I have a type of POIS where ejaculation seems to activate my immune system to attack my connective and muscle tissue. It is my belief that I have an underlying, possibly lupus or possibly something else very similar to it .

Anyways I’ve been experimenting for quite awhile to try to find something that reduces the symptoms. So far these are the things I have discovered and I thought I’d share in case other people are having similar experiences.

Undenatured Collagen Type II- teaches your immune system to scale down/stop attacking the attack on your joints. Take one every day. Takes a while to build up and start working

Multi Collagen peptides - helps repair collagen. Needs to be a multi collagen bc the usual collagen peptides doesn’t have the specific type that assists with joint tissue repair. Takes time and consistent use to work

Vitamin C - also assists with collagen repair. I prefer liposomal bc it absorbs best. Best to separate your doses throughout the day. trying to get between 1000-2000 mgs

Glycine- also assists with joint repair. Try to get between 5-10 Gs

Honorable mentions: curcumin, aged garlic, fish oil— help alleviate joint pain

Not asking about scientifically sound and backed processes or some pharmaceutical pills with odd names and even more unlikely procurement. tell me your weird ass hacks that sorta work. The garlics, cold showers, vitamin Bs, eggs, everything! Don't be shy.

Do you guys get red irritated eyes as a symptom as well or not? I always have red eyes that people would assume that I'm always on drugs which is never the case. What really botheres me the most is not just the redness but the fact that my eyes can hurt and sometimes it would be heard for me to open my eyes. Does anyone have the same issue and if yes how did you treat it?

I would rate my pois symptom intensity 1.5/10 when it was 11/10 5 years ago.

POIS is nothing to me anymore. Only bad part is feeling like i've been hit by a truck in the morning. Most symptoms don't really show up anymore. Some times a symptom or two, but thats about it.

I strongly feel if you have a history with porn/sex addiction, you can heal with abstinence. It will take a long time like it did for me.

Had this for 1.5 years. Only thing that helps anhedonia and the nervous system which is in freeze (google it) is ice cold showers. The shock of the cold must release either norepinephrine or something similar that I think is missing from my neuro transmitter transmission.. I read others that had theory’s of norepinephrine being an important role in this

I just wanted to say that as I have become more intune with this over time the actual trigger for me is a strong, nearly forced *arousal* not orgasm.

E.g. if i see something immediately stimulating like porn my brain goes into an overdrive and immediately i can start feeling like an inflammation feeling starting in the gut which then travels up towards then neck and head.

Strong trigger -> sensitive nervous sytem goes into sympathetic overdrive -> combined with potential gut issues ... pois

On the other hand relaxed gradual build up like sex gives me far better or no symptoms.

Curious to see if anyone else arises like this

---------------------------------------------------------

[Summarised theory from chatgpt]

My current theory is:

high-intensity porn/sexual cue

→ dopamine/glutamate/adrenaline spike

→ pelvic/lower-gut nervous system flare

→ sympathetic “fight or flight” activation

→ neck guarding/tension

→ POIS crash and emotional reactivity

I don’t think this is just psychological. The trigger may be visual/sexual, but the body reaction feels very physical.

I also think gut issues may lower my threshold.

I believe my Pois is caused by overactivation of the parasympathetic nervous system. My symptoms actually improve after ejaculation, and the longer I abstain, the more severe the symptoms become. Running also helps improve my symptoms, making me more energetic and mentally clearer. So, don't assume you have sympathetic hyperactivity; it could be due to overactive parasympathetic nerves, leading to excessive relaxation and fatigue. For the first few days after ejaculation, I feel more energetic and vibrant. On the third and fourth days, Pois fully manifests, with symptoms exploding. My symptoms have a delayed onset, so I believe ejaculation activates my sympathetic nervous system, making me feel more energetic. The full-blown symptoms a few days later are because the parasympathetic nervous system takes over. Do you think this theory is correct? Pois is about excessive relaxation, not excessive fight-or-flight.

Hello everyone, for years I have been observing my POIS symptoms, they have always been on the mental side (bunch of brain fog, depression, extreme fatigue, speech problems, short term memory problems) but I had never really experienced the physical symptoms that other people often talk about, like muscle pain, back pain, etc.

But recently I started experiencing the following symptoms:

- Extremely tired and very dry eyes. No matter how much lubrication eye drops I use, they don't seem to help. The eye symptoms last for days, actually longer than my usual mental symptoms, my eyes symptomps stay like at least 10 days before I finally start "recovering my normal vision" The best way I can describe it is that my eyes feel extremely fatigued, somewhat watery at times, while also having symptoms of dry eyes, I also experience light sensitivity on the first days after O, vision problems overall.

- Neck posture changes: I've also noticed that my head tends to shift forward and almost as if I naturally want to look downward all the time. It could be due to neck muscle fatigue? or something else, but my posture definitely gets worse during periods of POIS now

I don't know why I've started experiencing these physical symptoms now. The mental symptoms were already terrible, but now the physical ones are having a major impact on my quality of life.

The only thing I've changed in my stack is that I started taking antihistamine (loratadine) sometimes before orgasm and sometimes afterward... and started doing it a couple of months ago, so not sure if it's related but I will definitely discontinue Loratadine for a couple of months.

Any advice?

EDIT: I also don't know if this is related, but there a major change in my lifestyle happened as well. I finished university and started working remotely, which means I now spend most of my time at home, I barely get any sunlight, and I rarely go out or see friends anymore. I've become much more isolated, and I think it's worth mentioning because these physical symptoms started appearing just a few weeks after this lifestyle change.

Throughout school and early professional life, I’ve struggled massively with oral presentations (anxiety, brain fog, losing my words mid-sentence, even when I know the subject inside out)

I could have the content perfectly memorized and still completely fall apart the moment I had to speak. It genuinely held me back in ways I’m still dealing with.

The worst part? The shame of having people watch you freeze up and thinking you’re just weak and nervous for no reason.
I’ve seen people who were bad at public speaking but I’ve honestly never encountered anyone as consistently bad at it as I was. Not once!

Wondering if anyone else with POIS experiences this, and whether it’s connected to the nervous system dysregulation side of things rather than just anxiety.

如果pois是病毒引起的 ，比如有人因为疱疹病毒 ，也有人因为新冠病毒，而我有乙肝病毒 。而且我Pois最严重的时候也是我乙肝病毒复制量最高的时候， 后来吃抗病毒的药把病毒降下来之后， 我的pois症状好像减轻了很多 。我不知道这之间有没有什么关联， 这只是我的一种假设猜想， 因为也许这些病毒会对自主神经系统造成伤害 ，我不知道乙肝病毒会不会也会对神经系统造成伤害 ，你们有多少人和我一样携带乙肝病毒的 ? 因为我吃过很多药， 试过很多方法， 但是我认为我所有的症状都指向自主神经调节弱这个理论。 之前有人发帖子说吃硝酸甘油有用 ，我也尝试吃了一次之后导致我的症状加重了很多倍， 吃硝酸甘油导致的后遗症两个月我才慢慢恢复过来 ，前两天我又尝试了烟酸 ，烟酸导致的结果跟之前吃硝酸甘油的症状也是一样 ，烟酸和硝酸甘油都是扩张血管的药， 血管扩张了之后 ，我的血管无法自行收缩 ，血管舒张和收缩都是自主神经调控的， 那这样就说明我的症状更多指向了自主神经调节的问题， 因为所有扩张血管的药物都会让我症状加重 ，你们觉得我这个想法怎么样 ?有没有反驳我的?或者尝试过硝酸甘油和烟酸之后的症状跟我一样的 ?

Thanks

I’m 30M, and have suffered for the last 10 years. I have taken 50+ supplements and the only thing that maybe helped a little bit was omega 3, vit D, vit E and perhaps zinc.

I don’t watch porn anymore and I don’t ever masturbate. I only ejaculate during sex and it still makes me sick for days!

Porn and masturbation is worse, but sex with ejaculation still triggers POIS unfortunately.

I still don’t know the cause. I think it has to do with prolactin, dopamine receptors, GABA and maybe cortisol.

I get some relief with lorazepam (benzo), but it’s only temporary. The best cure after 10 years is still ABSTINENCE.

Is there something you have taken / tested that cures or helps you?

Please help me if you have had anything similar to this. Im 23 and I've had this for as long as I can remember. My biggest problem isn't just anxiety or overthinking—it's that I'm constantly aware of my own awareness.

Instead of simply doing things, I become aware that I'm doing them. If I'm thinking, I notice that I'm thinking. If I'm talking, I become aware of my own voice and the words I'm saying. If I'm looking in a mirror, I'm not disturbed by my reflection—I become intensely aware that I'm perceiving myself, and that feeling itself becomes distracting and uncomfortable.

During conversations, I sometimes focus more on the fact that I'm speaking than on what I'm trying to say. It's like the "person speaking" becomes more noticeable than the thoughts I'm trying to express, so forming natural sentences becomes difficult.

I also had this as a child. When I was asked to read aloud in class, I often couldn't understand what I had just read because my attention was occupied by the act of reading and hearing my own voice instead of processing the meaning.

The same thing happens during sports. Instead of naturally focusing on the ball or the game, I'm aware of myself playing—my posture, my movements, how I'm about to hit the ball. I never feel completely immersed in the activity. It often makes me feel self-conscious and unnatural.

Strangely, this almost disappears when I'm deeply engaged in a difficult cognitive task, like solving a challenging math problem. In those moments I don't think, "I'm solving this problem." I simply solve it. For a while, I feel mentally free and fully absorbed in what I'm doing.

My mind also has a constant internal narrator. I don't just have thoughts—I often "hear" them in words, almost like I'm silently explaining everything to someone else inside my head.

This isn't really about worrying about what other people think of me. It's more like my attention automatically turns inward, and I become aware of my own thinking, perceiving, and acting instead of simply experiencing the outside world. That's the part I find exhausting and disruptive.

Has anyone tried pregabalin or gabapentin for GABA receptors and their effects on the nervous system?

I wanted to share a personal experience that might resonate with some people dealing with persistent fatigue, brain fog, and short episodes of physical/mental crash.

Over the past years (m30), I’ve been dealing with:

Significant fatigue

Brain fog (difficulty focusing, “slow thinking” feeling)

Short episodes (48–72h) of marked exhaustion with some weight loss

After moving to Réunion, things started to gradually change.

The combination of:

consistent sunlight exposure

regular outdoor endurance training (trail running, currently preparing for the “Diagonale des Fous” – 180 km race)

structured physical activity

and a medical follow-up including antidepressant treatment

has led to a progressive improvement in my overall energy levels.

From my personal perception:

medical treatment (antidepressants) seems to have helped partially with motivation and cognitive fog (moderate improvement, not complete resolution)

physical exercise has had a much stronger impact on daily energy, mood stability, and mental clarity

over the months, I can clearly notice a step-by-step improvement in baseline energy since combining both approaches with a more active, outdoor lifestyle

It’s not an instant fix, and the symptoms didn’t disappear completely, but the trend is clearly positive.

Living in a sunnier environment with structured physical stress (endurance training) seems to have been a key factor for me.

Disclaimer: This is just a personal experience, not medical advice. Everyone’s situation is different and these symptoms can have many causes.

Just learnt that this is also a very trademark b12 deficiency symptom which worsen post-ejaculation for me.

This has been a symptom for me since the start of my symptoms, but it started getting worse year by year. My hypothesis is that its probably linked to muscle/nerve irritation caused by neuroinflammation. Have heard some people talk about posture but never really about the forward neck posture, there for my question.

Before POIS i never had this kind of posture.

Hi everyone,
I have POIS (Post-Orgasmic Illness Syndrome), and I’m trying to understand whether it could be related to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Has anyone here been diagnosed with both POIS and Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis?
If so:
Did your POIS symptoms start before or after your IBD diagnosis?
Did treating Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis improve your POIS symptoms?
Have your doctors ever mentioned a possible connection between the two?
I know there isn’t much research on POIS, so I’m mainly looking for personal experiences. Thank you!

I’ve noticed something really interesting after running lots of self-comparison tests and ruling out other factors. For me, the brain fog I get from POIS definitely ties in with playing video games.

To be more accurate, it’s all about intensely focusing while sitting in front of a computer. Thinking about it more broadly, gaming just demands your brain work at full capacity for a long stretch.

On days I skip video games entirely, my brain fog never gets any worse all day long. But if I game during the day, my brain fog always hits its worst point somewhere between 3–4 PM or 5–6 PM.

My guess is this flare-up happens because I’ve overworked my brain with that high-intensity mental effort.

On a side note, I’ve found regular incline walking on the treadmill works wonders for my symptoms. I walk slowly at a really low speed with the treadmill set to its maximum incline, and sticking with this uphill exercise long-term has helped me improve my POIS-related issues a great deal.

Been in this sub for a while, and realized controlled O, breathing exercises, pelvic relaxation has been helping greatly.

Working backwards, and also with help from AI to work on it, the (WIP) theory is:-

Latest edit: 25/6/2026

Summarized Conclusion

A POIS-like subtype may occur when the pelvic floor, nervous system, and inflammatory pathways are already sensitized before orgasm.

In this model, the body may already be in a guarded or reactive state due to chronic stress, boredom or low stimulation, shallow breathing, long sitting, poor posture, poor sleep, gut or genital irritation, low-grade inflammation, or reduced physical resilience. These factors may keep the pelvic floor, hips, glutes, abdomen, and nervous system tense and easily triggered.

Masturbation or sex then becomes the final trigger, especially when it involves edging, hard clenching, breath-holding, abdominal bracing, glute or thigh tightening, sitting posture, intense stimulation, or frequent ejaculation without enough recovery. Orgasm naturally causes strong pelvic-floor contractions. If the pelvic floor fails to fully relax afterward, pelvic nerves, urinary tissues, prostate-related tissues, and surrounding muscles may become irritated.

This may then trigger a wider flare involving pelvic discomfort, urinary frequency, thigh or buttock symptoms, body aches, fatigue, brain fog, sleepiness, bowel disturbance, poor sleep, and flu-like malaise. Because these symptoms occur after orgasm, the condition can resemble POIS.

However, POIS may not be one single condition. Different people may have different dominant layers. In one person, the main layer may be pelvic-floor spasm. In another, sympathetic overactivation. In another, histamine or mast-cell response. In another, prostate, urethral, or seminal-fluid-related irritation. In another, vascular or autonomic dysregulation. Many people may have more than one layer at the same time.

1. Background Vulnerability (Allostatic load)

Several lifestyle and biological factors may lower the body’s recovery threshold and make the pelvic system more reactive.

Possible contributors include:

• low sunlight or indoor lifestyle
• low vitamin D
• low bone or muscle resilience
• low muscle mass
• aggressive dieting
• low protein, calcium, or micronutrient intake
• smoking
• poor sleep
• chronic stress
• boredom or low stimulation
• long sitting
• poor posture
• gut irritation
• constipation or bloating
• Candida, balanitis, urethral, or genital irritation
• high histamine tendency
• alcohol or inflammatory diet triggers
• low-grade inflammation
• poor baseline fitness or poor circulation

These factors may not directly cause POIS, but they may make the body more likely to react poorly after orgasm.

2. Body Guarding

When the body feels weak, tense, inflamed, achy, stressed, or unstable, it may compensate by unconsciously clenching.

Common guarding areas include:

• jaw
• neck and shoulders
• abdomen
• hips
• glutes
• inner thighs
• anus
• pelvic floor

This guarding can become habitual. The person may not notice they are clenching until symptoms appear.

Over time, the pelvic floor may become hypertonic, meaning it stays too active and has difficulty relaxing. This can contribute to urinary frequency, pelvic pressure, post-ejaculation discomfort, buttock or thigh symptoms, and a restless need to stretch or move.

3. Shallow-Breathing Loop

Body guarding often changes breathing.

Instead of deep, diaphragmatic breathing, the person may breathe shallowly through the chest, hold the breath, tighten the abdomen, or brace without realizing it.

This matters because the diaphragm and pelvic floor work together. When breathing is shallow, the pelvic floor may not receive a normal relaxation signal. The body may remain more “on alert,” with less parasympathetic recovery after stress or orgasm.

This creates a loop:

stress or tension
→ shallow breathing
→ abdominal bracing
→ pelvic floor guarding
→ pelvic discomfort
→ more stress and body monitoring
→ more clenching

Caffeine, stimulants, poor sleep, anxiety, and long sitting can intensify this loop.

4. Orgasm as the Trigger (Allostatic Load becomes Allostatic Overload)

Orgasm is a strong physical and autonomic event. It involves pelvic-floor contractions, ejaculation-related activity, nervous-system arousal, blood-flow changes, and a post-orgasm recovery shift.

The flare may be worse when masturbation or sex includes:

• edging
• hard pelvic clenching
• breath-holding
• abdominal bracing
• glute or thigh tightening
• trying to delay ejaculation by tightening
• intense stimulation while already tense
• sitting or curled posture
• frequent ejaculation without recovery

In a relaxed system, the pelvic floor contracts and then releases.

In a sensitized system, the sequence may become:

orgasm
→ strong pelvic-floor contractions
→ pelvic floor fails to relax
→ pelvic nerves and urinary/prostate-related tissues become irritated
→ inflammation, histamine signalling, or autonomic stress may increase
→ POIS-like symptoms appear

5. Flare Symptoms

After orgasm, the flare may include both local and systemic-feeling symptoms.

Local symptoms may include:

• pelvic pressure or discomfort
• urinary frequency or urgency
• perineal, groin, or genital sensitivity
• buttock, hip, or thigh ache
• restless thigh or leg sensations
• low back tightness
• bowel disturbance or pelvic pressure

Systemic-feeling symptoms may include:

• body aches
• fatigue
• extreme sleepiness a few hours later
• brain fog
• low mood or irritability
• poor sleep
• flu-like malaise
• histamine-like symptoms such as itchy eyes, runny nose, flushing, or sore throat in some people

This does not mean all symptoms come from the pelvic floor alone. The pelvic floor may be the mechanical trigger point, while the nervous system, immune system, histamine pathways, gut, and inflammatory response may create the broader “sick” feeling.

6. Poor Autonomic Downshift

A key part of this model is poor recovery after orgasm.

The body may have difficulty moving from sympathetic “fight-or-flight” mode back into parasympathetic recovery mode. Vagal tone may be one part of this, but the overall issue is better described as autonomic dysregulation rather than only vagus nerve dysfunction.

Instead of:

orgasm
→ relaxation
→ recovery

the body may do:

orgasm
→ pelvic spasm
→ nervous-system alertness
→ inflammation or histamine signalling
→ fatigue, body ache, brain fog, urinary symptoms, and poor recovery

This may explain why symptoms can appear a few hours after orgasm rather than immediately.

7. Why Some Things Help

Different treatments or habits may help because they target different layers of the same loop.

Pelvic-floor relaxation may help if the dominant issue is muscle guarding or pelvic spasm.

Diaphragmatic breathing may help if shallow breathing and poor autonomic downshift are major drivers.

Reducing orgasm intensity, avoiding edging, and avoiding clenching may help if the flare is triggered by excessive pelvic contractions.

Slow incline walking may help by reversing long sitting, improving glute and hip activation, improving pelvic circulation, supporting deeper breathing, improving baseline fitness, and calming the nervous system over time.

Better sleep, sunlight, vitamin D, protein, minerals, and general fitness may improve the body’s recovery threshold.

Gut support may help if constipation, bloating, dysbiosis, or histamine sensitivity contributes to pelvic guarding or inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory approaches may help if body aches and pelvic pain are driven by inflammatory signalling.

Antihistamines may help some people if a histamine or mast-cell layer is involved.

Cialis or Viagra may fit this model because they can improve pelvic blood flow, reduce vascular or smooth-muscle strain, support urinary/prostate-related symptoms, and reduce the need to clench hard during sex or masturbation. They do not directly relax the pelvic floor, but they may reduce some of the pressure, congestion, or irritation that keeps the pelvic floor guarded.

Final Working Theory

The key shift is this: instead of viewing POIS only as a mysterious post-orgasm reaction, this model frames orgasm as a stress test that exposes a body already struggling to regulate, relax, and recover.

That framing is useful because you can seek actionable areas to explore while still seeking proper medical evaluation. It does not replace medical care. POIS-like symptoms and pelvic symptoms should still be assessed by appropriate professionals, such as urologists, pelvic floor physiotherapists, allergists, or other specialists, to rule out infection, prostate conditions, hormonal issues, allergies, neurological problems, and other treatable causes.

If this model resonates with someone’s experience, the practical next step is to test the modifiable parts carefully: diaphragmatic breathing, pelvic-floor relaxation, reducing clenching and edging, improving posture and movement, taking breaks from sitting, supporting sleep and recovery, addressing gut or genital irritation, and building general physical resilience over time.