Dear Queen of Hearts,

I'm seeking information and figured since you've dedicated your life to studying human sexuality, and since Good Vibes is Sex-Positive Central, you should be able to help me out. I'm 26. I have no idea why, I used to be a sex educator myself, and I've tried researching it, but everything I've found on this subject are really more cases of hypersensitive women (i.e., friction from wearing panty hose, friction from peeing, etc.) than reports of truly unprovoked orgasms. I usually have them many times a day on a fairly daily basis. Luckily they have yet to interfere with my life (though, as they have very slowly but surely become stronger and more frequent since way back when they started, I can't help but wonder if they might eventually become a bit dehabilitating in a few more years. Hopefully I will learn to harness them and use them for the powers of good).

You've heard of people talk about going through the mechanics of sex without an orgasm? Well, this is going through the mechanics of an orgasm without the sex. No build up, no release, just the prolonged spasming of the muscles in question. It's neither been a good nor bad thing in my life, though I've generally fondly thought of it as my secret superpower (Behold Spontaneous Orgasm Girl!).

All of my attempts to research this in the past have dead ended, and I'd still be very interested to know what's going on. Of the few "authority" people I've asked, I've been somewhat dismissively told that they've never heard of it, don't know why it's happening (if it really is), and (if it really is) I should just count myself lucky.

Thanks, doc!

So have you heard of totally unprovoked spontaneous orgasms, especially going on like this with (hopefully) no end in sight? I guess it's also worth mentioning that in the last six months or so, I've had a similar but different kind of spontaneous orgasm while platonically lying in someone's arms (it's stronger but shorter), which I guess does count as slightly provoked, and indicates to me that it's at least a little more than an unlikely repetitive muscle spasm.

Please enlighten me if you know anything about this!
-- Sudden Onset

Dear S.O.,

Yes indeed. It's not a common condition -- one wonders what society would be like if it were -- but neither is it unheard-of. Some years ago, in fact, it was discovered that spontaneous orgasm could be a side effect of L-dopa, the then-new medicine developed to help control Parkinson's disease. A small rush ensued as people in the know tried to get their hands on some, apparently never once thinking that spontaneous orgasmic shudders could ever be an inconvenience. And a year or so ago a chiropractor found that a certain kind of neural stimulation in patients had an orgasm-provoking effect, and this while he had his neuro-stim gizmo positioned on their low backs -- not usually an orgasmic locus.

You don't say whether you find it an inconvenience and would like to assert some control over this phenomenon; I suppose it could be a nice sort of guard against everyday complacency or boredom. You also do not say whether your gift of orgasm comes with or without a noticeable increase in sexual arousal, or how long this has been happening, or whether it accompanies particular emotional states -- if it is, for instance, more likely to happen when you're agitated or when you're calm. Males, for example, can experience spontaneous erection (and, sometimes, ejaculation) under stressful conditions. The text I read said that, for instance, certain young men were prone to this under circumstances like having to take a difficult test. How could I have missed all those erections when we sat down to take the SATs, I wonder? Concentrating too hard on my own paper, I suppose. Note that this may not seem much like a sexual response under the circumstances, as indeed yours may not. You do, however, recognize these experiences as orgasms.

Some chemicals besides L-dopa might have prosexual effects in some (though certainly not all) people, including some anti-depressants (I found mentions of both Prozac and Wellbutrin during a search). If you are taking one of these drugs, that might be your source of this unexplained experience. But then again, it might not -- since many people find at least some anti-depressants antisexual. Much more has been noted about this effect than any upsurge in orgasms. I suspect no one has done more than cursory research about this, sex and science having the uneasy relationship they do -- at least in this country. Most of the White-Coated Ones barely pay attention to the fact that many people on Prozac can't come.

Your question actually helps us tease out more information about the phenomenon of orgasm, whether it's spontaneous or very much hoped-for. Many people think of it as a genital thing. The right amount of friction on the penis or clitoris, and boom! -- an orgasm. In fact, orgasm is the sensation -- experienced in the brain -- of a culmination of stimulation (usually -- it may be something else in your case). This stimulation is most often sexual and between-the-legs. But a few people can orgasm through fantasy alone -- they "think themselves off" -- and more, though still a minority, can orgasm through stimulation of not-usually-sexualized body parts. I just heard the tale of a quadriplegic man, with no sensation below his nipples, who can orgasm through stimulation of his chin. His chin! How many of us have even tried to orgasm through chin stimulation? A distinct minority, I'll bet. And this reminds me that I should make clear that orgasm and ejaculation are not the same thing -- in men or in women. Particularly in the case of males, most people assume that one is the other. A larger minority can orgasm through stimulation of non-genital areas we usually think of as possessing erotic potential -- lips, ears, nape, nipples, toes. And plenty of people are on record as possessing the ability to orgasm through rhythmic muscular contraction.

These folks all put your experience in a sort of context, but they are not the same thing -- unless your orgasms are connected to muscle contraction that you are not even conscious of, perhaps, or the kind of stress situation experienced by the poor guys with hard-ons taking the SAT. Let's delve a little deeper into orgasm. The stimulation that leads to it is carried to the brain through a network of nerves. The brain itself, of course, is an organ that maintains, recognizes, sorts and acts upon all these neurological phenomena, so we could say that orgasm is an essentially neurological happening. There is some scientific opinion that backs this up, but, again, practically no actual research. I found one fascinating hint in researching your question that indicated one kind of seizure (cingulate) might be experienced as orgasm.

There's yet another aspect of the brain to take into account, one that science is just now beginning to examine and partially understand -- chemistry. It is clear that some brain states are strongly affected by chemicals -- not just L-dopa or Ecstasy or Prozac, but also those the body itself produces, like serotonin, adrenaline, and endorphins. This means that it's not just the drugs you take (prescribed or recreational) that might alter the brain and those things the brain controls, but also that the body produces its own mind-altering substances. How brain chemistry affects orgasm is not clearly understood (or vice versa, for that matter), but there's bound to be a connection.

It may be that you are wired a little differently than many other people. It may be that you are more sensitive to subtle changes in brain chemistry. Most likely it would take a neurologist or neurochemist to help you figure out what the specific sources of your orgasms might be. If these orgasms are a new phenomenon for you -- if you suddenly and recently began to experience them -- I would recommend a visit to a specialist. If you do try to see a specialist, I hope you will try to find someone who is actively interested in researching this phenomenon, because what s/he learns from and about you may help us, eventually, to understand the mysteries of everyone's orgasm.