Personal POIS Summaries and Histories.

[Labyrinth]

Hello Cornelius , i think we have reached a common thing between poisers u have said that u had allergy before and then after antihistamine the immune system started tolerating it , well that is impressive cuz i had the same story mosqito bite eczema , and am kind of know the allergen " hous dust mite " skin prick test reavealed dust mites are cause of my allergy and am still having it , i am going to do desensetization therapy for my allergy and treat it , what i sufer from is only head manifestationbut no any physical problems on other parts of body , have any one underwent desensitiZation therapy for his allergies

[less_fogged]

Hello Cornelius , i think we have reached a common thing between poisers u have said that u had allergy before and then after antihistamine the immune system started tolerating it , well that is impressive cuz i had the same story mosqito bite eczema , and am kind of know the allergen " hous dust mite " skin prick test reavealed dust mites are cause of my allergy and am still having it , i am going to do desensetization therapy for my allergy and treat it , what i sufer from is only head manifestationbut no any physical problems on other parts of body , have any one underwent desensitiZation therapy for his allergies

Allergies have also been a frustration for me. And also allergic to "house dust mite", so far the best quick and easy technique I managed to find is a method called "acar up".
You put this textile fabric over your mattress, then you spray it and after 2 hours it will have attracted all those mites into it so you can thereafter just chuck it in washing machine and wash at 60deg with the idea that it kills them... It's pretty good but not cheap.

[less_fogged]

The basics of how I see my POIS but also POIS in general (sorry for the long story...it's rather more informative for a medic professional who'd want to understand a "POIS'er")

In my case after O I feel this inflammation staying in "my system" for seven days. Sometimes on rare occasions even 8. The majority agree that on day 2 it's usually the worst day, so do I. For me day 3 is usually only a fraction worse than day 1. Something is obviously slowly creeping into our system that is probably pumped into our "blood stream / nervous system" till at least the end of the second day. Thereafter it slowly gets cleaned out of our system. So gradually after day 7 I normally have fully recovered from this plague causing inflammation. Most of us realise that if we managed to abstain for at least a full month before, the severity usually will be less. It's like as if something gets disrupted and weakened after each O but only manages to fully recover if not disturbed for a few weeks. If it was so simple we could just have an O once every 4 or 6 weeks. NOW: This was just a standard explanation. So normally from day 3 the intensity of symptoms start reducing but then why do we for example sometimes still feel worse on day 6 than day 5 or day 5 than day 4, etc..... In my opinion, because we don't necessarily live with the same routine as in what we do, etc. We realise that external factors can also influence the intensity of our symptoms at any time during those days such as lack of sleep (daily rest, tiredness), allergies (internal or external), fitness (daily exercise), food (avoid starch and sugar), probiotics (better with yogurt and some cheese), stress (put under pressure, sudden expectations, rushing), supplements (daily recommended vitamins and supplements), other additional illnesses, meditation and yoga (psychotherapy), routine (waking up earlier or going late to bed), some of you can probably come up with a few more... So that would explain the change in severity over the seven days. Also it might feel like we sometimes have day 1 reasonably well under control. Why? Probably because we kept a good diary of those external factors in the days prior to O and simultaneously we also took our personal pre-pack which sometimes works for us ("some of us"). But sometimes while getting to day 2 or day 3, etc... we seem to lose control!!! So what's going on? Either we lost control in the routine in one of the external factors (obviously more difficult once inflammation started) or our system is short of one or more of our supplements from our pre-pack that's asking for more. We obviously don't have some device plugged in us that just tells us what it is!!! So let's hope that we've built up enough experience and managed to learn listening to our bodies to figure it out ourselves. After-all we all different in how our body reacts and our age is probably also playing a role here. At this point touch wood that at least you did your diet duty (healthy diet, avoiding sugar, bad/processed foods,bad oils and especially starches) that may help in leaving your IQ reasonably intact to know what exactly is the best you can do.

Now earlier on I said that if we had an O at the most once every month or so we would be reasonably well off regarding POIS because with our control method especially regarding those external factors taken into consideration but we know it's not so simple. Why? Because once we had an O our prostate or a disorder in our arousal pattern or just call it sexual frustration is usually also in action mode. You don't want to have another O shortly after you just had one because the severity of your symtoms will increase to the next level but your sex organs are rumbling and telling you to just keep on having another O. (Lycopeen as example seems to partly help with alleviating this) So what happens? You "probably" manage to abstain as you know what you dealing with and you don't have another O for at least about a week thereafter and then 2 weeks after that one and then hopefully keep it up for a month after that. In short it's like as if you unwinding yourself!!! But yes not even that is so simple because you just might have a sudden erection in the middle of a night between those O's or you get back stabbed with a nocturnal emission even though some of these emissions did not even show a sign of a drop of sperm ejaculation, though sometimes you can notice it simultaneously when you urinate in the morning if you look carefully. This would especially give me/"us" a feeling of knocked out fatigue when awakening if this happened. Obviously when in a sexual relationship or even due to frustration from those rumbling sex organs it can all add extra pressure on us. That sudden unexpected knocked out feeling of fatigue after a nocturnal emission can be very overwhelming when you had managed to prevent an O on a longer term. This is usually when let's say your bucket is full and you might as well empty it. If you don't you will start noticing something else going on depending how your body is wired. Examples are that you will feel swelling of prostate or you could feel pressure building up probably in area just before your sperm is about to reach the urethra or you're suddenly starting to have an increased feeling of tension in one of your ears or you simply feel like your body is under pressure. Like I said we all wired differently and are unique so this will decide how this type of situation will affect us. It would be quiet typical to simultaneously feel symptoms starting up in your forehead.

And then we have our sleeping patterns with all this. Sleeping while inflammation is at its peak is never easy and even while inflammation is increasing in those 1st two days or reducing the days thereafter it can still cause additional frustration and especially disturbance of adrenaline in your sleep which can also easily and regularly keep you awake. You can sense that it can even start frustrating you and affect you psychologically as sometimes you start going through a cycle of repetitive negative thoughts. So there goes another set of pills. Some will go straight for the sleeping tablets, others will bite it out probably feeling exhausted the following day or will try a more natural approach such as valerian or curcuma or together with green tea supplement. Sometimes a drop or two of "Lavandula angustifolia biover" on your neck can also help a little, or trying mind control techniques or meditation before sleep. I also think that feeling as calm as possible especially in that last hour before sleep is important, driving with your car shortly before bedtime is not a good idea (that's my case at least). Also doing a job with late shifts will make it difficult. Not drinking too much before bedtime is usually also better. Alcohol is out of the question because it will probably knock you out for the first 2 or 3 hours but will not be able to sleep or with a lot of difficulty for the rest of the night. Just drinking too much of anything will also unnecessarily wake me up even more often at night than already necessary. This is probably also due to sometimes feeling added pressure at prostate area or near urethra. Also especially if I did not get to sleep well at night in the morning or even from halfway through the night I usually feel that inflammation going right down from upper chest to stomach. I am also ultra-sensitive to frequent urination when in cold temperatures. One thing that's a fact is that I need more sleep/rest than the average person to feel more refreshed during day time.

Another thing, I'm not sure if I'm having an illusion here but sometimes I get the impression that I only have 4 days of POIS instead of 7 but I think I've come to realise that in fact the 7 days are pretty much still there. I think it might be because sometimes I manage to discipline myself so well in avoiding those external factors kicking in. Because I've had it that on day 5 and 6 I felt pretty good thinking I can just permit to give myself a bit more freedom but if I suddenly go overboard on day 7, I can then clearly still seem to feel a degree of inflammation re-appearing. This is something I happened to notice recently!!! Strange but think it seems to be true other-ways it would be a coincidence. Then again most of us realise that we all have a different measured base line in how long and severely POIS affects us.

Then I should normally also still mention about my muscle or joint pains but in my case as mentioned on NSF, I probably can count myself lucky as in the last decade this seems to have almost disappeared, so I only get it to come back occasionally or even rarely. After-all this part usually only bothers me for 2 days max when present. Though I can confirm that before it used to be severe enough to feel like as if I was partly paralysed and did not even want to move at times. Every once in a while when joint pains come back they seem to drag longer than muscle pain.

Now on top of all this on the non POIS days when I'm supposed to feel great. Something is still going on inside me that I'm not happy about. I will call it adrenaline fatigue. Why? because it?s still important to me that I keep all those external factors on a daily basis under control because they can easily either interrupt my sleep or lose control of let's call it "daily feel good factor", especially when I'm into a busy routine. I think that even though if it's not necessary for me to have an O and if these external factors are abused they can still get me in trouble. It almost seems like as if sometimes if you take a big step forward you will have to take a step back soon after!!! I still seem to be particularly vulnerable to sudden brain fog in certain situations such as when rushing, anxiety kicking in, general stress, some fatigue, etc... Sometimes I wonder if non POIS problems could be one of the initial problems that caused us to have POIS in the first place or whether I've gradually developed them in a worsening state over the years due to POIS. Confusing!!! Although simultaneously I also think it's possible that the use of antibiotics (mentioned on NSF) during early childhood may have contributed or caused something to start it off. Another thing I also wonder about sometimes is that if I had realised all this writing here in more detail at an earlier age... then would I have been at least better off during non-POIS times today? I guess that will still take a long time to know if it makes any sense. Though we all know that all our issues can only be resolved at a slow rate regarding how complex things are.
 
Additional external factors mentioned recently (G-Man, Quantum and Prancer) are probably also "trying to socialise and being around the people that I really like (calm and peaceful situations) also helps take mind off the symptoms and make me feel a lot better". I agree that this can also reduce that vulnerability of getting into those depressive feelings especially after a difficult O turn. Something which I am also vulnerable with especially when I feel like my entire nervous system is affected by POIS. When I have allowed myself to have an O on 3 occasions spaced out with one week between each of them while simultaneously losing control of one of the external factors, not only will I have inflammation on the highest alert but I guarantee to also experience anxiety levels at a high level of intensity. Naturally my sense of humour will also drop considerably after one of these episodes. Gaining control again is difficult once I go beyond my personal border line.

Note: Personally I also want to mention that for me since I'm on this healthy diet option (wheat, maize, sunflower oil and sugar - free). I do feel like as if the intensity of inflammation in throat and chest area has intensified while as said at least 75% of inflammation has reduced on mental level. It's like as if the inflammation has shifted from my head to chest. Although it's also possible that I was not aware of this before as my forehead was probably also inhibiting me of knowing what was going on. As soon as I lose track of my eating habits, for example if I'm on the road or I go eating out, I am then vulnerable to eating something that will interfere with my symptoms. The symptoms will not necessarily appear right away but it's like as if my body is building up bad stock regarding food ingredients but if I need to O within one of the next days after then my symptoms are already inclined to be more intense.

Now to explain this inflammation a bit further. It gives me an uncomfortable feeling of warmth inside my body, especially upper-chest and thyroid area, it seems to interfere with my breathing pattern and especially if too active or rather stressed it also interferes more intensely with adrenaline. It also gives me feelings of cramps. If for example I'd get on a bicycle and cycle hard while in non POIS I'd normally and eventually just end up short of breath. But while in POIS mode it's different. I can sometimes feel pain in chest like as if there are needles inside my chest it would feel like as if there is a small knife giving me stabs wounds spaced out with short intervals or another way of explaining sometimes can also feel like as if there is something that's trying to rip out wiring inside my body. I can still cycle hard though but it will force me to slow down every so often and makes me feel like as if I'm harming or putting my body under unnecessary pressure. There's obviously a confusing side to this because sometimes I feel like as if it's better to be on the move than to sit down and relax. A moderate continuous tempo would help me ease that pressure. Sometimes it's a necessity to work on breathing in and out to adjust what's going wrong inside me. But sometimes when inflammation is too strong it's better to do work out exercise when I can permit myself because if I need to communicate with someone shortly after this exercise I will temporarily be in brain fog mode. Then same thing happens when I'd rush myself going somewhere. I believe this illness has also had extensive repercussion on my mind because I can get very sensitive to increased level of anxiety. I am simultaneously convinced that this anxiety has changed the mechanics in my brains thinking pattern which is hard work for me to reverse back to normal. Though my diet strategy has already reduced this a lot. I only believe that by entirely having my POIS cured could fully reverse this permanently.

The Physical signs that are visible on me is that the skin under my eyes often gets darker or one of my nostrils (usually left side) would get blocked while in POIS mode. The blockage was especially a usual occurrence while on previous diet. My skull usually also tends to get very dry from the 2nd day onwards. While on non-POIS sometimes the tip of my penis can also tend to get red which is probably a signal that it's time to O. If in POIS-mode and even just had a thought or saw a sexy woman, sometimes even a picture together with being outside shortly after in cold air or wind blowing in my face then my eyes tend to get moist, fogged up or even start to seemingly just start crying without asking for it. At times if I lose complete control I can appear to be looking tired while I can actually feel like I am in burnt-out mode.

Another thing to mention, I've noticed some people talking about PE on the forum. I don't have this problem but must admit that I also used to have it. But it just gradually went away. I especially had this in my teens and 20's. So if you lucky that problem could hopefully fade away too for others.

When I feel good I can be full of motivation but when things start going wrong I feel like I have to get around with a loaded backpack with all my tools and tricks, like even a cushion (rest) to cope. Then again POIS-mode or not I'm usually better off with my custom food when on the road therefore I still need my "backpack" with some of my emergency tricks. While in POIS mode I have to be in a continuous fight/alert mode to not allow the illness preventing me doing what I need to do!!!

Note: My way of writing this text would have been quiet different if I had writen this before I discovered that a healthy diet could have had such a positive influence regarding my previous cognitive dysfunction situation. For this reason I have now been less focused on that part of POIS.

[Quantum]

Hi Less_fogged,

Thanks for having taken the time to share your POIS history.

I totally agree with you that a healthier diet lowers the duration and severity of POIS symptoms. It has been and is still the case for me as well.

Have you filled the Rutgers survey yet ?  I am sure it is still time to fill it and send it to the research team.  See at http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2079.0

[less_fogged]

Hi Quantum

Yes I've done the survey, shortly after it was out. I also encouraged POISers looking at NSF to do it.
From previous posts and from what I remember and if not mistaken....you are self-employed and work as chemist/pharmacist, so that would explain why are well educated when it comes to medical terminology. Members are obviously grateful to have someone like you participating here.
Though I must admit I've been quiet stunned upon the discovery of this site with some of the terminology the guys come up with here. Previously I never imagined POISers with this anguish could have enough capacity left to defend their cause. Their sure been a lot of determination and fight here to have a better life. I'm sure this site will go on and on till we get what we want even if some of us die on the way.
I think you must be a very rare case with POIS who is capable of being self-employed with such background. I must admit though I was also once self-employed but in a partnership though and some financial aid from folks. Though I was becoming successful in business I eventually lost out by forced selling as my POIS was too interruptive resulting in conflicts with partner. Though partner was not of easiest type to work with either.
If you don't mind me asking you at what age did your POIS start? I presume it started after you completed your studies.

[Quantum]

Hi less_fogged,

Thanks for your appreciation about my contribution here, I try to keep a scientific and practical approach vs POIS.

To answer your question about when my POIS has begun, you have to know that my subtype of POIS is not the most current one, as I do not have any cognitive symptoms - I never had any brain fog, any memory problems, any speech impairment, any problem solving capacity impairment, and the like.  When I do not use my prevention method ( described in this post  ) , my symptoms are hypotension, extreme fatigue, and a lot of emotional symptoms, like anxiety, emotional intensity, mood swings, irritability, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, dysphoria, and the like.  So, even if my POIS as started at puberty, at the very start, I have been able to study, and been able to found and run my own business.  It has sometimes been difficult because of the fatigue, but I had to time my releases, and things got easier to manage as my prevention and control method got better through the years.

When I have first discovered this forum nearly a year ago, I was surprised, first, to see that I wasn't the only one with this problem, and have been also surprised about how each and every poiser had a very specific and "custom" set of symptoms, but that overall, the "choice" of symptoms was not infinite.  The fact that I didn't have any cognitive symptoms have led me to understand that POIS symptoms could be regrouped in four clusters of symptoms, and that some POIS sufferers could suffer symptoms from one or two clusters, or three, or from all four of them ( my grouping of symptoms in clusters can be found here , along with some other observations about POIS subtypes and POIS cycles )

Needless to say, I am very happy that my POIS had spared my cognitive faculties.  In fact, it is because of a very good memory and ease at learning that I could have gone through university despite POIS.  I was sometime totally out of whack for a few weeks, but could manage to emerge from emotional chaos a week or so before the exams, and succeed with excellent grades. However, because I was not functional on a regular basis, and was aware of it, I have chosen not to attend a more demanding program like medicine - those 24 hours of non-stop duty were absolute impossibilities for me.  And, at the beginning of my career as a pharmacist, when i had to work for others, it happened that a boss or two have noticed that I was doing great some days, and wasn't really myself on other days ( I have never disclosed the reason or try to explain it ).  I had to cope with that, and one or two times, I had to change job because the boss had become not so enthusiastic about my unstable performance.  But after a few years, and with more experience,  I came to be able to "hide" my POIS with more ease, in particular by using green tea and magnesium.  Finally, when I have started my own pharmacy 18 years ago, it became a lot more easier, because I was accountable only to myself.

 

[less_fogged]

Hi Quantum....thanks for your reply

There is such a broad range of symptoms being reported that some of us don't even think of and obviously a good thing you've given it a thought on dividing them into clusters. This can clarify things further for some and would not surprise me for scientists to categorise this further. It probably all comes down to how differently we wired but one thing that's a fact is that the root of our problem from how it starts off is basically same for all. I also believe the practical side to be equally important for discussion as the scientific part, as I think practical side could be a real eye opener for those concerned who decide how important our case is. We know a POISer could fall within just one cluster but mostly end up with most clusters as we can tell from forum posts.
At this stage we also know that we don't need all known symptoms to be a POISer. Going into science to ultimately find a cure is a long process and that is what we all want (cure part LOL). But what about high severity cases? If there are POISers who fall in cluster with high severity who have not even been discussed yet when he himself can almost not even come forward on this forum. These cases could be even more rare but could be of even higher importance. Example of a very well possible scenario: The guy simply has a low IQ and his POIS symptoms are purely cognitive based (He is possibly also affected by additional external factors we know can affect us simultaneously). It is very well possible that mentally he is programed to have none or almost no interest in any form of intellectual progress. We know that in times of suffering some of us additionally get a form of chemical imbalance in our brain that influences our motivational progress. Imagine that the guy, due to these circumstances also has been in a situation where he has little room to advance into work skills. He mentions to his doctor that he suffers from some type of mental trauma, he even eventually mentions a suspicion that his problem could be orgasm based but confused with external factors as a smaller degree of similar symptoms regularly crop up. As much as the guy is confused with his situation simultaneously his doctor has no idea or knowledge of POIS. After many consultations he abandons to figure out what his illness is. Over the years the POISer manages to find a job that suits him and becomes a "truck driver/taxi driver/courier". He may even have had a lot of difficulty to obtain the drivers licence as he especially had difficulty to pass the theoretical part. But managed to find a way in doing the test orally. (I know in some countries this gets done). Now that he obtained his licence we suspect he could be a real danger on the road. I'm sure even mild POISer with cognitive symptoms could agree how we sometimes feel like a donkey on the road with eye patches on. Now imagine he's in a serious car accident. And many have died. If he survived do you think he will tell the journalist on live television that his orgasm caused him to be in this accident? Don't think so!!! But if his dead and even if his doctor managed to figure out he might have POIS, I can't imagine his doctor will want to get involved in a situation where things are becoming juridical now, as people want to sue someone as their family members have died. Forensics probably concluded that he was a perfectly healthy driver but was simply distracted for whatever reason. Noise, phone call, weather conditions, etc. Even if the guy realises he has POIS and the fact that it's still a taboo to speak about sexual issues, it's well possible that the guy never disclosed anything to anyone and he died and so none will ever know the real cause of accident. It seems that the importance of this illness is still highly underestimated. The word needs to get out there and these guys of the most dangerous type of POISers need to be found and put on a simulation test or something to prove our cause. I think it's is the WHO's responsibility to take responsibility here. Madness
I sure can confirm that when I previously was at my worse times cognitively I could feel a similarity to possibly being drugged. Narrow or busy roads would force me to slow down but if I'd simultaneously be hyperactive I would not necessarily slow down regardless my POIS state. I realise this would somehow be difficult for you to relate to seeing these type of symptoms don't affect you, but as we find techniques I think we probably getting closer to end up with similar symptoms to yours.

My curiosity: The fact that your situation is different regarding cognitive symptoms. I would presume that inflammation after O in your thyroid is not as severe but rather more in chest area, or am I wrong?

[Quantum]

Hi Quantum....thanks for your reply

My curiosity: The fact that your situation is different regarding cognitive symptoms. I would presume that inflammation after O in your thyroid is not as severe but rather more in chest area, or am I wrong?

Hi less_fogged,

I have no inflammation, neither in the throat area/thyroid nor in the chest area.  As I said, when no prevention, my POIS symptoms are fatigue, hypotension, and many emotional symptoms.  I wouldn't say "and nothing else", because that have been already way too much, but, for example, I have no allergy symptoms, no cognitive symptoms, no muscle weakness.

My set of symptoms have been steadily the same for 37 years now, only the level of severity and duration would vary from one POIS episode to the other. 

[The Drone]

Hi

I'm new to the forum but have been reading and following posts for a few years now

Intro

I'm in my mid 40's, in a long term stable relationship, family, kids, work, sports, etc. I've been experiencing POIS for about 20 years.
It's been a pretty constant pattern, whether it's an O or NE, with heavy symptoms lasting always 1 day
I am fit, exercise regularly, eat healthy and lead a healthy lifestyle in general

My main method of controlling POIS has been abstinence, trying not to have more than 1-2 O's per month, in order to save the energy, avoid POIS symptoms and keep NE's at a minimum, which would happen if abstaining for 4-6 weeks. Masturbation is an absolute no-no.

Day 0:
Usually will have an O at night before going to sleep

Right after O:
Feel very sleepy (Fall asleep within 5 minutes, whilst already feeling some pressure and throbbing in the head)
May wake up in the middle of the night with some POIS symptoms, but generally sleep ok

Day 1:
Symptoms are evident since waking up

* Cognitive:
Brain-fog
Difficulty concentrating, speaking, finding words
Irritable

* Physical
Tired
Heavy heart beat
Heavy head (pressure and throb around back and top of the head)
Relaxed muscles around eyes and cheeks
I avoid most heavy physical activities on day 1

Day 2:
Generally ok if I've had a really good night's sleep
Feel exactly the opposite to day 1. Mood, concentration and creativity at their very best.

Things I've tried

* Vitamins and minerals: I regularly take vitamin C, zinc, vit b complex, magnesium, fish oil and probiotics because of demanding physical and intellectual activities. I don't think they have any impact on POIS.

* Niacin: tried it a few times. It definitely helps with day 1 symptoms if having an O after feeling the flush, but it'll make recovery longer, I mean I am not fully physically recovered by day 2, but it seems to take 2-3 days of mild symptoms instead. I prefer 1 bad day followed by immediate 100% recovery instead of 3 days of feeling 60%-70%.

* NSAID: I've had to take some anti-inflammatories in the past for different reasons and they seem to alleviate the symptoms by 25-50%. However, this is
not something you want to be on for long periods of time.

* Strong pain killers: had to take Tramadol once for same reason as NSAID's, this is probably the best I've felt. Unbelievable feeling during O and nearly 100% POIS-free on following day. Shame that you don't want to be on tramadol either !

* Getting myself upside down (yoga, etc) seems to help with temporarily relieving head symptoms on day 1

* Nap: In the very unlikely event I manage to get a nap on day 1 because I've done some exhausting task in the morning, I can wake up fully refreshed as if it was day 2, full of energy and creativity. This has happened maybe 3-4 times over the last 15 years. The fact that either a nap on day 1 or the first full night's sleep seem to fix it, makes me lean towards the serotonin/neurotransmitter imbalance theory, somehow restored during sleep, in my particular case.

I am about to try some of Quantum's prepack ingredients, particularly the 5-htp / green tea extract combination effect on serotonin.

Looking forward to it and to sharing the results with the forum

The Drone

[b_jim]

Welcome !

[Prancer]

Hey Drone,

Glad you discovered poiscenter. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Though I'm younger than you, our symptoms are very similar. My main method of controlling my symptoms is also abstinence (though I don't like it). If you haven't already, go ahead and poke around the forum to see what's helped other poisers, and to gather more info about people's situations and about the research. I very much enjoy seeing new poisers come and find other people with similar symptoms and seeing so much great information all in one place. When someone feels alone or scared and confused about their symptoms, I can't think of anything better.

Prancer

[Quantum]

Hi The Drone,

Thanks for your POIS summary, it is very detailed, and can surely be of help to other POIS sufferers.

I feel many similarities between what I do and your way of managing POIS:  abstinence as much as possible in a relationship situation, regular exercise, healthy diet, ....

I am intrigued by the effect niacin has on your POIS symptoms pattern, and wonder if anything can be learned from this.

Looking forward for your results with HTP / Green tee extract !

[demografx]

Welcome to our forum, The Drone.

[The Drone]

Hi & thanks to everyone for the welcome and support messages.

Prancer: I know... abstinence sucks and I don't like it either. Although saving the energy lost in normal O's is a good practice (i.e. recommended by tantric or other health and wellbeing practitioners ) , I'd still like to experience 1-2 O's a week, but unfortunately that'd leave me crawling for most of the time !! Like you said, when I first found this forum I few years back, it was a great relief to feel I wasn't alone out there !


Quantum: don't take the effects of niacin on me too seriously. I have mostly taken it at night, which allows me for a max of 1-2 hours after dinner, I believe making the flush and its effects on O far from ideal. I have noticed if I take niacin in the morning on an empty stomach or just after tea, the effects are amplified by 2 or 3x, but because of my lifestyle and my partner's, I would mostly have the chance of an O at night.

Will keep you posted on my progress
The Drone

[demografx]

Thanks for posting, The Drone!

I was concerned that my forum-experimenting was distracting from posting/discussion here

[ZombieRehab]

I want to post my history on here, in case it is relevant.

I have experienced POIS consistently since hitting puberty at age 14; I'm 34 now, am a professional living in NC.

Symptoms: Last for about two to four days after O., usually beginning about 2 or 3 hours after O. I feel progressively better with each passing hour after around 24 hours after O.

1. Exhaustion, severe brain fog (I would say 6 or 7 out of 10 on severity scale)
2. Unable to focus, read, retain information.
3. Grinding teeth, tension in my body, cold hands and feet as if adrenaline were in my system
4. Pain in my eyes; extreme sensitivity to bright lights that can amplify into migraine headaches in the couple days after O, always in the evening.
5. Sense of aching in (mostly left) epididymis that comes and goes since around age 16.
6. I have been experiencing a recession of my gum line in spite of excellent dental hygiene. I am suspecting some sort of inflammation possibly relating to POIS.
7. Depressed, dull, lifeless mood that is difficult to shift when I'm in POIS.
8. Having to plan my O's around my schedule so I have enough vibrancy to fulfill my roles, or in the past, to have enough mental clarity to do well on tests.
9. Sometimes a sense of burning in my urethra (I test negative on STI's, by the way.)

These symptoms disappear completely if I avoid ejaculation. I never have NE's (maybe once every few years?), and rarely have dreams with sexual content.

I have gone up to 45 days without masturbation, and in those longer weeks of celibacy, I notice my symptoms mostly disappear, with occasional days (around every 7 days) when I feel more moody but still fairly clear-minded. However, I would optimally have an O. every two days to correspond with my libido.

I have been mostly single, but in most of the 20 or so times I've engaged in sex (with other men) my POIS symptoms are less severe afterwards than they are when I masturbate.

Treatments:

I have yet to find anything that solves this, but am just starting to try things. Some things that help partially improve symptoms:

1. Exercise at least every other day. Must involve cardio. This probably cuts my symptoms by 30%.
2. Cutting sugar, peanuts (mold allergy), from my diet.
3. I do find that some of the energy drinks with taurine and other supplements can fix my brain fog for a few hours (the zero calorie versions). I may try a taurine supplement and see if it actually helps on its own.
4. Benadryl appeared to help... but I am so sleepy the day after taking it that I gave up on that option after 4 or 5 times.

I have been trying things from this forum one by one... several things have not helped significantly:

1. B-Multivitamin supplements (only help if I'm deficient in them from eating poorly)
2. Cutting out wheat, gluten (no effect)
3. Caffeine does not seem to fix brain fog and increases the tightness in my jaw.
4. I have been consistently taking Cetirizine and Loratadine 24-hour tablets (Costco brand) for a couple months with no noticeable effects.
_____

What puzzles me even more is that occasionally, maybe 5% of the time, I will have an O. and feel better afterwards than I did before, with no POIS. I have not been able to isolate the difference, but those few occasions are more on sunny afternoons when I take a short nap afterwards. So I know it is possible to feel good afterwards!

_____

Theories:

I relate to the recent discussions of vagal tone... it is as though my O's trigger some sort of lingering adrenaline cascade in my body. I also relate to the theories of it being some sort of semen allergy. Not sure. On other days it feels more like something is deficient (especially on cloudy days), but yet, multivitamins don't seem to help.

__

I hope this is useful to someone. I appreciate that this forum exists.

[demografx]

Hi ZombieRehab. Welcome to the forum. Thanks for the kind words.

[Quantum]

Thanks for the very detailed profile, ZombieRehab.  I am sure it will be useful.

[COLM_2]

Hi Zombiehead,

Thanks for sharing your information, and your symptoms will ring true with a lot of the guys.

The fallout from O as you have seen varies from time to time. Your treatments make sense in their application toward treating a possible inflammatory process that kicks on after "O". There was a mini-poll among forum members some time back, that (while far from validated) indicated that 80% approx of POISers sense the inflammatory aspect of the syndrome.

Keep up your research as there is so much here to potentially impact even further on reducing your duration of symptoms.

One of the Forum Admins Quantum who has contibuted to your post here, put up a very detailed description some time back of the four clusters of symptoms involved. I felt it might be worth re-posting this here in regard to your symptom list and for some newer members and recent "posters", in case it might help to deepen their awareness about this. It is visible at the link http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2027.0

All the best and as you rightly describe, POIS is still a "puzzle",
Colm

[demografx]

GREAT summary, COLM!

And Thanks for the reminder of Quantum's clusters.