Sound like POIS?

[haidcat]

Hello everyone, I am pretty new to this board, but have known for around 2 years that strange things happen to my body after orgasm. I just wanted to provide a list of my symptoms to see if this really is POIS or something else.
This all started at age 22, after a very intense sexual session with my girlfriend in college, I felt as if some of my semen shot back inside of me, and my prostate has felt very swollen since. I
am 24 years old now, trying to get back into medical school, which i had to drop out of because of all this crap.

1. Nasal congestion, feeling of pressure behind eyes, especially around the left eye
2. Swollen prostate for the past two years, including microscopic blood in the urine. Prostate was fully examined at urologist, Doc said,"I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, your too young (24) to have this big of a prostate, and gives me flomax.
3. I have always suffered from mild constipation, but it seems that the past 2 years I have suffered from pretty extreme constipation, really centering around a feeling of an inflamed anus, maybe it relates to the swollen prostate?
4. Extremely sore and very tight muscles all over my body, pain in neck, back, thighs, facial muscles,etc. These muscles also get extremely fatigued very quickly, My arms get sore from taking a shower! This is coming from the guy who used to bench 170 pounds when he was 150 pounds back in highschool, now working out makes me want to throw up.
5. Extreme nausea after orgasm, that continues at a low grade level for 2 weeks.
6. fast pounding heart rate very easily, upon walking up stairs or even just walking in general for several days after orgasm. This was empirically tested when I went to the pulmonologist complaining of shortness of breath one day, and upon walking for 5 mins my blood oxygen went down to 87 from 100. Several weeks later,wihtout treating the breathing with inhalers or anything, my blood oxygen stayed at 100 for 5 mins of walking, guess what I didnt do the entire week before this second visit? thats right no orgasm
7. Heart palpitaions upon eating, constant bloating in digestive system( a feeling of something is blocked, when I know nothing is),
8. Very sore throat, and constant regurigation of acid in the throat.

Thats all the physical stuff the mental stuff includes the usual:
1. Terrible memory, easily distracted, very sensitive to sounds and lights, easily angered.
and probably is the worst part severe depression to the point of not wanting to even get out of bed in the morning.


Now I do have a minor thyroid problem that was diagnosed back in february, but it was very minor, and I have been on medication that has brought my TSH down to 2.5, which is considered normal by lab tests

So....... I don't know whats going on. I have gone 12 days recently with no masturbation/sex (very hard but managed to do it , but on that night, I had a nocturnal emission and was back to ground zero

I have really contemplated niacin but I'm scared, that it wont help with all the physical things, just hte mental. And I need both the physical and mental to get fixed. Suggestions?

Thank you very much.

[Daveman]

Hello everyone, I am pretty new to this board, but have known for around 2 years that strange things happen to my body after orgasm. I just wanted to provide a list of my symptoms to see if this really is POIS or something else.
This all started at age 22, after a very intense sexual session with my girlfriend in college, I felt as if some of my semen shot back inside of me, and my prostate has felt very swollen since. I
am 24 years old now, trying to get back into medical school, which i had to drop out of because of all this crap.

1. Nasal congestion, feeling of pressure behind eyes, especially around the left eye
2. Swollen prostate for the past two years, including microscopic blood in the urine. Prostate was fully examined at urologist, Doc said,"I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, your too young (24) to have this big of a prostate, and gives me flomax.
3. I have always suffered from mild constipation, but it seems that the past 2 years I have suffered from pretty extreme constipation, really centering around a feeling of an inflamed anus, maybe it relates to the swollen prostate?
4. Extremely sore and very tight muscles all over my body, pain in neck, back, thighs, facial muscles,etc. These muscles also get extremely fatigued very quickly, My arms get sore from taking a shower! This is coming from the guy who used to bench 170 pounds when he was 150 pounds back in highschool, now working out makes me want to throw up.
5. Extreme nausea after orgasm, that continues at a low grade level for 2 weeks.
6. fast pounding heart rate very easily, upon walking up stairs or even just walking in general for several days after orgasm. This was empirically tested when I went to the pulmonologist complaining of shortness of breath one day, and upon walking for 5 mins my blood oxygen went down to 87 from 100. Several weeks later,wihtout treating the breathing with inhalers or anything, my blood oxygen stayed at 100 for 5 mins of walking, guess what I didnt do the entire week before this second visit? thats right no orgasm
7. Heart palpitaions upon eating, constant bloating in digestive system( a feeling of something is blocked, when I know nothing is),
8. Very sore throat, and constant regurigation of acid in the throat.

Thats all the physical stuff the mental stuff includes the usual:
1. Terrible memory, easily distracted, very sensitive to sounds and lights, easily angered.
and probably is the worst part severe depression to the point of not wanting to even get out of bed in the morning.


Now I do have a minor thyroid problem that was diagnosed back in february, but it was very minor, and I have been on medication that has brought my TSH down to 2.5, which is considered normal by lab tests

So....... I don't know whats going on. I have gone 12 days recently with no masturbation/sex (very hard but managed to do it , but on that night, I had a nocturnal emission and was back to ground zero

I have really contemplated niacin but I'm scared, that it wont help with all the physical things, just hte mental. And I need both the physical and mental to get fixed. Suggestions?

Thank you very much.

That sounds very much like my POIS, except for #5.
Point # 3, I don't have constipation, but I do have swollen and very itch anus, especially after orgasm, accompanied by the swolen prostate and groin area in general.
Point # 4 is to a "T". I also lifted at age 32 to 37, 6 day split.

Niacin has worked miracles for me. Maybe people get bored of me saying this, but when taken exactly right, it can produce from 40% to 95% improvement. I am ALMOST POIS FREE now. Some physical effects the first day if I don't quite do the niacin right.

I had one orgasm Friday and another last night and feel great today!

[haidcat]

Thank you very much Daveman! I'll definitely try out the niacin. I remember reading that basically you have to get a flush, and wait for the flush to pass before O right?
Also, in regards to your prostate, does the niacin help?

Again, thank you very much. Hopefully I can get a handle on this thing thats been ruining my life

[Daveman]

Thank you very much Daveman! I'll definitely try out the niacin. I remember reading that basically you have to get a flush, and wait for the flush to pass before O right?
Also, in regards to your prostate, does the niacin help?

Again, thank you very much. Hopefully I can get a handle on this thing thats been ruining my life

A little but not completely. Anyways, for me that's a minor problem.

That's right about the niacin. Also Take the niacin after AT LEAST 3 hrs fast, 5 is better.

If I haven't eaten in a long time > 6 hrs, I need only 200mg. After 3 hrs I need 300 to 350mg, after 1 hr 400 to 500.
Closer than 3 hrs you might not get a flush, but as long as you take the 3 or 400 or so you should still be protected.

Not everybody needs the same amount. Don't take more than 200 on an empty stomach. If you need to take more wait until you know if you are not going to flush (20 to 30 min.)

[Nightingale]

Haidcat, welcome to the community.  I'm sorry to hear about the symptoms.  I'm 26 and a suffer since puberty and have found relief from Niacin when I abstain long enough to keep it out of my system.  Can't induce the flush daily without amounts of niacin you have to take skyrocketing.  Even that won't work, I feel pretty bad when taking high doses.

I have struggled with depression ever since a teen, a lot having to do with this shit.  I'm accepting of any questions or expression of feelings, as I've been there with all of it: dropping out of college, medications, therapy, 2+ years of inpatient treatment.  I've seen a lot, so please feel free to talk

Is the medical school you attended involved with a research institution?  We're looking for interested parties.

[Vincent M]

I sympathize with a lot of your symptoms, haidcat, including the inflamed anus. Makes me want to get my prostate checked.

[Starsky]

From the above mentioned symptoms I have:

1. Nasal congestion, feeling of pressure behind eyes, especially around the left eye
4. Extremely sore and very tight muscles all over my body, pain in neck, back, thighs, facial muscles,etc. These muscles also get extremely fatigued very quickly, My arms get sore from taking a shower! This is coming from the guy who used to bench 170 pounds when he was 150 pounds back in highschool, now working out makes me want to throw up.
6. fast pounding heart rate very easily, upon walking up stairs or even just walking in general for several days after orgasm. This was empirically tested when I went to the pulmonologist complaining of shortness of breath one day, and upon walking for 5 mins my blood oxygen went down to 87 from 100. Several weeks later,wihtout treating the breathing with inhalers or anything, my blood oxygen stayed at 100 for 5 mins of walking, guess what I didnt do the entire week before this second visit? thats right no orgasm Smiley
8. Very sore throat, and constant regurigation of acid in the throat.

The last one I dont understand because i dont havy reflux (i had a gastroscopy) but i feel all the time some acid in my mouth which is irritating my throat.

Waking up in the morning is a big problem for me but its not depression, its just a natural reaction to fatigue or sometimes extreme exhaustion!

[haidcat]

Thanks for all the replies guys

Nightingale, im going back to school in august, I will definitely look into the research over there.


Also, I have noticed that Niacin didnt work for me, I tried it twice, both times it didnt really work.

My strategy for the short term, just to get ready for school, is to engage in zero sexual activity, and try to prevent NEs. I am currently wearing extra large boxers when i sleep, so as to prevent pressure on the penis. So far it has been working.

[Stef]

Hi All,,

I can't express how heartbreaking your posts are. 

I've got a 27-year-old son, and cannot imagine him having to go through these experiences.

How any physician could possibly think that POIS is a psych problem is completely beyond me!

A POIS campaign is going to be launched very soon on the crowd-sourcing site, Indiegogo.com.  It's a very successful fund raising site, and you'll be hearing more about it in the next few days.  Much of the preliminary work has been done by a few forum members -- but your help will be needed as "team members" for your campaign.  The campaign will be dedicated to raising funds for your POIS research fund.

You'll be able to tell the world about the sheer misery of this disorder -- and you'll be able to maintain anonymity if you want to.

People need to know about POIS! 

I'm in awe of your bravery and honesty -- just wanted to let you know that.

Stef

 

[sameer7777]

naicin also did not work for me .....
guys i went for echo of my heart it came normal ..... i was begging to doc pls diagnose something .......
and when i told him about pois he laughed .......

guys .........

[kurtosis]

Could be a complete coincidence but I also get tension behind my eyes that's worse behind the left eye than the right. This has given me mild double vision. I've checked and it's not Myaesthenia Gravis so who knows what's going on. Pituitary problem?
I can become quite out of breath from relatively minor exercise which tends to make me cough and sneeze. When it was really bad I was easily distracted by lights, sounds etc. ADHD like symptoms.

It's amazing how much commonality of symptoms there is here.

[haidcat]

Kurtosis, since my stoppage of MSG, I orgasmed three times yesterday.

The removal of MSG prevented the terrible heart palpitations I get, and significantly decreased my usual muscle soreness/pain + intense irritability. I find these to be the worst aspects of POIS for me.

But, I still have visual issues going on anytime I orgasm that last for a very long time. I too was tested for myasthenia gravis. I was tested for  Sjogrens and multiple sclerosis too. All negative. I did a massive amount of research today, because my visual problems cause my eyes to go out of focus, plus my eyes to dry out very easily, and im in school so I need to study and figure this crap out.

I discovered that it might have to do with lack of acetylcholine going to the Iris sphincter, Ciliary muscle, and extraorbital muscles. Norepinephrine leads to dilation of all these, and for me its really the trouble contracting these muscles that negatively impacts my life. So, I am trying to increase my acetylcholine levels to try to activate the acetylcholine receptors in those areas. The only ways I know are: 1. Huperzine A, 2. Alpha GPC, and 3. Nicotine.

I am currently testing these out for the focusing issues I have, and my suspicsion is that the tension is really just weakness of the extraorbital muscles causing muscle strain, and this weakness can result from lack of acetylcholine/too much norepinephrine.

What is probably of interest to note is that my left eye has lack of aqueous tear production: it got a 10 on the schirmer test which is borderline positive for Dry eye disease arising from lacrimal gland dysfunction. My right eye is perfectly fine in that regard, and it seems its really only my left eye that gets that muscle tension. The only connection I can see between weak muscles and dry eyes is the inactivation of acetycholine muscargenic receptors in the left eye, which would cause both dry eye and weak muscles.

[kurtosis]

Kurtosis, since my stoppage of MSG, I orgasmed three times yesterday.

The removal of MSG prevented the terrible heart palpitations I get, and significantly decreased my usual muscle soreness/pain + intense irritability. I find these to be the worst aspects of POIS for me.

But, I still have visual issues going on anytime I orgasm that last for a very long time. I too was tested for myasthenia gravis. I was tested for  Sjogrens and multiple sclerosis too. All negative. I did a massive amount of research today, because my visual problems cause my eyes to go out of focus, plus my eyes to dry out very easily, and im in school so I need to study and figure this crap out.

I discovered that it might have to do with lack of acetylcholine going to the Iris sphincter, Ciliary muscle, and extraorbital muscles. Norepinephrine leads to dilation of all these, and for me its really the trouble contracting these muscles that negatively impacts my life. So, I am trying to increase my acetylcholine levels to try to activate the acetylcholine receptors in those areas. The only ways I know are: 1. Huperzine A, 2. Alpha GPC, and 3. Nicotine.

I am currently testing these out for the focusing issues I have, and my suspicsion is that the tension is really just weakness of the extraorbital muscles causing muscle strain, and this weakness can result from lack of acetylcholine/too much norepinephrine.

What is probably of interest to note is that my left eye has lack of aqueous tear production: it got a 10 on the schirmer test which is borderline positive for Dry eye disease arising from lacrimal gland dysfunction. My right eye is perfectly fine in that regard, and it seems its really only my left eye that gets that muscle tension. The only connection I can see between weak muscles and dry eyes is the inactivation of acetycholine muscargenic receptors in the left eye, which would cause both dry eye and weak muscles.

Yes, that's where I was going too. Haha.
I tried Alpha GPC twice. It didn't work for me.
The best results I've gotten are from taking this carnitine complex. Most of the ingredients could be purchased in bulk. You can get bulk L-Taurine and century supplements do bulk glycocarn and arginocarn. For whatever reason the two work even better together for me than arginocarn by itself or plain old bulk acetyl l-carnitine.

I used to wear contact lenses but had to stop because of dry eye.
Interestingly enough, an Italian company is developing Nerve Growth Factor eye drops to treat dry eye. http://www.anabasispharma.com/  I've wondered a few times if someone would get in touch with them and see if they'd participate in a trial with POIS sufferers as many of us seem to have eye muscle control problems and dry eye, possibly due to acetyl-choline receptor problems. Perhaps NORD could, I don't know.

[haidcat]

Lol it seems we're heading In the exact same direction with our thoughts On this except ur already 10 steps ahead lol.
In regards to the eye issue there are really only two things that could be going on: lack of acetylchline/too much norA or pois is sending
Inflammatory mediators/autoimmune cells to attack the acetylcholine recePtors on our muscles and tear glands, restasis should treat this aspect. I just got some from my doc so well see how that goes. And quick question: why do u think  increasIng choline hasn't worked? What about the car nitin comPlex is helping? Also do u take taurine to block glutamate?
Thanks a bunch btw u know a lot about this and your knowledge is super helpful

[kurtosis]

Lol it seems we're heading In the exact same direction with our thoughts On this except ur already 10 steps ahead lol.
In regards to the eye issue there are really only two things that could be going on: lack of acetylchline/too much norA or pois is sending
Inflammatory mediators/autoimmune cells to attack the acetylcholine recePtors on our muscles and tear glands, restasis should treat this aspect. I just got some from my doc so well see how that goes. And quick question: why do u think  increasIng choline hasn't worked? What about the car nitin comPlex is helping? Also do u take taurine to block glutamate?
Thanks a bunch btw u know a lot about this and your knowledge is super helpful

I'm not sure why the choline didn't work. I found taking 2 lecithin more helpful than the choline. Perhaps it's the brand I bought and maybe the batch wasn't right. I honestly don't know. In theory, it should have worked but the GPC is expensive and I didn't want to buy another one and find it was equally ineffectual.

Acetyl L-Carnitine increases levels of Choline Acetylase which is used to make acetyl choline. The combination of the arginate and acetyl l-carninte itself appears to operate synergistically to increase acetyl choline levels, stimulate dopamine release. Also Acetyl L-Carnitine Arginate appears to be an agonist for NGF, effectively tricking the brain into growing dendrites from neurones and possibly stimulating brain cell growth. Possibly

All I know is that 2 pills of this carnitine complex appear to improve by visual clarity and reduce spasming. The complex also contains a new compound with both taurine and acetyl l-carnitine. Again, this seems to work more effectively than standard taurine. However, taurine does work in that it makes me feel much calmer and more clear thinking.

Of course, the best solution may be pure NGF and that's why I was so interested in that company's research. However, I'm struggling to find the right way to ask them about it as POIS is so tangential to their research focus which is about treating eye conditions like keratoconus.

I'm taking the taurine to block glutamate and because I think POIS brain fog is caused by a combination of over-excitement of CNS with some dopamine deficiencies in shutting down unwanted sensory nerve impulses. i.e. screwing up concentration. I'm also interested in research that suggests that taurine may increase testosterone and reduce cortisol. So much of the negative cognitive aspects of POIS feel like being completely stressed. It's like a functioning brain suddenly goes haywire.

I've noticed that tyrosine improves my score on video games requiring fast cognition (e.g. stuff like tetris). This matches some military research that suggests that tyrosine could compensate for dopamine deficiencies when the body is under stress and has created noradrenaline at too fast a rate. Oddly enough, I seem to be in this state most of the time and that's how I arrived at my theory. I also noticed that taurine rich energy drinks like Red Bull and Rockstar were good at alleviating some POIS cognitive symptoms.

But I still think this thing has some hormonal root.

By the way, does anybody know the guy discussed in Dr. Dexter's papers. This one. http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2010/bcr.10.2009.2359.accessible-long
There's an odd discussion on the NSF about it. Someone tried one or two and it didn't work. Then they seemed to stop

[haidcat]

I find that with my eyes, its not just a sense of tension + dry eyes. I find that the actual ability to focus using my ciliary eye muscles is severely weakened.The best way to describe it is taht my eyes constantly want to go out of focus, its like their natural state is to want to relax the ciliary muscles and hence effectively blur out my vision, making it nearly impossible to focus for sustained periods of time on any book or computer.

Now, in regards to this problem, I know acetylcholine/norepinephrine play a huge role because the actual contraction of the ciliary muscles requires acetylcholine impulses, and is negated by norepinephrine due to NE's dilation effect. But, im starting to wonder what role dopamine has to play with this sustained focusing ability of the eyes. Do you have any idea on if lack of dopamine/lack of receptors can have any impact on this eye muscle focusing? Im trying to investigate this by analyzing research on what parkinsons can do to the eyes, and some interesting things have popped up. And who knows, maybe even glutamate has an effect, im gonna research that too.

[haidcat]

Heres what I was able to come up with after some research:
1. Pupil size is controlled by constriction of muscarinic receptors.
2. Ciliary muscles(control accommodation/focusing of lens of eye) are constricted by activation of muscarinic receptors.
3. The extra orbital muscles which are required for movement of eyes up, down, left, right, and for convergence(required to focus on close objects) are controlled by nicotinic receptors.
4. Acetylcholine activiates both muscarinic and nicotinic receptors
5. Nicotine activates only the extraorbital muscles.
6. The tear glands are activated by both acetylcholine and nicotine, a lack of acetylcholine going to muscarinic/nicotinic receptors in the tear glands can cause dry eyes.

6. all muscles are contracted by acetylcholine acting on acetylcholine receptors
7. All motor neurons are activated to release acetylcholine to muscles by the attachment of glutamate to receptors on their dendrites.

So basically its Brain----> upper motor neuron---->glutamate------>lower motor neuron-----> acetylcholine-----> contraction of muscle


So glutamate and acetylcholine are essential to contraction of muscles, and are culprits in conditions where muscles are too rigid/spastic/painful(Fibromyalgia, parkinsons, etc).

So it seems release of too much glutamate/acetylcholine cause rigid/painful muscles, while not enough release of these things would cause muscle weakness, and inability to contract muscles for extended periods.

As to how dopamine fits in, the only thing I was able to get is that dopamine has some type of inhibitory effect on constant acetylcholine release to muscle fibers. Its this constant release of acetylcholine that causes muscle rigidity and tremor in parkisons patients. These parkinsons patients lack the amount of dopamine necessary to inihibit a continual small release of acetylcholine to muscles, therefore causing increased muscle tone/contraction/rigidity, and lack of ability to stretch the muscle. 

And Also: high levels of norepinephrine production drain dopamine, and allow further release of glutamate.

[demografx]