'I masturbated every day for a week to fix my sleep schedule. Here's exactly what happened next.'

For many years, I have struggled with getting a good night’s sleep. This has always been partly self-inflicted. Late nights finishing off a Netflix binge or making the grave mistake of enjoying a 4pm iced coffee. It’s something I’m sure we can all relate to!

But with my Apple Watch constantly reminding me that I definitely wasn’t hitting my eight-hour sleep goal and falling short by two hours consistently, I knew something had to change. 

So, when I came across a study about how orgasming can help you sleep better, I was intrigued to give it a go. Plus, my city was in a two-week COVID lockdown. More free time stuck at home with nothing to do? Perfect! Masturbating every day for a week was a great way to pass time and boost my mood.

Watch: How are women having sex? The juiciest results from the Mamamia Sex Survey. Post continues after video.

Before embarking on my journey, I was curious to find out more about the link between orgasms and sleep. In the study, 54.1 per cent of participants reported improved sleep quality and 47.4 per cent reported improved sleep onset from masturbation. The odds were looking pretty good.

When investigating further into the science behind it, I found that your body releases a fun hormone called oxytocin when you orgasm. Oxytocin is also known as the ‘Love Hormone’ and has been proven to counteract stress hormones, which helps you fall asleep.

As someone who works in the sex toy industry, I was already armed with a plethora of tools to help me do the job. So there was no excuse! In fact, I also used it as an experiment to see whether different sex toys had different effects on my ability to get to sleep.

And so the masturbating began…

My week of masturbating every day before bed started out a little slower than expected. Lockdown was a great excuse for getting my vibe on, BUT I had forgotten one important detail: Living with five other flatmates who were also in lockdown, meant that I had to keep things on the down-low!

Image: AdultMegaStore + Mamamia 

Luckily, I knew my Satisfyer Curvy was pretty quiet on the noise front. The Satisfyer Curvy 1+ is my current holy-grail sex toy. I even rate it higher than the Satisfyer Pro 2! So of course, I had it charged up by my bedside table ready to go. The first night felt a little forced. I wasn’t in the mood, but science called! And the pressure waves of the Curvy were enough to get me in the mood and ready for dreamland.

It’s hard to say whether there was any change to my sleep on the first night. But after the second and third, I was starting to feel like my time asleep was more restful. I was experiencing more "deep" sleep according to my Apple Watch, not the kind of sleep when you wake up if someone turns the hallway light on.

Apparently, your brain also releases serotonin when you orgasm, which is known to promote a better mood and relaxation. I was falling asleep feeling happy and relaxed, and it was showing.

Halfway through the week, I noticed my energy levels were a lot higher in the morning too. As an overthinker, the main thing that was helping my sleep was the reduced stress. From my reading, I knew this was thanks to the release of oxytocin when you orgasm! Masturbating before bed was the perfect thing to focus on and help clear my mind! Why had I not tried this more before?

Image: AdultMegaStore + Mamamia. 

Later in the week, I retired the Curvy for another favourite - my Le Wand Petite Rechargeable Massager. 

If you’re someone who needs a lot of power and enjoys external stimulation, the Le Wand is a great pick. It was perfect to add some extra power later in the week when I was starting to feel a little tired! The extra powerful vibrations were exactly what I needed to get in the mood. 

Plus, the Le Wand is as good as those massage guns you see advertised by fitness influencers. So it’s perfect for relieving stress in multiple ways... An orgasm and a relaxing massage? Yes, please!

Image: AdultMegaStore + Mamamia. 

I ended my week-long experiment with a bang, pulling out Kama by Share Satisfaction. Boy does this toy hit the spot! It's no wonder it's a current best-seller. 

With both internal and external stimulation, it provides an experience like no other. Kama has both internal vibration and clitoral suction. I only use the suction, with the shaft inserted but the vibrations off. 

This helps me focus on the clitoral stimulation. And TBH, I can’t even get past level three. This thing is insane! And led to a particularly great night’s rest.

The verdict?

As I’m sure you can imagine, masturbating every day definitely wasn’t the hardest task, but I was sceptical whether it would actually make a difference. The results were a happy surprise!

Orgasming before bed helped me feel more relaxed and helped me fall asleep a lot faster than usual. The main thing was that it helped reduce my stress levels. 

Focusing on something other than Instagram or TikTok before bed made a difference, and it was also nice to end my day with self-love and self-care beyond the usual face mask and a scented candle. 

People often overlook how much self-pleasure can improve your mood and health. My night routine would consist of mindless scrolling until my eyes were too tired to stay open. So this was a welcome change.

Psst! Have a listen of this episode of Sealed Section, Mamamia's sex podcast. Post continues after audio.

Mixing it up by using different sex toys kept things interesting, and at the end of the week, my Apple watch showed an ‘average time asleep’ of seven hours and 45 minutes, compared to the previous week’s six hours and 50-minute average. Now, I’m not sure how accurate relying on a watch is... BUT this seems like great progress to me!

While I’m not sure I’ll continue with masturbating every night, this experiment was a great way to wind down and reminded me that you do need a little downtime at the end of the day. Whether you decide to masturbate, read a book, take a long bubble bath, do some yoga… It’s up to you!

This experiment also helped me appreciate the power of pleasure and orgasms. Sexual pleasure is a vital part of our health and wellbeing, and it can do wonders for our bodies. I think this experiment proves that self-pleasure is self-care!

Feature Image: Supplied + Mamamia.

Review by Georgia May, adult toy expert and reviewer at Adulttoymegastore. She’s always on top of the latest trends in the adult toy industry and is an early adopter for what’s new and trending. View Georgia’s articles here.