and intimate feelings towards their partner during intercourse.

If you know what a female orgasm is like, you will know that you can experience intense relief from built-up stress and emotion, which may be tiring.

It is no wonder then that you may feel a bit depleted after experiencing an orgasm.

Release of Neurochemicals

Sex can also be exhausting due to the blend of neurochemicals that are released during an orgasm.

As mentioned earlier, endorphins are released when women experience an orgasm. Oxytocin, another feel-good chemical, is also released.

These chemicals may leave you feeling happy and excited at first but as soon as they wear off, especially during the refractory period between orgasms, or after an orgasm, you may feel a bit spent.

Oxytocin is also often accompanied by a release of melatonin, which is the primary hormone regulating our internal clocks, contributing to feelings of sleepiness.

During this process, cortisol (also known as the stress hormone) levels are also reduced, contributing to a relaxed state of mind.

Apart from these chemicals, vasopressin, and serotonin, amongst others, are also released.

As with any activity that releases feel-good hormones, the result may be drowsiness and a general feeling of satisfaction. Which may explain the fatigue you experience after experiencing an orgasm.

Changes in Brain Activity

Some research supports the idea that feeling tired after sex is the result of the cerebral cortex, which shuts off during orgasm.

During this phase, the amygdala and cingulate cortex alert the rest of the brain to suppress sexual desire.

This may be why the French dubbed orgasms “la petite mort”, which translates to “little death”.

After it happens, everything goes into slumber mode.

Just How Exhausting Are Orgasms for Women?

Your level of post-orgasm exhaustion depends on your response to the neurochemicals and a variety of other factors.

Your response to the release of neurochemicals may vary and some only get released at the point of orgasm.

This is why people experience varying degrees of drowsiness after sex, ranging from feeling a little bit sleepy to completely passing out.

In fact, for some women, the inverse may be true and they may become energized from an orgasm.

This is merely a reaction to the release of adrenaline.

Some women are more sensitive to the effects of adrenaline whereas others will respond more to the sedative effects of the neurochemicals they release.

So, the exhaustion level after orgasm is largely based on an individual’s response to a cocktail of neurochemicals.

The level of exhaustion after sex or masturbation can also be dependent on how long it takes a woman to orgasm and how long her orgasm lasts.

For some women, any orgasm can be very tiring. for others, only intense sexual experiences, especially those associated with extreme physical exertion or a heightened emotional experience, may lead to drowsiness.

In this regard, some women who experience multiple orgasms may become more tired than someone experiencing only one.

A recent study has also reported that sex is more exhausting for women than men.

The study is grounded in evolutionary science and suggests women feel more sleepy because sex increases their chances of conceiving.

But, the study did not stipulate whether orgasms are a necessary ingredient for inducing sleepiness after intercourse.

Conclusion

By now, it should be clear that there is more than one reason for women to feel a bit drowsy after experiencing an orgasm.

Feelings of exhaustion may be the result of physical exertion, heightened emotions, a complex release of neurochemicals, or changes in brain activity.

The good thing is that it is completely normal to feel tired after sex and you should not take it as an insult or a bad sign if you feel a bit sleepy after an orgasm.

This is something a lot of women experience despite the level of frequency of their sexual activity and orgasms.

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