Sex Advice with Suzi Godson: She wakes me during the night for sex - I’m exhausted

My girlfriend keeps waking up in the middle of the night and wanting sex — it is great in theory, but it’s wearing me out. It used to be a rarity, but now it happens at least once a week. She seems able to get back to sleep quite easily, but I really struggle. I am exhausted.

Sex in general, and orgasm in particular, is very soporific, so it is unusual that you find it so difficult to get back to sleep afterwards. The tendency for men to fall asleep straight after sex has been joked about for aeons, although it has only recently been explained scientifically.

In 2012 research by the French neuroscientist Serge Stoleru revealed that male ejaculation switches off the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is associated with consciousness, alertness and mental activity.