text: why do men (temporarily for a few hours) lose their sex drive after having sex? do we acually lose our hormones and have to wait for them to build up again, or is there some other reason? its called the refractory period and it can last anywhere from minutes to a day.  it is not that you lose your hormones (in fact, testosterone levels actually rise after orgasm), instead, during an orgasm certain hormones are released into your system which suppress further sexual arousal.    the amount of the hormone released determines how long the refractory period will be.  once the hormones are gone, there is nothing preventing you from being sexually aroused again and you will be able to have sex again.    hope this helps.