A Young Man Became Allergic to Orgasms—but There's a Happy Ending - Gizmodo

In a caller lawsuit study, doctors picture the unfortunate communicative of a antheral who developed an allergy-like absorption to his ain orgasms. The bizarre and uncommon affliction near him incapable to prosecute intersexual and romanticist relationships. But thankfully, the doctors managed to dainty his occupation utilizing a elemental over-the-counter antihistamine.

The information is known arsenic postorgasmic unwellness syndrome, oregon POIS. Sufferers (almost ever men) acquisition symptoms akin to hay fever oregon a flu pursuing ejaculation, specified arsenic fatigue, itchy eyes, stuffy oregon runny nose, and adjacent representation problems. These symptoms look aft each oregon astir each orgasm, usually wrong seconds but sometimes up to hours later, and they tin past anyplace from 2 to 7 days.

There are galore antithetic illnesses that tin impact a person’s intersexual function, but POIS is particularly rare. The National Institutes of Health estimates that less than 1,000 radical successful the U.S. presently person it. And according to the authors of this latest lawsuit study, acceptable to beryllium published successful the November contented of Urology Case Reports, determination are less than 60 reported cases of POIS successful the aesculapian literature.

The study describes an different steadfast 27-year-old antheral who archetypal began to acquisition his symptoms astatine the property of 18. In summation to his flu-like illness, helium would often interruption retired into hives on his forearms aft orgasms. He had seen respective aesculapian providers implicit the years, including an otolaryngologist, an infectious illness specialist, and aggregate allergists, but thing they offered seemed to help. By the clip helium saw these doctors, helium had agelong been actively abstaining from immoderate benignant of intersexual enactment and romanticist relationships.

Because of its rarity, there’s precise small known astir precisely wherefore POIS happens. But it’s suspected to beryllium a benignant of hypersensitivity absorption to thing wrong a person’s ejaculate. Most radical with POIS, for instance, person tested affirmative connected tegument prick tests utilizing their semen arsenic the allergen. One plausible mentation is that sperm cells mightiness trigger this immune response, since they incorporate lone fractional of the familial worldly recovered successful astir different cells. But adjacent sterile individuals person developed POIS, suggesting that the existent culprit is usually immoderate different constituent successful semen.

In this peculiar case, the antheral recalled that his archetypal occurrence occurred aft helium had recovered from a lawsuit of acute epididymitis, oregon inflammation astir a circumstantial country of the scrotum. Epididymitis is often caused by a urinary tract corruption oregon sexually transmitted bacterial infection. It’s possible, the doctors speculate, that this corruption acceptable disconnected a concatenation absorption that caused his immune strategy to go sensitized to his semen from past on.

There’s nary authoritative attraction for POIS, but the doctors decided to trial retired an antihistamine, which tin tamp down the symptoms of different types of allergy. Their archetypal attraction didn’t look to work, but they past switched to an over-the-counter mentation of fexofenadine, taken regular (the cause has agelong since go generic but is sold nether the fashionable marque sanction Allegra). Additionally, they advised the antheral to gradually ramp up his frequence of orgasms. The fexofenadine worked similar a charm, starring to a self-reported 90% alteration successful symptoms and allowing the antheral to yet resume intersexual activity.

The doctors fishy that the different antihistamine whitethorn person failed to assistance due to the fact that its highest effects lone past for a fewer hours, portion fexofenadine is some long-lasting and non-sedative. But though this cause is safe, cheap, and casual to take, the doctors bash urge that much probe be done to corroborate that it tin beryllium a reliable enactment for those with POIS.

“Our acquisition demonstrates the feasibility of treating a analyzable illness with a elemental medicine and hopefully volition beryllium replicated successful aboriginal patients,” they wrote.