The distinguishing characteristics of POIS are: # the rapid onset of symptoms after ejaculation; # the presence of an overwhelming systemic reaction. POIS symptoms, which are called a "POIS attack", can include some combination of the following: cognitive dysfunction, aphasia, severe muscle pain throughout the body, severe fatigue, weakness, and flu-like or allergy-like symptoms, such as sneezing, itchy eyes, and nasal irritation. Additional symptoms include headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, extreme hunger, sensory and motor problems, intense discomfort, irritability, anxiety, gastrointestinal disturbances, craving for relief, susceptibility to nervous system stresses (e.g. common cold), depressed mood, and difficulty communicating, remembering words, reading and retaining information, concentrating, and socializing. Affected individuals may also experience intense warmth or cold. An online anonymous self-report study found that 80% of respondents always experienced the symptom cluster involving fatigue, insomnia, irritation, and concentration difficulties. The symptoms usually begin within 30 minutes of ejaculation, and can last for several days, sometimes up to a week. In some men, the onset of POIS is in puberty, while in others, the onset is later in life. POIS that is manifest from the first ejaculations in adolescence is called primary type; POIS that starts later in life is called secondary type. Many POIS sufferers report lifelong premature ejaculation, with intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) of less than one minute. The 7 clusters of symptoms of criterion 1: # General : Extreme fatigue, exhaustion, palpitations, problems finding words, incoherent speech, dysarthria, concentration difficulties, quickly irritated, cannot stand noise, photophobia, depressed mood # Flu-like : Feverish, extreme warmth, perspiration, shivery, ill with flu, feeling sick, feeling cold # Head : Headache, foggy feeling in the head, heavy feeling in the head # Eyes : Burning, red injected eyes, blurred vision, watery, irritating, itching eyes, painful eyes # Nose : Congestion nose, watery/runny nose, sneezing # Throat : Dirty taste in mouth, dry mouth, sore throat, tickling cough, hoarse voice # Muscle : Muscle tension behind neck, muscle weakness, pain in muscles, heavy legs, stiff muscles Synonyms and related conditions POIS has been called by a number of other names, including "postejaculatory syndrome", "postorgasm<unk>  syndrome", "post ejaculation sickness", and "post orgasmic sick syndrome". Dhat syndrome is a condition, first described in 1960 in India, with symptoms similar to POIS. Dhat syndrome is thought to be a culture-bound psychiatric condition and is treated with cognitive behavioral therapy along with anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs. Post-coital tristesse (PCT) is a feeling of melancholy and anxiety after sexual intercourse that lasts anywhere from five minutes to two hours. PCT, which affects both men and women, occurs only after sexual intercourse and does not require an orgasm to occur, and in that its effects are primarily emotional rather than physiological. By contrast, POIS affects only men, consists primarily of physiological symptoms that are triggered by ejaculation and that can last, in some people, for up to a week. While PCT and POIS are distinct conditions, some doctors speculate that they could be related. An array of more subtle and lingering symptoms after orgasm, which do not constitute POIS, may contribute to habituation between mates. They may show up as restlessness, irritability, increased sexual frustration, apathy, sluggishness, neediness, dissatisfaction with a mate, or weepiness over the days or weeks after intense sexual stimulation. Such phenomena may be part of human mating physiology itself. Sexual headache is a distinct condition characterized by headaches that usually begin before or during orgasm.
Postorgasmic illness syndrome
Syndrome of subjective doubles
Functional somatic syndrome
Nociplastic pain
Feline hyperesthesia syndrome
Marasmus
Micturition syncope
Anorgasmia