Beginning the journey, successes and failures.

I've only been at this for 3 weeks. About as new as can be. I've been somewhat lucky as now I can get to some very pleasant feelings. Not so much when I started. As I've explored, I've discovered parts of my body I considered useless, were far from useless. It really is a journey. Not every session will be successful. Had some great Anless sessions last night. But I discovered it might of affected a session with my toy this morning. No O this morning. That's ok though. It's part of the learning curve and learning your body. I'll give it a rest for a few days. My advice is be patient, don't give up. don't do anything that hurts or causes pain now or later. You're big O will probably happen when you're in a session and not expecting it. Good luck.

My first question is if this normal and if it is just a temporary thing and you just need a good rest for it to come back, and how long that rest typically would be?

While I wouldn't categorize your discomforting sensations as 'normal', I wouldn't call them rare either. I have experienced similar sensations as well on occasion. It has always been a temporary thing for me and with a few days (4-5) rest it seems to resolve itself.

I should add that when my body starts having these involuntaries and getting close to this plateau/almost orgasm feeling, my rectal muscles clamp down on the Aneros and suck it in hard. I am wondering if that actually does more damage than helping increase the pleasure.

I have incurred the clamping effect a few times during a Super-O, and it can be so intense as to be uncomfortable. I don't think this will cause any damage but it may leave you sore for a few days, sort of like a bruise to the nerves of the area.

I find it very difficult to relax this behaviour, even though trying to relax it actually increases the arousal. Sometimes at these maximum strength "clamp-downs", I can get hints of uncomfortable feelings up there.

Yeah, learning to get your muscles to relax back at this point in your orgasm is difficult but it can be done. It requires your ego to step back into the action as an objective observer and direct your intent at your muscles for them to relax. This is a bit of a difficult concept to grasp but it is one of the few times during an Anerosession you want your ego consciousness to become involved as typically you will want your body directing/leading the action.

...I want to see if size has anything to do with it or if they just fit me better. I also wanted the plastic version to see if I could feel any difference with a silicone based lube. I would love to hear some of your thoughts on all of this, as I am hoping that I will be able to continue this incredible journey!

While size and material differences will be noticeable, the nuances of those differences may not be significant. It is more likely the differences in how frequently, how intensely and how long you use those devices which affects your comfort.
Good Vibes to You !

P.S. I sent you an introductory Private Message (Newbie's Notebook) with some additional hints and tips to get you started here. Click on your 'Messages' button in the Forums to retrieve it.

Thanks for the reponse Rumel and Spikester. I am relieved to hear that it is probably the prostate being overstimulated and that a week's rest should do the trick. I have to say that right now, I am almost daily having aless mini-sessions, just experiencing pleasure. I love the fact that this can be experienced through an otherwise normal day of hustle and bustle and can't wait to explore this further when I find our what works for me with regards to downtime to let my prostate recuperate. I will read your newbie notebook Rumel, thanks!