Cerebrovascular Hypothesis

[existentialdrifter]

Hey All,

New to this site but a longtime lurker.

So I'm 30 years old and have had POIS for the past couple of years (at least really noticeably). I tend to have mostly neurological problems, brain fog, eye problems, speech and comprehension issues, etc.. also have some sinus problems with it as well.

At any rate awhile back I had read a post here where someone had mentioned the idea that what many of us might be experiencing is some kind of blood vessel spasming in the brain with orgasm. This is also consistent with those of us (like me) who get shorter-lasting but similar issues to POIS with exercise or stress or whatever.

From my own research I've discovered that there are definitely mentions in medical literature of people having sometimes serious vascular issues and headaches, etc after sexual activity..

But more relevantly I've been reading about this particular condition known as "Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_cerebral_vasoconstriction_syndrome


What's interesting about it is how this seems to somewhat parallel descriptions of POIS.

For instance sufferers will apparently, following high altitude excursions--exercise or sexual activity-- have neurological symptoms, photophobia, aphasia, visual disturbances, headaches, etc and all of these symptoms disappear within a few weeks.. 

Lending my own anecdotal evidence to this connection I've recently discovered that melatonin supplementation (before orgasm at night) significantly reduces my symptoms the next day..

And lo and behold check out this study pointing to how melatonin helps mitigate harm from cerebral vasospasm..

Anyways it seems to me like a reasonable hypothesis, Anyways I'd be curious to know what other people thought about this idea.

Thanks

[existentialdrifter]

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-0221/8/06/C06004

[nanna1]

Hi existentialdrifter,

  I was diagnosed with a saccular aneurysm by my previous neurologist (summary of MRI angiogram, MRA). So you could be on to something. My current neurologist is convinced that the aneurysm is too small to cause my symptoms, but he could be wrong. The majority of my medical test results can be found here (http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2683.msg24039#msg24039).

  Test results from other members can be found here (http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2684.msg23787#msg23787).

[Hopeoneday]

Intresting Nana. My logic talk to me that yours  aneurysm can be significly incrised in sexual actiwity and exerscise combination, because is well know that some of us hawe enormes "vasocontriction" in an after sexuall activity, thouse posile incrisment of eneuraysm in brain can be triger for cascade of yours symptomes.
When my nerovs sistem is "damaged" in pois specualy i hawe big fast yerkings of my legs fingers  but specialy left side.

[dizzy]

Interesting. I've had some success with vinpocetine, which is said to increase cerebral circulation.

What dose of melatonin are you taking?

[existentialdrifter]

Hi nanna,

Sorry to hear about the aneurysm. Thanks for sharing all the info on your medical journey.

Indeed I wonder if there's a connection there. It's striking that your symptoms occur mostly on one side of your body. I hope your neurologist is at least duly concerned about that..

It certainly can be frustrating to not have better answers from doctors. I just finally had a meeting with a couple of neurologists who basically just sort of shrugged their shoulders.

Although I am getting an MRI and it sounds like they'll be consulting with a movement disorder specialist--since I also have some issues with movement and dystonia, separate from POIS (at least I think so)

Its funny but a lot of my issues initially stemmed from psychiatric medication that I was on when I was younger. With that reversible vasoconstriction thing, apparently ssris are thought to be one cause.

I was on a few antidepressants over the years, and like many others, had periods of sexual dysfunction while I was on them. I tend to wonder if there's also maybe a connection there..


@dizzy

Interesting indeed! good to know about vinpocetine--glad it helps--

I've been taking melatonin for a year or two for other reasons, and because I reach tolerance after awhile I always up the dose (and eventually do a reset periodically)

At the moment I'm taking 20mgs but I noticed the benefit back when I was on maybe 10mgs.

Although I imagine if you haven't been taking it an even lower dose would have the same benefit, since I think the body can only take in a small amount of melatonin at once..

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/melatonin-dosage-and-risks_us_56deff8ce4b03a40567a1e1e


(For me it just happened to be the first time with O at night since I began taking melatonin)

[Muon]

My grandma had an aneurysm alongside other weird symptoms. There is in general overlap of symptoms between family members of my mother's side.

Just sharing an idea: Mast cell activation in the vascular wall

Contribution of Mast Cells to Cerebral Aneurysm Formation:
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cnr/2010/00000007/00000002/art00004

Cerebral vasospasm: presence of mast cells in human cerebral arteries after aneurysm rupture Preliminary note:
http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/jns.1981.54.6.0733

Review of Cerebral Aneurysm Formation, Growth, and Rupture:
http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/44/12/3613.full

[existentialdrifter]

@Muon

Interesting, thanks for the info.

My grandmother also had vascular issues--had a couple of strokes, and one at a relatively young age--so there's some possible hereditary stuff for me too. A fair amount of neurological issues too on that side of the family.

Anyways don't know much about mast cells, only that they're an element in inflammation and allergies, didn't realize they could play a part in aneurysms. That's fascinating and useful to know in researching this idea, thanks again!