But would they contract for 5 to 10 days?
No - I don't think the contraction is 5-10 Days. My thinking is that perhaps the starvation of Blood/Oxygen into the brain during the contraction causes damage which takes 5-10 days to recover from. Much Like a bit of head trauma - The Impact is only short - but the recovery of the brain is much longer.
This is a really interesting idea! It would also go some way towards explaining why some of the vasodilators prevent symptoms if taken before orgasm but aren't quite as effective if taken afterwards.
Jivetalk and Habibou, do you guys have cognitive symptoms primarily, exclusively or just somewhat? I only ask because, while this vascular spasms theory is a pretty interesting explanation for those of us with primarily cognitive symptoms, it doesn't much explain the non-cognitive symptoms (joint pain, fever, flu-like symptoms) experienced by Daveman and some other posters. Which (and this is based on the assumption that vascular constriction does play a role in POIS) leads me to suspect that POIS, like CFS (another mysterious illness with somewhat varied symptoms), may be caused by different things for different people. The immune-system dysfunction theory is a far more sensible explanation for people experiencing non-cognitive but I don't know that it quite works for me -- I'm super healthy and never get sick.
I've done a bit of research on blood vessels and the smooth muscle within them. I'll post it shortly.
Hi Egordon and welcome.
Yes, I like your approach, to get to the bottom of the cause, not just piddle around with the symptoms.
For those with mainly cognitive symptoms, it's more difficult to accept the immune-system dysfunction. I guess as most know here, I tend to support the immune-system dysfunction, but know and respect that there are several (to many) who seem to have symptoms which seem to relate much more strongly to hormonal or other etiologies.
My hope is that even though some are more cognitive and other more physical or that the solutions are more or less hormonal, that there is some common element.
For me that common element is the auto-immune system. If a vasodilator works for instance, that's great, but
why is the vasodilator required, ad how does it stop the sequence cold. If testosterone works, could it be that it blocks sperm production, and therefore eliminates the autoimmune reaction? For me, just about every remedy that has seemed to work, there is an explanation through the auto-immune system. But if there are those who have another position and can show real links to their approach, all the better.
The problem is of course that the vasodilator or testosterone could be resolving the problem for other reasons. We hope with the NORD research funds, that these questions can be answered by people who
know how to isolate cause and effect in very complex systems. But before they start, I'd sure like to have 2 or 3 well supported proposals to begin with.
For those who can't understand how auto-immune can cause cognitive effects, this week I had a significant experience:
I got a common cold that effected my ears! It produced a marked brain-fog situation, perhaps worse than what I usually have with POIS (my cognitive is normally light as you know). But this was clearly an immune system reaction. I had heavy brain-fog, lack of concentration, zero energy, no incentive to do anything. And I wasn't in POIS.
Anyways, what ever the cause OR solution, where we NEED to go is find out, with the help of cause and effect of treatments, what is the real cause of POIS. Focus in why a method works or fails. For us a failure should also be useful.
This sounds logical, but we haven't been doing this. We are happy with successes and don't focus on why it worked, and we are sad with failures, and just throw them away.
It's good to see you here. I have a feeling by the looks of your approach, that you can help us focus in why any mechanism works (or doesn't), therefore moving one step closer to a real solution.
