Constant Sexual Arousal Plagues NorCal Woman
"Everything I do is uncomfortable," she says.
For this woman, riding in a plane, in a car or even trying to sit still to talk with us, is agonizing.
"It’s like the blood is flowing to the genital area and it stops there. Pools until it’s a constant throbbing," she says.
Lund has a rare sexual disorder. Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome. She suffers from unrelenting sexual arousal. For PSAS patients it is like a switch has been turned on, and can’t be turned off. With the pain, comes embarrassment. One newspaper article screamed a woman has 588 orgasms everyday.
"Not true. And feels like sexual freak? True. I said that. That is my quote. That’s how I felt before I found out there was a name for it," says Lund
A name, and other sufferers.
"It is not pleasant. Verging on painful irritating and disturbing," says Urologist Jennifer Berman.
Berman was one of the first to recognize PSAS.
"It’s not all in their heads. These women have been bounced around for months if not years to a variety of different doctors, psychologists, sex therapists. It’s not an emotional thing,” she says.
As doctors become more aware, more women are being diagnosed.
"No one knows cause of PSAS or the epidemiology. Therefore it is very hard to treat," says Director of the Women’s Sexual Health Foundation, Lisa Martinez.
Despite all the experts, nobody is really sure what causes PSAS, it has been linked to pelvic trauma, pelvic surgery and prior use of anti depressants.
For Lund and so many others, there is no cure, and after 11 years, Jean Lund struggles to cope.