few medical case studies reach the peaks and valleys a 42-year-old woman experienced after medication she was taking for parkinson ’ s disease delivered involuntary , unwanted orgasms.
instead of doubling down on her dose, the woman quickly made her way to the hospital where doctors would learn her increased libido and hyperarousal began one week after she started on a drug called rasagiline . her ordeal soon included three to five spontaneous orgasms per day, each of which lasted five to 20 seconds, according to live science .
the unwelcome orgasms “ occurred in the absence of hypersexual behaviour, ” said researchers from the department of neurology at necmettin erbakan university in konya, turkey, who treated the woman. “ to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this adverse effect of rasagiline . ”
the woman, who had not been taking any other medications at the time, did not experience any other side effects from rasagiline , which can include joint pain, depression, gastric problems or flulike systems. the orgasms began to fizzle out once she stopped taking the drug, only to return again two weeks later when she decided to give it another shot. she parted ways with the pills permanently after that.
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researchers aren ’ t sure why rasagiline had such an arousing effect on the woman but they suspect it is connected to an increase in dopamine — the feel-good neurotransmitter that passes information between nerve cells — prompted by the drug . parkinson ’ s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system in which these dopamine-producing nerve cells begin to die, according to the mayfield clinic . once 80 per cent of dopamine is lost, patients begin to experience the stiffness and tremors typically associated with the disease.
there are other forms of medicine that have been known to induce involuntary orgasms, the researchers helpfully note, such as certain antidepressants that target the central nervous system. these drugs, some of which are harder to come by than others, typically boost dopamine — which is also released during an orgasm. “ there are indeed other drugs that can stimulate sexual response, ” said barry komisaruk , a rutgers university professor who researches orgasms.
“ it is also fairly well known that cocaine can mimic the effect of orgasm. ”
all of this is not to be confused with persistent genital arousal disorder (pgad) , an incurable condition in which some women feel constant arousal that is unresolved by orgasm. the debilitating condition has little to do with pleasure despite public perceptions to the contrary . “ people hear orgasm and they think it ’ s a good thing, ” kellie, a 33-year-old canadian with pgad, told the guardian . “ being on the edge of an orgasm 24 hours a day, to the point where you can ’ t sleep, you can ’ t function, you can ’ t even think straight — that ’ s not fun. ”
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people with pgad have found some relief through g abapentin, a drug originally developed to treat epilepsy that eases nerve pain, but does not solve the problem. “ people think we have great sex lives , but pgad has ruined mine. my husband and i used to have great sex. we hardly have any at all now, because he doesn ’ t want to add to my discomfort . ”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca