BigPharma, the Orgasmatron and restless vagina syndrome

[madokie]

First they came for us men, now they're after the ladies too, dm

It’s not your fault, ladies (and certainly not your partner’s), that you don’t orgasm every time you have intercourse, or that you lack the libido of a 17-year-old boy. You have a disease: female sexual dysfunction(FSD), and the pharmaceutical industry wants to help.

You are among the “43 percent of American women experience some degree of impaired sexual function,” according to a Journal of the American Medical Association article. The FDA’s evolving definition of FSD includes decreased desire or arousal, sexual pain and orgasm difficulties—but only if the woman feels “personal distress” about it.

So, convincing women to feel distress is a key component of the drug company strategy to market a multi-billion-dollar pill that will cure billions of women of what may not ail them.

By promoting the belief that “normal” women have explosive sex all the time, BigPharma helped launch the disease. However, the FDA has yet to approve a treatment for women who fall short. Until then, they could try the Orgasmatron: a dial-a-delight spinal implant that rarely works—and risks infection and paralysis. Or, for $60/month, pop LexaFem pills—containing (how-could-it-not-work) “horny goat weed extract” in order to “feel like a real woman today.” Its website promises, “You won’t ever feel unhappy again with LexaFem in your arsenal.”

http://vtdigger.org/2010/03/02/bigpharma-the-orgasmatron-and-restless-vagina-syndrome/

[babylonsister]

1. Ugh. Your subject line caught my attention anyway, but

I don't think I'll let the pharma industry 'convince' me I have this particular disease, or that they really want to 'help' vs. make money.

[madokie]

3. Please don't be mad at me for posting this though

Nothing pisses me off as much as the cialis and viagra ads on tv in the evening hours when small children are watching the tube too. Do they not have any sense of decency at all? :hi:

[babylonsister]

4. LOL. I'm not mad at you, it's just silly imo. Women have enough

crosses to bear without adding this one.

:hug:

[customerserviceguy]

9. Really!

If I want to see the equivalent of sex in a bathtub, I'll watch arena football!

[unabelladonna]

12. ....but god forbid they advertise condoms

hypocrites.
those ads are laughable but i can understand the embarrassment if there are kids in the room.

[seabeyond]

29. history channel and discovery channel. 8 and 10 yr old sons learn early their penis

will never be good enough without drugs

i agree.

hate those commercials

not to mention the playing with adult minds

[ProfessorGAC]

35. I Don't Blame You

I don't have that problem, as i'm too old for kids that age, but geez, it would be a pain to have to explain to a 5 year old, or 10 year old exactly what those commercials are for and why they're on TV.

It's got to be a bummer for you.
GAC

[Arkansas Granny]

51. Yes, it is a pain and it's the reason why my nephew thought that a douche

was something that women used to keep their skin soft for many years. My sister had to come up with some kind of answer. She didn't figure he'd believe the truth if she told him (you do what with it and you put it where?!?!?!?).

[ProfessorGAC]

60. LOL!

Very good! Not so much for your daughter, but still pretty funny.
GAC

[Warpy]

2. What they really need is a pill to propel Himself's lazy arse

out of the recliner chair to give Mom some help with the kids and the house. Nothing kills libido faster than working the second shift of housework, laundry and childcare while paterfamilias snores in front of the TV.

Decreased libido? Try overwork, frustration, anger, and sleep deprivation.

[Alameda]

7. or worry about paying the bills....then how about those

ladies who can't find a partner? I guess they can buy substitutes.....aka more money to be made selling didoes and the like?

[Hekate]

53. Amen, Sister (or Brother). Amen. nt

[Missy Vixen]

55. +10,000

>Decreased libido? Try overwork, frustration, anger, and sleep deprivation.<

Bravo!

There are exceptions to every rule, but women still bear the brunt of most household responsibilities. Please note that I did use the word "exceptions".

[peekaloo]

5. Is LexaFem a suppository? In your arsenal....

:-)

plus it took me a minute to figure out that the "support the digging" wasn't the actual title of the article. :hangover:

[malaise]

6. Rec for the OP's subject

:rofl:

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. What about those women who already felt FSD?

Big Pharma may be trying to develop a larger customer base. But they are also responding to a chorus of upset women. Who have watched Big Pharma spend millions researching cures for Men's Sexual Disfunction. But like so many other things had no initial interest in finding relief for Women experiencing distress.

Imagine being a 28yr old woman who has always experienced discomfort on insertion and Never orgasmed. Would you feel more victimized that Big Pharma was or was not researching things that might alleviate the discomfort/allow climax etc?

[customerserviceguy]

10. It's one thing to identfy and treat problems

What the OP seems to be lamenting is the coming marketing campaign at convincing women that they have a condition that needs these drugs. If you ever pick up a fashion-oriented magazine, they have 20 or 30 pages of "you need to buy this to be a real woman" crap before they even get to the table of the magazine's contents.

It's not going to be pretty, undermining the sexual self-esteem of the next generation of women...

[Raineyb]

33. FSD? It's not real. It's something big Pharma made up to sell drugs.

That's what they do, they find something that can make them money then make up a "syndrome" and try to convince people they have it. While I'm sure there are women who actually have some issues sexually, I seriously doubt it adds up to the numbers that Big Pharma is pumping up with its so called syndrome.

[Sal Minella]

38. Don't have to imagine.

I WAS a 28-yo woman who always experienced discomfort on penetration and never orgasmed. My ex-husband simply couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.

My current S.O. is a caring man with gentle hands and warm kisses, and I resent the fact that women are being pressured to buy pills to cure their "inadequacies" when the damn problem is on the other side of the bed!!!

[One_Life_To_Give]

43. Wouldn't a supportive environment and a good vibrator have confirmed that?

I am not a supporter of giving pills for everything. And don't intend to cheer Big Pharma.

Nor am I ready to assume that every FSD issue is purely the fault of her partner. Seems to me that if a Woman can Masturbate to Orgasm then all the physical hardware must be working and the problem lies elsewhere. Perhaps psychological and/or upbringing or perhaps a physical issue.

Edit typing

[Sal Minella]

45. My concern is for the normal women (like I was) who will be pressured

by their inadequate husbands to take these Wonderful Advertised FSD pills to cure "a female problem."

If painful penetration is caused by psychology or upbringing or physical malformation, a pill (no matter how expensive) sure ain't going to fix it, but how do you convince a Selfish Jerk Husband of that??? He's going to think she's just being stubborn, not wanting to take this wonderful new medicine that could make HIS sex life better! (believe me I understand this type of man!)

[Codeine]

62. It's not always the guy, though.

Some women really do have a problem. Is a pill likely to solve it? Of course not, but pretending it's invariably someone else's problem is a bit ridiculous.

[lunatica]

11. There must be something wrong with me. I'm not interested in the least

It'll be interesting to see if the sales job works on women. I have my doubts.

[madokie]

13. It worked on the guys

I remember seeing blue myself :rofl:

None of that four hour thingy though :(

[pipi_k]

21. Nothing wrong with you, at least IMO...

I have zero interest myself in any of it.

Personally, I think sex is way overrated anyway, but that's just my opinion.

[MineralMan]

14. Nice guys finish last.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

17. ROFL. "Ladies first!"

[MineralMan]

26. Another very good saying, with multiple applications.

English is a wonderful language!

[Hekate]

52. That is what the love of my life said to me, which after 9 chilly years with my 1st husband...

... was most certainly one of the things that made me fall in love with Mr. H, my second and after 22 years definitely final husband.

Hekate

[Sal Minella]

59. The one good thing about what we suffered through

is how much we appreciate what we have now!

[madrchsod]

15. well it`s a step up from the 50`s lysol ads....but

i noticed over the years not being a jerk helps a lot more than a magic pill would.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

16. I've met a few girls with restless vagina syndrome... orgasms & libido were not their problem.

I <3 sexually overactive women!

[asdjrocky]

18. Ladies?

I say give me a woman any day of the week.

[pipi_k]

19. Oh, really?

“horny goat weed extract” in order to “feel like a real woman today.”


"Real woman"???

What, as opposed to a vinyl blow up doll that doesn't have orgasms?


fuck them.

assholes.

[Solly Mack]

20. Orgasmatron?

I am so out of the loop.

[NuttyFluffers]

23. It's the latest ride at the happiest place on earth.

:hide:

[Solly Mack]

24. LMAO I thought it was just part of a movie....seems it's real (now)

[Ms. Toad]

22. I have lived with restless leg syndrome

since the 70s - long before it became the punch line of jokes about diseases that were made up by BigPharma for the sole purpose of making money. I am tired of a very real, at times debilitating, problem being treated by people who have obviously never been awakened repeatedly by it several times a night for months on end treating the disease as a money making fantasy made up by BigPharma. Restless leg syndrome is as real and as debilitating as anything else that repeatedly and for extended periods deprives an individual of the ability to sleep for periods longer than an hour or so at a time. I have no idea whether FSD is real, in the same sense that restless leg syndrome is real, but the tone of the article obviously implies that the author believes this is just another "made up" disease - like the (obviously fake) restless leg syndrome.


(I know the title came from the article - not the OP, so this rant is not directed at the OP.)

[pipi_k]

27. Me too, but only since 1990 or so

I often get attacks that go on nightly (while watching TV) for a week or two at a time, then disappear for weeks, or months.

The other kind are the ones I get from being overheated while sleeping.

I can often feel an attack of RLS coming on from a strange "twinge" in my lower spine about ten to twenty seconds before it starts.

Mine isn't severe, but it is annoying and disruptive, and I have heartfelt sympathy for people whose RLS is more severe.


Have you ever tried quinine? I keep a bottle of tonic water with quinine handy in the fridge for the times when standing and walking around doesn't work. Just a small glass...five or six ounces, and within ten minutes the twitching and creepycrawlies are gone.

[Ms. Toad]

63. Q-Vel used to work - I believe it is off the market now

- or at least not available over the counter. Quinine by itself gives me tinnitis (and doesn't resolve the issue without the additional ingredients in Q-Vel.)

I've devised a method of dealing with mine without meds. Mine feels like someone has a feather inside my ankle joint tickling it (and of course since it is inside, I can't get at it to scratch it or otherwise make it stop). In layman's terms (and I have no idea how accurate the description is medically) I overload nerves by creating enough pain in the location of the tickle that the nerves just stop transmitting anything other than "numb" for a while. Unfortunately, it requires me to wake up enough, and cause myself enough pain, that I do have significant sleep disruption that night. Fortunately when I address it this way (as opposed to using QVel), it tends to only last one night - often several bouts that night, but at least it doesn't go on for nights on end - which it often does with the medical remedy.

I am grateful I finally found a non-drug way of dealing with it - I just really get annoyed with a very real condition being treated as the punch-line in a joke.

[pipi_k]

68. Hey... you know I just thought of something....

speaking of diverting nerve impulses and all...

have you ever tried a TENS machine?

Mr Pip has one for his knees, which he injured in the line of duty over 25 years ago. The basic concept is that it uses a mild electrical current to override the pain. I'm wondering if that might work for RLS. I haven't tried it myself, because the feeling I get already does feel so close to a mild electrical current running through my legs...plus a feeling like there are worms or bugs crawling around just beneath the skin. Not painful...just real annoying.


It's interesting that the method you use for dealing with your RLS is about the same one I use for some annoying non-specific itching I get in various places on my body. I scratch, but it doesn't go away, in fact it feels like it moves around. So I counter the itch by vigorously slapping the area, which creates pain, which is easier to deal with than the itching...

Yeah, it's always a plus when we can find a non-drug way of dealing with something. Sometimes the side effects are almost worse than the condition the drug is supposed to be treating.

[Ms. Toad]

69. Not for RLS

But I've used TENS for a back injury. It felt nice while it was being used, but (like everything else they tried) didn't help much long term. (It did feel a little like creepy-crawlies running around under the skin - but it wasn't unpleasant).

What you are doing for itching is a milder version of what I do for RLS - I do something similar for itching. What I do for RLS is more extreme - but a similar theory The slapping never gets past dealing with the pain - with RLS I push past the pain until the message being transmitted is just numbness.

With Quinine the side effects definitely outweigh the benefits - since it wasn't reliable at relieving RLS (and never more than a night at a time), and created bad ear ringing and a really nasty aftertaste.

[seabeyond]

28. there are exercises you know. but yes.... since i was little. nt

[dugaresa]

37. my husband takes quinine for it

and it is very real and it keeps him up, it isn't funny.

[treestar]

25. Aren't they happy with anti-depressants?

They are making enough money with them. And I'm not against them, I think they work.

Some of them have the effect of lowering libido, so perhaps this drug is to counteract that.

But it is not healthy to put people on drug A and then on drug B to counteract side effects of drug A.

[Sal Minella]

36. But that creates the "need" for Drug C, to counteract the synergistic

effects of taking Drugs A and B together.

Then the synergistic symptoms from combining A, B and C will be treated by a drug still in development, but the ad campaign design is going very well . . .

[Missy Vixen]

56. Most antidepressants cause an inability to orgasm

In the meantime, it's one more thing for women to feel inadequate about.

This will be on Oprah in 3...2...1

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

70. What's not healthy about it?

[seabeyond]

30. that rarely works—and risks infection and paralysis.

this is a favorite....

[Forkboy]

31. "horny goat weed extract"

That's just another Saturday night for me...err...people I heard about.

[Echo In Light]

32. “You won’t ever feel unhappy again with LexaFem in your arsenal.”

"arsenal?"

:wtf:

[Hekate]

61. Good catch. LOL

[liberal_at_heart]

34. spinal surgery to have an orgasm?

That sounds very extreme. I'm sure once they come out with a pill one day that will work as good as Viagra does for men and it will be popular. I mean come one how many men pass up the opportunity to have an erection and sex just because they distrust bigpharma? I am one of those women who don't orgasm every time and I know there is nothing wrong with me. Will I try one of the little magic pills? Probably not but hey I may try it just to see. I have just recently found out how it feels to be the partner who has an orgasm while the other partner does not(husband is on medication that has sexual side effects) and it does feel weird. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong but now I know how my husband feels when I don't orgasm. Everyone wants to please their partner.

[JBoy]

40. I want to know - can you dial the spinal device up to eleven?

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

39. y'all should read "Our Daily Meds" by Melody Petersen

It's all about how Big Pharma has moved away from research and into marketing.

[L0oniX]

41. Men have "restless dick syndrome" too?

[Hekate]

54. Since the dawn of time, honey.

:rofl:

[jmowreader]

42. Oh god. This is a cure for a disease that doesn't exist.

The reason 43 percent of American women experience "some degree of impaired sexual function" is 43 percent of American men don't know how to eat pussy.

We could SOLVE this Female Sexual Dysfunction problem right now by teaching the unschooled American male how to properly lick bush (a side note: right after Shrub was elected I was in a porn store and saw a dirty movie called "Lick Bush." A politically-themed porno? No, but it was good anyway.) but you can't sell a pill for that.

[Sal Minella]

46. Getting ready to stick it in

is a helluvva lot simpler than getting ready to be stuck into.

Too long for a bumpersticker, innit.

darn.

[Missy Vixen]

58. The "impaired sexual function" can also be cured with a $90 purchase from

Babeland.

The guys who invented the "Rabbit Habit" should win the Nobel Peace Prize.

[Lyric]

65. I love this reply. [phone]

Just wanted to say that.

:hi:

[Mushroom]

73. hahahahahahaha

A clever woman would make this "disease" work for her at the same time screwing BigPharma.

There ain't no losing.

[guitar man]

44. sigh

So now it's a "disease" when a woman's partner is ill informed about what it takes to bring her to orgasm? I bet a lot of problems in this area could be alleviated by education and communication rather than simply throwing a chemical at it.

[Sal Minella]

48. But what really matters is, Do you have a design for a very expensive DEVICE

that could be manufactured by MegaPharma and heavily marketed to couples who want to facilitate their communication???

Otherwise, forget it.

[guitar man]

49. lol

we sure seem to have come to the point in our society where we think throwing money at a problem is the answer to everything.

[bamacrat]

47. Restless vagina sounds like they can't get enough.

Maybe some of the 43%'s guys (or gals) need to take the learn how to use it pill. But hasn't this been around for a while? When I was in high school this kid was telling me about Spanish Fly and how it makes women instantly horny, we got in trouble for talking about it but isn't that about the same? I guess all industries do whatever to make a guys "job" easier.

[jmowreader]

64. Spanish fly is supposed to make a MAN instantly horny

What it actually does is to create a useless, painful priapism by inflaming the inside of the man's urethra. Sure it gets your dick hard, but so do a lot of other things that aren't as dangerous as cantharides. On women it also inflames the inside of the urethra, but all that does is make everything between the navel and the knees hurt.

[Cal Carpenter]

50. omg get a vibrator

and a partner withe a slightly open mind. geez.

[dustbunnie]

57. Celery juice is an excellent aphrodisiac and a hell of a lot cheaper than epimedium --

otherwise known in Chinese circles as "medicine for the horny old goat." It's not a new product at all.

Other than that, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with women actively trying to find ways to alleviate the symptoms of sexual dysfunction. Men jump through hoops for their sex lives, so why shouldn't the women who want to improve theirs go after a solution as well. Thirty years ago women were told they weren't supposed to even have a libido, and now we're told we're not supposed to care. Screw that! When I get to menopause I'm not going to let a little dryness slow down my fun. I'll be supplementing with testosterone and won't be shy to buy other helpful products at the pharmacy.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

71. How dare you propose such progressive ideas on DU!

[Mari333]

66. Restless Vagina Syndrome WTF????

Does it wander around at night pacing the floor?

what brilliant marketing team came up with this one?

good lord.

[JerseygirlCT]

67. Ugh.

If 43% experience this, is it really a problem that needs fixing - or just the normal human condition?

[Withywindle]

72. An orgasm "pill" for women already exists.

It's all-natural and it's free. We're born with it. It's called a CLITORIS.

(No, it's not located in the spine. Or inside the vagina. It's fine just where it is.)