Love Hangover

Saturday's Aftermath - 10 floggers lay in an array (each flogger was used for 10 minutes)

Saturday night Serafina and I have an especially long and intense scene.  It was a marvelous evening, even if I don't have the energy to describe it for you right now. There's a reason I don't have the energy . . . Basically, I feel hungover, despite the fact that I didn't drink a single drop of any alcoholic beverage.

What I'm here to write about today is a phenomena most commonly known as "subdrop" - a physical and mental condition that can effect dominants too.

Subdrop is a condition that seems to be directly related to the intensity of a BDSM scene.  The heavier the play, the more deeply an individual goes into subspace, the more likely it is that they will experience at least mild symptoms of sub drop.  That's also true for dominants, just substitute the word "top" for "sub".  The heavier a dominant goes into "topspace" the more likely they will experience "top drop".

It's been suggested by some that those two conditions are a long term result of the large endorphin release associated with subspace / topspace, which then depletes the body's stores of those chemicals.  At it's essence, it takes some time for the body to recover from the intensity of a scene, and during that recovery period, it's common to experience a variety of unusual and somewhat unpleasant feelings.

Essentially, it's like feeling hungover after a night of partying, although to my experience, it more closely resembles the day after an LSD trip.  That makes a lot of sense to me, because I long ago found similarities between the mental states of subspace/topspace and a mild acid trip.

Like a true hangover, there are measures a person can take to help minimize the effect of top drop / subdrop, such as staying well hydrated, which is essential to preventing the morning after headache.  But, even with preparation and planning, some effects are probably unavoidable.

And some of what I'm feeling today has nothing to do with endorphins, instead it's just a case of over exertion.  I don't swing floggers for 100 minutes every day, not even once a week generally, so it's not terribly surprising that my right arm is tender and tired from the night's exertion.

But the light buzzing in my head that I felt for an entire day after our scene, the inability to concentrate or write effectively, the desperate desire I felt to just crawl back into bed and sleep the day away, those are all symptoms of top drop.

In the end, the physical and mental effects are temporary, but the memory of Saturday night will remain forever.  I may not particularly enjoy the effects of top drop, but it's not enough to deter me at all from giving my slave/wife all the dominant attention she so richly deserves.  I'd wager that Serafina's ass is ready for more right now . . .

If only I could actually raise my right arm over my shoulder, she'd be getting one tonight.  Instead, she'll have to wait for my dear friend Arthritis S. Tylenol to come and work it's magic . . .