“Orgasm Gave Me a Seizure”

Sex has always had its share of misinformation, even as it relates to some medical conditions- like epilepsy. "Coitus brevis epilepsia est" ("Sex is a brief seizure") is an ancient proverb attributed to Galen, the influential Greek physician and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Then, in the 18th and 19th centuries, some physicians, including Samuel-Auguste Tissot and Edward Sieveking, argued that excessive masturbation could cause epilepsy! At the time, castration and clitoridectomy (removal of the clitoris) were reportedly performed on people with severe epilepsy. Terrible! Thankfully we now are all SURE that sex does not CAUSE epilepsy, but sexual release (orgasm) and seizure like activity are indeed similar. Can orgasm trigger epilepsy? And is the reverse possible: can seizures give orgasm like effect? How is PNES related to this? We will review this fascinating clinical conundrum in this episode.

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