In a recent case study, doctors told the unfortunate story of a man who developed an allergy-like response to his orgasms. The strange and rare ailment made him unable to maintain sexual and romantic relationships. But fortunately, doctors were able to treat his problem using a simple over-the-counter antihistamine.
The condition is known as post-orgasmic sickness syndrome or POIS. Patients (almost always men) experience hay fever or flu-like symptoms following orgasm. These symptoms can include, for example, fatigue, itchy eyes, a stuffy or runny nose, and even memory problems. These symptoms appear after each orgasm, usually within seconds, sometimes hours, and can last from two to seven days.
There are only 60 people reported
There are many different diseases that can affect a person’s sexual function, but POIS is among the particularly rare ones. The National Institutes of Health estimates that fewer than 1,000 people in the United States currently have this syndrome. There are fewer than 60 reported cases of POIS in the medical literature, according to the authors of this latest case study, which will be published in the November issue of Urology Case Reports.
The latest report describes a 27-year-old man with no other health problems who first started experiencing his symptoms at age 18. In addition to her flu-like illness, she often had hives on her arms after orgasm. Over the years, she had consulted many healthcare professionals, including an otolaryngologist, an infectious disease specialist, and multiple allergists, but nothing they offered helped.
When it came to these doctors, he had long been actively abstaining from any kind of sexual activity and romantic relationships.
What causes POIS?
Due to its rarity, little is known about what exactly causes POIS. But the person is suspected of having some sort of hypersensitivity reaction to something in the semen. For example, most people with POIS test positive on skin puncture tests using their semen as the allergen. A reasonable theory is that sperm cells can trigger this immune response because they contain only half the genetic material found in most other cells. However, the fact that POIS can also be seen in infertile individuals suggests that the real cause is another component in the semen.
In this case, the man says, the first epididymis occurred after a case of acute epididymitis, or inflammation around a particular area of the scrotum, was relieved. Epididymitis is usually caused by a urinary tract infection or sexually transmitted bacterial infection. Doctors think that this infection may have set off a chain reaction that caused the immune system to become sensitive to his sperm from then on.
What is the treatment for POIS?
There is no official cure for POIS, but doctors decided to test an antihistamine that can reduce the symptoms of other types of allergies. Their initial treatment didn’t work, but they later switched to an over-the-counter version of fexofenadine taken daily. They also advised the man to gradually increase his orgasm frequency. Fexofenadine worked wonderfully, resulting in a 90% reduction in symptoms, allowing the man to finally resume his sex life.
Doctors suspect that fexofenadine works because it is both long-lasting and non-sedating, while other antihistamines cannot help because their peak effects only last a few hours. But while this drug is safe, inexpensive, and easy to take, doctors recommend that more research be done to confirm that it may be a safe option for people with POIS.
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