A 42-year-old woman has notched up more than 1,000 lovers, and had already chalked up 40 by the time she was just 17.Crystal Warren, a retail manager from Brighton puts her sex addiction down to witnessing the painful breakdown of her parents marriage when she was five-years-old.'People don’t usually associate sex addiction with women,' Crystal told the Daily Mirror. 'We’re normally the ones accused of making excuses before the lights go off but with me it’s different. I think about sex all day.'At the weekend she says she often leaves the house in the middle of the day to find men at pubs or coffee shops to pick up and take home.On a bad day she has admitted to having sex with seven different men in 24 hours, sometimes a few at a time. With such a high number in just one day she confessed it was difficult to fit it all in, and would sleep with a man in the morning, one at lunch and then as many as possible in the evening.Miss Warren lost her virginity when she was 15 and believes she became a sex addict almost instantaneously.The feeling of being wanted by her first lover drove her on for more and more sexual experiences and shortly after her first time she was having sex with new man every other month.By the time she was 17 she had slept with 40 people.She didn't think it was a particularly high number for one so young as she assumed all the girls in her Somerset village were doing the same.'I didn’t know 40 men was more than most women sleep with in a lifetime. All I knew was that I felt good about myself when I was having sex.'When she was in her 20s she put her overwhelming desire to have more and more conquests down to simply having a high sex drive.Looking back she says, she should have realised she was in the grip of an addiction.Miss Warren claims she has always practices safe sex. She isn’t able to have children but ensures she doesn’t contract any STIs.In line with other addictions MIss Warren says if she doesn't get what she wants she feels moody and frustrated.'I’d begin to feel hungry for sex,' she says. 'I’d go on the prowl for men on my lunch breaks. If I didn’t manage to have sex I’d be unproductive all afternoon. If I go without for a few days I start to feel desperately low, depressed and lack energy.'She says people assume she is a slut but she insists the addiction means it is out of her control.When she was 35 she noticed all her friends had begun to settle down, so she decided to begin dating younger men. This had the added benefit as they had the energy to keep up with her huge sexual demands.She has even joined a specialist online dating website which helps her find men who can keep up with her high sex drive.It was only when she hit 40, and her best friend turned her back on her did she finally confront her addiction.'I know I’m a sex addict, but I can’t face getting professional help. Sex is the only thing that makes me feel good about myself.I guess when the men start saying no, I’ll stop having sex. I know some people must think I’m a terrible person, but believe me I’m not proud of myself.'