Mood & nerves

Several people said that after about three weeks with no orgasm and no wet dreams, their head felt clear, social anxiety eased, they could hold eye contact and felt more confident. One said it takes around three weeks without wet dreams to be free of brain fog, while another said going without made their symptoms much worse. A different person said even thinking about sex used to set symptoms off.

Many people said vitamin D helped: one saw most symptoms fade or ease within a week, with less anxiety and no more crippling migraines, though they still felt weak after orgasm; others noticed clearly better energy, mood and mental state, and one said 5000 IU daily for a few months reduced severity. One person said that vitamin D and several other things hadn't worked so far. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking vitamin D.

Five people said hydroxyzine and similar antihistamines helped: one said that with the right dosing their symptoms were almost negligible, another said it calmed their system, eased irritability and cleared their mind, and another used it to manage pain. One person also took montelukast and levocetirizine after ejaculating and planned to take hydroxyzine beforehand. Hydroxyzine is a prescription drug; these are personal reports, so talk to a doctor first.

Five people said long stretches without ejaculating helped: one felt amazing after 20 days, another ejaculated after three weeks, slept normally and had roughly 90% of symptoms gone, and others go one or two months at a time, ejaculating only a handful of times a year so they can function at work. One also mentioned withdrawal effects along the way, then feeling great near the end.

Six people discussed this strict abstinence and five found it helpful: one felt well after two months, another found their mind much clearer, one kept it up for ten months and felt like a better person, and another felt it helped hold an underlying mood problem in check. But wet dreams increased the longer they abstained, one had odd symptoms during a restart, and another said masturbating makes their mind go crazy, so they can't.

A few people said ashwagandha, including the KSM-66 extract, helped them relax and took the edge off anxiety and stress; some used it hoping to blunt stress-driven worsening. One person took it for a few weeks and felt only mellower, with no effect on POIS. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

Four people said going a long time without ejaculating helped: one hit 50 days and felt more energetic with much less anxiety, and another managed six months and felt it clearly helped and changed their mindset about masturbating. One person, though, had abstained for five months without seeing improvement.

Four people said a cold shower right after orgasm helped: one said it gets rid of most symptoms, another that it eases the rush, another that cold showers improve depression, and one combined Klonopin with a long cold shower.

Four people said these supplements helped their mood. One took 5000 IU of vitamin D daily and felt steadier, though other POIS symptoms changed little; another felt high-dose omega-3 fish oil plus vitamin D eased severe depression; a third said depression and brain fog eased somewhat after restarting vitamin D; and one added that a B complex can help too. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

Several people said full-spectrum CBD oil taken before orgasm suppressed some symptoms such as rising anxiety and crazy thoughts, and some used it for stress. Others disagreed: one said isolate oil did nothing, and another said it made the following days worse. Results were mixed.

Three people said antihistamines helped them: one felt they eased inflammation and anxiety, another ejaculated while on antihistamines and felt fine — twice — and a third used them alongside niacin and ibuprofen before eventually stopping all of it. None named the exact drug or dose. Personal reports — talk to a doctor before using medication.

Three people said the Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS), a home-study course of daily cognitive and behavioral exercises meant to retrain the brain, helped them. One said that combined with lifestyle changes, a positive mindset and supplements, their POIS went into remission; another said they were among the first to use it for POIS. Personal reports — results vary.

Three people said magnesium glycinate helped a bit: one found that taking it at night calmed the heart and body and gave better sleep during a POIS phase, but did nothing for social anxiety, and others found 200–400 mg a day good. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

A few people said niacin helped: one recommended it, with vitamin E and anti-inflammatory painkillers, as a first line of defence, and another said it eased severe depression. Others had side effects — chest tightness for one, headaches from a B-complex containing niacin for another. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

Three people said methylated B vitamins (active folate and B12 forms, one naming Jarrow B-Right) taken before orgasm helped: one said their eye contact improves tenfold, another said certain traits disappear with methylated Bs, NAC and taurine. Some suspect too much glutamate. Personal reports — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

Three people said stretches without ejaculating helped them keep symptoms down. One abstained because at work they became very socially anxious and talked nonsense; another said social anxiety is low and manageable on a streak but very high with POIS; a third hasn't ejaculated in a couple of years to avoid feeling that way.

A few people dealing with anxiety and stress said St. John's wort helped: one took it for two weeks and felt their nervous system calm down, another had great results against stress and anxiety and wondered if that was why their POIS eased, and a third took it with manganese and zinc for a few weeks and said POIS was almost gone. One person said it did not work for them. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

Two people said ashwagandha reduced their anxiety; one listed it among their go-to supplements alongside lemon balm, taurine, magnesium, niacinamide and Relora. Neither gave doses or how long they took it. Personal reports only — talk to a doctor before taking supplements.

Two people dealing with social anxiety said hard running or uphill sprints left them calmer. It felt bad at first, with a racing heart like a panic attack, but the feeling eased after the session; one said the anxiety was gone by the time they got home.

Two people said L-theanine eased anxiety, nervousness or irritability after ejaculation. One took it nightly for about a week and felt less anxious and less flat, and the restless feeling faded, though brain fog remained. Their routines weren't the same. Personal reports only — talk to a doctor before taking supplements.

Three people mentioned zinc and magnesium with mixed results: one noticed no social anxiety over the following days, another counted magnesium among their go-to remedies, and a third said zinc plus magnesium helped with energy but not social anxiety. Personal reports only — check with a doctor before taking supplements.

Two people with social anxiety said stretches without ejaculating helped: one abstained for three weeks, then ejaculated and felt fine and slept normally, with about 90% of symptoms relieved; the other said that on a streak their social anxiety is low and manageable, but with POIS it becomes very high.

Two people who already had anxiety and depression said that after starting an SSRI (fluoxetine/Prozac or sertraline) most of their post-ejaculation symptoms went away and brain fog became much milder; one felt about 80% better. Another account said trying several SSRIs brought no benefit or made things worse. Personal reports — talk to a doctor before using medication.

Two people said valerian root helped: one found it eased anxiety but left apathy and brain fog, the other said it helped with anger and tightness. Neither gave a dose. Personal reports — check with a doctor before taking supplements.