Long PMO sessions (many hours), edging addiction & extreme withdrawals, PAWS

Hmm,

I have a lot to say on this, but am running out of steam today, so just to say for now that it's "a thing".

I think that the difference between people who edge, and those who don't could be enormous in terms of the effects on their health. This may account for the fact that some people here are experiencing awful physical effects when others don't. But what has long mystified me is what do porn users do if they don't edge. Do they just look at porn for a while (minutes, hours) and then quickly O at the end?

Will say more soon.

 

As you both know, my PMO sessions consisted of like 2-3 times a week with hour long sessions of edging. I'm on Day 48 now (my longest streak by a few years) but unfortunately I haven't noticed any less inflammation/body pain as a result of such a streak. Super bummed but it is what it is.

 

Yeah, I already know that I am dealing with something else, just was hoping that stepping away from PM and edging sessions would help, but unfortunately no difference.

 

Hi,

I'm currently on my longest streak (65 days), almost (but not quite) hardmode. I had a 90 minute session before this. Not sure where to start in terms of my history or symptoms.

To keep the list very brief: exhaustion, stiffness in joints, muscle spasms (heart and skeletal), chronic insomnia, brain fog, anxiety.... I have a list of 35, mainly physical problems in total. For many years I thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome. It's possible that I actually do (it sure as hell feels like it), but I have been 90%+ convinced that it's actually a response to excessive PMO over decades of my life.

For me the crucial moment where things began to change was 2007, when I moved house, and my many symptoms either went completely, or became much less severe for several months. For the first time in years I could play the guitar without cramping up, and could sing with a much deeper, clearer voice. At the time I did the usual thing that everyone does (because it's the cultural mindset that most accept / adopt) of putting this down to stress. However, slowly, the symptoms came back as the year went on.

In 2008 I had a weird dream in which I realised that PMO was what had been causing things. What made sense of this was that I had moved in to a house owned by an old religious couple, and I felt too inhibited to wack off in the first few months I was living there. This was the only time in my life where I had had a total break from PMO since the age of 11 (I was 35 at the time).

At the end of 2008 I therefore managed a 2 month no P streak, and saw some improvements. Then I got complacent and started thinking I could get away with moderate, regular PMO, and since 2009 I have been in a battle with it. Initially it was a battle just to get through each week without P (till MOing), but over the years slowly managed to get it down to about once a fortnight. For many years I seemed to reliably be able to predict how well I would feel according to how long it had been since I'd PMO'd. First 3 days - feel like crap, next 7 days - slow improvement, day 10+ - feel pretty good (assuming I could last that long...) That all went to shit last year - I now seem to be in a semi-permanent state of exhaustion and fog that means I can't work. I realise now that I've wasted the last decade, by giving it 90% effort and cutting back PMO rather than stopping. Looking back I can see that there were signs that I was deteriorating more than I realised at the time. I've also realised that I had not accounted for the effects of MO without porn (not so bad, but still a factor) indulgent sex with someone else (happened rarely but when it did I'd take my time and enjoy it - I'm a selfish lover...) and above all, edging. Keeping that dopamine zinging away hour after hour is where I think the real damage has been done.

Anyway, I am quite tired right now! Hope this gives food for thought.

 

I never really edges much until a couple of years ago. Since then, if I relapse, I will usually edge for 1 hour before "finishing the deed." It has a devastating effect on me, and I feel awful for a long time afterward. I fortunately have not ever gotten into multi-hour edging sessions. I can only imagine how bad I would feel.

 

I would say edging will cause more heavy withdrawals, more damage. But to be honest, I remeber Big said he never really edged, but he still faced heavy withdawals/paws, and he said there were relapses in the beginning of his recovery. Maybe relapsing every few months, weeks are just as big problem as edging.

 

At the end of the day everyone is different. I know that all of the following distinct activities affect me, from observing cause and effect:

Edging with porn
Looking at porn without edging and then "finishing the deed" quickly
Non-porn based MO
Actual sex

All affect me, but edging seems to be by far the worse. I guess there are many factors at play - suggestions being:

how many years you've been doing it
how long each session is
frequency (ie multiple times a day / week / month)

For me I scored high on all for a loooong time. The crazy thing is, I thought it was normal, so didn't even think to stop. After all, it's highly enjoyable (if you aren't aware of the downsides) and pretty much free (if you aren't aware of the downsides).

 

I used to edge at least 2-3 hours a session looking for the "right one". When i started rebooting cold turkey, the brain cloud was so bad for the first month that u wont even able to sense other withdrawals.
After that i have been relapsing on monthly basis for 2 years. My longest streak a month ago was 80days which was nice. Then relapse twice edging to porn for around 3 hours each session.
I think the most devastating thing is that if i try to concentrate on any task be it watching movies,anime , playing games, driving or working which really drains my brain power/ concentration, i will start to fantasize and have less self control.
I think the withdrawals that im facing are quite similar the rest and it will recur on a daily or weekly basis.
Another things is tired/lethargy, every single time i relapse is due to lack of rest and did not do my big business in the toilet dont ask me why.
Dont lose hope, i've seen some light during my 80days hardmode. It is definitely worth it.

 

This thread hits home. About 23 years for me, and most of that spent edging for 90-120 minutes at a time. Concerned I may be too far gone to recover, but I too suffer from what matches chronic fatigue syndrome to the letter, and although I've had little slip-ups here and there (peeking at a photo or something), I'm desperately working toward divorcing my brain from edging, and from combining P and MO. It's not hard-mode (I have sex with my wife 2-3x a week), but I'm hoping in time it will all lead to a lack of interest in it altogether and physical recovery.

 

OP, how did you feel after the 111 days?

 

when i went to the doctor for testicle aches pain he said do u masturbate so i told him my story, and before even mentioning edging, he told me "it is dangerous to stroke (masturbate) and then not ejaculate" a.k.a edging, and i used to edge for like 2 to 5 hours per session before masturbation. in some cases edging 2 nights in a row without ejaculation. this is very dangerous and probably related to my testicle aches pain.

i am now on day 9, (and before that had some streaks of 5 - 7 days and overal PMO decreased) so now i only had 3 days pain in the last weeks.

stop edging as soon as possible, it is dangerous, not only do you have the effects of porn but also risk of health dangers

 

Idk about others but i have been PMO for 14 years. (wow thats a long time now that i think about it) I personally would use porn for minutes just so i can get to O and that was it and would do the same thing next day.

 

Day 57 here, still not noticing any benefits from inflammation after this long of a break. Super frustrating but oh well. Just wanted to fill everyone in.

 

I don't know about withdrawals, but I know something for sure:
For years I always felt like a normal human being even while watching porn, wasn't great, but I was normal, mainly because I never edged, wasn't even able to watch porn without instantly finishing the job, so I may watch porn 3 times a day but just for 3 minutes each time, I used it to masturbate, I think my real addiction was to masturbation
In 2018, I started edging, and maaan, from there it's just a downwards spiral, I developed pied, depression got heavy, brain fog like crazy, hand tremors, heart palpitations, worse than ever social anxiety, extreme insomnia, fatigue and popping joints, all would show when I go a day without porn
For a year I started cutting down my porn consumption, I would watch porn every other week, I know it wasn't a good idea but to be honest it helped, my symptoms got better and addiction became easier to control, after that I achieved some decent streaks, and now here I am, I feel good and I don't think those symptoms would still hit
I'm 20 years old, started nofap a year ago, been addicted for 4 years but real problems never arised until I started edging, It definitely changes how the mind works and recovers
I