Sleep and steroids

"Is sleep important when Iam on steroids?"

Adequate and good quality sleep is essential for sportspeople. Many healing processes and anabolic activities occur more efficiently while sleeping. Moreover, a good night's sleep means feeling refreshed and energetic the next day.

All hormones influence sleep quality, and testosterone is no exception. Anabolic steroids, sharing many properties of testosterone, can also affect sleep quality. Although, fortunately, it seems that anabolic steroids only have limited relation to sleep quality.

Sleep and testosterone

One cannot understand how steroids influence sleep quality without exploring the relationship between sleep and testosterone. Studies show that the level of testosterone (thus its intrinsic production) increases during sleep. It seems that testosterone levels keep rising for the first 2-3 hours of sleep before reaching the peak. This peak level of testosterone is maintained for the rest of the night. During the day, testosterone levels gradually fall and are at lower levels by afternoon. During the day, the body keeps releasing testosterone in bursts every 90 minutes or so.

Since testosterone levels increase during sleep, it means that anything that affects sleep patterns may have a negative influence on testosterone levels.

People living with sleep disorders tend to have lower testosterone levels and fertility. In older adults, insufficient sleep is one of the contributing factors to low testosterone levels. On the other hand, fragmented sleep in middle-aged men may also lower testosterone levels.

Testosterone is good for sleep. Its adequate amount in the blood may improve sleep quality. However, studies also show that excess testosterone may cause frequent awakening and worsen sleep quality. It means that both insufficient and excessive testosterone may alter sleep quality.

Sleep and anabolic steroids

From numerous studies in men, researchers have established beyond any doubt that both low and high testosterone is bad for sleep quality. Since anabolic steroids are like testosterone, their intake will alter sleep patterns.

Prolonged use of steroids may cause mood disorders, adverse changes in the brain. This may make falling asleep more difficult, change sleep architecture, reduce the quality of sleep. Many clinical studies confirm that anabolic steroids can alter sleep quality.

Fortunately, when going through these clinical trials, it seems that anabolic steroids have minimal impact on sleep quality and that too in a small number of cases. It means that when used wisely, anabolic steroids may not cause many sleep problems in most men.

In fact, in some individuals, anabolic steroids may even help improve sleep quality like those living with obesity, specific emotional issues due to poor physique.

To conclude, one may keep in mind that anabolic steroids can alter sleep quality. However, they may not adversely impact sleep quality in all cases. It also seems that the influence of steroids on sleep quality is small, and most users will barely notice that ever. Nevertheless, the impact on sleep quality may be pretty significant in those using steroids at higher dosing or those stacking steroids.