Hi guys,
I want to know if any of you guys have the same symptoms, experience as me. I really studied POIS and my psych symptoms past 1 year and I am not cured. I worked with multiple psychiatrists, urologists and general practitioners to figure out what's going on. But I've had no luck so far.
POIS symptoms
- extreme physical and mental tiredness for a day or two, gets tired within 5-10 minutes after O, red and hot flushing within 30 minutes after O. Sleep is the key to getting better. If I pass out and wake up, I get a lot better. I don't have itchy or runny noses/eyes like an allergy reaction. I just wanna say that I am just really tired.
Physical differences/symptoms: this portion is something I've been observing about myself for a while in general when I am not going through POIS. Maybe this is coincidence, but who knows?
- My pupils are super small. They do dilate when I go in the dark area, but the range of dilation is not as dynamic as others. When my pupils are fully dilated, it's only about 50% of my iris, while others' eyes are like 80-90% dilation at full dilation.
- I was born with lazy eye, got it fixed eventually.
- My pupil size is different, one of them is about 1mm diameter larger than another.
- I sleep/drive/study with mouth open. I do not have sleep apnea.
- premature ejaculation
- I think I have slow metabolism, I gain weight easily, but I also lose weight easily if I work out.
Psych
- OCD, anxiety: these are the driving factor and motivation factor for me. Unfortunately I cannot function without anxiety.
- ADHD: messy, unorganized, no filter
- It's funny because I am OCD and ADHD. I am messy, unorganized, never read a book cover to cover, yet I tend to do well in school because I have this anxiety of failure in career. At the same time, messiness caused by others (roommates) gets under my skin and I cannot control my OCD. I always push things back and work on/study a day or two before the due date.
- doc ruled out bipolar, but I am still skeptical. I am seeking a different doc soon, so tbd on this. I don't have any impulse buy problems or sleep problems. I am not depressed, rather, I feel apathetic most of times. I do not really feel sadness or happiness.
- my personality, I have close friends but I tend to push people away because I have "no filter". I read carnegie's book on how to improve it, and went through therapy but it's really difficult to fix. My OCD isn't a big help in making friends. I feel edgy most of times, I am just a very anxious person.
Med reactions
- I respond really sensitive to stimulants. Right now, I am going through lexapro withdrawal (will talk more later), so reaction is different but when I first tried them, amphetamine family (adderall, vyvanse) drove me manic, 1/4 of the smallest dose 5mg ritalin was effective for my ADHD
- adderall was somewhat temporarily effective in treating pois, ritalin was not.
- 5htp was effective in treating pois and anxiety problems.
- St. John's wort at normal dosage gave me hallucinations and drove me manic
- Wellbutrin at lowest dosage 100mg SR made me apathetic for a week and caused a psychotic episode on day 7, I became delusional and hallucinated.
- Lexapro worked for me at 10mg. It killed anxiety and my OCD. The problem was I couldn't carry on my normal duties due to lack of anxiety. I wasn't "freaked out" enough to do what I am supposed to be doing. Lexapro 15mg drove me manic, mild serotonin syndrome, jerking movements, tensed up, felt really drugged up.
- Lexapro did nothing to my libido, my libido was still very high, it didn't fix my premature ejaculation problem.
- Lexapro helped me with POIS symptoms, reducing it 80% or so. However, on lexapro, stimulants stopped working. Stimulants made me really tired and put me to sleep.
- Lexapro made my eye dilation bigger and more dynamic! I noticed myself driving / sleeping with my mouth closed.
- Extremely long lexapro withdrawal, it's my 6th week off lexapro after being on it for 4 months, I feel really fatigued and I have really bad headache. No stimulants work on me, they just put me to sleep.
- Benzos (xanax), Doc prescribed me benzos just in case I have another psychotic event from drugs or just to take it before giving presentations. Benzos do work, but they make me super tired. It almost feels like I am going through POIS.
What I think
- I think GABA plays a big role in my case of POIS (feels similar when taking Benzos)
- serotonin system plays a role (OCD/Anxiety/Improvement of POIS)
- dopamine, I am not too sure, I feel like I am already high in dopamine, I feel really motivated. But who knows?
- some kind of feedback mechanism? I can think of O like a panic attack. Flushing all the neurotransmitter out and intense stimulation causing negative feedback loop, flooding synapse with gaba?
23andme
- nothing significant, no genetic problem for ADHD, chronic depression
any similarities or differences? please reply...
