Fasting

[phenethylamine]

Over the past couple of days, I experienced moments where I was not able to eat for a very large portion of the day. During these moments, I only consumed soda for a period of atleast 12 hours.  After about 12 hours of doing this, I suddenly gained a sense of mental clarity.  I no longer felt trapped inside my mind and could finally organize my thoughts. Now, this makes me wonder if I may have a food allergy. Anyone elose have a similar experience?

[Prancer]

Over the past couple of days, I experienced moments where I was not able to eat for a very large portion of the day. During these moments, I only consumed soda for a period of atleast 12 hours.  After about 12 hours of doing this, I suddenly gained a sense of mental clarity.  I no longer felt trapped inside my mind and could finally organize my thoughts. Now, this makes me wonder if I may have a food allergy. Anyone elose have a similar experience?

Yes, I have experienced this.

[poisioq]

Some years  ago I was only drinking broth during some days because of a strong ibs attack. I remember in those days I had a very pleasureful orgasm followed by a very nice pois free feeling. I read somewhere that fasting for few days could raise testosterone levels, but fasting for too long will decrease it.

[Labyrinth]

i exactly think the same , i thought it is a food allergy ,  cuz iwhen i eliminated rice potaoes , wheat from diet i felt better  , and reintroducing them after orgasm or whatever  i get strong reaction

[Vandemolen]

I read that if you fast for 3 days in a row your immune system will restart. For 3 days no food but only some water.

[Going less Crazy]

Little late topic to post in but fasting dramatically improves my POIS, even in a semi-POIS state today, after fasting for I'd say 18-20 hours, the POIS mental state of agony feeling is gone.  I never tried this in a semi-POIS state and it seems to be working very well.  I would like to try it in full-blown POIS someday. 

I tried fasting before for about 2 days out of the week for 2 weeks and can say it vastly improves POIS symptoms to the point where I don't notice it anymore... until gradually making a comeback about 2 days after fasting the constant very-little POIS feeling returns.  I would like to try this extended because I believe it will help with auto-immune issues.  I read somewhere people basically curing themselves of eczema and other autoimmune issues by fasting about 2 days out of the week for a longer duration (not sure exactly how long though) .  Others curing themselves of food allergies after 12 days of fasting straight (12 or 14 days not sure) and than it was reintroduced into the diet and she could eat the offending foods without problem even after 2 years.  Of course we do not know for sure if any of this is true and should take it with a grain of salt.  I wonder if the same could be done for POIS.  (obviously assuming it is auto-immune related)

The reason I stopped this was because my sleep was affected...I was fasting a full day than not eating at night and it was negatively effecting my sleep on the second day.  But now my plan is to eat an early dinner, sleep well, don't eat until late the next day which will constitute a 24+ hour fast.  I also read that fasting (16-24) hours is when autophagy is at its peak... when your body recycles old cells, even immune cells.

I will try to do this 2 days a week and update.  This time it won't effect my sleep I'm sure.


***Treatment updated down 2 posts

[G-man]

I also noticed that my symptoms were reduced after fasting. I will give water fasting another shot and report back after I do it a few more times

[Going less Crazy]

That's good G-man good luck,

I'm going to update my fasting and do a full day fast with fasting through sleep, so about 36 hours.  But before sleep I will drink chamomile to help me sleep because sleep issues were preventing me from fasting longer.  So I will go back to my old strategy and fast starting the previous night, the full next day (drink chamomile), and than break the fast the next morning.  This was giving me significant improvement in the past.  I will continue to do this 2 days a week if I can and update.

[mellivora]

Here's an interesting development on the subject of fasting:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27001-no-need-to-starve-to-get-fastings-immune-benefits.html#.VW7R5qYmUqY

I've currently been fasting for about 62 hours (water, and occasional tea or bouillon vegetable broth only). I plan to end this fast in about an hour so that I am prepared for a relatively active weekend. I know there is one research paper saying fasting for 72 hours can "reset" the immune system. I am tempted and feel ok but I think I need a bit longer to recover before my weekend. In any case the 72 hour thing was preliminary research and it sounds like it can be between 2 and 4 days. I'm not doing 4 days, certainly not without medical supervision anyway. I'm not sure when/if I'll test this fast with an ejaculation but will report back if I find anything has changed in terms of POIS.

[Quantum]

Here's an interesting development on the subject of fasting:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27001-no-need-to-starve-to-get-fastings-immune-benefits.html#.VW7R5qYmUqY

I've currently been fasting for about 62 hours (water, and occasional tea or bouillon vegetable broth only). I plan to end this fast in about an hour so that I am prepared for a relatively active weekend. I know there is one research paper saying fasting for 72 hours can "reset" the immune system. I am tempted and feel ok but I think I need a bit longer to recover before my weekend. In any case the 72 hour thing was preliminary research and it sounds like it can be between 2 and 4 days. I'm not doing 4 days, certainly not without medical supervision anyway. I'm not sure when/if I'll test this fast with an ejaculation but will report back if I find anything has changed in terms of POIS.

Interesting article, Mellivora. 

It says that fasting OR exercise leads to the production of the anti-inflammatory ketone this researcher is working on ( called BHB).

It is known that exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect.  I have noted that exercise is good for my POIS symptoms.  Throughout the years, I have noticed that I can not exercise when symptoms are too severe, because I have too much hypotension and fatigue, and exercising is making me feeling more ill, if possible.  But I have noticed that exercising when symptoms were down at 30 to 50% would almost get me rid of all those remaining symptoms.  If remaining symptoms where at 30% or less ( that was on day 2 or 3 , before I had my current method of control and prevention), 1 hour of exercise would clear me for sure of any remaining symptoms.

Now, I can exercise the day of an O if I took my pre-O pack of supplements, and get rid of symptoms that would have resist pre-O and post-O prevention and self supplementation. I do not feel top shape if the POIS acute phase was in the more severe side, but will be ok anyway to go about my day and interact normally with others.  And, everything will be normal and will feel no symptoms at all if the POIS attack was milder ( the intensity of my symptoms are not always the same - sometime lower, something more severe, and I don't know the reason yet of this difference in intensity).  For sure, I am not cured, but gone are the days when I would be defenseless about becoming a grinch for 3 days and live with a total lack of energy, overpowered by anxiety and lack of motivation, just waiting for the POIS nightmare to be over. 

If fasting or exercise are good for POIS symptoms, and that it is linked to their positive effect on inflammation, that would confirm that POIS has at least an immune aspect in its cause, and as I have shared lately, I think it is so. 

[G-man]

I never found a consensus as to how long one needs to fast in order to rebuild the immune system. I have heard it being anywhere from 2-4 days, 5 days, and 14 days.

[mellivora]

Actually I've heard 5 days too. I think its just really early days for this stuff. There are quite a few people that are skeptical about it too,  which I guess is normal for these kinds of claims in their early days. Time will tell (which may be 1 year, 3 years or 20 years!)

Thanks Quantum for your great posts lately

[Quantum]

Thanks Quantum for your great posts lately

Thanks for your kind words , Mellivora.

I have a few more in preparation, like a summary of what supplements works for me and how I use them, and will post them as I will have spare time to complete them and do so.

[Limejuice]

I wholeheartedly agree that this ailment is an allergy and food is an allergen (or that food causes the body to produce digestive compounds that may be the allergen). I fast every day until 3pm so I don't have food symptoms (I get similar pois symptoms from food) and can function at my best while working/socializing/etc.

I've found that even tap water causes mild symptoms so I drink only bottled water. Plain, unseasoned meats seem are the most tolerable foods and produce the least symptoms.

[Stef]

I wholeheartedly agree that this ailment is an allergy and food is an allergen (or that food causes the body to produce digestive compounds that may be the allergen). I fast every day until 3pm so I don't have food symptoms (I get similar pois symptoms from food) and can function at my best while working/socializing/etc.

I've found that even tap water causes mild symptoms so I drink only bottled water. Plain, unseasoned meats seem are the most tolerable foods and produce the least symptoms.

Limejuice,

Interesting!

How many hours do you fast -- from your last meal the day before until 3 pm the next day?

Stef

[Limejuice]

I wholeheartedly agree that this ailment is an allergy and food is an allergen (or that food causes the body to produce digestive compounds that may be the allergen). I fast every day until 3pm so I don't have food symptoms (I get similar pois symptoms from food) and can function at my best while working/socializing/etc.

I've found that even tap water causes mild symptoms so I drink only bottled water. Plain, unseasoned meats seem are the most tolerable foods and produce the least symptoms.

Limejuice,

Interesting!

How many hours do you fast -- from your last meal the day before until 3 pm the next day?

Stef

Hey Stef,

That's correct...fasting starts after dinner from the night before.  This helps me feel well the morning during fasting through the afternoon, until I need energy again.  Evenings are the most difficult to function well (like right now) because I need energy at some point during the day, which causes symptoms.

I don't think I'm alone with this either (although the doctors I've seen would have me believe that

[Stef]

"Hey Stef,

That's correct...fasting starts after dinner from the night before.  This helps me feel well the morning during fasting through the afternoon, until I need energy again.  Evenings are the most difficult to function well (like right now) because I need energy at some point during the day, which causes symptoms.

I don't think I'm alone with this either (although the doctors I've seen would have me believe that "


Hi again, Limejuice --

I'm certain you're not alone with this, despite what your docs think. There's a lot of relatively new and on-going research in the field of intermittent fasting and it's immune-modulating effects, and there are various types of intermittent fasting being studied (alternate-day fasting, 2 day/week, etc.)

Please advise as specifically as you can -- about how many hours pass between the end of dinner the night before and the resumption of eating at ~ 3 pm the next day (I.e approximately when is dinner usually over... by ~ 7 pm or so?)

I hope you don't mind all these questions. I really do find this fasting topic very interesting.

Stef

[Limejuice]

Very interesting about the studies being conducted as I had no idea this research is being pursued!

Dinner usually ends around 7pm so approximately 12 hours of fasting does the trick. Typically 'a good nights sleep' of 8 hours will eliminate all but subtle lingering effects, and the effects where off as the morning progresses.  Is there significance to this amount of time?

I've read that food takes 8 hours to pass through the stomach and small intestine, and wondered why I begin to feel better after that time.  Also wondered if nutrition injected intravenously would cause symptoms or not.

[b_jim]

I follow this topic. In my case, carbohydrates taken in Pois day 0 give me hot flashes 30 minutes after eat them. If I take white sugar, it give me diarrheas and this phenomenon is clearly increased in Pois. If i avoid carbohydrates, I don't have diarrheas, I don't have hot flashes but my general fatigue, muscular and loss of concentration is still present but much reduced.

Here my observations of my Pois.... before Taurine. Taurine clearly improve all of this and changes my life.

So when you try to make a link between digestive system I'm agree. I still have abdominal pain and i want to do some test like gluten allergy. But fasting not really help me. I'm skinny and I quickly lose my energy if I don"t eat a lot.

Another point is the role of intestine on the synthesis of neurotransmitters.
It seems 50% of dopamine is made in the intestine. The temporary unbalance of dopamine after ejaculation is an acceptable hypothesis even for scientific point of view, because orgasm itself is a neurotransmitters release, human semen in rich in catecholamines and some symptoms are evidence (lack of concentration, lack of motivation, muscles weakness...). After ejaculation , I have clear muscles twitchings even if taurine reduced this.

Then it's not stupid to think fasting leave the instestine in peace to rebuild the dopamine loss caused by ejaculation.

[Stef]

Very interesting about the studies being conducted as I had no idea this research is being pursued!

Dinner usually ends around 7pm so approximately 12 hours of fasting does the trick. Typically 'a good nights sleep' of 8 hours will eliminate all but subtle lingering effects, and the effects where off as the morning progresses.  Is there significance to this amount of time?

I've read that food takes 8 hours to pass through the stomach and small intestine, and wondered why I begin to feel better after that time.  Also wondered if nutrition injected intravenously would cause symptoms or not.

Limejuice -- thank you for answering my questions.

Amazing that you weren't aware of the fasting studies that are going on (not in relation to POIS -- in relation to various issues related to immune-modulation). Somehow you sensed that it could be helpful for you. Good for you!

From what I've read about fasting so far, if the body fasts for a certain number of hours or days (only water or non-caloric teas, sometimes a bit of boullion), the immune system reacts favorably. In fact, there's currently a Phase 1 clinical study in progress in which people about to receive chemotherapy will fast as much as three full days before receiving the chemo.  There's been some evidence suggesting that the chemo is tolerated much better after fasting -- and perhaps more importantly -- the chemo is more effective after a 1- 3-day fast. Just for interest's sake, here's a link to one of these studies being conducted at the National Cancer Institute and the Mayo Clinic -- https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01175837?term=fasting+AND+chemo&rank=3.

I find this (fasting) to be a fascinating subject!

Best wishes,
Stef