Hi everyone,
I've been somewhat active on the r/POIS subreddit, but until recently I hadn't spent much time reading up on posts throughout poiscenter.
My case begins in my early teens. A plethora of physical health and psychological issues appeared out of nowhere around age 14-15. All of a sudden, I was dealing with crippling mental health issues which affected all areas of my life, and all sorts of other issues began to appear which I had no idea how to deal with (I'll list my general symptoms below). All of this changed when I attempted abstinence for the first time. I had a lot of friends who were doing NoFap and trying to quit porn, so I ended up doing the same and discovered that abstinence fixed all of the issues I was previously dealing with. During long abstinence streaks, I was able to mentally get myself together, get better grades in my classes, hold down a job, and participate in multiple social circles simultaneously. I hadn't felt this good in years, and I attributed my personal successes to NoFap and beating my addiction to porn. For years, I remained completely celibate and dedicated a lot of my time to fixing my mental health and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.
In Spring of last year (2021), I was pursuing a relationship. Around the time when we became sexually active, all of my symptoms reappeared and were worse than they had ever been before. Ultimately, I cut off contact with the girl I had been dating, as I became ill and didn't know what was happening. All I could figure out was that short abstinence streaks were somehow causing partial symptomatic remission. Around this time, I spent weeks searching for specific keywords in online forums until I found a few posts on the POIS subreddit in which users were experiencing the same thing as me. I was in denial for several months, and I attempted to go the NoFap route to solve my problems. I became plagued with nocturnal emissions at least three-four times per week, trapping me in a cycle of POIS sickness and forcing me to find alternative treatments for my problem. Since then, I've attempted to stop my reoccurring nocturnal emissions to no avail, but I've managed to be totally abstinent for the past year and a half which I suppose is somewhat of a victory, given my predisposal to porn addiction in the past.
I've contacted a dozen doctors over the past year, none of whom had ever heard of POIS. I must admit that it's incredibly disheartening to hear so many doctors say the same thing over and over: they've never heard of my condition but will contact any and all relevant colleagues who might have more information. Despite working with many caring and passionate medical professionals, none of them have been able to offer me any insight into what could be causing/worsening my condition. Blood tests always come back normal, and I don't seem to have indicators of underlying chronic illness outside of the symptoms that I report. My POIS takes two to three months to fully go away following ejaculation/orgasm. After one month of abstinence, my symptoms are maybe 75% gone.
Here's a comprehensive list of symptoms which appear/worsen while POIS is afflicting me (I believe these best-fit into Cluster 3):
Physical:
- Hyperhydrosis
- Dry Skin
- Eye Irritation/Dry Eyes
- Nasal Congestion
- Facial Inflammation
- Changes in speech patterns/lazy jaw and pronunciation
- Changes in vocal pitch and density
- Orthostatic Hypotension/Poor Circulation
- Low Blood Pressure
- Throbbing headaches (can last several days)
- Heart Arrhythmia
- Muscle stiffness/changes in muscle tone
- Temperature sensitivities
- Tremors/shakiness/RLS
- Poor Balance
Psychological:
- General anxiety and social phobia
- Paranoia
- Depression
- Depersonalization
- Intense and spontaneous mood swings
- Brain Fog
- Memory Problems
- Fatigue
- Concentration Problems
Treatments I've Tried:
Fasting - Works like magic. This is the only thing keeping me sane. Multi-day fasts have allowed me to continue to stay on top of important things in my life, and my eating schedule has allowed me to not lose weight or vitamin/mineral density, although I've had to cut back on exercise routines.
Wellbutrin - Helps with many cognitive symptoms and stabilizes my mood when POIS is extremely bad.
Benadryl - Alleviates many physical symptoms, but makes me feel like a complete zombie. I get incredibly fatigued and can't focus on anything.
Hydroxyzine - Similar experience as benadryl, but better and longer-lasting physical symptomatic relief.
Advil - Alleviates physical symptoms with less fatigue than the prior substances, but it doesn't last very long.
Zoloft - Numbed many of my mental symptoms but came with serious side effects which caused me to stop taking it after a few months. One of the primary reasons I considered trying Zoloft was that people tend to complain online that it lowers their sex drive and makes it difficult to achieve orgasm. I never experienced this. It may have slightly lowered my drive, but I continued to have nocturnal emissions atleast once a week while taking it (I believe I was on 50mg).
CBD - Helps alleviate anxiety and a few other mental symptoms, but it tends to make me nauseous.
Nicotine - Worsens every symptom, physical and mental.
Alcohol - Worsens all physical symptoms, but alleviates anxiety. I never drink alcohol these days because it physically makes me feel horrible.
Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D complexes: Seemed to do nothing. I think my levels of each vitamin were high prior to my supplementation, so I may not have needed these due to my diet.
Magnesium - Helps with calming/relaxation. Useful for improving sleep quality while recovering from POIS.
Zinc - Seems to speed up recovery times but simultaneously increases nocturnal emission frequency. For this reason, I no longer take it.
Maca Root - Did nothing.
Tribulus - Did nothing.
Ashwaganda - May have improved sleep quality, bad anxiety and testosterone levels, but I ceased taking it due to increased NE frequency.
Curcumin - Unsure of whether it had an effect on NE frequency. Didn't seem to do anything for inflammation levels, but it's possible my dose was too small. I took it daily over a period of three months and observed no noticeable changes.
Reishi Mushroom - Decrease in NE frequency. I'm assuming this is due to 5-AR inhibition properties.
Lion's Mane Mushroom - This stuff felt like taking a mild stimulant. I felt more focused and less absorbed in my negative psychological POIS-symptoms. Only took it for two months.
Shilajit - Did nothing noteworthy.
In the future:
I plan to try niacin and see if it provides any relief from POIS.
P.S. If anyone has advice for nocturnal emission prevention, I'd greatly appreciate it. It feels like, at this point, I've tried everything possible to prevent them from happening but am unable to.
