#pgad

🦭 <- to find it later

I started to notice that I have periods of very strong sexual arousal that make living day to day life very hard. Maturation does not take the edge off and it's actually kinda hard to cum while in this state. What can it be and how do I stop it?

Hi! This is absolutely an appropriate question, thank you for letting me answer.

My biggest recommendation for managing this would be going to a doctor and telling them this. But I will also say this sounds a lot like PGAD, or Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder.

It's a disorder that causes (often long-lasting and strong) unwanted arousal that isn't affected/resolved by orgasms and it's well-known for how it can greatly affect your qualify of life.

It can also cause pain in your genitals and even orgasms that you don't want!

There are a lot of things that can cause it and quite a few options to help manage it (ranging from physical therapy, medication, general therapy and even removing cysts that sometimes cause it!), so I'd really recommend both looking into it (here's a good article to start with) and talking to some doctors until you find someone who will help.

hypersexual and had PGAD for most of my life. I want to make a safe and

positive learning and general space for other hypersexual people here and

People who want to respectfully learn more about being hypersexual and

or having PGAD.

DISCLAIMER 1: There will be NSFW discussions and topics here so if you don’t want to see that please block! Though none of the discussions or topics will be for any reason other than answering questions or informing people!

DISCLAIMER 2: I am not a doctor nor a therapist and i can’t diagnose you with hypersexuality or with PGAD (persistent genital arousal disorder) and any responses given are NOT intended to be official medical advice, consultation, or diagnosis, and I would strongly recommend going to your doctor for any medical concerns. That said please send questions about it if you’re questioning whether you have PGAD or if you’re hypersexual or not! Also please send questions if you’re unsure what it is and want to learn! As long as you’re respectful I am happy to answer.

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✩ PGAD EMOJIS ✩

I want to make some sort of awareness for a medical condition I didn't even know existed until I found out I have it.

PGAD (or Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder) is a type of sexual dysfunction that almost exclusively effects people assigned female at birth, however people assigned male at birth can still be effected.

It's characterized by random and completely uncontrollable genital arousal, however it's not a good or sexual feeling and it's experienced without desire. The feeling is similar to when you've been sitting on your foot for an hour or two and it feels swollen and like it's being stuck with pins and needles all over. The feeling is really more similar to sexual assault than what most people associate with arousal because it feels like unwanted sexual stimulation that you did not give consent for.

Unfortunately, this condition is a syndrome, which means it describes a group of people who are all having the same (or very similar) symptoms, however there isn't one singular cause. Instead, it's a symptom of another underlying condition. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to do good research on because it's unknown how many cases there actually are. Not only is it difficult to diagnose, but a lot of people either don't realize this isn't normal or simply are uncomfortable with being diagnosed.

Some things that may possibly csuse it are epilepsy (and certain types of seizures), nerve damage to the genitalia, pelvic floor dysfunction (your pelvic floor is a group of muscles, ligaments, etc. that not only helps to keep your organs from collapsing but also controls muscles in the female genitalia, and for both men and women is the muscles you use for going to the bathroom, giving birth, things like that), psychological symptoms from sexual abuse (this can even be verbal sexual abuse as it still would cause your muscles to tense up as a trauma response), and a lot of other stuff.

In my case, it seems to be caused by pelvic floor dysfunction which I developed after an injury to my coccyx (tailbone) in a car accident. I've had several smaller injuries to my coccyx, including one earlier this year when I slipped and fell flat on my back thanks to a water leak in my apartment. Aside from the injuries, I believe it's caused by Epilepsy and sexual abuse from my groomer. Interestingly enough, the majority of people (especially afab) who suffer from the condition were sexually abused, especially under the age of 18 (I was 16 so I fit into this group).

I also have other issues with my pelvic floor, i.e. levator ani syndrome, which is sudden spasms in the levator ani muscles (the base of the pelvic floor which is the main part you use for going to the bathroom, sexual health, holding up your other organs and so on). This condition in itself can be a cause for PGAD, unfortunately. Both conditions can cause an uncomfortable feeling in the genetalia (and levator ani syndrome makes it feel like someone shoved a watermelon in your butt 💔).

As I say as often as I can, I am NOT a doctor of medicine or of any sort. However, I do have physical experience with these conditions and I'm using ad much research as I possibly can to give you guys this information. My goal is to make as many people as possible aware of these conditions, as well as possibly helping others who have the condition of giving people will similar symptoms something to ask about when they see a doctor. I can't diagnose you, I can't physically help you, but I can try my best to help make the world a better place.

ID: a reply to this post by @ami-long-ago which reads:

Wait I’ve never heard of PGAD but i looked it up and finally figured out what the really weird and uncomfortable side effect I had from going off antidepressants was! It was arguably one of the worst symptoms but I couldn’t find anyone else online listing it as a side effect.

I think I experience it other times but not very often. I always thought it was the beginnings of a UTI but it’s never actually developed into that, it was just so weird and I didn’t feel like I could explain it well to doctors or even friends. end ID

fuck i can't thank you enough for being willing + taking the time to share this!! i've read basically every piece of shitty scientific literature i can get my hands on but haven't actually talked to someone else who's experienced it, so that means a lot to me, & i've actually got two poems about pgad being published tomorrow (!!!) which i've been nervous about so this really reminded me why i'm doing it 🫶💓

there's very limited literature (not that i want anyone to talk to a doctor about anything they don't want to; lord knows i've fucking rehearsed how to keep this a secret from mine) but i definitely remember reading about at least one, probably a few people who developed pgad going off an antidepressant!

the most robust / least misogynistic theory is it's neurological, interrelated with restless leg syndrome, neuropathy, and/or Tourette's. (ofc there can be additional causes bc sometimes people develop similar symptoms for different reasons.) this definitely isn't a medication that works for everyone but starting gabapentin (which addresses nerve pain & restless leg) massively improved my quality of life & helped at least one person in the literature.

my involuntary movements & pgad have further lessened after i started using a cpap, which makes sense since that also can potentially help manage RLS

it totally makes sense that you had such a hard time articulating what you were experiencing – one of my many frustrations with existing medical literature about pgad is the vagueness about What It Feels Like, using words like "uncomfortable," "different," "painful," & even "difficult to describe." there's a reason pompoison's piece about pgad is titled "The Feeling Without a Name."

that's the question i always start with when writing about my experiences with persistent genital arousal & spontaneous orgasm: what does this feel like? at its worst it is so all-consuming it engulfs any attempt at language, but in periods of lower intensity, it feels equally difficult to look back & describe.

obviously poetry is a different sort of language than is allowed in a medical environment but i really hope my work can help connect folks with more ways to think & talk about our experiences.

(other sufferers please feel free to add your own strategies as well, even if they directly contradict mine. this beast is different for everyone it hurts.)

PLEASE READ!

“The Feeling Without A Name” is a short nonfiction comic I created in 2022. It’s based on a poem I wrote in 2016, at the age of 21. When writing it, I was reeling from a metamorphosing that I experienced as a private sufferer of PGAD. PGAD is a physical condition that affects people born with vaginas. Because the symptoms force the sufferer to feel unwanted genital arousal regardless of the situation, this condition affects mental health as well as physical health. Risks associated with PGAD include depression, anxiety, self harm, PTSD, gender dysphoria/dysmorphia, identity crisis, and, sometimes, suicide. “The Feeling Without A Name” comic was made to provide visual aids to my poem, which admits a longing for liberation from my mutinous body.