A man allergic to his own semen will no doubt be relieved a successful treatment for the rare condition has been found.
There have been only a few dozen cases of post-orgasmic illness syndrome (POIS) ever recorded, the latest detailed in the journal Urology Case Reports‘ November issue.
A 27-year-old man in the US state of Missouri “presented with a chief complaint of flu-like symptoms occurring with ejaculation”, the report reads.
They included a runny nose, coughing, enlarged lymph nodes and a “hive-like rash on his forearms” that got worse the more he ejaculated.
The problem started when he was 18, so he’d apparently been experiencing them a whopping nine years before seeking help.
“Because of the distressing nature of his symptoms, he actively avoided any sexual activity or romantic relationships.”
One doctor he saw diagnosed with hayfever – the strangest case this author would have heard of – and antibiotic treatments achieved nothing. Scans of his bits showed nothing out of the ordinary, nor did testing of his semen.
The only thing it could be was an allergic reaction to his own fluids.
“This theory is supported by both the clinical manifestations of POIS as well as the fact that 88% of men suspected to have POIS had positive skin-prick tests to diluted, autologous semen.”
Autologous means originating from the same person. POIS has even been recorded in men who have had the snip, suggesting it’s something in the seminal fluid, not the sperm itself.
Eventually for this unlucky soul, doctors found an antihistamine, fexofenadine, was able to reduce the symptoms by 90%.
They even found a suspected cause.
“In our patient, whose symptoms seemed to develop after suspected epididymitis, it is possible that the infectious process acted as an insult to the blood-testis barrier, allowing an autoimmune process to occur.”
