After dealing with POIS my entire adult life (32 years old now), I finally feel like I'm coming close to curing my POIS and other debilitating symptoms.
It's crazy to be writing this, as I feel like I've been down a never-ending road of disappointment, trying hundreds of treatments and supplements to little avail. I've given up hope along the way, for years at a time at points. But at the beginning of last year I promised myself I wouldn't stop until I found a solution, no matter how many failed attempts. About a year later, I feel as though I finally found the answer.
And no it's not "try yoga", or "breathing", "go outside and get some sunlight" or "chew your food 500 times before swallowing". I think this actually has the possibility to help a lot of you suffering with POIS.
I won't call it a complete cure just yet, but I can actually have an orgasm now and not be completely incapacitated for the remainder of the day. I feel a little tired now, as opposed to feeling as though there is no light in the world and I should probably just end it all.
I worked out that my POIS is closely linked to my gut health. According to a gastrointestinal mapping stool test, I had basically zero beneficial bacteria populating my gut. I still don't know if this was a root cause or symptom of another underlying issue, but I made it a goal to try to increase these levels. I tried hundreds of supplements, countless different probiotics. Anything you could name, I probably tried it.
Out of everything I tried, I had minimal symptom relief from:
- zinc l carnosine
- psyllium husk
- some probiotic strains
- kefir
I also found that starchy carbohydrates aggravated my symptoms worst and that I functioned best on a relatively low carbohydrate diet of red meat, fruits and salad.
But some days I honestly couldn't tell if I was any better at all.
I was under the misguided impression that consuming probiotics was the way to increase my levels of beneficial bacteria. I tried just about every probiotic on the market, and did find some relief from some, but it was relatively minimal and short-lived. It's debated whether probiotics truly colonise the gut, or are transient. In my subjective experience, they are absolutely not enough on their own, but may be effective used in conjunction with prebiotic fibre.
I really rounded the corner in my treatment recently by adding insoluble fibre into the mix.
Specifically, I've added partially hydrolysed guar gum (PHGG) and human milk oligosaccharides (HMO). Since adding these, about a month ago, I've noticed much stronger erections, higher libido, less inflammation, greater tolerance to trigger foods, less brain fog, less depression. Also, my hair stopped falling out and has become much shinier and robust. It was shedding and very flat/fragile.
A couple of weeks ago, based on these results, I also added a product called megapre, which contains fructooligosaccharides and xylooligosaccharides. These should hopefully increase levels of beneficial bacteria further. Since adding them, I had a rough couple days, which I attribute to die-off symptoms, and have since continued to improve.
Post orgasm I'm not getting hit with a wave of depression and brain fog and accompanying total lack of motivation to do anything but lie incapacitated in brain fog hell until the next day.
I believe the prebiotics are feeding the beneficial bacteria in my gut and slowly remedying the dysbiosis. Previously, I would eat even "non-trigger foods" like steak and salad, and still get a flare up on occasion. I believe I had leaky gut/intestinal hyperpermeability, where my gut lining was not sealed as it should be, and what I ate was somehow leaking into my bloodstream and triggering an immune response. I would get hot flushes after eating, and feel poisoned and brain foggy. This would be accompanied by a warping of my visual field, tachycardia, depression, anxiety, and erectile dysfunction in severe cases.
Now I'm much better able to tolerate trigger foods, and don't feel as though they're leaking into places they shouldn't be. I still get most of my symptoms, but they're at a 3/10 as opposed to a 9/10. Which means life is worth living and I'm actually experiencing some positive emotion in a biophysiological sense. I can actually feel the serotonin and dopamine running through my system for the first time!
It's only been a month since starting on the prebiotics, so I'm hoping I'll continue to improve. I continue to take kefir for probiotics, zinc l-carnosine, and psyllium husk.
TL;DR insoluble prebiotics. PHGG, HMO, fructooligosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides.
