Just started my recovery journey. I know I am not unique or special as far as my symptoms but as they are new to me it is a lot to figure out on my own. I'm a goal driven person but without having some sort of timeline to aim for as to when I may experience relief from my anxiety, brain fog, restlessness/insomnia, and doom and feeling of hopelessness would be great towards my mental strength as I continue on this road. If others that have experienced these or similar symptoms could share their timelines I would love to hear it. Thank you!
I ge I get exactly this. Insomnia, depression, anxiety, and unable to get morning wood or erections normally once I relapse.
There is no easy or correct answer to your question. Everyones circumstances are different. But what I can say with certainty is that it is undoubtedly better to continue your streak then to relapse. I can also provide you with my own anecdote, which may or may not be similar to what you can expect. For me the first 2 weeks were hard, after which days 14-24 were easy, after which days 25-30 I couldn’t stop thinking about sex and how to find someone to have sex with, after which I relapsed. But that was all after several shorter streaks, which made the longer streak easier. Now I am on day 14 of a new streak and it has been relatively easy so far. I believe this will be the streak that will take me as far as I want to go.
Thank you for taking the time to share. I am trying to just make it to day 7 as my first goal and then reset my goal to another 7 days. I have noticed the "wave" of symptoms that many describe. Last night I got some much needed relief from my withdrawal and was able to sleep better than the previous three nights. I have still not had many urges to return to my old habits yet but I know those will return soon enough. I take comfort in knowing that I AM doing the right thing. Even if my body and mind don't feel like it right now. We can get through this!
Here is a nofap thread about withdrawal symptoms, and has 94 pages filled with 1,870 posts wich are a lot of anecdotes from people that suffer severe withdrawal (including me). https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/p-a-w-s-what-are-they-cure-duration.231859/ 15 pages of lists of with withdrawal symptoms: https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/lets-make-a-list-of-withdrawal-symptoms.74415/page-15
