Last updated: 7th Jan 2012
Most recently added posts: Martin88 (NSF 31/12/11), Acronym (NSF 3/1/11) Summary of POIS sufferers' experiences with Niacin/Niacinamide/Xanthinol Nicotinate - compiled from the forum poiscenter.com
Unless otherwise stated 'Niacin' below means nicotinic acid in tablet form.
Forum member username is in bold capitals followed by a summary of the experiences of that member. Each paragraph below the username usually represents a new trial or set of trials by that person. Usernames are listed in alphabetical order. In brackets after some usernames is a brief summary of their usual POIS symptoms after orgasm.
Positive niacin/xanthinol nicotinate/nicotinamide experiences:
B_JIMBeen taking 120mg Niacin 1-2 hours before ejaculation. Reports: "I think the effect is real, but I prefer to test 1month more"
Reports in general over the past month he has been taking 100-150mg Niacin 1 hour before orgasm. "Very reduced POIS symptoms". (also he is still following low GI diet and using his washing strategy just after orgasm).
80mg Niacin. Developed flu-like symptoms, intense long-lasting warmth through whole body, sweating. (didn't use his washing technique. Also ate a lot of carbs in days leading up to orgasm).
40mg Niacin taken 1 hour before orgasm (ate a lot of pasta previous day and on the day of orgasm). Doesn't seem to have prevented flu-like symptoms
BADGERSTRIPEReports the following from a 3 week period of Niacin trials:
Taking Niacin post orgasm: symptoms worse than ever
Niacin 1.5 hours before O on empty stomach with flush - no symptoms at all
Niacin 1 hour before orgasm on full stomach, barely noticeable flush. Symptoms about 50% usual severity.
DAVEMAN70mg Niacin (taken 30mins after consuming a cocktail with chips!). Flush about 20mins later (lasted 15mins). Orgasmed. Reports strong steady heartbeat for 2 hours afterward. Slept well. Very light POIS symptoms in the morning. By 11:30am forgot he had POIS and felt great the rest of the day.
From subsequent trials: Reports that if he takes Niacin but doesn't flush, he gets less (but still very significant) relief from symptoms. eg. After 100mg without flushing, orgasm led to light POIS symptoms. However,these non-flush events still give an 80% reduction in symptoms at worst compared to his symptoms when he wasn't taking Niacin. Previously also posted: "I've noticed that if I don't take quite enough niacin, I still get great releif the first two days, but the "type IV" reaction on days 2 to 4 comes through."
EGORDON200mg Niacin. Flush. Only 10-20% cognitive symptoms after orgasm.
After this initial success, he took supplements including 100mg Niacin/day. Then he took 400mg Niacin on top. No flush. Orgasmed anyway. Usual physical symptoms (burning in eyes and tension in shoulders) mostly didn't appear. Cognitive symptoms about 50% intensity.
300mg Niacin (not sure if he's stopped the regular 100mg doses at this point). Large flush. POIS is less than 10% intensity.
Orgasming twice (each with 300mcg? Niacin before) in 18-20hrs leads to him feeling “terrific” 5 hours later. No POIS symptoms.
GUTHRIE300mg Niacin on a mostly empty stomach 40 mins before orgasm. Flush appeared in 5 mins. Flush lasted about 1 hour continuing 20mins after orgasm. Felt better than usual initially. Later in evening, POIS symptoms appeared. Next day POIS symptoms were only 15-20% usual intensity.
Subsequently tried several trials with 100-200mg Niacin. Flushed but not for as long. However, POIS symptoms were not reduced as much as with the initial 300 mg trial.
Tried 300mg again, 2 hours prior to orgasm. Next day, POIS was only 15-20% intensity.
Took two 1100mg Niacinamide (non-flushing) 2.5hours prior to orgasm. No flush. Next day, all symptoms were only 5-10% usual intensity.Reports feeling better than after the 300mg niacin trials.
Thursday night: 1100mg niacinamide. Next day, 10-15% symptoms. Also, unplanned orgasm saturday night. Milder symptoms than normal (is there a residual effect from the niacinamide?) but not as big a reduction in symptoms as just after taking Niacinamide.
550mg Niacinamide (one capsule) taken each day for a week. On an evening at the end of this week: took an additional 550mg then had an orgasm 1 hour afterward. (The evening 550mg was taken relatively soon after eating - ie. not a completely empty stomach). No Flush. Had a "pretty normal POIS episode" - at best symptoms were still 70-80% intensity.
Stopped taking the daily doses of 550mg Niacinamide. At the end of following week, took 1100mg Niacinamide on an empty stomach. Orgasmed 2 hours later. No Flush. Next day symptoms were only 15% usual intensity.
HURRAY(mostly cognitive/brain fog symptoms)Has done two trials of the following: 250mg Niacin prior to orgasm. He gets the flush. After orgasm, symptoms are 30-40% usual intensity.
JIVETALKWas taking niacin regularly (100mg twice per day). Then took 300mg prior to orgasm. POIS symptoms remained at about 60-70% intensity.
Stopped taking the regular 100mg doses of niacin. Then about 45mins before orgasm took 300mg. Felt the flush during orgasm. Initially felt good with only minor symptoms. Next day, no symptoms and then later in afternoon about 60% symptom intensity.
300mg Niacin tablets 60 mins before orgasm. Woke feeling very hot but no symptoms. Subsequently, every few hours POIS symptoms started appearing but, each time, taking a 100mg niacin tablet made them recede (happened 5 times – total 500mg niacin taken throughout this day and about 10% symptoms overall throughout this day). Day3: slight head pressure but not like POIS. 4th day: no POIS at all, “feel great”.
Monday night: 300mg Niacin 40 mins before orgasm. No initial brain fog, slept fine. Tues morning: no brain fog then later 5-10%. Tues night: 300mg Niacin 40 mins before orgasm. No brain fog. Wed morning: no pois symptoms.
Has subsequently been taking 100-200mg Niacin on the day of orgasm. POIS symptoms are consistently reduced to 10-20% of normal intensity.
JRD (POIS since age 11 or 12 (now 25). Really heavy cognitive symptoms in the last few years. feels disconnected from his brain, unable to do simple math calculations, think properly, find the right words (name/number) and solve simple problems, using analytical and logical skills, difficulty remembering and understanding something new, objectively sluggish and "pseudo-retar[d]ed". Socially anxious, withdrawn/ unable to be communicative, depressive, feels worthless)Taking regular doses of Niacin (daily 100mg?)
100mg Niacin (brand: Nature's Way) taken 30mins before orgasm. Had 3 orgasms in 2 hours. Symptoms 30-40% usual intensity with fatigue/weakness at 60-70%.
Reports that effectiveness of Niacin doesn't seem to depend on whether he had a flush or not. Has had 'quite strong' flush and non-flush episodes. Niacin only works for him if taken before orgasm, not if taken after.
Latest: 300mg gave no flush (built up tolerance with regular doses?)
KING KONG300mg Niacin 30 mins before orgasm. If he does not sleep about one hour after orgasm he has symptoms of 40-50% normal. If he sleeps for maximum 1 hour after orgasm and then wakes up, his symptoms are only 10% normal intensity.
The day 1 after orgasm he takes regular 100mg doses to help keep POIS symptoms away (up to max 900mg for the day). Day 2 after orgasm he takes 100mg in morning and 100mg in afternoon and symptoms are 10% intensity. Day 3 100mg tablet keeps symptoms at 5% intensity. Day 4: a 100mg tablet and he has no POIS symptoms
KK (not sure if this is the same person as King Kong?
POIS lasts 5-7days and is worst on days 3 and 4).
300mg one hour after dinner. No flush. The day after orgasm, symptoms were 70-90% intensity.
3 days later: 300mg after dinner. Did get a flush but not until 2.5hours after taking tablets. He had already orgasmed by then, Same results as last time but by day 4 he felt almost back to normal (usually 3rd and 4th days are the worst for him)
500mg Niacin about 12 hours after dinner. Had flush lasting 10mins. Orgasm soon after. Next day symptoms were 30-40% intensity. Days 2 and 3 were even better.
300mg about 12 hours after dinner. Same results as the previous trial.
KURTOSIS150 mg of niacin every morning (occasionally 2 [?additional?] 50 mg if he hasn't flushed with 150) and 2 tablets of ZMA every night. (ZMA is Zinc, Magnesium and b6).
over 3 week period: had 4 O's with minimal symptoms and felt "more energetic" in past few days.
MARTIN8825mg after orgasm --> no effect on POIS but had a good sleep during the afternoon which is unusual for him.
100mg before orgasm --> had premature ejaculation ( he usually has a feeling of PE but this was "real PE"). Definitely had improved thinking and focus, less brain fog. However, he still had full physical fatigue and exhaustion.
OBSERVERHad an NE. Had POIS symptoms. Ate a light breakfast. 4-5 hours after the NE, he took 100mg Niacin which gave a very intense flush. Had an O 50mins after taking the niacin. 10-20% POIS symptoms (minor brain fog rest of day and next day).
200mg Niacin. Orgasm 25-30mins after. Developed POIS symptoms immediately after orgasm. Suffered brain fog, not feeling well for that afternoon and evening. Next day, took 200mg Niacin. Had an orgasm. 1-2 hours later he was feeling "very, very well" with no POIS symptoms.
200mg Niacin. Weak flush. Orgasm 1 hour later. No POIS symptoms
100mg Niacin. No flush (was after a meal) so took 200mg more. Moderate flush. Orgasm 1 hour later. No POIS symptoms.
200mg weak flush. Orgasm a little after the flush. Some POIS symptoms (mild brain fog)
Next day and with some POIS: 200mg Niacin (on empty stomach). Intense flush. No POIS symptoms (maybe a lttle tired in morning but fine in afternoon.
Has repeated several trials with 200mg since without suffering POIS symptoms
After taking usual Niacin dose - on one occasion he had mild POIS symptoms not lasting more than 2 days (he thinks because he left the bottle open for a few hours??)
200mg is no longer giving total POIS relief. He feels mild cognitive symptoms or "on the verge of POIS". Reports that recently he has been taking one antihistamine (H1) for his allergy to mites (Acarus)
Stopped taking antihistamine (H1). Took 200mg Niacin. No brain fog or cognitive symptoms (ie Niacin seems to have returned to pre-antihistamine effectiveness).
[Note: In relation to trials in which Observer managed to recover from POIS symptoms by taking Niacin and then orgasming again, he points out that on a few occasions in the past (without niacin) whilst suffering POIS symptoms, a second orgasm went some way toward improving his symptoms (usually this wasn't the case though and his symptoms worsened considerably with a second orgasm)]POIS_SUFFERERBeen taking 1000mg Niacinamide (not nicotinamide), non-flushing. It's been working well
QUESTFORLIFEReports: "I have had some success with Niacin"
SILVERANDCOLReports: "I have found my quality of life to be improving drastically by using it [Niacin] about 2-3 times a week"
STARSKYdid his own allergy test with and without taking 300mg Xanthinol Nicotinate. Putting semen on his skin and waiting 30mins usually gives him a reaction. If he has taken XN, he doesn't get a reaction. 6 hours after taking XN, the skin reaction to semen comes back to its 'normal' level.
Niacin seems to prevent his cognitive/brain fog symptoms but he stills suffers his other POIS symptoms
VANDERMOLEN200mg Niacin. Big Flush. Maybe 10-20% less symptoms. Reports "Niacin doesn't help me a lot". (note: Vandermolen has been having immunotherapy injections which have so far reduced his symptoms by 50%).
VIKTOR.KONS (mostly cognitive symptoms, developed physical symptoms including aches later in life. 3 day POIS sessions, brain fog, heartbeat, digestion problems).Injects 0.5ml Xanthil Nicotinate up to 3 hours before sex. Gets a mild flush No or virtually no POIS symptoms. Tried this for over a year with 4-6 orgasms per week and 2 to 3 per day. He never had to increase the dose to continue the effectiveness.
Tried injecting 1ml Niacin instead of Xanthil Nicotinate. Took more time to have the flush. No POIS symptoms (Orgasm 25mins after injection). However, this is just one day after having Xanthil Nicotinate so possibly there was still some influence from the XN. Second try with (1ml?) niacin injection – bad stomach but could have been alcohol induced. Felt “on the edge of POIS”
tried 600mg Xanthil Nicotinate tablets: very strong flush in 6 mins. NO POIS symptoms but felt “unhealthy”
100mg Niacin tablet: no flush (possibly didn't take enough). 1st day after orgasm: POIS symptoms experienced at 10-20% normal level. 2nd day: no symptoms.
300mg Niacin tablet: felt an increase in strength, heart was working better (this is after long day at work when he was feeling tired and heart (rate?) had gone down. Felt flush in 5 mins and in an hour it was strong. NO POIS SYMPTOMS
150mg Niacin tablet 1 hour before orgasm. Has tried this 3 times and each time had no symptoms.
200mg powdered Niacin. Flush in 5 mins. NO POIS SYMTOMS. (Reports that there were no negative feelings in the stomach which he'd sometimes had with non-powdered tablets).
VINCENT MARKUS (Burning eyes, back pain, physical & mental exhaustion, joint pain, dry skin, bloating, itchy anus, anxiety, weak blood circulation, sensitivity to pain including noise & temperature, decreased memory, brain fog, thinning hair)100mg Niacin after dinner. Orgasm 1 hour after. Didn't notice a flush but seemed to have more energy than normal in the afternoon of the following day.
200mg Niacin 10 hours after eating. Flush about 30mins after taking tablets. Orgasmed as flush wore off. Felt a bit tired but could think clearly (can't usually). Had a couple more orgasms in the night. Next day felt ok but not 100%. His general stamina and physical energy were increased.
200mg Niacin on a saturday night, taken 1-2hours after dinner. Orgasmed one hour after taking the Niacin. No immediate improvement but next day had increased energy and stamina allowing him to do heavy exercise for an hour or two.
2 x 100mg Niacin (one cut open and taken as powder) taken with 4 benadryl, 1 Claritin and 4 keystone light beers. No flush. Orgasm 1 hour after. Next day had some cognitive slowness but otherwise no sign of POIS at all.
Negative niacin results/ other observations:
ACRONYM150mg Niacin (no other details posted). Seemed to help but "just a bit"
2500mg Niacinamide (split into 3 doses daily). Helped with anxiety but was "nothing to rave about in relation to pois"
B_DANIEL (2-7 days, 80% cognitive, tongue-tied, brain fog, lose track of thoughts mid conversation, anxiety, dry eyes, irritable, fatigue).
Generally has POIS systems of 50% intensity (his baseline level below which his POIS doesn't drop even after abstaining from orgasm - not sure what his longest gap between orgasms is). After one orgasm his symptoms rise to 60-70% intensity. After multiple orgasms they rise to 100%. After a week without orgasm, symptoms return to 50%. When he first took Niacin he thought his symptoms came down to 55% after orgasm and so reported a positive effect. However, after further trials he has concluded that in fact the 55% was simply at the lower end of his normal post-orgasm experience and Niacin has never reduced his symptoms below the baseline of 50%. (This update has been posted at B_Daniel's request to replace his initial reports about having positive results with Niacin/Xan-pro tablets. His initial positve reports have now been deleted)
CCCONFUCIUSobserved that the flush was “way worse” with 200mg Niacin than with 300mg Xanthinol nicotinate. Also noticed the Niacin “spiked” his heart rate.
GABIN (russian forum member):
Tried niacin tablets in doses 200-250mg. Reported that it had no effect on POIS symptoms.
HABIBOUAte bread and Nutella. Took Niacin 500mg on half-full stomach. Intense flush after 20mins. Orgasm about 1 hour later. Still got part of the flush after orgasm. Developed POIS symptoms.
Several trials of 500mg Niacin (??is this Niacinamide??) taken before O and without eating in the hours leading up to O. Hasn't helped symptoms.
JON200mg in the morning. Didn't feel much effect(ie no flush) and didn't orgasm either. Took a further 400mg at night.Only felt a little tingling (no significant flush). Then orgasmed but there was no POIS prevention.
Took nearly 500mg Niacin. The more he became aroused the more he felt a lot of heat in his head (not sure if this was a flush, it didn't really pass). This was one hour after taking Niacin. Afterwards (presume after orgasm?) felt “crippled", couldn't get up, nerves were sensitive. Wasn't painful to move, just difficult. Groin very sensitive. Doesn't think it helped POIS although a week later perhaps he was more recovered than usual.
Almost 500mg Niacin. Again only a little tingling in the face, no real flush. Orgasmed and sleep was “uncomfortable”. Very irritating to move like he's frozen in bed. Felt a little better than usual the first day after orgasm but POIS symptoms still there.
We are not sure if Jon took flushing or non-flushing or slow-release niacin.
MELLIVORA7:45am unplanned orgasm (was half asleep!) 12:52pm took 150mg Niacin. Possibly very mild tingling in the head but otherwise no flush and no reddening of skin. Did feel colder though (vasodilation in a cold house?). Had big lunch (veggie sausages in tomato sauce with lots of veg, ginger and garlic). 20:15 - ate a pear, rice cake ryvita and an orange. 21:27 300mg Niacin. Intense flush started within 9 mins and didn't fade until 22:45. 22:55 orgasm. Went to sleep. Couldn't distinguish symptoms from a normal pois episode, took 1 week to recover.
200mg Niacin at 15:50 (2hrs50min after lunch). Strong flush. Orgasm 50 mins after ingesting Niacin. Couldn't distinguish resulting symptoms from a normal POIS episode. Took 1 week to recover.
