Post-sex claustrophobia?

[e-n-t-i-t-y.livejournal.com]

Last month I had sex on the day I started my period and I let my lover cum inside of me. I had previously never let anyone cum inside of me. After we had sex we went into the shower to rinse off and after about 10 minutes I felt really claustrophobic and dizzy and nauseous. I turned off the water, sat on the floor and made man friend get out of the shower and give me a glass of water and some space. I recovered pretty quickly, and I figure I was just hungry and tired and feeling a lot at once... I don't easily feel nauseous and don't really ever remember feeling claustrophobic before so this was pretty weird.

I'm not too worried about what happened because I think my body was just overwhelmed, but I am curious if anyone has had anything like this happen to them? Or why?

Comments

[sterek.livejournal.com]

I've had a few moments in the shower with my partner after sex where I feel like I suddenly can't breathe, get light-headed, and need space too.

idk what causes it. Maybe a drop in blood pressure?

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

An emotional reaction to a sudden increase in intimacy seems possible too. Not necessarily "this is bad" but "I need time to get used to this". Lots of good things are scary at first, after all.

[lupitaloba.livejournal.com]

Hi OP.
I've felt like that in the shower with my partner, I figured that it is because he likes the water really hot for his showers, but I prefer mine luke-warm, so when we shower together and he sets the temp high I get overwhelmed. I'm not sure if it's related to my hypertension or not.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend has had exactly that happen to him before. Once, he felt dizzy and nauseous when I went down on him in the shower. The sensation lingered for hours. The second time it happened, we were post-sex but making out in the shower, and he stepped out before his dizziness got too strong.

Come to think of it, both times were close in time to big events in our relationship. The first time was one of the first times we had sex, and the second time was right after we moved in together. I'd chalk it up to surprising drops in blood pressure due to the hot water (my preference) and sexual activity. But maybe others' comments about emotions were also at play.

[patchworkorange]

If you're already hot, sweaty and a little tired, chances are that standing in a steamy hot shower could do it. I don't think it's necessarily claustrophobia, but more a "I need to breathe/chill" feeling.

[x-hypatia-x.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this. I mean, for me, it can result in a feeling of claustrophobia, because I feel dizzy and like I can't breathe, which is pretty panic-inducing and makes me want to escape the situation. But the combination of emotions you might have had at the time, plus already being hot, then getting into a probably hot shower, could have made it all much more intense. Plus, having my period tends to make me a little out of it because my iron levels run low, and that has an impact on both my emotional and physical reactions, so that could have been a contributing factor, too.

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a classic vaso-vagal reaction to me. I get it in response to scary emotional situations and to extreme physical sensations. It's happened after particularly powerful orgasms and after getting especially good/bad news (i had one after I got my admissions letter to grad school, and another one when I found out a close friend had cancer.)

Anyhoo--if you were tired or hungry that would increase the chance of it happening. Sudden changes in temperature, like getting into a really hot or really cold shower, can also contribute. Basically your body decides you are in some kind of an emergency situation and pulls blood away from your extremities (including your brain) and into your core. You get light-headed, might have a hard time breathing, or experience clausterphobia, nausea, or (my fav) feelings of impending doom.

These are totally normal and happen to lots of folks. For me, I just try to avoid the situations that cause them...making sure I eat enough, stay hydrated, sit down when I'm talking about serious stuff, and I try not to get out of bed or stand up really fast after sex if I've been horizontal for it.

[e-n-t-i-t-y.livejournal.com]

Thanks you guys! It's really helpful hearing about similar experiences and I hadn't even thought about it maybe being a sudden drop in blood pressure. My body had never experienced sperm before so that was also probably a big deal to some extent. Thank you thank you for your input!!

[okamikaze.livejournal.com]

It's happened to me too. The most recent was when we were trying some new stuff in the shower. The water was really hot but I was pressed up against the cold tile and then WHOOSH things started getting really dark and spinny. I would agree with everyone else blood pressure/temperature contrast is the probable culprit.