Hi everyone, I've been reading on this forum for over 2 years and wanted to share my experience earlier but until now I was too afraid to do so. I very rarely post/publish/comment stuff on the internet (due to a feeling of insignificance i guess) so now I'm happy that I have this sudden just-do-it feeling. Anyway, what I wanted to say is thank you to everyone on the forum for your interesting contributions, it meant a lot to me when I first discovered that I'm not alone with my problems and still serves as a psychological stabilizer.
I'm almost 28 years old and from Germany. Had immune system related problems starting before age 10 (at times severe but mostly medium atopic eczema, embarrasing and very annoying stuff) and developed more symptoms between ages 10 and 16 consisting of low to medium asthma, emerging allergies, depression. Then some physical symptoms were getting fewer while others appeared. Asthma went away, eczema faded slowly. Fatigue was getting stronger and in retrospect, I identified my first orgasm-induced fatigues in this period which caused me to be a zombie in school. If a teacher asked my anything out of the blue (I never voluntarily spoke in class) I was too confused mentally to find words. In spite of these problems, I always had a strong motivation to (over)compensate and somehow kept getting a better overall life experience, slow but steady. This trend continued between ages 19 and 23, even though what I now call POIS symptoms were getting stronger by the year. In the beginning, I would be exhausted during the first day afer orgasm, then 3 days, then 5 with the main other problems being prostate pain/inflammation and digestive issues. Until age 23/24 it was quite manageable and it didn't really have a negative impact on what I was doing with my life, but then it started to go downhill at faster rates, especially because autism-like symptoms and more anxiety appeared which lead to social withdrawal and deeper depressive phases. This development continues until this year where I found myself in my worst spot. Now I've had enough and feel like the last weeks/months are a turning point though I am not trusting myself enough to really believe it.
My POIS
My typical POIS symptoms are triggered by orgasm through sex, masturbation or nocturnal emission and include (not sure if all of these symptoms are related to POIS but most occur in an expected way based on time of last orgasm):
Physical
cold shivers, nausea, nerve pain (mostly in feet), fatigue, muscle weakness, hot flashes after mild exertion, impaired motor function (clumsy), weak voice, runny nose, flu-like symptoms, arthritis-like pain in wrists/ankles/knees, pressure on my chest/solar plexus accompanied by heavy air release throughout the day, heartburn/reflux, shortness of breath, dry skin, rare and short but sometimes very intense pain in kidney/bladder/prostate, chronically underweight, urine and feces changing consistency/color/smell (in what seems to be the same pattern every cycle), sometimes prostate fluid/semen in urine and feces, digestive issues and higher fatigue after eating, horniness, vomiting after quickly escalated exercise, celiacs disease, hay fever
Cognitive
brain fog, depression/lethargy, paradoxical/conflicting beliefs and ideals, negative thought loops, self doubt/loathing, autism-like thoughts/behavior, high self consciousness, tendency towards keeping things under control, overanalysing things, emotional instability, nervousness/anxiety (like constant fight or flight mode), irritability, impaired speech/finding words, shifting personality
The symptoms I experience are usually not severe by themselves but all or many of them together make it very hard to live life how I would like to (worst during winter). By now, the next cycle usually begins before I see an end of the previous cycle which means symptoms just shift around based on the phase I'm in. Between 10 and 20 days after orgasm I usually have regeneration and improvements but I rarely make it that far (due to 3 possible causes: too horny and can't stay abstinent, managing to stay abstinent but nocturnal emission occurs or I just want to go back to the early days of the cycle where I feel physically worse but my social problems/anxiety are lower which is sometimes important). However, I identified some things that help me and overall I see more and more patterns emerging (I've been thinking about how to log/quantify my symptoms so I can confirm these patterns but yet couldnt find a solution that I can commit to). I don't want to mention these patterns because they are too speculative, though inflammation seems to play the biggest role.
Strategies for coping
Currently
building up a strong exercise routine, regulating my bio-rythm, figuring out what foods I can tolerate by testing myself and with doctors (testing for sorbite and fructose this week), testing supplements (tried many of those talked about here on the forum, but not sure what helps, up next is CBD oil), learning more about the symptoms and chain-reactions in POIS
Considering
reintroducing meditation routine, consulting a psychologist
Thanks for reading.
