The anniversary of my POIS discovery is coming up and I finally feel like I'm at a turning point in my life.
I'm an 18 year old athlete that has recently graduated from high school, and am going on to play for a well known Division 1 University. I'm not entirely sure when my POIS started, however I believe it started back in 2018 after I tore my ACL. I'm not entirely sure if that has anything to do with POIS, I just know that I was extremely bad at my sport after my ACL recovery, to the point that my coaches and teammates gave up on me. At the time I wasn't sure if it was my injury that was making me bad or my lack of practice, so I just brushed it off and stopped taking it as serious.
Fall 2018- Winter 2019
This is crazy, but I just realized there was a week, back in 2018 that I was extremely tired, almost like I had the flu. I remember that year I just sat in my classes and slept every class. My sleep schedule was 11-6 so I shouldn't have been this tired. On the way to school I would just slept all the way to school and back. In between classes my bag always seemed heavy which put a huge strain on my body. Every day felt like a dream to the point where I feel like I remember the years before my POIS more vividly than the past few years.
Spring 2020
At the time I thought this was normal however when it came to covid hitting, I started to wake up and notice my symptoms. It was my sophomore year of high school when covid hit, which and I wanted to play my sport college. I played for a highly competitive, nationally known team, and many of my teammates and people I played with were getting interest for schools. This made me want to start practicing in hopes of getting an offer. Since there was no school and there was a field around the corner, I would practice everyday, but due to the boredom and not being able to go anywhere, I would also nut many times in one day. That's when I really started to feel that after I nutted, I would get a rush of tiredness and I would fall asleep for about a minute, then wake back up. When I would practice, I would feel my thighs being extremely tight and heavy, but I just thought this was because of my training.
Summer 2020
During the summer of 2020 my club team started back up, and I had to try out again I thought I would be the best one out there since I had been training hard literally everyday during the lockdown. I made the team but within the first few days I knew something was up. I felt super tired after a few runs, and I was hella uncoordinated. I started getting not getting rostered and immediately realized that I was one of the worst people on the team. This was crazy to me because 2 years before that I was one of the leading goalscorer in the whole region and I was getting invited to National Team Training camps. My teammates who were my friends immediately treated my like a liability during training and would tell me I was trash. No cap I don't know how I made it through this time in my life lmao.
Winter 2020- Spring 2021
Later that year during 2021 I started talking to this girl that lived not too far from me. I used to see her everyday, and I would see her a lot, however shit got worse at this time. My POIS flared more than ever. Also during this time we had online school. I would be so exhausted, to the point that I would log into class, fall asleep immediately then open my eyes and I would be the last one in the zoom with my teacher. Shit felt like a dream. I used to hate doing anything or going anywhere. Also when me and this girl were together I would always struggle to get hard. Further in our relationship I became more emotional with her and I was becoming simpy, not saying this has anything to do with POIS, I just remember in middle school, before POIS, I just wouldn't gaf. I started struggling to speak to her and conveying my thoughts, but it also ended up with an embarrassing stutter or forgetting words and leaving her confused. In the soccer aspect of my life I was also struggling heavily, becoming more numb to the misfortunes I was experiencing. This girl was the highlight of my life, and I was starting to do anything for her while I could see she was slowly slipping away from me. Eventually we broke up and after a while she ghosted me. This prompted me to take my sport more serious.
I forgot to mention, but I knew something was weird when I would play my game, and some days my range of motion was better than other days.
Summer 2021
Towards the end of my season, D1 coaches were able to come back out to our games. There was a showcase in a few days that had every major school on the coast there. Something told me not to nut for a few days so I didn't, surprisingly enough I felt way better and I was balling out at the showcase. I also forgot to mention that there was this game about a month before that was arguably my worst game I've ever played. I nutted the Thursday before the game and the game was Sunday. My legs were soooo fucking heavy and I was convinced nutting had nothing to do with what I was experiencing. I would also ask my friends and teammates If they experienced the same things and they thought I was crazy.
Fall 2021
After that season I was kicked off the team, which I'm not mad at since from outside looking in, I was complete shit. Over the summer I experimented, going weeks without nutting, and I realized that that definitely has something to do with it. During the high school season, I was going weeks and even months without nutting and I realized I was going through a lot of pain and depression while beating the urge to nut. I also missed out on a lot of opportunities with girls since I couldn't afford to go through POIS recovery again. Many times I would get fucked over by a wet dream on game days. One day my dad lashed out at me during a showcase, cause I got with this girl a few days before and I played horrendously. I told my parents about my what was happening to me. I broke down crying, on the phone with my mom, telling her every single detail, which was embarrassing at the time, but I would kill to get help in the the hopes of ending POIS.
Winter 2021- Spring 2022
I could tell what I was going through wasn't normal and started looking for answers. I went to my doctor and fortunately she had heard of POIS, and at first she put me on claritan, which didn't really help. Then she put me on Lexapro which I took for a good 6 months. It helped slightly, as it let me be more active and un bed ridden, I also talked a lot more and was less shy. I continued to look for answers since people were committing left and right and I was barely getting d3 looks and offers. Eventually for my sport I switched positions, which helped me greatly since I just had to put in effort instead of being skilled and coordinated on the ball. I excelled at this and got a D1 offer, and committed to the school. I kept looking for answers cause I wasn't about to lose my scholarship and embarrass myself on the field.That's when I saw a post on POIS center with a user claiming that they cured their POIS by going gluten free. It took about a week, and I started feeling better, then by the fourth week, [ON GOD, my POIS was gone/b]. This was around prom and graduation time and I was having the time of my life. I was getting with so many girls. Shit was insane. Also my sport was going great, I was training everyday. I also went to play pickup with people that thought I was ass. I was shiting on them and balling out. Immediately after this, my mission was to go pro, as it was back in 2018. I was great, and I was happier than I have ever been. This all cut short when I accidentally ate gluten, and my POIS symptoms came back
NOW
After 2 weeks I almost fully recovered, from my symptoms, however I stupidly took a job as a pizza delivery boy and my symptoms slowly came back. The symptoms came from the flour in the shop as there was a lot of down time just sitting in there. It took me about a month to figure this out. Since then I have been getting glutened(accidentally ingesting gluten) over and over. Each time I get gluten my symptoms return. I also went to an allergist to confirm my gluten allergy. The test showed I had one along with an egg and peanut allergy(these things also bring me POIS symptoms, but not ass bad as gluten). Every week I feel my self getting more and more paranoid and sensitive to my environment, which now leads me to believe I have MCAS. I'm seeing my allergist and doctor next week. I know this could be a long shot but maybe I have Lyme disease. My dog has had a tick found on her multiple times so it wouldn't hurt to see. Also the other day I was in another city and ate at a gluten free dedicated spot and I threw up and have POIS symptoms . So now I only eat a few safe foods, and am now recovering.
My symptoms right now are tension headache, uncoordinated, rash, depression, sinus inflammation, repertory inflammation, brain fog, fatigue