Hey everyone. I'm new to the form. I have been suffering from POIS for 7 years now, ever since I turned 18. It started with anxiety and depression and I've also had fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue for most of that time. Full list of symptoms:
http://imgur.com/eoy9LjO For a while I thought I just had a porn problem but upon experiencing bad brain fog after a nocturnal emission after a month or two of abstaining, I knew there had to be a problem outside of porn addiction.
I have tried every supplement known to man. For a while I thought my problems were from a lack of dopamine. Thinking maybe all my dopamine dropped off after O and was converted into prolactin or some other chemical. So I decided to try natural L-dopa. (mucuna pruriens) It helped me greatly.
I also started using a hormone balancing herb called "myomin" I found on amazon. It is supposed to get rid of bad estrogen and possibly increase testosterone. I stupidly took a bunch of supplements at the same time so I don't know which was doing what but I have narrowed it down to these two supplements.
It's possible I was just getting a 'high' from the mucuna but all my issues were pretty much gone. The change was drastic. I felt like everything was fixed and I felt amazing. I had bad days when I felt shitty again but for a bout a month or two I was feeling normal on some days which I haven't felt in so long. If I had an O, I would feel a little crumby the next day but after taking my supplements I felt better. Eventually I started feeling shitty all the time again but I think it might be because I went off the myomin and possible inconsistent quality of the mucuna. Also, something about winter seems to make my issues much worse.
So I thought my issues were all from a dopamine problem so I got put on pharmacy L-dopa for restless legs and it didn't really seem to do anything. So I looked up the other mechanisms of mucuna pruriens. It turns out it effects hormones and testosterone as well. There is evidence it can improve testosterone, sperm quality and hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal, function.
Between the myomin and mucuna, this tells me that I was changing my hormone function, which is probably the cause of all my problems.
I got a blood test for all the standard hormone stuff from my doctor and he said everything was fine. However, my body and brain are telling me a very different story.
I have re-ordered the myomin and mucuna to try and improve what ever problems were being fixed before. I will let you guys know how it goes.
(So my current theory is that I have too much or too little of one or more hormones. Most likely something that comes from the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis, or thyroid. I think if we can correct the imbalance we can feel more or less normal. It's possible we have serotonin, dopamine, etc issue but I don't think that is the main problem, as I'm on anti depressants and they don't seem to be treating the right problem.)
(I have also had relief from maca, another hormone balancing herb, however it only works when abstaining for me. If I use it the day after an O it seems to make things worse. However I feel it is another clue to what is going on with me. The fact that it effects hormones tells me something is going on in that department.)
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Here is some other research I have done on the HPA axis and hormone issues.
In my research something that I keep coming back to dysfunction of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis.
"We reviewed previous studies that have described an association between abnormal functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and depression. In addition to melancholic depression, a spectrum of conditions may be associated with increased and prolonged activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. In contrast another group of states is characterized by hypoactivation of the stress system, rather than sustained activation, in which chronically reduced secretion of corticotropin releasing factor may result in pathological hypoarousal and an enhanced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal negative feedback. Patients with atypical depression, seasonal affective disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome fall in this category." -
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=s1516-44462007000500005&script=sci_arttext&tlng=enIn my case I have had trouble finding if my symptoms were coming from hyper-activation or hypo-activation of the HPA axis. The aforementioned findings implicate decreased HPA axis activity in the S.A.D., chronic fatigue, and atypical depression. CRH is the first in the cascade of hormones in the HPA axis. If mine were to be low it would cause issues with acth > cortisol.
"Lack of the hormone CRH also results in the feelings of extreme tiredness common to people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Lack of CRH is also central to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the feelings of fatigue and depression that plague some patients during winter months."
"Significant levels of chronic ACTH autoantibodies are a common pathological factor in CFS, AN and MD. These antibodies interfere with ACTH's ability to stimulate the production and secretion of cortisol, causing HPA dysregulation. As a result, patients suffer from the symptoms of adrenocortical insufficiency and the side effects of overactive cortisol-stimulating mechanisms utilized to compensate for this interference."
