Here's my story and that's my plan

[positivethoughts]

Hello everyone!!!

I want to present myself because I'm new to the forum. I'm from Spain and I'm 20 years old.
It's been 3 years approximately since I started to suffer POIS. At first, I thought it was something wrong with me, then I thought it was because of my anxiety and some time after, I linked my symptoms to the orgasm.
I have recently discovered your forum, and just decided to create an account, so I can contribute.

So here's my main symptoms: After an orgasm (NE too) I get:
Physical (from more to less):

• Brain fog
• Fatigue
• Red eyes and pressure on them. It's like I want to close them..
• Diarrhea
• Sore throat
• Dizziness

Mental (from more to less):

• Anxiety
• Social anxiety -> I just want to be alone
• Nervous and stress
• Moody mood
• Difficulty and slow thinking
• Memory problems
• Difficulty to manage tasks and take decisions

After the ejaculation they usually start some hours later and all of this makes me feel very bad and not be a normal person for 3 to 4 days.

Since I didn't want this to happen I stopped masturbation like 7 months ago, but now I have NE and also some ejaculations even in other not sexual situations...

All of this has made me to be bad all the time, because I think I have developed a general anxiety disorder, and stage fright. But when I'm on POIS it gets even worse.


What has helped me until now has been:

• Meditation -> It has really helped me with the mental symptoms. Trying to not let the fear be that important.
• Yoga -> Doing some exercise every day and controlling the breath I think it's been really useful.

What I'm working on:

• AIP Diet -> With time I have seen that diet really affects me, even if I didn't have POIS. Before finding this forum I saw that bread made me feel really bad. Also everything with milk or cheese made my stomach really sick. Then I have discovered that pasta might too. Also rice... And later I have discovered the Going Less Crazy post and really think I have similar problems, so I'm going to try to follow it.

What I'll be working on in the near future:

• Niacin -> I have talked with a member and also have read that it has been really useful. I have just bought some Niacin 100mg so now I have to wait until arrives me.

What didn't work:

• Trophology diet -> This last month (until yesterday) I have followed a trophology diet, that is a vegetarian diet based on eating just fruits and vegetables for "cleaning" your body at the start, but with some special combinations. When you have cleaned it, then you can introduce cereals. I was very skeptical but was my only solution. However, it has been a nightmare. I have had very hug stomach ache, diarrhea, low energy (because I just ate fruits and veggies), have slept bad... And when I ate rice or oats I felt even worse... So it was like having POIS and some others diseases at the same time.
  Since I stopped it yesterday I'm still feeling very bad...But hope I recover soon, while I transition to the AIP Diet.

I have just told it to one very close friend for now, but I think I'm going to explain it to my parents very soon.

Hope it wasn't too long to read!
Thanks everyone for your time and dedication

[Observer]

Hello positivethoughts, welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I think a lot of us can relate to your experience and even your methods.It is really interesting what you said about diet and meditation, and how they can affect the duration and intensity of a POIS episode.

[aswinpras06]

Hi everyone

I am Aswin from India and posted my first message yesterday.  This is an absolutely wonderful forum.  If this forum was there some 20 years back, when internet was slowly expanding its reach worldwide, would've been a lifechanger for many of us and we would not have suffered such a crippling illness which is very much manageable if the cause is known.    Any way its better late than never.  I am 40 now and work as a stock analyst.

My pois symptoms

1. Brain fog
2. Slurring of speech for upto 4 days
3. Sinus congestion( usually very severe)
4. Gut inflammation for upto 3 days then it slowly resolves.
5. Sleep problem(Even if I sleep for 6 hours or 12 hours it doesn't make any difference to pois symptoms because the sinus congestion never allows for restful sleep)
6. Physically very exhausted due to the gut and sinus issues for upto 3 days with doing day to day work itself becoming very difficult.

I am always underweight for my height and the skinny look gets worse during pois.

As reported by many here, 'showers'( both hot or cold bathing) worsen my pois and some times taking a head shower itself can bring in all my pois symptoms without any ejaculation.  May be some thing in the head and neck region triggers the same kind of reaction when taking showers, just like orgasm for me.

Shaving the face also triggers some mild symptoms of pois.  So I never clean shave and use only beard trimmers with a 2mm setting for my face.

If some how by luck I get a good sleep,  I get about a 60%-70% immediate relief on day 1 and the remaining days also only very mild symptoms.

Got some relief with using Benadryl(30-40%) syrup after orgasm.  But afraid to use it continuously due to its side effects if taken long term.  codliver oil capsules are useful if taken 3 times a day due to their omega fatty acids and vitamin d3.  I am yet to experiment with other supplements.

Both Levocetrizine and fexofenadine antihistamines are not working for me. Another antihistamine desloratidine gives some relief(30%) when taken 2 hours before orgasm.

 Will update if I get any useful treatment option in my city.

[Observer]

Hello Aswin, welcome to our forum and thanks for sharing with us your story! Have you tried some nasal sprays in order to get rid of your sinus congestion? Maybe you should address this problem first. I am afraid that your POIS episodes might be increasing your baseline allergies (for example: dust-acarus allergy, which should be common in India)

[demografx]

Welcome, positivethoughts and Aswin!

[aswinpras06]

Thanks a lot Observer for your suggestion.  I will try managing my sinus problems because as you've correctly said, it is what  worsening my pois episodes.  My colleague has suggested apple cider vinegar,netipot and essential oil steaming.  I will try that.

[Quantum]

Hi Aswin,

Olive Leaf Extract is also very good for sinusitis:  https://drhoffman.com/article/olive-leaf-extract/

It also have been shown beneficial for POIS in general, according to reports from members of the forum.

[aswinpras06]

Thanks Quantum  I'll definitely give it a try and update if it is working.  thanks once again!

[positivethoughts]

Hello!

I want to update this, so I can share my news of this month:

This month I have had some really bad stomach pain, diarrhea,... and I think it was caused because of the diet I followed previously (Trophology diet), as I'm getting better every day (slowly, though).

Also, two days I've gotten a red flush on my body, and every part of my body itched (without taking anything more than food) after having a strong stomach pain. One day, the flush was so intense and didn't go away that I had to go to medical emergency, and they gave me an antihistamine that really worked.
As so, I'm going to see first if I have something else before trying Niacin.
I have done a first allergy test but the results were that I'm fine, but I have to do another one later.

They have told me that also they're going make me a colonoscopy, so they can check if there is something wrong with my stomach.

Positive news:
I've been following the AIP diet, implementing some recommendations of the Going Less Crazy post (http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2275.0) and I can say my POIS has improved a lot (on physical and mental level).
And this week I have tried to eat some rice and almonds to check if I was better and I didn't need to follow that diet, but I've had the symptoms I had before (when I eat everything), so I'm going to stick to the AIP diet!

Also, I wanted to share two books that I really recommend for everyone having social anxiety and problems with your personality as an introvert. I have finished the first one and I really loved it, and the second one I'm currently reading it but it's being really eye-oppening:

• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen

[Daysleeper]

Hey Positive thought!  I recently read both of those books and highly recommend as well.  We are all pretty much introverts here and seems to be one thing all of us have in common!

[dizzy]

Speaking about personality types, perhaps it would be nice if we all did a personality test, such as this one:

https://www.16personalities.com/

My personality type is INTJ, which means (among other things), that I'm an introvert.

[demografx]

I’m an INTP, according to taking this test...but long, long ago!

“Introverted genius”, or some such nonsense

[certainlypois2]

enfp

[demografx]

.
ENFP (Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Perception) is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to refer to one of sixteen personality types.[1] The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types. Jung proposed a psychological typology based on the theories of cognitive functions that he developed through his clinical observations. From Jung's work, others developed psychological typologies. Jungian personality assessments include the MBTI assessment, developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs, and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, developed by David Keirsey.

ENFPs are outgoing and creative with the key skill of perceiving complicated patterns and information and assimilating it quickly. They are flexible, highly adaptable workers. They are driven by a keen devotion to their ideals and a strong drive to help others. Less developed are their patience for routine tasks, and projection of a serious, committed image. ENFPs need significant time alone to center themselves and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. Keirsey referred to ENFPs as Champions, one of the four types belonging to the temperament he called the Idealists.[2] ENFPs account for about 7% of the population, including Robin Williams, Shannon Oliver-O'Neil, and Dr. Seuss.

From Wikipedia

[certainlypois2]

.
ENFP (Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Perception) is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to refer to one of sixteen personality types.[1] The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types. Jung proposed a psychological typology based on the theories of cognitive functions that he developed through his clinical observations. From Jung's work, others developed psychological typologies. Jungian personality assessments include the MBTI assessment, developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs, and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, developed by David Keirsey.

ENFPs are outgoing and creative with the key skill of perceiving complicated patterns and information and assimilating it quickly. They are flexible, highly adaptable workers. They are driven by a keen devotion to their ideals and a strong drive to help others. Less developed are their patience for routine tasks, and projection of a serious, committed image. ENFPs need significant time alone to center themselves and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. Keirsey referred to ENFPs as Champions, one of the four types belonging to the temperament he called the Idealists.[2] ENFPs account for about 7% of the population, including Robin Williams, Shannon Oliver-O'Neil, and Dr. Seuss.

From Wikipedia

i did the test in high school but only remember the result because i thought it was pretty accurate. However i think the current conclusion is the test is not valid.

[positivethoughts]

Ohh really interesting!!

I also did this test a year ago and thought it was so accurate. I'm ISFJ-T.