POIS triggered by anything that stimulates me (exercise, stress, emotions...)?

[takedrugstoletgo]

Kind of a story about my POIS, wonder if anyone can relate to anything (i think most here can..)


I noticed this lately. My POIS gets triggered by more and more things including exercise, fatigue, cold weather (heat too though, any extremes), excitement (when very happy or when emotional), stress.. Also the slightest bit of sexual excitement triggers POIS even if its just texting or hinting at anything sexual.

I was texting with a girl last night (i?m female & bisexual) and there was some sexual tension, nothing extreme but today i woke up feeling hungover in POIS state. I could already feel POIS symptoms while texting. My mood got bad out of nowhere and i suddenly felt like going to sleep and ignored the girl for the rest of the night.

Anything that stimulates me triggers POIS symptoms i think. My main symptoms are bad mood, sweating, heart palpitations, neck pain and i feel extremely cold despite normal temperature and my bowels get very bad during POIS. Also start feeling anxious/panic for no reason and get extreme insomnia despite being very tired i can?t sleep no matter how tired i am.. I haven?t slept for more than 4-5 hrs for weeks, some nights only an hour or i dont sleep at all..

I feel very irritable during POIS and want to be alone most of the time. I get short tempered and just generally annoyed very easily whereas outside of POIS im usually calm and can control myself well.

I have always been very thin but ever since POIS started i went from thin to underweight unable to gain weight. I am skin & bones at this point.. I used to lift weights a lot and play a lot of sports but my muscles are so weak now and my endurance is very bad ever since POIS too and it doesn?t improve with working out.. It?s so weird.

Also only during POIS i have allergies and histamine intolerance, runny nose and congestion/sinusitis, swollen lymph nodes. Out of POIS i have no allergies or congestion.

[Journey]

Sounds like auto immunity and Mast Cell Activation Disorder type of thing have you checked the blood tests relating to the autoimmunity? I too get some light symptoms from excitatory things but maybe slight brain fog and not really many physical symptoms majority of my symptoms are cognitively related.

[Muon]

Sounds like mast cell issues.

[Prospero]

Also the slightest bit of sexual excitement triggers POIS even if its just texting or hinting at anything sexual.
(...) I could already feel POIS symptoms while texting. My mood got bad out of nowhere and i suddenly felt like going to sleep and ignored the girl for the rest of the night.
(...) My main symptoms are bad mood, sweating, heart palpitations, neck pain and i feel extremely cold despite normal temperature and my bowels get very bad during POIS. Also start feeling anxious/panic for no reason and get extreme insomnia despite being very tired i can't sleep no matter how tired i am.
(...) I feel very irritable during POIS and want to be alone most of the time. I get short tempered and just generally annoyed very easily whereas outside of POIS im usually calm and can control myself well.
(...) I have always been very thin but ever since POIS started i went from thin to underweight unable to gain weight.
(...) Also only during POIS i have (...), congestion/sinusitis, swollen lymph nodes.

Hi, I have exactly the same experience as what I've quoted, except for neck pain (it's rather lower back pain in my case, but it disappears in one or two hours) and my allergies don't seem to be related to POIS, though in POIS I have quite often a mild, latent post-nasal drip and nasal congestion, as well as swollen lymph nodes sometimes. Sexual arousal and exercise are my only non-orgasmic triggers, my stress and anxiety management is very bad and it requires some time to recover but it's not POIS, though it worsens much in a POIS state.

I have no solution to avoid the triggering of symptoms (apart from absolute avoidment of anything which can provoke sexual arousal, which I do recommend), but I did notice that daily Omega-3 were very efficient against some of these symptoms (general anxiety, bad stress management) and would decrease importantly the time necessary in order for most of the other symptoms to vanish after they were triggered (heart palpitations, nervousness and things related). I've been taking them by periods since last september and my general condition has improved clearly, most of the symptoms don't last for weeks or months anymore, only a few days, sometimes even a few hours, and I seem to be less vulnerable to some of them (especially those which are anxiety-related, as well as the need to sleep after arousal). Omega-3 seem to lose in efficiency after some time, though, so I'm cycling off regularly.

I should also add that, last summer, I tried quercetin and curcumin supplements after reading posts from Muon, Quantum & others about mast cells issues. In a short period of time after taking the pill (45 min to 3h, I'd say), quercetin seemed to allow me to be slightly aroused in the way you spoke of (and even to masturbate a bit) without having the immediate unpleasant symptoms you mentioned (sweating, mood shift, tachycardia, anxiety, need to sleep just after). It was completely useless to prevent symptoms from orgasm, however, and I also got symptoms from prolonged arousal. Taking quercetin daily for one month was equally fruitless. As for curcumin, it seems to provide some help in order to recover after orgasm, though it is really a partial help, but as a pre-pack before arousal it was less convincing (sometimes it seems to have worked like quercetin, sometimes it did nothing).

Regarding nasal congestion and things related, I've noticed that anti-histamines seemed to help (I've took ebastine and desloratadine, but I didn't carry on because they stirred up important nervousness and insomnia every time I tried them). Nonetheless, I'm not sure that my nasal congestion is linked to POIS, I'm allergic to dust and some pollens, so it may be just this. Post-nasal drip, though, is more clearly associated with POIS periods (since 2020, it wasn't really the case before if I remember well), but the triggering and evolution of this symptom is not as clear as things like tachycardia, mood shifts, anxiety, gut problems, etc.

Also, if you find a solution against the inability to gain weight, I would be interested


EDIT @Muon : I'm not the lady to whom these questions were addressed but I can respond to the last one, for all practical purposes. I'm not really bisexual but I certainly feel "less heterosexual", or "less manly", in a POIS state, and I experience a much stronger desire for females out of it, as well as a stronger "willingness to assume a manly role", sexually.

[takedrugstoletgo]

@prospero

About the bisexuality, i too notice that during POIS i lean more towards dating a girl (aka same sex) and be the leader/dominant one whereas in my ?normal? state i lean more towards dating a guy (thus opposite sex) & enjoy feeling more feminine. Its very weird.

[Muon]

Yes that's what I thought. I deleted my questions because i was done asking. A poiser told me in private he could turn gay in POIS. Another POISer felt femine until he took androgel which let him feel full male again. There is more than one case report with homosexual men while there aren't many case reports in total, I found that rather strange.

My other question was if there is a brain region more active than other parts of your brain and do you feel that arousal overexcites a certain brain region?

The counter mechanic to keep stimuli in check could be dysfunctional.

Have you tried the propranolol?

I don't get it why people keep posting their stuff over multiple threads, how you are able to get a proper overview of a person is beyond me.

[Iwillbeatthis]

The POIS and chronic illness cycle (ME, fibromyalgia, MCAS, Chronic Lyme, IBS/SIBO) explained in this pic bellow

[andrew_874]

The POIS and chronic illness cycle (ME, fibromyalgia, MCAS, Chronic Lyme, IBS/SIBO) explained in this pic bellow

This is absolute bullshit man, stress causes X Y Z like come on. Stress is a natural part of being a mammal in general, including a human. You wouldn't exist without it. Do you think our ancestors who were arguably FAR healthier than we are today, lived 100% stress free lives? Stress can age you and burn you out sure, but chronic illness, autoimmune diseases, bacterial infections are NOT caused by stress. Every time I hear some naturopath quack say stress causes every single condition I can't help but cringe. There is no avoiding stress with POIS. Not until you've actually cured it

[Iwillbeatthis]

This is absolute bullshit man, stress causes X Y Z like come on. Stress is a natural part of being a mammal in general, including a human. You wouldn't exist without it. Do you think our ancestors who were arguably FAR healthier than we are today, lived 100% stress free lives? Stress can age you and burn you out sure, but chronic illness, autoimmune diseases, bacterial infections are NOT caused by stress. Every time I hear some naturopath quack say stress causes every single condition I can't help but cringe. There is no avoiding stress with POIS. Not until you've actually cured it

Lol I'm cringing at what you wrote, the picture is not implying stress is the only cause of chronic illness. Stress is a big factor in Lupus, MCAS, CFS, POIS etc. Why do you think POISers get brain fog triggered when they are out in public or in stressful situations. The picture is more explaining the vicious cycle in these conditions however you clearly don't understand it properly.

https://youtu.be/9QbZp3WcC1Q?t=1976 Here watch this, this is Proffessor Theoharides (mast cell expert) he explains how stress and stressors trigger CR8 and stimulate mast cells making the blood brain barrier leaky which causes immune cells to get in the brain and cause inflammation.

This picture is from The Gupta program he has cured many peoples CFS, MCAS, chronic lyme, fibro, IBS with his program but apparently according to you its bullshit. You seem very sure of yourself which is concerning.

https://www.guptaprogram.com/treatment-for-me/ here maybe you need to watch it as you clearly don't understand it...

Regarding our ancestors they lived far different lives to us: working all day to survive in the outdoors while we are all inside sitting for most of the day on our phones and computers, very different lives...

[Iwillbeatthis]

Here's another picture from the same guy as the last one: Here he says causes are : Viral,Bacterial, or other trigger, Genetics, Acute Psychological stress. In the other picture when he said physical trigger he meant Viral,  Bacterial infection. Infact I think this diagram is a lot better and more detailed than the last one so hopefully you will understand it more this time.

[Cursed]

This is absolute bullshit man, stress causes X Y Z like come on. Stress is a natural part of being a mammal in general, including a human. You wouldn't exist without it. Do you think our ancestors who were arguably FAR healthier than we are today, lived 100% stress free lives? Stress can age you and burn you out sure, but chronic illness, autoimmune diseases, bacterial infections are NOT caused by stress. Every time I hear some naturopath quack say stress causes every single condition I can't help but cringe. There is no avoiding stress with POIS. Not until you've actually cured it

Lol I'm cringing at what you wrote, the picture is not implying stress is the only cause of chronic illness. Stress is a big factor in Lupus, MCAS, CFS, POIS etc. Why do you think POISers get brain fog triggered when they are out in public or in stressful situations. The picture is more explaining the vicious cycle in these conditions however you clearly don't understand it properly.

https://youtu.be/9QbZp3WcC1Q?t=1976 Here watch this, this is Proffessor Theoharides (mast cell expert) he explains how stress and stressors trigger CR8 and stimulate mast cells making the blood brain barrier leaky which causes immune cells to get in the brain and cause inflammation.

This picture is from The Gupta program he has cured many peoples CFS, MCAS, chronic lyme, fibro, IBS with his program but apparently according to you its bullshit. You seem very sure of yourself which is concerning.

https://www.guptaprogram.com/treatment-for-me/ here maybe you need to watch it as you clearly don't understand it...

Regarding our ancestors they lived far different lives to us: working all day to survive in the outdoors while we are all inside sitting for most of the day on our phones and computers, very different lives...

Stress is a big factor in Lupus, MCAS, CFS, POIS etc.

Lupus? Says who?

Dr. Theoharides likes to talk about stress, because he was the first to show that mast cells express CRF and that it can activate them. Stress is not the cause of MCAS, CFS or POIS or any other illness. It makes it worse, no question about that, it can even lead to anaphylaxis in people who have actual MCAS, but all the diagrams that you post are hypotheses by people who know very little and are usually only interested in selling either their product (Gupta) or their ideas, because their in academia and are pushing their agenda.

Truth is, there's often not much that can be done to ease these conditions and stress is... well something that you can adjust *a little*, so that's why the focus shifts there. It becomes very annoying when it takes the driver seat, because there's only so much that it can help with, and even if you have no stress at all, it really doesn't solve the problem, unfortunately.

This picture is from The Gupta program he has cured many peoples CFS, MCAS, chronic lyme, fibro, IBS with his program but apparently according to you its bullshit. You seem very sure of yourself which is concerning.

Again, says who? Gupta? There's no evidence that it works. It may help some people who have somatization and think too much about their symptoms, but it won't cure anything. Many people tried it, me included. If you're really sick, it doesn't work. Many people in ME/CFS have even tried a more dangerous program which I won't name, because I don't want to advertise it, but they were told to ignore all their symptoms and many have crashed really badly and their health declined permanently. Gupta is a snake oil salesman, just like the others.

Regarding our ancestors they lived far different lives to us: working all day to survive in the outdoors while we are all inside sitting for most of the day on our phones and computers, very different lives...

Lots of folks have extremely stressful lives and have no health problems whatsoever.

[Iwillbeatthis]

A family friend developed lupus after the stress caused from her pregnancy, now when she has flare ups it is usually caused from stress from her work. Look it up stress is a major factor in lupus, all rheumatologists know that....

If you bothered to read what I said I never said stress is the main cause of these diseases it can be a cause, just like genetics/epigenetics, viral/bacterial infection triggers - its usually a combination of these factors.

Gupta/DNRS works for some and doesn't work for others, I wouldn't call it snake oil because it hasn't worked for you. I think if you do have chronic infections or deficiencies you haven't solved then you need to fix that first.

"Lots of folks have extremely stressful lives and have no health problems whatsoever." - Yes this is because of genetics clearly and whether if they are exposed to certain toxins/infections.

There's a reason why some people get sick living in moldy apartments and others don't get sick at all it's all down to genetics.

Edit: Actually I just remembered something another family friend's son developed crohn's disease from stress caused during his exam period : he wasn't sleeping enough, going out too much and had very important exams he had to study for at the time which all put his body under stress.

So those are the only two people I know who have autoimmune conditions and they both so happen to be caused by stress lol... Yet you seem to think it can't be a cause of chronic illness lmao.

(EDIT: Remove full quote)

[lw]

This is something I could relate too.

[Journey]

Regarding our ancestors they lived far different lives to us: working all day to survive in the outdoors while we are all inside sitting for most of the day on our phones and computers, very different lives...

Lots of folks have extremely stressful lives and have no health problems whatsoever.

What do you think then causes CFS/MCAS/POIS in the first place then?

[Cursed]

A family friend developed lupus after the stress caused from her pregnancy, now when she has flare ups it is usually caused from stress from her work. Look it up stress is a major factor in lupus, all rheumatologists know that....

If you bothered to read what I said I never said stress is the main cause of these diseases it can be a cause, just like genetics/epigenetics, viral/bacterial infection triggers - its usually a combination of these factors.

Gupta/DNRS works for some and doesn't work for others, I wouldn't call it snake oil because it hasn't worked for you. I think if you do have chronic infections or deficiencies you haven't solved then you need to fix that first.

"Lots of folks have extremely stressful lives and have no health problems whatsoever." - Yes this is because of genetics clearly and whether if they are exposed to certain toxins/infections.

There's a reason why some people get sick living in moldy apartments and others don't get sick at all it's all down to genetics.

Edit: Actually I just remembered something another family friend's son developed crohn's disease from stress caused during his exam period : he wasn't sleeping enough, going out too much and had very important exams he had to study for at the time which all put his body under stress.

So those are the only two people I know who have autoimmune conditions and they both so happen to be caused by stress lol... Yet you seem to think it can't be a cause of chronic illness lmao.

(EDIT: Remove full quote)

If you bothered to read what I said I never said stress is the main cause of these diseases it can be a cause, just like genetics/epigenetics, viral/bacterial infection triggers - its usually a combination of these factors.

I've read what you said, but IMO you put way too much emphasis on stress, that's why I bothered to reply. And you don't seem to see the difference between cause and potential trigger, or how anecdotal reporting is often flawed, because e.g. people are conditioned from the young age to attribute every health problem to stress, etc.

Edit: Actually I just remembered something another family friend's son developed crohn's disease from stress caused during his exam period : he wasn't sleeping enough, going out too much and had very important exams he had to study for at the time which all put his body under stress.

So those are the only two people I know who have autoimmune conditions and they both so happen to be caused by stress lol... Yet you seem to think it can't be a cause of chronic illness lmao.

A family friend developed lupus after the stress caused from her pregnancy, now when she has flare ups it is usually caused from stress from her work. Look it up stress is a major factor in lupus, all rheumatologists know that....

This is classic of someone who doesn't know what he's talking about. Language matters. Stress DOES NOT CAUSE disease. It may contribute, it may be a be one of the triggers, but you're throwing around such far reaching conclusions for which there is no evidence.

Actually, this kind of talk about stress and its role in causation of illness is one of the main reasons why nobody takes syndromes like POIS, CFS, IBS, seriously. Just like you, doctors often say, "Oh, it's caused by stress" (some patients agree, not knowing that this will make them the victim of medical neglect), therefore the solution is some CBT(cognitive behavioral therapy) and antidepressants neither of which are effective.

Your friend with Crohn's very likely already had problems, but just didn't know about them and stress may have been the final straw. He would have developed symptoms sooner or later.  You could make an argument that it better be later than sooner, but life is real. Stress happens, sleepless nights happen. Can't really avoid it. AND, when you already have a fully developed illness, stress reduction does not cure it. It may reduce the symptoms slightly, but that's it. Same with Lupus and any other illness.

Don't lol me, if you don't know what you're talking about.

[Cursed]

Regarding our ancestors they lived far different lives to us: working all day to survive in the outdoors while we are all inside sitting for most of the day on our phones and computers, very different lives...

Lots of folks have extremely stressful lives and have no health problems whatsoever.

What do you think then causes CFS/MCAS/POIS in the first place then?

Every doctor should start the conversation with a patient by saying "I don't know what causes your symptoms" (in these cases), instead of resorting to all kinds of psychosomatic explanations, because that's the truth. We don't know. That being said... Of course, genetics, epigenetics, microbiome, other environmental factors, early development, and probably many others.

My personal opinion is that when it comes to POIS, and probably others, it will come down mostly to viral infections and/or microbiome, but that's just a guess.

[Kit]

Hey takesdrugtoletgo,

I also have that emotional issue where too much excitement can give me breathing issues, anxiety and the inability to concentrate. It’s very annoying when I try to converse with someone and these emotional symptoms get in the way. I sometimes have no other choice but to rest without any other stimulation such as music, watching TV, conversing obviously, etc. Sometimes relaxing and calming music can make me feel better. I think we may have the exact same problem and can relate to the rest of your post.

[Journey]

Do you have ME/CFS-like symptoms?

[Kit]

@Journey

Hey, I have post-prandial fatigue (PPF). Have been suffering with food sensitivities for a couple years than I started to develop PPF in late April. If I eat every 2 hours or so with triggering foods, it can mimic chronic fatigue. So what I eat can influence my fatigue.