I have had pois for about 15 years. My symptoms were primarily physical, not emotional. Namely, flu like symptoms, burning eyes, low blood pressure, brain fog, cold extremities, very weak for multiple days, and I would likely catch a cold or have an allergic reaction to random things because my immune system would become so compromised.
Last year I went to an acupuncturist for the first time and I noticed a marked decrease in symptoms after our session. I went about 6 times total over the course of 6 months.
Today my symptoms are 77% less which is crazy after struggling with this for so long. I still don't feel as vital as I would like after a session so will continue to work on the remaining weakness.
To be honest, I wouldn't attribute my progress solely to the acupuncture. But what happened as a consequence.
Acupuncture removes blocks in our energy channels and sometimes strengthens certain channels. What surfaced as a result of my treatments was not just physical but emotional. This wouldn't necessarily be immediately after a treatment but more like a slow unfolding over months. The emotions that came up actually werent directly about sex. But rather previous heartbreak I had experienced in childhood and layers of cynicism, apathy, anger. A huge chunk of hopelessness. It felt like grieving a death I had never properly grieved. And I didn't think it had anything to do with the pois issue, but by the time I fully worked through it, that's when my symptoms dramatically decreased.
If I had to guess the connection between that emotion and the pois, orgasm is a physiological state of connection. And due to the heartbreak/betrayal, my body may have associated connection with threat and would trigger an immune reaction. This must have been completely subconscious as I felt no conscious threat. Even now I'm surprised this is what resolved it.
As I write this, I can feel potential dismissiveness and skepticism from readers. That's ok. But what I would like to offer is I never thought this issue was anything but physical. I did not feel shame or obvious negative emotions during or after a session. If anything I would just feel really flat after, but that was more a physiological response. I wouldn't say this condition is psychosomatic in the way we traditionally think of that term. Rather, that trauma gets stored in the body, and different bodies cope with trauma differently. Stored trauma can have very real biological consequences and has already been linked with autoimmune conditions. What's interesting is I had done plenty of trauma work and therapy prior to this, but I think acupuncture can tap into processes at a much deeper level.
Whether any of this resonates, acupuncture is used for treating purely physical conditions and injuries as well. So it's worth a try. I had the most success with 5 Element practitioners, which is a particular treatment style.
Anyway, I sympathize with everyone in this group. Being punished for your pleasure is a hard cross to bear. Wish you the very best
P.s. Prior to this, what helped me to manage symptoms a bit was berries (esp raspberries), B12/liver, zinc.
