Just like Joe I?m also very interested in the mechanism behind this.
I?ve read something, and try to interpret it, but I?m no expert, so please correct me if im wrong.
Alcohol is among other things resulting that neurotransmitter Glutamate is blocked or less active.
So I have no symptoms for about 12 till 14 hours after I drunk alcohol.
So is it possible to assume that if I didn?t drink the alcohol and had an O, that the Glutamate levels perhaps would explode because of perhaps an allergic reaction on Orgasm. ?
And could this explosion of glutamate levels and this following inbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain cause all those negative symptoms of POIS ?
Cause what I read, high Glutamate levels cause a lot of POIS problems, like behavior change, emotional problems, headaches, additional production of free radicals.
It ?s only a hypothesis, but have to start somewhere.
Thanks everyone for your answers about symptoms relieved by alcohol. Obviously, like Demo, Joe and others have mentioned in this thread, alcohol is not recommended for POIS relief, but understanding why it brings relief would be of value.
Erik, I share your hypothesis about glutamate. High level of glutamate or other substances that stimulates the NMDA receptors too much causes excitotoxicity (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity ). This pathological process kills and damages nervous brain cells, leading to all sorts of cognitive and emotional symptoms. I personally think it is at play for many symptoms of POIS. In my hypothesis, the cognitive symptoms may come from kynurenic acid excitotoxicity, and emotional symptoms form quinolinic acid excitotoxicity ( details at
http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=1988.msg15559#msg15559 ).
That is what lead me to use NMDA receptors blockers before release, to prevent this excitotoxicity. That, and the fact that magnesium was helping me against POIS, and was searching why, and thta it is a NMDA receptors blocker. So now, the pre-pack of supplements I have been taking for almost a year to prevent POIS contains three different NMDA receptors blockers:
Magnesium,
Lignan ( in the form of flax seed oil),
and L-theanine ( that I take both in pure supplement form, or in green tea extract)
With these and some other substances, I get 80% to 100% relief. So, I do not know if this hypothesis is right, but using NMDAR blockers helps me.
As a matter of fact, alcohol is a NMDA receptors blocker. However, as I have said, I do not use it, and i am not interested to do so.
Other NMDAR blockers that I know of are:
Taurine ( that I also use in low, 600mg doses ),
Zinc ( that I take as pumpkin seeds, because zinc itself is hard on my stomach),
Acetyl-L-carnitine ( tried it, but was causing me stomach aches, so I stopped )
Huperzine A ( never tried)
Cat's claw ( never tried)
Ibuprofen ( I use it sometime)
In my experience, they are more efficient if taken before release. I suppose, from your posts, that alcohol is effective when you have taken it before O ( Is that right?)
If any of you, in search of an alternative for alcohol as a source of relief for POIS, try any of the NMDAR blockers stated above before O, alone or in combination, at safe dosage of course, let me know of your results ( even if not conclusive).
