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female
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anonymous
writes:I know this may sound wierd but please dont laugh. Whenever I touch my nipples i feel overwhelmingly depressed or sad and I feel like every thing is wrong and I often feel a bit sick. Do you think this feeling could be from something that happened to me when I was younger? Or am I just being wierd? Please wb!! xx
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male
reader, anonymous, writes (15 February 2016): Yeah I from rub my nipples if I can't sleep. Doing so makes me really tired.
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female
reader, saraswati  +, writes (12 February 2016):
OH MY GOD. I've gotten this homesickish feeling ever since I was a small child every time I rub my nipples, without fail. Nostalgic is a good way to describe it as well. It's so overwhelming!! It's in the pit of my stomach and makes me long for my family. I've never thought of my mom specifically or experienced the feeling of thirst as others have mentioned, but definitely feel homesick for my family... soooo odd. I wish I'd brought this up in my physiological psych class. OXYTOCIN! that's supposed to be released when you look in your lover's eyes, or your baby's... even your dog! So interesting.
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male
reader, Dexitus +, writes (11 November 2015):
Oh my god I'm happy to find out there's other that get this feeling it's horrid I also get it if I lay in bed for too long
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (3 May 2015): Like many of you, I'm also both surprised and relieved to have found I'm not the only one. I thought something was wrong with me or that if I ever decided to have children I'd be unable to breast feed them. Still kindof feel that way. I'm 26 years old and for as long as I can remember I've felt that near nauseous feeling if I myself stimulated my own nipples. In any other scenario like with my partner it never felt that way. Nipple play has never felt arousing for me though...
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female
reader, trixiestix +, writes (24 April 2015):
I am a 35 yearold woman and just googled this for the first time ever tlwondering if I am the only one who experiences this. Crazy so many others do. For me I only get the icky weird feeling if i touch them myself. If I am in a sexual situation with a partner then it doesn't happen. I have also experienced the same thing right after an orgasm many times, but that has not happened for a few years. I was molested as a young kid a few times but perhaps it is not connected and instead is just a chemical thing as others have suggested. I feel better knowing I am not the only one with this issue.
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female
reader, DietSunkist +, writes (20 July 2014):
 Oh my gosh! No kidding I thought I was the ONLY one! I know everyone else is saying that too, but I was seriously beginning to think that I had something terrible happen to me that my brain was trying to repress!
Its not all the time, but when Im in the shower and the water hits them just right on my nipples, I get that SAME sick horrible feeling. Like a bad memory trying to come to the light but something is forcing itself back. I dont feel lonely or anything, but definitely not a good feeling. :(
Even when my husband messes with my nipples sometimes when we make love, though its supposed to be a romantic enjoyable feeling, instead my boobs send off that awful sickening emotion like something is wrong. That what Im doing with my husband is WRONG! And even more strange, there had been a couple times after orgasms, where I'd lay there with that same bad feeling like I did something wrong. That I feel so dirty and guilty, for something I have NO idea what!!
I've wrapped my brain around this and I honestly cant understand why I'd feel this way! I was seriously wanting to see a therapist or something, but Im relieved that Im not the only one here! :D Yay!
But due to this unexplained horrible feeling, Im very scared to breastfeed my babies one day for fear of them somehow sucking on my nipples will give me that sickening feeling in the core of my being. :( Though its supposed to be a bonding time with you and your baby, I dont think I'll be able to have that due to this dang feeling my boobs give off!
I really wish there was an answer for this! And seeing that Im not the only one who feels this way, wish we could have SOME sort of answer. I dont think its that "oxytocin" in my case, cause I dont get those longing feelings of wanting to be with someone, I only feel guilty and sick, like something bad happened to me. And its happened to me for many many years (Im 24 now).
Sorry my post is kinda long....Im just in shock still that there are both males and females who have felt this way!!
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female
reader, imshydontaskquestions  +, writes (24 June 2014):
Oh my God. I've been searching and searching for that question. I'm 16 and a bit curious about my body so I usually rub my nipples when I take a shower. And you know what? I totally feel the same as you do. It's a nostalgic, sad, yet fuzzy feeling that I can't fully describe. And I miss, yes, I miss all the people that passed my life, i.e. my dad who passed away 2 years ago or an old friend or even my mom who was cooking downstairs at the meantime.
And it's super weird, you know, when you try to...masturbate and come up with this.
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female
reader, burpie  +, writes (26 February 2014):
I'm so glad I'm not the only one!!!
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male
reader, anonymous, writes (18 December 2013): Hey there,
I was born and raised in Greece (just so you dont think it only happens to a certain breed of people) and ever since I remember touching my nipples, I have also had this NOSTALGIA feeling, that my mum is not around and I'm all by myself.
But at the same time, since I havent seen any other comment stating so, I'll add that I dont mind having my nipples licked. I specifically ask my girlfriend (btw, I'm a man, 27) to lick them.
Lastly, I dont know if this has anything to do with it, or if you guys experience it too, but I dont cry. I never cry or feel nostalgic or feel lonely or anything similar to those feelings. But when my nipples are licked, they all come back. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (9 December 2013): I'm another one to add to the list of feeling sick/sad when having my nipples touched... I'm 16; no baby. They should do a study into this! I also get the same feeling if a lot of pressure placed across my belly, such as leaning over a swing?
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female
reader, moojo25 +, writes (6 December 2013):
Apologies that should have said 'without the end result being milk expulsion'.
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female
reader, moojo25 +, writes (6 December 2013):
I know this is an OLD post but im absolutely gobsmacked that I'm not the only one! I really wish a medical mind of some sorts would pick up on this phenomena as it is horrible and baffling all at once! Although I must say I have to agree with nicole1233 and her theory as a woman who has experienced this as long as I can remember. I am currently pregnant and therefore my nipples are kind of waiting to breast feed? But when they are stimulated with the end result being milk expulsion... I feel empty and nauseous but to put a previous readers mind at rest about breast feeding when I breast fed my son that was probably the only time in my life I was free of this torturous experience and it actually gave me relief. So yeah..Thank you all for opening my eyes to the fact im not some total weirdo!!
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female
reader, kashieka +, writes (31 October 2013):
All these time I thought it was just me. Ive been searching online for any psychological explanation or just to find someone who has the same issue but it has been a failure until now. It has even taken me to outrageoisly weird sites about breasts. Anyway, I discovered this one time when my nipples got itchy and I had to scratch it for and my nipplea gpt stimulated but i kept on scratching because it's really itchy (bra fabric issues) and then I felt alone. I felt lonely and alone that I dont ever want to do it again only if it is not so itchy. And every now and then when it gets itchy due to hormones or fabric and i had to scratch it, I experience the loneliness all over again. That feeling like everything is strange and weird, and that the world is a lonely place. Hayyy. What musy have gotten wrong?
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reader, anonymous, writes (26 September 2013): Thank you for posting this question, I have always wondered why this happens to me and was starting to think I might be the only person who experiences this. When my nipples are touched or rubbed or overstimulated for too long, I get a really sick, nauseous, depressed feeling in the pit of my stomach. I used to ask close girl friends if they had the same issue and none of them did. Then last night I was talking to a girl friend about boobs. We were talking about her friend who had a breast reduction, and we were cringing with how painful that must be, and she said they have to remove the whole nipple and sew it back on, and then she remarked about how that would be so hard for her, because she has extremely sensitive nipples, and she mentioned that she feels sick when they're overstimulated. I stared at her in disbelief and said Oh my GOD, I can't believe it, you are the first person I've talked to who has that same issue!!! I was starting to think maybe I was left alone too long and molested by someone with a nipple fetish, as a very young child (there was a known pedophile in our family) and that was triggering some sort of reaction in my gut. I asked my friend if she thought that could be it for her too, and she wondered the same thing because there were some people in her family who did things that would be considered inappropriate. But honestly, if something like that did happen... I'd almost prefer not to know. Our brains must block traumatic and unpleasant events for a good REASON! Why undo millions years of evolution?Anyway, this whole nipple-stimulation thing has me really wondering if overstimulation might trigger post-partum depression in some women who are breastfeeding. I have never had a baby, but it's hard for me to imagine what it would be like to have an infant sucking on my boobs ALL DAY when they are so sensitive. Overstimulation of my nipples, for even ten seconds, makes me feel sick and depressed. So I can't even imagine what it would like to have that depressed, sick feeling all day... I'd want to die! Unless there's some biological thing that happens to reverse this when you're nursing. For the record, this can happen when I am simply wearing a t-shirt or there is fabric rubbing up against my boobs if I'm not wearing a bra, etc.. It doesn't have to be a PERSON touching them. Also, if my husband grabs my entire boob, it's fine, I actually like that... it's just the nipple part ALONE, being overstimulated, that makes me feel ill. I really think that people who do research on post partum depression, should ask women whether they have sensitive nipples, or see if it could be related to breastfeeding somehow. Obviously, there are many other reasons that could trigger post partum depression, besides this, but for someone like me, with this issue, who knows, it could be a major reason why they get depressed. That depression I feel, when it happens, is horrible, almost like someone punching me in the gut. It feels like, there is a chemical reaction going on, that makes me feel downright despondent - the polar opposite of happiness. Which is odd for me, because I'm a pretty happy, upbeat person. Thanks again to the person who posted this, and the people who responded. It's good to know I'm not alone!
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (25 January 2013): To the woman who was saying it's like a wild, confused mixture of longing and loneliness and nostalgia all at one, you really couldn't have out it better. Does this mean we're especially maternal people or something? Like natural mothers who will form strong bonds with our baby?
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (23 January 2013): I know I know every post below says this, but I'm also SO thrilled to actually find this huge number of people with the same/similar issue!!! I've NEVER heard of it before!!! For me I guess it's a little different though. I don't feel quite so deeply emotional about it as many people below, so much as I physically feel sick? When I was younger I thought it was a feeling of guilt, like, "I shouldn't be touching my nipple!" even though it wasn't even in a sexual way or anything! But just now I was just thinking about how ridiculous it is that I should feel guilty about it, so I wondered what it could be. But yea it's this crazy feeling of, Oh my God this just feels TERRIBLE, why do I even have boobs? I feel like my whole being is uncomfortable and awkward and I don't want to have anything to do with sex! But this whole idea of chemicals messing with your head is a relief.
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male
reader, anonymous, writes (21 January 2013): Hahaha. That is so weird I get it too but I Am
A GUY. Can remember from when I was about 14. So strange to hear that exact emotion described feeling like a little kid missing mum. Argh ha ha.
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female
reader, nicole1233 +, writes (14 January 2013):
This happens to me all the time and im so glad im not the only weirdo :D After tons of research, I've narrowed it down to being caused by the hormone Oxytocin. It can be released normally from nipple stimulation to aid in mother-baby connection(as in while you are nursing your baby)...I think if it is not needed, like if you just touch your nipple, that maybe it makes you feel sick because it is not being used??? The reason you would enjoy it if someone else does it,i.e. boyfriend, is because the oxytocin is in use and you are feeling connection with your boyfriend...
maybe. just a thought.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (9 January 2013): Omg I am so glad its not just me. I know exactly how yu all feel especially the anonymous person said about how it makes you feel like your a little girl that wants her mommy. That's exactly how it makes me feel. Like I just get sad and like I get flashbacks of when I was little and I jusst want to go back to those moments with my mom and dad. Its just so weird.. I told my guy friends about it and I asked if it happens to him and he said yea so idk if its a guy thing too.
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male
reader, anonymous, writes (31 December 2012): Hey I have the exact same thing but I still don't know what it is. I guess I'm just telling you that your not alone :)
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reader, anonymous, writes (31 December 2012): oh my god. i cannot believe how many women is getting this feeling. sometimes when i try to rub my nipple i feel very depressed that my heart is sinking into my stomach. it happens every single time. however, i am happy not the only one. i'm not sure what the reason behind it is, but at least i know i'm not THAT weird. thank you :)
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (9 June 2012): Omg. I just googled this to see if I was a freak. So glad I'm not alone. For me it's not depression so much as it's like an indescribable longing. Sort of nostalgia and loneliness and homesickness and thirst all rolled up into one big confusing thing. It's weird, because I love when my boyfriend messes with my nipple, but doing it myself doesn't work.
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reader, anonymous, writes (30 May 2012): Ugh. I've gotten the same feeling since I was a little girl. Unexplainable and completely overwhelming. It makes me feel
Like I
Need something (almost like how u feel u need food when your hungry or water when thirsty) but then it just sends me right back to the sad overwhelming feeling.
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reader, anonymous, writes (24 May 2012): I'm sorry that you experience this, but I am SO glad that someone else is in the same boat as I am! I don't mind touching the breast area, but if I touch my nipples too much, I feel revolting and huge; an overwhelming sadness takes over me and I am so disgusted by myself I feel sick. I actually cannot believe how many people feel like this.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (16 May 2012): I am so weirded out. I have experienced this feeling my entire life, and after experiencing it again today I decided to look it up and see if I was the only one. I don't know the word to describe this feeling, but it's a very distinct feeling and it feels exactly the same each time it occurs. It will randomly occur about once every few months, and then once I started masturbating (maybe TMI?) I would ocasionally get it during this one point where I was close to orgasm. So weird. And I wasn't sexually abused or anything like that, I'm pretty sure like others said it's chemical/hormonal. I think the fact that it happens always at the same time when I'm close to orgasm means it's some sort of hormone. I mean at that point there's lots of chemical changes in your brain, yeah? It's really bizarre though. I don't recall feeling it when I touch my breasts, but again I think that falls right in line with it being hormonal. I know that there are lots of hormones that get activated when your breasts are touch because when you breastfeed your kids lots are released. Anyways, I would describe it as a 'weird homesick feeling'. Homesickness is the closest feeling to it, but it's not quite homesickness. There's a certain feeling of self-consciousness, and you get this weird feeling like you're an alien and you're detached from the people around you. The weirdest part to me, though, is this feeling that I'm a little kid again and I want my mommy. And this feeling is especially weird when I'm masturbating because I get this icky feeling like ew, I'm a kid, I shouldn't be having sex. I really feel like I'm a few months old again. And there's also that weird thirsty feeling. I feel like I'm desperate for water, if that makes sense. It's totally weird. I was SO SHOCKED AND STUNNED when I first saw posts about this on other sites describing the exact sensations that I had felt throughout my life but not had a word for. I saw a suggestion on another site that's it's related to some sort of random drop in dopamine levels, which may actually be it because come to think of it, the 'feeling' is pretty much every bad emotion piled into one. A homesickness, a guilt/shame, a feeling out of a place, and a really strong thirstiness. It's definitely unpleasant. I just had to start looking into it because when I was masturbating earlier I reached a point and BAM the feeling fell over me. I stopped stimulation and tried to locate what exactly I was feeling but it went away, then I start again and it continues. It's the oddest feeling of helplessness and missing something / longing for something but you don't quite know what. I'm going to continue looking into this until I get an answer, but I'm glad that other people are experiencing this to - I thought I was the only one in the universe!
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reader, anonymous, writes (10 May 2012): Wow I thought I was the only one who felt this... always happens to me when my nipples randomly go erect and touch on the bra material, gives me the strangest, creepiest and disturbing feeling. And also the feeling of thirst or something like it. Like a weird, sudden change of mind set. Definitely sounds chemical now that I read these other answers.
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reader, lolstar +, writes (7 May 2012):
 This is a pretty old post but I had to reply to it. Thank you guys so much for making me feel normal! I have had this exact same thing for years and years. Whenever I touch my nipples or have my nipples touched/sucked I have the exact same sensation. I feel very homesick and depressed. Almost like a child. It's always made me think I'm a complete freak, I thought there was something wrong with me! It goes do bad I sometime have to tell my partner to stop. It doesn't happen all the time but I'd say about 60% of the time. It's like an overwhelming feeling of homesickness. I'm 30 years old also, I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one!
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reader, anonymous, writes (18 April 2012): Just created an account so I could respond to this :)Also feel exactly the same way. Have been trying to research this and find an answer. I always thought it was psychological in nature, but now, due to the number of others out there experiencing the same thing, am more inclined to believe there is a biochemical/hormonal reason behind it. Have found other advice columns and health forums with people discussing the same phenomenon.I remember experiencing this from as young as 5 years old. Am 30 yo female now. I used to think I was some kind of alien or freak because I could not explain this weird feeling to anyone!Now I would describe it as an overwhelming wave of depressing loneliness - or homesickness as someone else described it. There is also a subtle physical response building in my torso, like a warm oily feeling. It only lasts a minute or two max then disappears as soon as the nipples are no longer touched. Rarely happens when sexually stimulated, only when rubbing or scratching nipples accidentally or absent mindedly.Thanks to the original asker :)
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reader, anonymous, writes (17 January 2012): I was searching for the same answer and this is the only site I could find with any info. Touching my own nipples makes me feel very drowsy and sleepy, like I want to go lay down. My mind becomes cloudy and I can't think straight, I even feel a little bit nauseous. I wish someone would do some research and tell us what type of chemical reaction is causing these symptoms. At least now I know I'm not the only one. Thanks everyone who shared their experience!
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reader, anonymous, writes (26 June 2011): I heard somewhere that nipple stimulation, in certain people, releases a chemical called "oxytocin", also known as the cuddle hormone. In me, it makes me feel kind of homesick, kind of lonely, and kind of tender/moody/romantic, but not sexual. I'm not sure if this indicates a hormonal imbalance, but I heard a psychology major saying that emotions are often stored in the body, especially reproductive areas. Stimulating those nerves may be directly linked to those particular feelings.
The Bible person is barking up the wrong tree; I'm perfectly well-adjusted and was never abused. It's a biochemical occurrence, nothing to do with repressed trauma. That's just a really amateur answer. Ask your doctor.
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reader, Ashley21 +, writes (24 June 2011):
I have the same exact feeling and it's been like this since I was a little girl. Like the guy a few post above me mentioned I feel fine when another person is doing when fooling around but when I do it, I feel nauseous, depressed and suicidal so I'm like wtf! I googled this and came here....at least I'm not the only one.....I read somewhere that if something really traumatic happened to you at one point in your life to where your body felt like you couldn't take it, then you forget about it as if it never happened...idk
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reader, anonymous, writes (18 August 2009): I get exactly the same feeling, kinda sad and depressed and everything in the world is bad...sorta feeling like lonely and someone just left you...i'm not sure how to describe it but its not good. But after reading all the post I have to say that well I'm not ashamed of my body and I grow up in a good family with lots of love. So I don't know whats wrong with me. Maybe its just one of those sensitive nerves in the nipples.
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male
reader, MansMan80 +, writes (17 August 2009):
Hey,I have never looked for an answer about your issue until today. I have been looking around on Google and have found nothing except that a few others have the same question. I am a male at the age of 29years old and as long as I can remember I have the same exact problem. I have noticed that during some sexual activities with an other partner that If they touch my nipples or suck on them ect. then I am totally fine. But the second that I touch my nipples then its instantly a creepy depressed guilty feeling. It almost feels like I am molesting myself type of feeling. I don't know where it comes from but I too thought maybe it is something that has happened to me as a younger kid. Not to sure what but I do want to find whats the issue with it. Its just extremely weird. Good luck and keep me posted if you find anything and I will do the same. =) Gary
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reader, anonymous, writes (15 August 2008): Hey..! I have this exact same problem, and I cannot find any explanation for it. When I touch my nipples, the sadness comes instantly. It feels like the world went wrong. Also, I get a strange feeling, almost like thirst but not quite. The depression is one of the strangest sensations I have ever felt, but vanishes as soon as I stop touching my nipple. I wish I knew who to talk to about this!
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reader, anonymous, writes (27 March 2007): It could be. It's sounds like maybe you were shamed about your body growing up. Maybe you weren't affirmed that you were a beautiful, attractive, young woman or girl by your father. Maybe he or other people, such as a brother, made fun of your body when you were growing up, espcially when you were an adolescent.If you didn't have a father, or if he was emotionally absent or hateful to you, this can cause feelings of shame and/ or sadness. You could get counseling to help you deal with the pain. Or read up on shame-based issues. If you are wondering if you might have been sexually abused-well, if you can't conscioulsy remember an incident, don't go digging down that well. Start working from where you are at right now. And affirm yourself allot: "You are beautifully and wonderfully made." (From Psalm 91 in the Bible.)
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reader, Bailey J +, writes (27 March 2007):
 Everybody feels different when this happens.. this sounds crazy but I feel tired and thirsty... everybody reacts differently too it, but it wont be something from your past I doubt... unless its mental. i.e. if something happened to you in your past, when your nipples do get touched it reminds you of that experience.
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reader, xxxsoulsistaxxx +, writes (27 March 2007):
 I feel exactly the same as you, almost vulnerable?! It's not nice, is it? Write to me personally and we can discuss this privately if you like.
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