[benvil]

Does anyone of you have problems with bloating stomach and gas?

[Vincent M]

My abdomen often gets bloated and distended in pois. I don't think I get much gas though.

[fornicationDENIED2]

I get bloating stomach, gas and diarrhea. Anyone else gets diarrhea?

[LuckyMistake]

Hey Guys.. I have been reading the forum for awhile and been suffering from POIS... I want to share my story.. maybe too soon but this is my first week feeling normal even after my O's. I feel like I am in another world. I am not sure if this will help everyone but after going to about 10 Urologist, I recently went to the best one in New York and it's been incredible so far.

I am a business owner... In shape 32 year old male..  About a year ago I feel like I was sucker punched in the testicals. Every time I ejaculated the same feelings would hit me... Nauseous..Brain was in a fog...  Inner legs hurt and depression/anxiety set in.  It took me to a very dark place. I was desperate. Every doctor I went to looked at me and thought I was nuts.  Some doctors don't even know what POIS is which was surprising...

My last doctor looked at my lifestyle.  I have never been asked how I live my life by any doctor.  After 50 questions we came to the conclusion..... I am straining my testicals.  I have had every since test under the sun and everything came back negative.  BUT I never looked at my day to day lifestyle.  I know this may not work for all but it is very important to look into.   As crazy as this sounds... I always push my stool out.  I never just let it flow out which seems to be a big culprit with also my working out.  I need to stop "PUSHING"  ALSO.. Right after the pain started... and after the first 2 months it would go away.. Anxeity played a HUGE role on my mental/physical health.  This is the first time I actually realized the mind can do some SERIOUS damage to the body.  Some may not believe this but for my life it was banging up my body pretty bad.  The craziest thing is it was all subconscience.  I don't even know how to even explain this.  All I can say is I am a normal guy and never had any mental issues in the past.

SO...  This is what my doctor told me to do.  This has been a life changer so far...

1.  STOP PUSHING...  Whatever it is... Just STOP
2.  Two hot baths a day with some epson salt
3.  Flaxseed Oil 3x a day
4.  Valium 2mg 3x a day  (This has helped alot with the stress and the sleeping)

I know this may not work for all..  Some may think I am nuts...  But if this helps one person it was worth it.   Good luck everyone and I will give updates (since this is still very early) 

Mike

[fornicationDENIED2]

Hey Guys.. I have been reading the forum for awhile and been suffering from POIS... I want to share my story.. maybe too soon but this is my first week feeling normal even after my O's. I feel like I am in another world. I am not sure if this will help everyone but after going to about 10 Urologist, I recently went to the best one in New York and it's been incredible so far.

I am a business owner... In shape 32 year old male..  About a year ago I feel like I was sucker punched in the testicals. Every time I ejaculated the same feelings would hit me... Nauseous..Brain was in a fog...  Inner legs hurt and depression/anxiety set in.  It took me to a very dark place. I was desperate. Every doctor I went to looked at me and thought I was nuts.  Some doctors don't even know what POIS is which was surprising...

My last doctor looked at my lifestyle.  I have never been asked how I live my life by any doctor.  After 50 questions we came to the conclusion..... I am straining my testicals.  I have had every since test under the sun and everything came back negative.  BUT I never looked at my day to day lifestyle.  I know this may not work for all but it is very important to look into.   As crazy as this sounds... I always push my stool out.  I never just let it flow out which seems to be a big culprit with also my working out.  I need to stop "PUSHING"  ALSO.. Right after the pain started... and after the first 2 months it would go away.. Anxeity played a HUGE role on my mental/physical health.  This is the first time I actually realized the mind can do some SERIOUS damage to the body.  Some may not believe this but for my life it was banging up my body pretty bad.  The craziest thing is it was all subconscience.  I don't even know how to even explain this.  All I can say is I am a normal guy and never had any mental issues in the past.

SO...  This is what my doctor told me to do.  This has been a life changer so far...

1.  STOP PUSHING...  Whatever it is... Just STOP
2.  Two hot baths a day with some epson salt
3.  Flaxseed Oil 3x a day
4.  Valium 2mg 3x a day  (This has helped alot with the stress and the sleeping)

I know this may not work for all..  Some may think I am nuts...  But if this helps one person it was worth it.   Good luck everyone and I will give updates (since this is still very early) 

Mike

Valium enhances the effect of the neurotransmitter GABA by binding to the benzodiazepine site on the GABAA receptor (via the constituent chlorine atom) leading to central nervous system depression. Does POIS return when you stop taking Valium?

[LuckyMistake]

I havent yet tried but I have been taking half a pill because I am sensitive to medicine (Not what the doc recommended)  So it is 1 mg 3 times a day.  Eventually I will work myself off this but this has been the best result since the nightmare started.  Again.. this is all very new but I will keep you posted.  He gave me a prescription for 2 months but will follow up in a month. 

Right now I feel no pain in the groin are.. mind is CLEAR.. If I had to rate the tiredness (from the small dose of valium i think)  it would be around a 2 out of 10...  Leg pain.. very slight.  Nothing like I had before.  Last O was yesterday morning.. 

[Vincent M]

Right now I feel no pain in the groin are.. mind is CLEAR.. ...  Leg pain.. very slight.  Nothing like I had before.  Last O was yesterday morning.. 

All of these improvements are from the Valium. It is a powerful and addictive drug that decreases both anxiety and physical pain even at 1mg 3x daily. The flaxseed oil is a good idea.

[LuckyMistake]

Only took Valium twice yesterday.. 1 breakfast 1 lunch time. Skipped dinner pill but followed flaxseed and bath.  1 O last night. Woke up this morning  very dull Ache. 2 out of 10.  There is still much improvement but again early. 

**update had a O this morning. Took a warm bath.. No more ache but slight nauseous 2 out of 10. May be hungry or meds from other day. Didnt take pills yet

[Gbolduev]

Why would anyone take  valium to  increase GABA if there is zinc  to do it, I dont get.  Valium  lowers acethycholine same as zinc...

[shen mue]

Hi there,

I'm 26, pretty tall, rather thin with some muscles from sports...sounds like a dating site beginning probably

My most important symptoms are...
always:
- hay fever and possibly other allergies, my tonsils are often infected
- I can eat a lot or often have to but don't gain weight (overactive thyroid?)
- ED, low libido, weak orgasms, CPPS

when suffering from POIS:
- fatigue
- brain-fog, find it very hard to concentrate
- tingling legs
- frequent infections, swollen tonsils
- lower back and hamstring pain is worse, as is CPPS
- depression, happens directly after orgasm and stays for 1-2 days, I actually find it pretty uncomfortable to cuddle after sex although I normally enjoy it very much

My POIS is not as bad as what others describe but still very annoying. I switched coffee with green tea the other day and two days alter I noticed that my ED is not anywhere near as bad ever since (libido still low, orgasms still weak). Also: I had a green tea right after POIS hit me the other day and my symptoms went down to 40-50% right away. Fenugreek used to help me (accidentally stumbled when looking for ways to improve libido.)

Here's some tests (made in Austria):
 
Ferritin :        115 ng/ml                     30-400
Iron:              102 ug/dl                     59-158
Transferrine:  227 mg/dl                    210-340
 
Cholesterine:        190 mg/dl             < 200
HDL-Cholesterine: 50 mg/dl              > 55
LDL-Cholesterine: 55 mg/dl              < 150
 
calcium:         2.23 umol/l                   2.10-2.65
magnesium:  0.87 umol/l                   0.66-1.07
Zinc:              126 umol/l                    60-120
VitB12:           483 umol/l                   191-663
 
TSH :              1.54 mU/l                    0.27-4.20
Testosterone: 9.14 ng/ml                  2.49-8.36 for men my age
DHEA:            516.2 mcg/dl               160-449
 
That was a general test I made cause it's covered by my health insurance, I have lots of other data in case of interest. Background: at the time of the test, I had supplemented about 15mg of Zinc, 10mg of DHEA, Fish Oil and Vit D for a couple of weeks. Excess testosterone and DHEA and low HDL Cholesterine are probably from supplementing DHEA...

Any takers for a couple of questions:

- is the Zinc high because I supplemented, because I have excess Zinc or both? How long does it take until you alter your results drastically? What other tests do I need to find out if my copper is low or high?
- the weak orgasms and libido are the most annoying part since I learned how to reduce my POIS symptoms; any ideas? Weak adrenals? I feel like I have a lot of symptoms of overactive thyroid and increased methylation, but the low libido and weak orgasms don't match that at all. Also the high testosterone doesn't seem to have any effect at all (SHBG and Estrogen were pretty low in a test that was one year old). I also didn't suffer any trauma or have any anxieties regarding sex...

any suggestions on what to do about it?

thanks in advance,
shen mue

[urano75]

Shen Mue,

few questions for you:

- what was your DHEA/DHEAS before supplementing it? Why have you decided you needed it, and have you noticed any improvement from taking it?
- what makes you think you are an overmethylator? Do you benefit from B3, folic acid and B12, and can't tolerate methyl-folate, methyl-B12 or TMG?
- have you tested your progesterone, besides estradiol?
- what are your high-tyroid symptoms, besides being unable to gain weight?

Few comments on what you say:

- your total testo is optimal, it seems high because of the low upper range of your lab. I haven't seen my testo ever increase even on 50mg DHEA
- your TSH is optimal too. But to have a proper assessment of thyroid function from blood tests you also need to see FT4, FT3 and possibly rT3
- it is possible that your adrenal function is weak compared to thyroid function, but this needs being confirmed by signs, symptoms and labs
- it is likely that weak adrenals are contributing to your immune system weakness, allergies and possibly a catabolic state (underweight)
- serum metals (zinc, copper) are often not very reliable to evaluate the actual mineral state in your tissues. Especially to determine if you are copper deficient or copper toxic, you often have to use some indirect evidence (hormones, ferritin, ceruloplasmin)
- the facts that you feel better after removing cofee also points to potential adrenal/blood sugar management issues
- supplementing zinc alone (although 15mg is low) might not be optimal. There might be a need to balance with manganese and copper (possibly not iron in your case), depending on the adrenals/thyroid adrenal status.
- being underweight can also be caused by malabsorption (gut issues, dysbiosis, food sensitivities, yeast ifnections), besides imbalanced metabolism
- immune weakness can leave you subject to recurring viral infections like EBV/CMV/Herpes. Recurring infections are a constant source of toxicity for the body. They will eventually go away once you have found a way to balance yourself.
- heavy metals are often part of  the picture, although not easy to spot, and controversial on how to eliminate them. They should also be better excreted once you are more mineral/hormonal balanced.

I match many points of your situation (immune weakness, catabolic state, allergies). My situation is weak adrenals and strong thyroid. But this is confirmed by 2 years of tests, therapies and investigation.
I've been recently working both on improving methylation and on balancing Zn/Mn/Cu, and I'm not getting any infections and allergies much improved. POIS still there, but just for 1 day.

You have some possibilities to answers your question marks:

- Watch your symptoms: do you feel more energetic in the evening rather than when you wake-up? Do you tend to drag yourself for the first part of the day? Do you feel sleepy after eating? Do you have sleep problems? Do you alternate feeling of being cold (which you can't tolerate) to being warm? Then it's probably adrenals.

- Watch your signs: take your oral temperatures with a non-digital thermometer every day for a week, at least when you wake-up and around 3-4PM (if you can at noon too). If their average fluctuate a lot from day by day, then it's adrenal weakness. If you have PM peaks above 37.1-37.2C, then it's also high thyroid.
Take your blood pressure when you are lying for at least 10 mins (eg at wake-up time before you get up). Then stand up and take it again. If it decreases, it's adrenal weakness. It should ideally slightly increase.
Take your Heart Rate too. If it goes above 90, it is indicative of hyperactive thyroid.
There are several ways to do simple cheap tests before doing expensive labs.

- You want to take some labs. To have a clue of your adrenal status, take a salivar test. Blood cortisol is not very reliable.

- You want to take blood tests. I recently try to stick to these. You probably have already taken most of them:

Complete Blood Count
Sodium               
Potassium         
Calcium               
Magnesium       
Phosphorus       
Ionized calcium               
Iron                       
Ferritin
TIBC
Ceruloplasmin                 

TSH
FT4
FT3
(rT3)

Blood Sugar
Insulin
Vit D3   
Cortisol
Aldosterone
Renin
DHEA-S
Testosterone
Testosterone Free
Progesterone
17-beta-estradiol
SHGB
Prolactin

I hope this helps and gives some new ideas.

[johanstefansson]

I am gonna try to see if i put to much physical strain on my testicals. Realizing sitting by computer is not good for the balls as they are squeezed together. Gonna try to sit more open legged.

[LAPOISSE2]

I did the test Herman ask me to do :

Free T3 : 2,72    RV : 1,70-3,70
Free T4 : 14,20  RV : 4,10-18,5
TSH      : 0,740  RV : 0,350 - 4,94
Potassium : 4,3nmol/l  RV : 3,5-5,1
Sodium     : 138nmol/l RV : 136-145
Chlore       : 101nmol/l  RV : 98-107
iron serum : 101ug/de   RV 60-160
Ferritin    : 101,6ng/ml    RV : 21,8-274
Calcium   : 2,58nmol/l         RV : 2,10-2,55
Magnesium : 20mg/l        RV : 16-26

I'm waiting for ceruloplasmin that i'll get in a week.

From what I see, everything is pretty normal especially thyroid.

The only thing that could show something is Calcium, but not much high ; High calcium is apparently hyperparathyroidy in most of the case ; The symtoms of that perfectly match with POIS especially mentals one.I did suplement Vit D but not that much and not for long time so I dont' think high calcium come from that.
Any comments ?

[urano75]

I did the test Herman ask me to do :

Free T3 : 2,72    RV : 1,70-3,70
Free T4 : 14,20  RV : 4,10-18,5
TSH      : 0,740  RV : 0,350 - 4,94
Potassium : 4,3nmol/l  RV : 3,5-5,1
Sodium     : 138nmol/l RV : 136-145
Chlore       : 101nmol/l  RV : 98-107
iron serum : 101ug/de   RV 60-160
Ferritin    : 101,6ng/ml    RV : 21,8-274
Calcium   : 2,58nmol/l         RV : 2,10-2,55
Magnesium : 20mg/l        RV : 16-26

I'm waiting for ceruloplasmin that i'll get in a week.

From what I see, everything is pretty normal especially thyroid.

The only thing that could show something is Calcium, but not much high ; High calcium is apparently hyperparathyroidy in most of the case ; The symtoms of that perfectly match with POIS especially mentals one.I did suplement Vit D but not that much and not for long time so I dont' think high calcium come from that.
Any comments ?

About (very slightly) high calcium, have your PTH and Vit D3 tested to rule out hyperpara or D overdosing. It can be an idea to test ionized calcium too next time.
Sodium is a pinch low maybe, ideal is about 141. Check if you had aldosterone/renin in some recent labs, and they were OK. Do you have postural (orthostatic) hypotension?
Your TSH is a little on the low side, even though plain FT3/FT4 values don't fully suggest overactive thyroid. Check your temps and heart rate as I suggested in my previous post.

[fornicationDENIED2]

I am taking Azulfidine, and just dicovered it causes reduced absorption of folic acid and digoxin (Lanoxin). Reduced folic acid absorption may cause folic acid deficiency and result in anemia. Reduced digoxin absorption may reduce the effectiveness of digoxin. I am also having slight symptoms of enlarged prostate, wich can be caused by zinc deficiency. 

[Vincent M]

My POIS is not as bad as what others describe but still very annoying. I switched coffee with green tea the other day and two days alter I noticed that my ED is not anywhere near as bad ever since (libido still low, orgasms still weak). Also: I had a green tea right after POIS hit me the other day and my symptoms went down to 40-50% right away. Fenugreek used to help me (accidentally stumbled when looking for ways to improve libido.)

Does fenugreek still help you? I've made a compilation of all of our fenugreek trials at our main forum so I want to add your trial to the rest. I've found that green tea potentiates fenugreek for me.

If possible it'd be helpful if you could provide details like which symptoms it improved most, whether you took it before or after orgasm, how long the trial was, and how many orgasms you had during the period.

[Prancer]

- Watch your symptoms: do you feel more energetic in the evening rather than when you wake-up? Do you tend to drag yourself for the first part of the day? Do you feel sleepy after eating? Do you have sleep problems? Do you alternate feeling of being cold (which you can't tolerate) to being warm?

for me it's a definite yes to all of them

[urano75]

- Watch your symptoms: do you feel more energetic in the evening rather than when you wake-up? Do you tend to drag yourself for the first part of the day? Do you feel sleepy after eating? Do you have sleep problems? Do you alternate feeling of being cold (which you can't tolerate) to being warm?

for me it's a definite yes to all of them

Regardless of sex, and just aggravated by sex? Definite yes to all of them = adrenal dysfunction to some degree, and possibly related blood sugar issues.
You might want to take a salivar cortisol/DHEA test just to have a clue. Besides taking temps and blood pressure.
Good luck.

[Kima]

urano75  You are cured, as your treatment helps?


regards , Kima

[shen mue]

vincent and urano: thanks for your answers. I'm pretty busy organizing my girlfriend's birthday I'll try to provide an extensive answer tomorrow...