The woman who can't stop orgasming

[dragon wench]

Believe it or not, I do actually intend this as a serious thread...
Poor woman, this condition sounds really unpleasant; I'd never heard of it before now.
(click on the title for the source page)


The woman who can't stop orgasming

I had my first orgasm at the age of 17. I was sitting at my desk at school when all of a sudden, I felt a warm, pulsing feeling in my genital area. My vagina flared up and I couldn't think straight. It was like someone had squeegeed my thoughts away. I was like, whoa, what's that? It felt really erotic and good, but I was also freaked out, scared, and confused. After that, it started happening a few times a day. I searched online for spontaneous orgasms, but all I found was weird porn.

It kept getting worse. During my second semester of senior year, I counted orgasms on a sheet of paper. I was having 100 and 200 a day. I ran to hide in the bathroom between classes to relieve the pressure.

By the time I started college, the orgasms became even more intense and disruptive, and I was having trouble concentrating. I became really depressed. I didn't know what was wrong with me, and I wasn't getting any better. I cried a lot. I hid in the bathroom. I became violently protective of my privacy. In the beginning, I told everyone I trusted about my condition. People said things like: "You're so lucky!" and "Dude, I'd love to date you." They didn't understand why I wanted it to go away, and labeled me a drama queen. The school psychiatrist thought I was crazy. After my sophomore year, I bought a bunch of vibrators and took medical leave.

One day in 2003, a friend sent me an article in the Boston Globe about a newly discovered condition called Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome*. When I read it, I started crying hysterically--it described exactly what I was going through. I immediately made an appointment at the institute the article linked to, and after hours of tests, I was diagnosed with PSAS. My engorged genitalia and hypersensitivity made me a textbook case. Every other doctor had thought I was just a delusional hypochondriac.
PSAS feels like having a second heartbeat. No, it's more than that. It's alive — it has its own life force, a mind of its own. I often wonder if this is how teenage boys feel about their erections.

My parents pretend my PSAS doesn't exist. It makes me feel uncomfortable and rejected. My mother is very conservative — she has trouble saying the word "orgasm" out loud, and she thinks I'm a pervert because I have toys. A couple months ago, out of the blue, she said, "You still having that orgasm problem?" That was only the second time she asked about it since 2003. I sometimes wish I could make reference to it in normal conversations without feeling like a freak, but I understand that PSAS isn't exactly dinner conversation.

Every time I do something, I have to evaluate my situation. Where am I? Are there other people around? How well do I know them? What is the likelihood that, if I don't get someplace private in time, things could get complicated? Can I make noise? (Being vocal isn't necessary, but it helps release more of the pressure.) I avoid triggers — things like music with heavy bass, vibrations from riding a train or an idle car, cold air, musky cologne, darkness, stress, scary movies, romantic movies, unexpected touch, a full bladder. PSAS is completely unrelated to sex drive. Watching sex scenes does nothing for me, but the other day, when a friend put his hand on my back, I found it really hard to contain a screaming orgasm. If my heart rate shoots up too high for too long, I flare up. I avoided exercise and gained a lot of weight. One time, I was hugging a male relative and I felt an orgasm arise. It felt really dirty and wrong, and I totally freaked out. Now, I try to avoid hugs in general unless I feel ready for them.

I've been with my boyfriend for about six years, but we still haven't had sex. I don't know if I'll ever be ready to do it. Because of a vulvar pain disorder I have that sometimes comes with PSAS, I know it will hurt like hell. Others who have PSAS say that sex is not satisfying at all — the orgasms associated with sex are nothing compared to the ones induced by the condition. Sometimes I wish I could have sex with him because I think he deserves to have a 'real' girlfriend, but honestly, I just enjoy being held by him and not having it feel inappropriate. He's been very patient and understanding; he's my best friend, and we talk every night.

I'm 24 now, and have learned to manage PSAS pretty well. I discovered dancing — it's a great alternative to jogging because it's not as cardio-intensive. As long I take breaks between routines, folk dancing or doing salsa doesn't cause a flare up.
Last week, I was at the movies and had to leave twice because I was flaring up. Each time, I ran to the bathroom and tapped my heels on the floor to hear if there was anyone else around. Then I locked myself into a stall, braced myself against the stall door, and let the orgasm run its course. I missed about 15 minutes of the film, but that's just one of the many things that result from managing PSAS and its collateral damage.
My orgasms feel like a cosmic joke. I don't know why this happened to me and not someone else. If I didn't have PSAS, I'd be much more outgoing, and I probably would have finished college two years earlier. I'd have a normal sex life. I feel like I'm lugging around a shadow, a ghost that I just can't shake. It depresses me that I'm stuck with it, probably for the rest of my life, but strangely enough, I don't want to be cured instantly of PSAS. It appeared suddenly in my life, and if it disappeared just as suddenly, I would always be looking over my shoulder, and I'm not sure I would know who I was. I would rather have it slowly fade away, but if it doesn't, well, I'm doing my best to make peace with this part of my life.

*The name of this condition was recently changed to Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder to remove the stigma that this is a sexual disease. PGAD will be officially recognized in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which comes out in 2012.

[Fljotsdale]

Well, yeah... I would feel sorry for her - especially at the onset of the condition. And it must be a nuisance... BUT - I noticed several things in that article:

1. "the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which comes out in 2012."

2. The fact that she doesn't want rid of it.

3. The fact that although she says she can't have sex with her boyfriend, she is ok using sex toys.

4. If it's spontaneous and she can't stop it - why the devil does she NEED sex toys?


I wonder if it's related to Nymphomania? Which is also regarded as a mental disorder, not a physical disorder.

[C Elegans]

I am familiar with the condition. It's quite rare, but interestingly, recent research shows it has a high comorbidity with other central nervous system disorders, especially a condition called Restless Legs. It may be correct to classify PGAD in the DSM (ie as a "mental" disorder) if it is indeed a disorder of the brain rather than a local, genital disorder. Like blindness caused by damage in the visual cortex and not the eye, to make an analogy.

In any case, as much as I do feel pity for people with this disorder, it annoys me that it has received undeserved attention in media just because it's spectacular to write about women with never-ending orgasms. I have seen numerous articles about PGAD cases over the last years both in Sweden, continental Europe and the US. There are thousands of disorders that are more common and cause more suffering and disability that media never write about.

[Tricky]

Tough break. That must really take the joy out of sex.

[SupaCat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon wench "Dude, I'd love to date you." [/COLOR]

Made me laugh.

Still, it's a serious problem and one of the many disorders that aren't well-known, which kinda creates the taboe around it, I guess.

[QuenGalad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fljotsdale I noticed several things in that article: 3. The fact that although she says she can't have sex with her boyfriend, she is ok using sex toys. 4. If it's spontaneous and she can't stop it - why the devil does she NEED sex toys?

The toys bugged me too. I'm not an expert on spontaneous orgasms induced by nothing, but if you get way too much of them and it annoys you, wouldn't an icebag help? Rather than a vibrator?
Maybe she thought if she gets, oh, 50 of them in the next 10 minutes with the help of a toy she could have peace for the rest of the day. That's actually quite logical, for a given value of 'logical'
As for the boyfriend thing, maybe she just doesn't see the point of sleeping with anybody to get more of what she's already got too much of.

(Anti-intercourse? the situation where a desirable person you share feelings with tries to minimize your libido and give you as little carnal pleasure as they can? )

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fljotsdale 4. If it's spontaneous and she can't stop it - why the devil does she NEED sex toys?

That's the million dollar question. And like chickens and eggs, I doubt I'd want to hear the answer.

[Fljotsdale]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tricky Tough break. That must really take the joy out of sex.

Well, I'm sorry to be cynical and unsympathetic, but the girl uses sex toys, and she doesn't want to be cured, so she must be enjoying it. It seems to be a sort of mental masturbation to me - (in public, anyway - and with toys in private), to enjoyed without the inconvenince of having to think about pleasing a partner... I guess I'm just a nasty unsympathetic old woman...

[Fljotsdale]

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Elegans I am familiar with the condition. It's quite rare, but interestingly, recent research shows it has a high comorbidity with other central nervous system disorders, especially a condition called Restless Legs. It may be correct to classify PGAD in the DSM (ie as a "mental" disorder) if it is indeed a disorder of the brain rather than a local, genital disorder. Like blindness caused by damage in the visual cortex and not the eye, to make an analogy.

I have a friend with Restless Legs, and she didn't sleep with her husband because she constantly disturbed him... um... but she doesn't seem at all the sort of person to have the other condition... I've certainly never seen her show any symptoms of it, anyway!

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Elegans In any case, as much as I do feel pity for people with this disorder, it annoys me that it has received undeserved attention in media just because it's spectacular to write about women with never-ending orgasms. I have seen numerous articles about PGAD cases over the last years both in Sweden, continental Europe and the US. There are thousands of disorders that are more common and cause more suffering and disability that media never write about.

It's sex. Sex always commands high reader ratings. Especially when it involves unbridled displays of libido...

[dragon wench]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fljotsdale Well, I'm sorry to be cynical and unsympathetic, but the girl uses sex toys, and she doesn't want to be cured, so she must be enjoying it. It seems to be a sort of mental masturbation to me - (in public, anyway - and with toys in private), to enjoyed without the inconvenince of having to think about pleasing a partner... I guess I'm just a nasty unsympathetic old woman...

Well....
I suppose it's possible that the sex toys.. uhm.... provide more penetrating pain relief?

I don't know that she doesn't want to be cured precisely, she writes:

Quote:

It depresses me that I'm stuck with it, probably for the rest of my life, but strangely enough, I don't want to be cured instantly of PSAS. It appeared suddenly in my life, and if it disappeared just as suddenly, I would always be looking over my shoulder, and I'm not sure I would know who I was. I would rather have it slowly fade away, but if it doesn't, well, I'm doing my best to make peace with this part of my life.

It sounds just as much to me as though she has self-identity difficulties. In other words she's lived with this thing long enough that it's become a part of who she is.
I don't think I'd feel the same way, personally. I've lived with eczema all my life, and I'd be more than happy to make it *NOT* part of who I am.

*shugs* I'm definitely getting the sense emotional/psychological issues are involved in this particular case... and I can well imagine such a condition would have some significant impacts on how somebody would perceive themselves... especially when it comes to relationships. But, that's way out of my bailiwick so I'm not really qualified to comment.

[penguin_king]

so heres what just happened... i read the topic title as "the woman who cant stop organising.

i then went on to read the replies before the original post (i do it all the time, god only knows why)

when i saw people commenting the kind of disorder i thought "it seems pretty similar to OCD"

i then read the first line of the article.

my face looked something like

[Dottie]

I know nothing about this, or anything really, but to me it seems strange to assume that orgasms are equal and exchangeable. Isn't it very likely that the frequent unwanted orgasms are not very pleasurable while the sex toy induced ones are? No reason to question someones sincerity from that particular information imo.

[Tricky]

I don't really get the pain part either if she can use normal toys. I have known one woman who had some kind of vaginal cramp that really did make it impossible for her to have intercourse, so I agree with Fljotsdale that she's probably better at it than him to the extend that real sex is a 'different kind of enjoyment' (respectful excuses, but still excuses). That can be a problem for healthy couples all the same.

Whatever floats her/their boat, I just really feel for the poor guy. I don't care how zen he is about the situation, that's a helluva lot of sexual frustration to cope with.

[Fljotsdale]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon wench Well.... I suppose it's possible that the sex toys.. uhm.... provide more penetrating pain relief? I don't know that she doesn't want to be cured precisely, she writes: It sounds just as much to me as though she has self-identity difficulties. In other words she's lived with this thing long enough that it's become a part of who she is. I don't think I'd feel the same way, personally. I've lived with eczema all my life, and I'd be more than happy to make it *NOT* part of who I am. *shugs* I'm definitely getting the sense emotional/psychological issues are involved in this particular case... and I can well imagine such a condition would have some significant impacts on how somebody would perceive themselves... especially when it comes to relationships. But, that's way out of my bailiwick so I'm not really qualified to comment.

Well, I'm not qualified either - but I'm afraid I need a helluva lot more convincing ...

As for eczema, I DO sympathise. I know how negatively that can affect a person's life if it is severe, and even mild eczema must seem worse to the person with it than it seems to others.

[CFM]

Holy Toledo.

I've never heard of such a thing, in all my years. All 37.5 of them.

There ain't no kinda surgery to turn it off, so to speak?