Dopamine, Erectile Dysfunction And Libido

What is the link between dopamine, libido (sex drive) and erectile dysfunction?

First of all, dopamine is produced in your brain to motivate you to have sex. Dopamine triggers the sexual desire in you, and is therefore key for your sex drive.

Shortly thereafter, dopamine also sends messages down your spinal cord and to your penis, instructing your penis to fill with blood. Hence, dopamine is also essential for you to get erections.

In other words, you need adequate dopamine in order to both have a libido and to get erections.

And with low dopamine production, you are likely to struggle with erectile dysfunction and a low libido.

Let’s explore dopamine further.

Dopamine is a substance that will often catch people’s attention. Because it is often associated with our most sinful behaviors and secret cravings, like sex, drugs and chocolate.

Although this is true, dopamine is also a lot more than that.

For starters, dopamine is a signalling molecule that is sent by one nerve cell (or neuron) in the brain to another, in order to convey some message.

Because it transmits signals between nerve cells, it is called a neurotransmitter.

Your brain produces dopamine when you are exposed to ‘things’ that give you pleasure such as sex, drugs, food, sugars, etc.

When dopamine is produced in the brain, we feel good. We feel pleasure.

And these pleasurable sensations function as motivation. Motivation that make you seek those activities that increase the likelihood that you 1) survive, and 2) pass on your genes.

But this dopamine can sometimes be hard to handle.

Because it’s very potent!

The flush of dopamine in your brain provides you with one of the most pleasurable sensations you can experience naturally. It can therefore be an extremely strong driving force for your actions.

And this motivation can be so strong that it can even cause addiction.

In other words, you can be addicted to the flush of dopamine caused by sex, sugar, drugs, money, etc.

This is a problem caused by the modern world, where we have the opportunity to indulge in excesses that we didn’t have in the old days.

But that’s a different story..

When it comes to the experience of actually enjoying something, dopamine is still involved, but less so.

Because the experience of enjoying something, eating a good meal for instance, is also controlled by other agents called opioids.

Dopamine is also involved in certain sensations that are very different to the sensations of pleasure.

For instance, you also produce dopamine when you experiences fear and stress.

The reason?

For instance..

When you see a gorgeous woman (or man) walking down the street on a hot summer day, she will often get your attention.

You may stop your train of thought, you may even stop in the street, you may even start staring at her. As she passes you by, you may turn around to get another look.

What just happened?

When you saw her, dopamine was produced in your brain. Dopamine caused you to stop your train of thought and look twice.

But why?

Because dopamine told you to have sex with her. Now, hopefully you didn’t run up to her and try to impregnate her, but that is what dopamine wanted you to do. 

When you saw her, your brain figured that this might be a good opportunity to procreate. So it instructed dopamine to be produced. This then fired up the reward and pleasure centers of your brain. And this caused you to feel attraction to her.

So this is how dopamine starts up your libido (and hijacks your train of thought 😊). But there’s more..

Because shortly after dopamine has put the reward center of your brain on fire, dopamine also sets in motion the process that causes you to get an erection.

It then sends signals from your brain, down your spinal cord, and to the nerves in your penis. Here it instructs the enzyme nitric oxide synthase to produce the gas nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide then opens up the blood vessels in your penis so blood can flow into your penis.

And that is how the erection process is initiated.

Hence, dopamine is paramount both for your sex drive and for your ability to get erections.

And needless to say, if you produce inadequate amounts of dopamine, your sex drive is likely to be low, and you are likely to struggle with erectile dysfunction.

If you want to learn how to cure erectile dysfunction naturally, you can read this guide.

Let’s not forget about testosterone. Testosterone is your key sex hormone, and it is essential for any sexual processes to function. We can simplistically say that testosterone uses dopamine as its messenger to get tasks done.

Dopamine needs adequate amounts of testosterone in order to do its job. Therefore, if your testosterone is low, it doesn’t really matter if your dopamine levels are good.

Let’s have a quick look at findings from some research studies.

From research studies on drugs that relieve symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, there is evidence that dopamine enhances male sexual function.

Parkinson’s Disease is caused by a deficiency of dopamine. Studies have shown that when Parkinson’s Disease patients received medication that increased their dopamine levels, several of these patients noticed an increased sex drive and more frequent erections, as a side effect.

In addition, there is similar evidence from research studies on medication to treat schizophrenia.

Patients suffering from schizophrenia who were treated with medication that reduced dopamine, frequently reported side effects of decreased libido and erectile dysfunction.

Animal studies have also reported similar findings.

Dopamine deficiency can take on two distinct forms.

The first is a condition where your brain simply doesn’t produce adequate amounts of dopamine.

This can be caused by a number of factors, but depression is a common reason. Depression can disturb the balance of neurotransmitters in your brain, and hence can reduce dopamine production.

In fact any psychological issue (schizophrenia, angst, fear, etc.) can cause dopamine to fall.

Diabetes can do the same, because the excess glucose in your blood can occupy your dopamine receptors.

Also if you stress too much, don’t sleep enough, don’t get enough sunshine, or if your diet is poor, your brain may neither be able to produce adequate dopamine.

Over to the second form of ‘dopamine deficiency’.

This is a situation where there is enough dopamine in your brain, but you can’t access it.

Let me explain:

Dopamine deficiency can also occur if the dopamine receptors in your brain are unable to connect with the dopamine. So in other words, if there is something preventing this connection, dopamine cannot do its job.

Let’s say your dopamine receptors are numb, or exhausted, or even dead. If they don’t function well, then it doesn’t matter how much dopamine you have floating around your brain. Because you cannot use it.

This can happen if you over-expose yourself to some stimulation that causes excessive dopamine to be produced.

For instance, if you frequently watch pornography and masturbate, this is likely to happen.

Your brain was not designed to handle pornography. So when you expose yourself to porn and masturbate, your brain produces an incredible amount of dopamine. So much so that your dopamine receptors get overloaded. Then exhausted. Then numb. And in the end, if you continue, they can die.

At that point, it doesn’t matter how much dopamine you produce, because you can’t use it.

Therefore, there are two forms for ‘dopamine deficiency’: Not enough, and too much. 

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