Is the Post orgasmic illness Syndrom really the Serotonin Syndrome?

[Pois 2011]

Could it be that the cause of our problems is the serotonin syndrom. It?s no question that it must be some kind of a hormonal imbalance. Something is wrong with my testosteron or serotonin or melatonin. If you look for the symptoms we have, it?s pretty similar to the symptoms of a serotonin syndrom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome

The cause of a serotonin syndrom is the use of some drugs. Normally if you stop taking this drug the syndrom fades. So same it is with me and an orgasm. I recover from this horrible condition after a crash. It?s as if I don?t need a drug to get this Serotonin syndrom. It happens after getting an O.  So maybe is the Post orgasmic illness syndrome the Serotonin Syndrome?

[Starsky]

No! ITS NOT THAT.

[Daveman]

No! ITS NOT THAT.

That sounds pretty adamant!

The fact is that nobody really knows.

However, the Serotonin Syndrome points to a receptor problem, as a result of over stimulation. It could give similar symptoms, making normal levels of serotonin seem like "not enough".

Whereas in our case it could well be that we are actually low in serotonin, through a failure to produce enough or recuperate quickly.

The benefits and action of niacin tend to support this case, as it fortifies our capacity to produce "prior" rather than satisfy receptors after.

[Pois 2011]

Thank you for your coment Daveman. It?s just a thought of mine... But if we are low in serotonin levels we all could take antidepressants and that should help right?. I have not read one post were somebody was healed by that. I took two different medications and in both cases my conditions were worse. That is why I think the serotonin syndrome is a possible cause and the symptoms (not all) sound familiar to me...

So here are the symtoms of a serotonin syndrom:

    Cognitive effects: headache, agitation, hypomania, mental confusion, hallucinations, coma
    Autonomic effects: shivering, sweating, hyperthermia, hypertension, tachycardia, nausea, diarrhea.
    Somatic effects: myoclonus (muscle twitching), hyperreflexia (manifested by clonus), tremor.

[Daveman]

Thank you for your coment Daveman. It?s just a thought of mine... But if we are low in serotonin levels we all could take antidepressants and that should help right?. I have not read one post were somebody was healed by that. I took two different medications and in both cases my conditions were worse. That is why I think the serotonin syndrome is a possible cause and the symptoms (not all) sound familiar to me...

So here are the symtoms of a serotonin syndrom:

    Cognitive effects: headache, agitation, hypomania, mental confusion, hallucinations, coma
    Autonomic effects: shivering, sweating, hyperthermia, hypertension, tachycardia, nausea, diarrhea.
    Somatic effects: myoclonus (muscle twitching), hyperreflexia (manifested by clonus), tremor.

There are 1000 things that effect serotonin. So if there's some imbalance in it, we are going to have similar symptoms.

We've seen it far to often on both our forums, that people try to treat a disease by treating the symptoms. It just doesn't work.

I for instance don't normally have a depressive hair in my body. I have never been susceptible to depression. But (before niacin) on a few occasions in bad POIS sessions, I've had 2 days in a row of severe depression.  Anti-depressives aren't going to fix that. They are meant to work over a period, so if that period is 2 wks. it's no wonder that they produce problems with POIS. In a POIS session the unbalance is temporary. So in the period where we are "normal", the anti-depressant is actually causing an imbalance. It's the same with anti-inflamatories and antihistamines. They are meant to work in different conditions. The anti-inflamatory may reduce the problems of joints and certain inflammations but not all of our symptoms.

On the forums we've seen about 8 or more repeated diagnoses of all kinds of different ailments other than POIS based on the similarity of symptoms related to serotonin imbalance. We have POIS. Not something else. We have seen some among us who have perhaps even had serotonin syndrome, or one of the various types of depressions or perhaps even one of the "8" common ailments mistaken for POIS, which may have even been aggravated by POIS, but POIS is POIS and nothing else.

It dearly needs funding for research so that we can "have a home", so that we can KNOW for SURE what POIS is and how it works. THEN we can begin to cure POIS.

I appreciate your input. But if you believe you have serotonin syndrome and not POIS, I'm sure there are various sources where you can find more information about your particular problem.

Thanks.

[Stef]

Could it be that the cause of our problems is the serotonin syndrom. It?s no question that it must be some kind of a hormonal imbalance. Something is wrong with my testosteron or serotonin or melatonin. If you look for the symptoms we have, it?s pretty similar to the symptoms of a serotonin syndrom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome

The cause of a serotonin syndrom is the use of some drugs. Normally if you stop taking this drug the syndrom fades. So same it is with me and an orgasm. I recover from this horrible condition after a crash. It?s as if I don?t need a drug to get this Serotonin syndrom. It happens after getting an O.  So maybe is the Post orgasmic illness syndrome the Serotonin Syndrome?

Hi Dan ( and everyone else!)

No one on these forums has serotonin syndrome!
Serotonin syndrome is a true medical emergency, causing severely elevated blood pressure, very high fever, severe sweating, seizures, and can lead to a stroke and be fatal if not treated immediately. It results from an overdose of serotonin-enhancing drugs (like Prozac, for example), or the wrong combination of drugs, in the wrong dosages, that effect serotonin levels.

That's not to say that serotonin and other natural chemicals in the body aren't off-kilter in POIS (no one knows yet!).  But one thing I can tell you -- without hesitation --NO SEROTONIN SYNDROME HERE.  Thank goodness!!!!

[Pois 2011]

Hey guys,  thank you for your input. I m just trying to find answers and I m doing this for 1,5 years. This was just a theory. This was just a question and I dont need to be right here I am probably not and I do not want to...

I sure know that the serotonin syndrom needs a drug to occur. Your serotonin level gets so high  after taking a drug or a combiniation of drugs that this causes these symptoms.

There seems to be something wrong with my (our) serotonin levels. So I thought after getting an O my serotonin level gets so high that these symptoms occur. I dont take any drugs since 9 months. So I cannot have a serotonin symptom by a drug.
The symptoms of a serotonin syndrom also fade after quitting the drug. Same thing happen some days after an O. So I just replaced the drug with an O...

Didnt want to offend anybody. It was just a thought.

[Stef]

Dan,

I can't imagine that you've offended anyone!!!  Please don't think that, and don't hesitate to post your thoughts here.  This is the place to do it.

"Serotonin syndrome" is just such an emergency situation -- a true medical emergency -- that I wanted to make sure that it was clear that no one here has it.

Who knows -- there may actually be a dramatic drop in serotonin levels when POIS occurs.  It's all just one, big, miserable mystery right now.

You guys are on your way to your first real, true research grant.  The $9,227 in your fund is moving toward the magic $10,000 mark.  Yes -- that really seems to be a magical number for funds -- a major milestone. Your efforts are all going to start busting POIS wide open.

So, Dan and everyone, don't hold back on your ideas, post them, and also keep posting about what helps your symptoms and what makes them worse.  This is crucial information -- Daveman has said it many times -- NO ONE KNOWS MORE ABOUT POIS THAN ALL OF YOU!  Your ideas may very well form the basis of a great research project.

FYI -- I guarantee you all -- unequivocally -- researchers are reading your forum posts.  There's not a doubt in my mind about this.  As of the writing of this message, your "Funding a POIS Research Grant" thread has been visited 3897 times. Let's just say -- this is not exactly riveting reading -- unless one is interested in grants. :-)

[Daveman]

Nordnurse is right, no one is offended. And it's completely valid to sort and relate mechanisms, even though they may be caused by other syndromes, as a means to understand what's going on within ourselves..... as long as we don't imagine that we have that something else.

It's difficult to keep things on track sometimes. We are trying to get to the root of POIS. And although there are mechanisms that are similar in so many other ailments, we MUST keep our heads about us. We have POIS, it is NOT something else, but yes, it definitely seems to have something to do with serotonin, and perhaps other things that have to do with serotonin can help us understand POIS.

Thanks Nordnurse for your clarification of Serotonin Syndrome.... and calming feminine words