Online Jessie Pinkman
Re: Post Orgasmic Illness Syndrome (POIS)
« Reply #20195 on: Today at 23:13:34 »
I registered to the forum to add my story to the growing list of people suffering from POIS.
I have, what I consider to be, the worst case of POIS I have ever read about. I am not entirely sure when it started, and it has steadily gotten worse as I have aged. I think it began right around 2003-2004 when I was 19-20.
My symptoms after orgasm:
Passing blood and undigested food in the stool (I visibly shake while digesting a meal because I can feel it irritating the intestines)
Severe stomach ulcers and acid reflux
Sharp pains in the large intestine
Severe back muscle pain and fatigue (cannot stand for more than 1-2 minutes without feeling like I will pass out)
Severe, debilitating social anxiety (cannot look people in the eye)
Severe speech impediment (cannot pronounce certain letters and words and my sentences can become word salad)
Itchy/water eyes
Insomnia/lack of dreams
Memory loss (can become dementia-like if I push it too far)
Triggers:
Foods that increase the libido increase the symptoms. Even an increase in sexual drive makes me sick now whether I orgasm or not. The orgasm just multiplies the symptoms 1000-fold.
Here is my story (it is long, sorry):
In 2000, I took a strong course of Accutane that, I believe, did permanent and severe damage to my body. I developed severe suicidal depression while on this drug that partially reversed after stopping it. However, I also noticed weird symptoms the following year including vertigo while walking. I also became allergic to the sun, an allergy that lasted about 5 years. I would break out in an itchy rash on any part of my body exposed to the sun. Thankfully, that allergy disappeared.
I am 36 now, about to be 37. I did not graduate high school in 2002. Instead, I toiled away in retail for nearly a decade. I am an introvert who does not handle confrontation well, so retail was severely stressful for me. Combine this with alcoholism from 2002-2007, eating disorders, as well as other sources of severe psychological stress, and you have a recipe for extreme disaster.
In 2003-2004, I developed bowel changes (severe constipation) along with severe mental illness that was never officially diagnosed but involves delusions, panic attacks, and extreme depression, though not suicidal like it was with the Accutane. At this time, I noticed that sporadically, I would be unable to speak properly. I could not pronounce certain letters and would slur my speech despite being sober, particularly in stressful situations. In January of 2005, I smoked weed and had a massive panic attack that sent me to the ER. After this, I had severe panic attacks regularly for several years, including one that literally lasted 3 straight days. In January of 2006, I developed severe reactive hypoglycemia that would see my blood sugar drop into the upper 30’s or low 40’s after a meal (documented with a glucose meter).
In 2007, I was far less educated on biochemistry than I am today (I am now a biomedical scientist after having returned to school in 2011). I ignorantly assumed that I was intolerant to all carbohydrates and attempted to eat a ketogenic diet. This is the point in time at which the POIS became apparent. I remember it very clearly, early in the ketogenic diet, I developed excruciating pain in my stomach and my speech impediment became much more severe after orgasms. I also developed an inability to look people in the eye and could not socialize at all. I did not make the connection to orgasms at this time because I was orgasming multiple times per day which prevented any break in the symptoms.
I ditched the ketogenic diet after a few months, but this made the hypoglycemia severe again. In 2009-2010, I noticed that certain foods were causing stomach pains, particularly steak (but not ground beef), vinegar, anything fermented. My hypoglycemia had become so severe that I went back on the ketogenic diet and stayed on it for 6 years. This was one of the worst mistakes I have ever made as this diet nearly killed me. For a year or two, I was okay. The hypoglycemia was reduced, but not eliminated. However, sometime in 2015, my body crashed. I developed overwhelming, severe fatigue and back muscle pain to the point at which I could not stand for more than 1-2 minutes without feeling like I would pass out. Eventually, I developed a cardiac arrhythmia and landed in the ER with my heart skipping every other beat. I also developed my first bouts of memory loss on this diet in 2015. This forced me to quit the ketogenic diet.
When I quit the ketogenic diet, I switched to Paul Jaminet’s “Perfect Health Diet” which consists of what he calls “safe starches” like potatoes and rice, beef, coconut oil, and veggies. My libido spiked suddenly when I switched to this diet. However, this is when I started to really make the connection with orgasms. This diet made the POIS even MORE severe so that I would pass blood with undigested food in the stool and develop ulcers of the stomach after orgasms. The fatigue and back muscle pain also would flare severely after orgasms to the point at which I could not do anything but lay down.
Eventually, I discovered Ray Peat’s ideas on sugar. This is the only thing in the world that has ever helped with my POIS. Sugar (meaning pure table sugar, fruit juice, or soda) attenuates my symptoms to a small degree, especially if I consume a large amount of sugar immediately after the orgasm.
Along with the worsening POIS, I have progressively become intolerant to most foods. I cannot tolerate starch or fiber in any form. No grains, no potatoes, no whole fruits, no vegetables, nothing. All of it makes me extremely ill and this intolerance gets markedly worse after orgasms (which makes me think there is a connection).
My diet now is composed of ground beef, cheese, soda, fruit juice, whole milk, and lots of table sugar (12-15 tablespoons). This diet has gotten me to a somewhat manageable place, but it definitely has not cured me of anything. I would say it lessens my symptoms by about 10-20% which isn’t much but any improvement is helpful given how severe my POIS is.
I am at my wit’s end with this disorder. I have a very high libido that I cannot satisfy because it makes me sick. It is absolute, unadulterated torture. A living hell of sorts that is not articulable to anyone who has not experienced this. They just do not get it.
