Maria, 61, can suffer the condition at anytime (Picture: SWNS)

A woman whose orgasms are triggered by things as minor as potholes and aircraft turbulence says the condition has ruined her life.

The mum, identified only as Maria, 61, suffers from PGAD (Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder) which affects an estimated one per cent of women.

She can find herself unable to avoid climaxing when out and about, even if she feels no sexual desire.

‘Most of the time I feel like I am sitting on an ant’s nest,’ Maria, from Glasgow, said.


‘There’s times where it’s a tickle all day, but then something sets it off and it’s a full-blown orgasm.



‘Driving over potholes, aircraft turbulence, escalators, the vibration from violins – I don’t know how many women could say they went to a Shania Twain concert and she made them orgasm.

She said it is ruining her life (Picture: Herald and Times /SWNS)

‘Ninety per cent of my life has been wrecked and the other ten per cent is not so great either.

‘I had to give up volunteering because just moving can set it off.

‘One of my friends said to me I’d become a recluse.’

The widow, from East Dunbartonshire, has tried numbing gels, pelvic floor physiotherapy and steroid injections directly into her clitoris, have proved ineffective.

She is afraid to try Botox in case it leaves her incontinent after a routine gynaecological examination at Glasgow’s Stobhill Hospital in September 2017, where a consultant ‘rammed’ a speculum into her.

The following month she began experiencing distressing symptoms for the first time which would eventually be diagnosed as PGAD, caused by damage to her pudendal nerve.

Driving over a pothole can cause her to orgasm (Picture: Getty)

Maria, who has adult children, said: “To think that this damage was caused by a consultant’s incompetence and then you have incontinence as a result of things you do to try to cure the damage is just ludicrous.

“It’s shocking.”

She has been lobbying to be referred abroad for treatment, but despite the efforts of her MP Jo Swinson, the request has been declined by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board.

Instead, the trust has referred her to London for treatment, as Scotland has no specialist in PGAD – which was formally recognised as a disorder in 2013 and affects one per cent of women.

A spokesman for NHS GGC said: ‘We have explored and exhausted all treatments available locally for this patient and have been unable to relieve their symptoms.

‘Therefore, we have offered to refer them to a specialist consultant in London.’

Ms Swinson said: ‘It’s disappointing that it has taken so long for the health board to acknowledge that they are not able to offer effective treatment themselves.

‘However, I am glad to see that things are moving in a positive direction and I hope that this helps to identify a successful treatment plan for Maria.’

Mum-of-three Maria said women who suffer from the condition ‘should know they are not freaks’.

She added: ‘People shouldn’t have to go through this and be ridiculed.



‘It’s far from funny. This has broken up marriages.

‘Some women have taken their own lives.

‘It saps your confidence because, to be honest, there are days I wish I wasn’t here.’

The health board have disputed that the damage to her pudendal nerve was definitely caused by the smear test.

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