POIS. Perhaps.

[Deranged Nasat]

So, the ongoing medical drama "What's Wrong With Deranged Nasat" has provided another fascinating twist for its no doubt extensive audience of devoted fans. Fibromyalgia may not be the cause of the physical ailments at all. The true culprit may very well be...POIS. Post-Orgasmic Illness Syndrome. It was described in 2002, and there's very little literature on it at present, but what's been described both in terms of the symptoms and the personal experiences fits my own experience perfectly. Naturally I'm proceeding with caution, but this is an exciting and worrying development. Exciting because I might finally be getting answers. Worrying because, as with any rare or relatively newly-described illness, research isn't very far along (apparently the first campaign for funding just ended).

 

[RoJoHen]

So...you get sick after you jerk off?

 

[Aeronef]

The true culprit may very well be...POIS. Post-Orgasmic Illness Syndrome.

Seriously?

(Googles)

Wow. That sucks.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

So...you get sick after you jerk off?

Any ejaculation, yes. I've long noticed that the physical and mental problems are related to sexual activity, but until very recently I didn't know that such a direct causal relationship was possible. I assumed I had some problem or disorder that was agitated by sexual activity, but now I'm hearing that it might well be the sexual act itself. We were exploring fibromyalgia as a possibility for the pains, fatigue and strange sensations, but this seems a better fit.

 

[Aeronef]

Well, at least you have an excuse for rolling over and falling asleep.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

Wiki says there are some ways of treatment, so hopefully there's going to be a happy end to this series

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

So...you get sick after you jerk off?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postorgasmic_illness_syndrome

It's always good to do your research first before assuming someone's pranking you, or making a comment that appears not to be taking the post seriously.

 

[RoJoHen]

Gee, thanks, mom.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Well this sounds terrible and I'm wondering if it could be the cause of some people's aversion to sexual activity. At least it seems there is some treatment to explore and some people apparently have had great recovery.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Yikes, who would've thought?!

...this is an exciting and worrying development. Exciting because I might finally be getting answers. Worrying because, as with any rare or relatively newly-described illness, research isn't very far along (apparently the first campaign for funding just ended).

Yes, getting answers is always good, even when we don't like the specific answers.

Best wishes.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

The true culprit may very well be...POIS. Post-Orgasmic Illness Syndrome.

Seriously?

(Googles)

Wow. That sucks.

The therapy would be an extremely cheap and simple one, though: just picture your parents making you... Should be sufficient to get really everything go limp


No, seriousely. You can test pretty easily if this syndrome really applies to you. If it does it should appear after every single orgasm you experience. (However, you expecting it to happen might *make* it happen).

If it's a hormonal thing (which it appears to at least be partially), it can comperatively easily be treated by supplying you with the missing hormone or the enzyme that processes it. And until then you'd simply have to avoid having an orgasm. That might be frustrating but would still be a good deal more comfortable than the alternative.
If the theory is correct that it's an allergy to one's own semen, it could easily be treated by sterilisation or by hormonally suppressing the semen production (the latter is imho not recommendable, however, as it'd have serious side effects). Personally, I consider the allergy theory rather unlikely, though not completely impossible.

I recommend you keep a precise diary of what you eat, drink, wear, do (including sex/masturbation) - any substance, object or person you come into contact with.
This way you can see if there is a connection to one or several factors.
Your problems might just as well be triggered by contact to a chemical substance, hence it'd be good to really note down everything that touches you (literally). Weather, too, in case it's air-pressure or temperature triggered. And your respective mood to find out if there's a hormonal connection.
The date is important too. It's widely unknown but men have a monthly hormonal cycle as well. And that might well trigger problems at regular intervals.

Without sufficient data there will propably be a number of possible illnesses that might apply. So the first thing your medicine men need is rock-solid (pun definitely not intended!) facts

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Sterilization does not get rid of semen.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

You can test pretty easily if this syndrome really applies to you. If it does it should appear after every single orgasm you experience.

It does. It's pretty clear-cut: I ejaculate, the symptoms flood in immediately.

 

[propita]

Is this like the opposite of an "afterglow"?

I usually feel an endorphin rush from sex, and end up in a pretty good mood. Hubby often, but not always, ends up in a bad mood within an hour. It that this?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Is this like the opposite of an "afterglow"?

I usually feel an endorphin rush from sex, and end up in a pretty good mood. Hubby often, but not always, ends up in a bad mood within an hour. It that this?

Apparently it's not that uncommon for a negative mood to characterize the aftermath of orgasm; I've read speculation that maybe POIS is in some way an exaggerated example of a more common reaction, or at least related in some sense. Obviously I don't know how severe this bad mood is, but unless your husband is truly ill, and takes at least a couple of days to recover, he likely doesn't have POIS.

Not everyone who does have it has the same symptoms - some people get the physical symptoms more than the mental, or vice versa, some have both equally (myself among that group), but basically I'd describe it as having the flu while also being depressed, irritable, anxious and prone to mood swings.

 

[JarodRussell]

So...you get sick after you jerk off?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postorgasmic_illness_syndrome

It's always good to do your research first before assuming someone's pranking you, or making a comment that appears not to be taking the post seriously.

But he does get sick after he jerked off, doesn't he?

Evolution at its best.

 

[propita]

Thanks, Nasat! Nah, he's not pissy for days, but he can let the badmood affect the rest of the day. Sigh. And he sometimes says I'm "useless" afterwards, because I'm enjoying the endorphins and it can take an hour to wear off completely. Not all "omg!" But just a quiet "yeah that's nice."

 

[Deranged Nasat]

So...you get sick after you jerk off?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postorgasmic_illness_syndrome

It's always good to do your research first before assuming someone's pranking you, or making a comment that appears not to be taking the post seriously.

But he does get sick after he jerked off, doesn't he?

Evolution at its best.

That's very dismissive of what I assure you is a very serious problem. You're implying here that I'm being foolish because I continue to engage in some degree of sexual activity despite knowing it hurts me. If I knew how to switch my sexual capacity off I would, in a heartbeat. "Don't ejaculate" might seem a simple solution, and believe me it's a state I've been desperate to reach for years, but it's so incredibly difficult. Not because I'm somehow obsessed with sexual activities but because the urge for periodic sexual release is a very, very powerful one. A natural one. Repressing sex drive is difficult and not healthy, and at my age basically impossible. And, yes, people like myself are quite aware that when we give in to that urge we're hurting ourselves. That's why one sufferer compared it to a drug addiction - the periodic, overwhelming need to do something you know is damaging your health and want to stop doing but can't. Which is partly why severe depression and feelings of guilt and shame accompany the illness. And keep in mind that the analogy is imperfect - we're not "addicts", because we don't "jerk off" any more than most men do, in fact we likely do it less, for obvious reasons. But the urge for periodic release is overpowering, and it only takes a few moments of weakness to throw another week of your life under the bus. And keep in mind that one of the effects of the great anxiety that accompanies some forms of depression is an increased urge for comfort and relief through sexuality. Indeed, heightened sexuality is a symptom of the dysphoric manic depression which I might experience (assesments are still ongoing). And finally, if you don't engage in sexual activity your body will do it anyway, in your sleep or in the half-sleep doze of the early morning. I know from experience that if I manage to go more than a month without sexual activity, my body will just do it in the night anyway.

I don't mean to be rude, but this isn't a case of "my arm hurts when I do this" (he says, twisting his arm round to an unnatural angle) to which the doctor says "don't do it then". This is about people like myself being made ill - physically and mentally - by something that their body naturally desires to happen, and which doesn't like being resisted. If it were as simple as just deciding not to masturbate, there wouldn't be such a problem.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^ I read that last part as him mocking evolution rather than implying anything about you personally, DN. That being said, however...

So...you get sick after you jerk off?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postorgasmic_illness_syndrome

It's always good to do your research first before assuming someone's pranking you, or making a comment that appears not to be taking the post seriously.

But he does get sick after he jerked off, doesn't he?

Evolution at its best.

Let's try and be mindful of the fact that we're dealing with someone's personal medical condition and try not to be crass or insensitive about it, please.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

^ I read that last part as him mocking evolution rather than implying anything about you personally, DN.

Seeing this, I think I might indeed have read him incorrectly or jumped to inaccurate conclusions. If that was the case, I apologise, JarodRussell. I hope you understand that I can be a bit quick to get defensive about the issue, and I'm sorry that I made assumptions there. Dealing with this sort of thing can warp your thinking a bit.