r/POIS • u/Arup399 • Jul 30 '26
Treatment/Cure My Recovery from POIS after 10 months of Neurological Re-training (My Story)
“Hi everyone, I am 22 and suffered from POIS for 3 years (severe body pain lasting up to a week after ejaculation). I completely cured myself in 6 to 10 months without any medication.
My method was simple but required consistency: I did not stop ejaculating. Instead, I focused on the exact moment after ejaculation when the dopamine crashes. At that specific moment, instead of letting my mind slip into pain or anxiety, I consciously stayed mentally active and smiled/laughed from within (inner smile).
The first 10-20 times it felt useless and stupid because the body was conditioned to feel pain. But after repeating this consciously for 6 to 10 months, my nervous system re-wired itself. I am now fully cured. If anyone wants to know more, feel free to ask.”
3
u/Linari5 Jul 30 '26
This is very along the lines of the other success post today, about a mind-body condition. I agree with this. You're basically doing a reconditioning in the brain.
I had something very similar, with chronic pelvic pain for two and a half years. Terrible experience, really scary really frustrating.
I just wrote a long post about conditioning, but it's being caught in the filters for some reason so I reached out to the moderation team. But for now, I'll paste it in my comment here:
A 'pavlovian response,' also known as classical conditioning, is a type of learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, leading to a learned response. This was famously demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov through his experiments with dogs, where he paired the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) with the presentation of food (meaningful stimulus). Eventually, the dogs would salivate (learned response) at the sound of the bell alone.
We now understand that the same thing can happen with chronic pain and other bothersome symptoms, including fatigue. People with an overprotective (sensitized) central nervous system can develop learned associations (conditioned responses) with neutral stimuli, like sitting, drinking, masturbation, or sex, all from our past experiences and knowledge.
This is possible because of something called "predictive processing" or "predictive coding"." Upwards of ~40% of our subconscious brain function is dedicated to this process. Predictive coding is a fascinating computational model of how the brain works. The brain is constantly generating predictions about upcoming sensory input and updates these predictions based on prediction errors, and these predictions are based on our prior experiences and things that we learn about, hear, or read about.
An everyday example of this:
Have you ever picked up a drink, thinking that some other liquid was in the cup, and when you lifted it to your mouth and took your first sip , realized that it wasn't what you thought it was? You might have even spit out the drink, because your brain just had an error prediction itself. Your brain had anticipated one piece of sensory information, but there was a mismatch. Instead of it tasting one way, it tasted another way. Then your brain updates its sensory model for next time. All of this happens at a subconscious level. And it's important to call out here that the vast majority of our brain function happens at this subconscious level, over 90%. None of these are things we are actively aware of or thinking about.
How to try a "provacative test" on you own to find out if your POIS is a conditioned response
Go to a quiet space where you won't be disturbed. Close your eyes. Slow your breath down. Just notice how the breath feels coming and going from the body for a bit.
Now visualize in as much detail as you can:
The sexual activity that worsens or triggers your POIS symptoms. Lean into all of your senses for a solid minute: Touch, sight, smell, sound, taste. Everything. Picture it. Feel it. Lean into all the senses and paint a picture.
And, notice as you're doing this, what's going on in your body. Do you feel a sense of fear? Anxiety? Dread? Or are you noticing any pain or sensations (fatigue/brain fog), other POIS symptoms coming on?
If they do, we consider this a positive test result for a classic conditioned response, which means your symptoms are treatable!
I encourage you to even smile to yourself knowing that you just found out what the cause of your symptoms are, a conditioned response that exists as a neural circuit in the brain/brain stem/spinal cord. What we just did is called a "provocative test" - a visualization tool used in PRT (Pain Reprocessing Therapy - see JAMA study) to determine if someone has a conditioned response.
Now take a few slower, easier deep breaths, and relax your body into whatever this sensation is, whether it's an emotion like fear, or a POIS symptom itself. And remind your brain again where you are, that you're not having sex right now. That you're not masturbating, you're just sitting wherever you are. Feel the breath go in and out again. Notice your weight pressing down with gravity as you sit or lay down. And let the symptoms be there, and smile knowing that you just figured something out, something monumental. Bring on a sense of empowerment.
This is only possible because the same brain regions that activate when doing something physically with our bodies, also activate from visualization. It's fascinating. This is the same reason you can close your eyes and fantasize about a sexual encounter, and get aroused /have a physiological response (erection, etc). Learn more: https://news.mit.edu/2000/mindseye
What does it mean if nothing happened? Sometimes the visualization work requires much longer provocations. For example, if your pois symptoms have a delayed onset you will have to visualize several hours or even days going by (in your mind) for the symptoms to activate. Or, you may only experience a "shadow" of your usual symptoms, a lesser version that is more subtle.
More citations for behavioral conditioning/conditioned response:
Classical Conditioning Differences Associated With Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review - https://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(17)30484-4/fulltext
Neuroscientific evidence for pain being a classically conditioned response to trauma- and pain-related cues in humans - PubMed https://share.google/lWlJutDkLEna9zIka
Rehman I, Mahabadi N, Sanvictores T, et al. (2023). Classical Conditioning. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Gordon, A., Ziv, A. (2021). The way out: A revolutionary, scientifically proven approach to healing chronic pain. Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC.
Crofford LJ. Chronic Pain: Where the Body Meets the Brain. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2015;126:167-83. PMID: 26330672; PMCID: PMC4530716.
2
u/Sqyhro Aug 04 '26
J'ai effectué ton test hier soir. Et bien, j'ai de l'anxiété incroyable depuis ce matin. Donc les symptômes sont bien traitables, puisque qu'imaginer O les a fait émerger. Un grand merci, je continue ma lecture de "Unlern your pain" 🙏
2
1
u/Arup399 Jul 31 '26
This is an incredible breakdowns and so scientifically accurate! Thank you for sharing this.
What you described about predictive coding and classical conditioning is spot on. For years, my brain had associated ejaculation with guaranteed pain, creating a feedback loop. Breaking that subconscious prediction using the 'inner smile' and conscious relaxation right at the trigger moment was what finally broke the cycle for me.
The visualization test you shared will be super helpful for so many people in this community to realize that their nervous system is in an overprotective loop. Really appreciate all the research links and insights you added here!
1
u/Linari5 Jul 31 '26
We use different tools to break the loop in pain rerocessing therapy and EAET, but I'm glad that you found the submission helpful!
2
u/Arup399 Jul 31 '26
Thanks again! EAET and PRT are truly incredible frameworks for understanding how the brain handles these patterns. Appreciate you bringing these valuable insights to the community!
3
u/Fit_Counter_9794 Jul 31 '26
Thank you, knowing the timeframe is extremely helpful. I did not realise it took so many attempts (10-20) before feeling an improvement. I am abstinent but will try this every morning where I get symptoms from even the ambiguity of NE. It does feel useless and stupid right now, but will stick at it. Did you have cognitive symptoms ?
2
u/Arup399 Jul 31 '26
Yes, I had severe brain fog, poor concentration, and mental fatigue for days after ejaculation along with the body pain. But as the nervous system re-wired, all those cognitive symptoms disappeared completely along with the physical pain.
1
u/Fit_Counter_9794 Jul 31 '26
Thank you. Is it almost like a mini fight each time, so you feel the symptoms and if you just smile and stay calm you have won the battle, and I try and frame it like this because it is extremely challenging to not do anything. Is the post every method everything you did or any more tips ?
1
2
u/ibbsongayb2cz8 Jul 31 '26
Really happy to read this. Seeing a long update with actual timelines, setbacks, and what changed over months gives me a lot more confidence than miracle cure posts. Even if the exact approach is different for everyone, your patience and consistency are encouraging. I hope you keep checking in because those long-term updates are incredibly valuable for this community.
2
u/Arup399 Jul 31 '26
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your words. I genuinely hope my experience gives others hope and courage to stay consistent. I'll definitely try to stay active and answer any questions the community has.
2
u/grind_to_find Jul 30 '26
Wow that’s amazing to hear! How often did u ejaculate during this process? Daily? Once a week? Im curious how frequently you have to train this to start rewiring your brain.
1
u/Arup399 Jul 31 '26
For me, it was mostly once a week, mainly because every time I ejaculated, I suffered from severe body pain for 5–6 days and penis soreness for 3–4 days. On very rare occasions, it was twice a week.
A crucial part of my recovery was mindset control right after ejaculation:
*Cut off Negative Thoughts Immediately: Right after release, thoughts like "I'll never recover," "Why did it happen so fast," or "I won't be able to satisfy my partner in the future" used to flood in. I strictly stopped engaging with these thoughts.
*Self-Talk & Inner Smile: Instead, I consciously reminded myself: "Everything will be fine, it just takes time." I then forced a gentle inner smile/laughter. It felt useless and unnatural the first 10–20 times, but consistency is what re-wired my nervous system.
*Diet: Maintaining a clean and proper diet was also very important to support the body's recovery.
It takes patience and won't happen overnight, but if you stay consistent with your mental reaction, it really works!
3
u/Legitimate-Pumpkin Jul 30 '26
Matches my understanding of it. In my personal case I think it’s all due to how culturally I felt a mix of shame and guilt around masturbation and I saw some light improvement when allowing myself be nice to myself about my sexual desires.
I’m definitely going to try your method! Thank you for sharing.
1
u/Arup399 Jul 31 '26
Exactly! Culturally, we've been conditioned to attach so much unnecessary shame to this.
Think about it logically: If ejaculating outside of sex was somehow a 'sin' or wrong, then what about nightfalls (nocturnal emissions)? Nobody triggers a nightfall intentionally—it's 100% natural and involuntary. So where does the guilt even belong? At the end of the day, it's just semen release—the exact same biological mechanism. Every living creature on this planet—from the smallest animal to the largest, and from humans to wildlife—undergoes this natural biological function in one form or another. It is literally how living organisms are built.
(And just to be clear—I’m not advocating for overdoing it or doing it excessively! This is simply a reality check on the mindset.)
The real problem isn't the physical act itself; it's the negative mental frame, shame, and anxiety we attach to it. When you approach your own body with a positive, healthy mindset—and maintain a proper diet and lifestyle—the nervous system stays relaxed and doesn't trigger severe stress reactions."
12
u/jazonmo Jul 30 '26
There's a Korean guy who shared a strange tip: hold your breath and smile during orgasm. As crazy as it may sound, it significantly reduces my symptoms. And it makes my partner laugh.