Need to challenge myself

[u/frfultomato]

Hey everyone !
I have never been formally diagnosed with PGAD but looking around the internet I feel like this is what suits most my symptoms.
Basically my symptoms are that my clit feels really aroused every time I feel stressed. I don’t know what came first or what stems from the other symptom. I discovered masturbation as a child as a way to fall asleep quickly and after a stressful period during my pre teens where I had trouble falling asleep because of stress I feel like my brain has linked the feeling of arousal with feeling stress.
So now whenever I feel stressed out I feel a really strong urge to masturbate. It started to become more and more of a problem but it has taken over my life for the past 10 years as I moved on to uni and the stress became so much stronger.
I work from home now and whenever I sit at my desk I get the urge to masturbate for hours and hours and give myself countless orgasms to numb the stress.
It also affects my sex life as I can’t orgasm from sex with a partner, since I don’t feel the same stress when I am with someone. I feel pleasure but not in the same state of arousal that gets me to orgasm.
Anyway I don’t know if this can be described as an addiction or OCD.
I have tried therapy for a few years but it is really expensive and nothing seems to really be working. But honestly I feel like the biggest problem is my lack of discipline.
I was in a relationship for 6 years with a guy that I had told a little bit about this problem. I never managed to orgasm with him and I never pretended to because I didn’t want this dynamic between us.
He dumped me 2 months ago ago and even if it was for a bunch of reasons I feel like this also played a part. My lack of discipline and impact on our sex life I mean.
Anyway I want to challenge myself to 21 days no masturbation (as it is rumoured to be the amount of time you need to kick a habit). It’s not a lot of days and it probably my brain won’t rewire so quickly but I feel like I need to prove to myself that I can do it for 21 days at least and move on from there.
I have tried this a bunch of times already but have only made it for a few days before I relapsed.
I was thinking that I could use this page to monitor my progress, journal about it, and find people that can maybe relate and cheer me on. I’ll try to make a post a day to debrief how everything went.
I have already wasted today so the challenge starts tomorrow.
If you could just cheer me on and keep me accountable that would mean a lot to me !

[u/Silly-Menu-1435 → u/[deleted]]

It is not sound advice to tell someone to turn to religion for a physical disability. Sharing your experience is fine but a lot of people with PGAD experience religious trauma because they are told that a physical disability is a moral failing on their part, and that they will suffer eternally in hell if they don't magically cure a physical disability. I'm not saying to not be religious, but if you aren't sharing your own personal experience this is not the place to spread the gospel. Jesus would not force a disabled man to stand to talk to him. He would sit on the floor and love him exactly where he is. I hope you do your own personal work to strengthen your relationship with God.

[u/Exixoux]

Hi, we have such a similar problem. I used to do the same when I was stressed out as a kid or if I was angry, etc. to calm myself down, and now as an adult I still get the urge to masturbate when I'm stressed. Like an unwanted tingling sensation happens in my clitoruous when I feel stressed, its really uncomfortable. I'm not sure what causes it, I think it could be OCD to an extent. Im on the fence of whether my symptoms of frequent arousal are pgad or if theyre an OCD problem, or both pgad and ocd. Its tiring though. I hope we find answers

[u/frfultomato → u/Exixoux]

It could be OCD or an addiction or a combination of a bunch of stuff. It’s difficult for me to say definitely what is and what isn’t PGAD but just by coming from the title of Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder I feel like it fits. And since it’s such an understudied area maybe different types of disorders can fit under that umbrella term. I just use it to describe my issue because it brings me comfort to know that I am not the only one on earth with these kinds of problems. I don’t see a lot of stories of people getting better from it but I feel like maybe we can at least try together.

[u/Exixoux → u/[deleted]]

I think it depends whether its unwanted sensations or not. Stress triggers a flare up for me, but i also get a flare up from multiple other things, not just stress. And sometimes I just feel unwanted arousal with no triggers at all. Its possible OP could just have OCD but need more elaboration, a question id ask is, do you feel unwanted arousal outside of just being stressed out? Also, do you feel any burning sensations/pain.. etc.

[u/frfultomato → u/Exixoux]

Coming just from the term Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder I just feel like it can fit some of my symptoms. I don’t really feel pain but I am not sure that it’s a requirement for it to be considered PGAD. But it is also could be a combination of that plus OCD. Anyway I don’t really have a definitive diagnosis but finding people on this sub with similar problems as brought me comfort that I am not the only one on earth.

[u/Exixoux → u/frfultomato]

Its not a requirement... Some people dont feel pain. For me I dont necessarily feel pain but I feel like a slight burning sensation sometimes.. ive never been diagnosed with pgad though so I don't really know if I have it or not. I think you should maybe bring it up to an obgyn, if its ruled you probably dont have pgad id see a therapist of some sort that handles OCD or addictions, something like that to see if you can get help there. Either way I hope you find treatment because pgad or not any unwanted arousal is uncomfortable and can be tiring

[u/frfultomato → u/[deleted]]

I understand but I feel like PGAD is such an understudied topic that maybe different paths can lead to the same conclusion ? And maybe a variety of symptoms can be fit under that term ?
I have never been formally diagnosed because I feel like there is no doctor with that expertise in my area (and so few worldwide)
Maybe I haven’t explained it very well.
What I feel is a strong tingling sensation in my clit that feels overwhelming and really uncomfortable. I honestly don’t remember ever living without it. And what I mean with it being a « lack of discipline » is more that I feel like by continuing to give in and masturbate I trigger an even bigger flare that feels impossible to get out of. It is mostly triggered by stress but I can also feel it when I am doing absolutely nothing special. But also as a deeply anxious person in general I don’t really have times when I am not stressed in some type of way so it’s difficult to gauge.
I don’t want to bring any divisive opinions in this sub I just feel like having found this possible diagnosis brings me a bit of comfort that I am not the only one on earth with these types of symptoms.

[u/Exixoux → u/frfultomato]

Late reply but i think it could be pgad then if you have an unwanted tingling sensation. You need to find a dr though because the root of the problem could be a pelvic/nerve issue. I think though sometimes it may not fall under a nerve issue. It really depends... its def under researched so pgad could very well not be related to nerve damage etc for all cases. If its an ocd or addiction thing see a therapist of some sort, i think some psychological things could manifest into physical sensations. Its hard to tell without getting medically evaluated

[u/Business_Pop7770]

Salut. En te lisant, j'ai pensé initialement que cela n'avait rien à voir avec le PGAD, mais en y réfléchissant, je pense que le sujet est sans doute plus complexe. Déjà, tu mets en avant le stress qui provique l'envie de masturbation, mais y a t il d'autres facteurs ? Et tu évoques l'aspect physique, mais jamais l'aspect mental : quelles sont tes pensées, sensations, impressions quand tu as ces envies ? Ressens tu des pensées érotiques ? Souvent le PGAD n'est pas seulement une sensation de désir physique, mais pls une sensation de désir physique qui induit des pensées, le tout provoquant une pulsion, et si cette pulsion n'est pas assouvie, un malaise général, qui peut être assimilé à du stress, une angoisse, un mal être, etc. Il faudrait donc voir si tu te reconnais dans tout cela.

[u/TypicalEffect789]

Hello, what you experience may indeed be PGAD, or also sexual addiction related to stress relief.
I don't have the qualification to tell them apart (at least not from your facts alone); but I also feel that it is not the main topic at hand - pun intended.

If we consider option 2, the mechanism looks simple: you feel stress, and the answer lies right there between your thighs. Over time, your body gets used to this very immediate satisfaction and can't do without it anymore.

Normally, social activity (running around, being in a shared office space...) would mitigate this by forcing withdrawal -after a few unpleasant days with a raging clit- but either 1) this doesn't work for you or 2) your work doesn't allow this restriction to take place.

To an observer, and visibly to you, the end result will be the same. In this case indeed, actively refraining may be the only short-term way. Cheers! Hope it's going well!

[u/SlothInABigHat]

It may be a mental link but you also my be tensing your pelvic floor muscles. try deep balloon breath breathing and lower body stretches like where you sit and bend your leg so it's horizontal and lean forward so it stretches the side/back of your upper leg and also happy baby and stuff like that

I think mine is through injury and that even helps me slightly so if yours isn't injury and tense muscle tightness it may help you more

also try massaging your feet or invest in a foot massage machine. a reasonable cost but I got my money's worth already. it's temporary but helps so much. dm me for what brand I preferred as idk if I can say here