Seeking to reach orgasm is a quest that can clearly brighten up your love nights. But this is not the case for everyone. For Emily McMahon, a young woman from Melbourne, it’s even the opposite. At 36 years old, it suffers from a disease as unknown as it is confusing: persistent genital excitement disorder (TEGP) which gives it non-desired orgasms and no matter when.
Multiple and completely involuntary orgasms
This rare syndrome affects approximately 1 % of people, mainly women, and is manifested by sensations of continuous and involuntary sexual excitation, often accompanied by multiple orgasms. Contrary to what one might think, this disorder is far from pleasant: it plunges patients into permanent physical and psychological suffering.
In a testimony for the DailymailEmily says: she has lived with this disorder for nine years and it is not a pleasure. Each day, it undergoes approximately five unwanted orgasms, accompanied by acute groin pain and intimate discomfort.
“It is an intense pain that makes me want to seize the groin and tore it”, she says. “Imagine the throbbing feeling of orgasm, multiplied by twenty.”
The most harmless stimulations, such as vibration of public transport, can also trigger a crisis. One day, in the middle of shopping session, Emily faces a thrust of spontaneous orgasms: “People were looking at me and judged me while I was trying to manage physical effects. They think that I am constantly excited, but this is not the case: it is my body that generates this feeling. “
A pathology still too little understood
The causes of the TEGP remain unclear. Scientists suspect a dysfunction of the nerves connecting the brain to the genitals, including damage to the sacred nerve root, located in the lower back. Some cases are linked to perineurral cysts, called Tarlov cysts, or to side effects of neurological drugs.
At Emily, the first suspicions focused on a cyst close to the clitoris, before the doctors discovered a damaged nerve, which is the source of his chronic pain.
Limited and inconvenient treatments
Unfortunately there is currently no definitive remedy at the TEGP. Emily takes daily treatment aimed at alleviating the nervous signals responsible for uncontrolled sensations, but not to stop her evil. “”I will take this medication for the rest of my life, unless the disease suddenly heals itself. “
A surgical operation capable of deactivating the damaged nerve is also offered in the United States, but remains inaccessible financially for it. Without treatment, crises are unbearable: “I have to swing myself back and forth and tighten my jaw, because I constantly feel a vibration. I tremble and kick. “Far from the ecstasy that one can think of.
A deep impact on intimate life
The other negative effect, we can suspect, is that on the life of a couple. Despite the pain, Emily is engaged in a distance relationship, but has given up a physical relationship. Although they have never met physically, she underlines the understanding and support of her companion. However, the prospect of sexual relationship remains scary: “I can have reports, but it’s very physically painful. I apprehend to sleep with him. “ As a precaution, she also decided not to have children, dreading a possible heredity of the disease.
Testify to break the taboo
Emily thus chose to speak publicly about her illness to raise awareness and break the received ideas. Too often, the TEGP is the subject of mockery or poorly informed judgments:
“When people laugh or say that it is not real, they have no idea of the effect that it has on me. I want nothing more than healing and intimidation ceases.”
She calls on doctors and researchers to get more involved in research on this pathology: “No one deserves to suffer like that. “