P.A.W.S. - what are they, cure, duration

When I went through caffeine withdrawals they lasted 8 months and I was a addict for 12yrs. I also was a victim from that crap too. I drank energy drinks, preworkout, coffees and etc. The withdrawals weren’t as bad as these. So hopefully this the same case.

 

I have had the same twice in my journey or maybe thrice, where i wake up and masturbate and ejaculate, and its like im still in a dream state and dont know whats going on, but im still conscious if that makes sense. I would install a blocker if i were you so its impossible to look at porn. Im sleeping with tight shorts on everynight, because of what happened, and it havent happened since, but i still fear it will again lol. Hopefully not

 

I did, I have blocked them all... Lets see what other sites that I right now cant even remember pops up at that tight moment.. Learned something from tgis experience for sure.. But I m feeling less Paws, idk why and I am feeling much better.. Idk why

 

I have also been dealing with this same problem. It has ended multiple streaks for me. This year it ended one after 6 months no PMO and i slipped back into relapses.

Currently i wear shorts and a belt to stop this while also putting my phone upstairs. It seems to be helping. I also quit caffeine about a month and a half ago which i believe has also helped this issue

 

how many years have you been in flatline? What’s your longest streak?

 

Damn bro, i had heard it happen to loads of people. I sleep with tight shorts and it hasnt happened since, hopefully it wont happen to use again it really sucks.

 

The flatline itself comes and goes for me so it is mainly paws symptoms i have been dealing with. I think November marks 7 year on nofap for me so its pretty much been the duration of my recovery. I did also experience similar symptoms leading up to my discovery of my addiction.

 

After a day of my last post, I got cold and flu symptoms came up, maybe weather, maybe something natural, but I can surely say there was a part of mental recovery... As after taking juat one pill (for easing those symptoms like running nose, feeling fatigue, and I didn't want to take these days and days to heal so I took that pill) and the next 2 mornings are awesome... I could really had a grip like I used to... I think I m being healed naturally.. But there is still some recovery left for sure

 

I read a book just this week that mentioned that during recovery a cold/flu is usually a positive symptom that indicates that the system is rebooting. It’s a sign that the nervous system is being cleansed. I guess what you’re saying adds up.

 

I hope this post gets max interaction... Because if it does I am highly highly grateful to the guy... So here it goes: As this quote from a PMO addiction recovery type site (similar to YBOP) says ''If you choose to put your NoFap on steroids by meditating, learning and playing musical instruments regularly, reading regularly, exercising regularly, eating healthy on NoFap, you’ll recover faster than the person that’s doing none of these things.

All these activities are dopamine receptor builders. Doing these things together with your NoFap is like taking a jet to your destination instead of a car.''

And here is what I want to say: I m a mild addict kind of to say at least, and I have a good memory about how I used to feel before I got addicted. Now, lets keep past as past, right now if and whenever I do all those activities mentioned above even if starting to do like building on smaller steps, I would obviously be conscious about what I m doing lets say as u would be, but there will be a time when you start doing those without much thinking, agree?... Now as soon as I finish doing those activities I feel as if my brain is resisting positive emotions, it feels like my dopamine d2 receptors have become alergic to such rewarding activities. So my question is, is this normal during recovery and keep going so that one day it will be fixed? Or should I bang my head on a wall? Lol!! I m confused, I need help, I obviously gave up PMOE completely past 4 months, have blockers everywhere, plans for urges, etc no going back is concrete!
Someone who has been through this stage or a veteran can answer this nicely I guess. If u would, I would be highly grateful really, this is the final struggle for me. Pls

 

What exactly do you mean here? Allergic would suggest you are having a bad reaction to positive emotions?

 

In simple terms, its like doing rewarding activities like I mentioned, and actually going there with with thinking clear and positive about those, but after doing it for a while (without much thinking about the positives) I start to feel self loathing and out of focus, I start to feel ''whats the purpose for doing this'', then loss of concentration and finally give up that activity to do it later... But I also dont like procrastination, but at this time I have no other option... I had never experienced this kind of strange experience ever before I decided to finally kill PMO completely... This is why I am asking, is this xp. normal and keep going, and eventually all will be right, or is there something I also need to do as a practice... Hope this makes sense

 

By Hubermanlab

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjoqAU0MhEy/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

@mentorr and @ArthurDutch agreed, on my first lengthy streak I experienced this too. This streak around day 54 or so it happened and yesterday again day 97. The intensity compared to that of day 54 is much less.

The importance when PAWs symptoms arise is to keep calm and try to notice if there is a specific physical or emotional trigger that may have prompted PAWs to kick in again. Teach yourself a healthy way to overcome said trigger. The other is to take rest, when you feel like this, take rest and don't beat yourself up. Once the symptoms fade again, push yourself in your capacity to make the days count. Too many people in this thread are simply counting days and not addressing underlying emotions or exposing themselves to what may trigger uncomfortable emotions. None of it is easy, but I believe if you pair this with abstinence you will recover more quickly and equip yourself to tackle the ails of life.

 

A few weeks ago I had a very open conversation with a therapist. I talked about being neglected at a young age, and struggling with PMO and social drinking while growing up. I explained the concept of PIED to her, the flatline, the whole 9.

After hearing my story she proceeded to tell me about a client she used to see some time ago (lets call him Rob). She said that Rob was a good looking 34 year-old guy when he came to see her for treatment. His problem? Despite being in shape, financially successful and basically having his s**t together, he was unable to hold a relationship with a woman.

She went on to explain that he came from wealthy parents, that he grew up in a large house and that he never had to want for anything. The problem was that his parents were so wealthy that they were never around. They were always out travelling the world, leaving him at home alone.

To cut a long story short, being left alone all the time left Rob feeling pretty lonely resulting in him turning to drinking, and smoking weed to numb the feelings of loneliness. He went through the exact same steps that many here went through and basically opened himself up to a PMO addiction. However what she explained to me next was interesting.

She explained that while abstaining from PMO was necessary to his recovery, the root of the issue was not the masturbation. The root of his issue was in the fact that he had emotionally numbed himself and indirectly shut down his sexual function. She said that Robs feelings of loneliness from his younger years had gone on for so long, that he had taught his body to numb itself not just to the feelings of loneliness, but to a whole array of emotions - all through drinking and masturbation.

She summarised by saying: the optimal goal of the body is survival. Therefore if we unconsciously instruct it that sex or intimacy is a threat or unsafe, the body will respond accordingly. In Rob's case, the unconscious message was that sex was unsafe. This resulted in a myriad of symptoms (anhedonia, depression, anxiety) but by numbing himself from feeling anything (through PMO, drink and drugs) his body was responding to his fear of intimacy by shutting down his feeling function for him and with it, his sexual function also.

The story makes me question:

a) Could PMO/PAWS recovery truly be linked to the emotional function in some way?
b) is this the reason why rewiring is important - is it because it potentially opens back up the feeling function after abstaining for so long?
c) if the rewire steps aren't followed - will the feeling function remain turned off? (for some not all)

 

In some way yes, for the last days I really thought about what do you mean, from extremes to narrow, and I found that yes, the body learns to get joy from Pmo and not from natural rewards even if you do it for just a year, given that you r doing it with full internal commitment, e.g even if u watch p for getting that emotional rush to study/numb pain and enjoy pain, pmo really works great numbing pain btw, what you are doing is basically u r training your body with 100% of ur energy to study only after getting THAT rush. Not all games, talking about the prob. to your social ones, solving that prob., concentrating on doing kind/moral works like doing chores without asking anyone, help loved ones are all Natural pain removal or numbing, and the finest thing about this is that nature is unlimited, u will never run out of this feeling of joy.

I think rewiring is very imp. But first you have to completely delete PMO habits from every sector of your body. This step is critically imp. for you to realise how trained ur body became, not mind not brain but body, especially the nervous system.

The feeling function will remain turned off for all! Untill he does rewiring his reward expectations from natural ways, the beautiful part of No Pmo, not even thinking about it for 3 months is that some rewiring happens automatically without you knowing, because your mind doesn't want pain and it will do everything to numb that pain (emptiness) by looking at '' normal'' people joy seeking activities.

I m past 4+ no PMO completely, 9+ months nofap but watch p sometimes. And I m experiencing this shift, let's suppose, when my dad sends me to solve a work like guiding working poeple the tasks, my mind constantly looking for natural rewards like appreciation, doing that work with your best, speaking clearly so that everyone understands, but since my body mind has learned to seek that joy from p not nature, I feel emotionally blunt or numbed. But there's improvement in it If I go there by thinking about the natural rewards beforehand and doing my best to keep expecting those.
I hope I become rewired to nature and true rewards in the coming months and should be quick

 

Another good example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/8u42j2/fuck_the_flatline_is_intense/

 

Did you go through that as well??

 

Excessive pmo make one weak. Low energy and motivation are one of the cause as well. People will sense that hence the easy target for the bullies. Even children could bully you.

 

A) In my opinion PMO and PAWs is 100% linked to emotional functional, rather emotional avoidance. An addict uses a substance of choice to numb out unwanted emotions. Address the emotions and manage them, address the addiction.

B) Rewiring is definitely a big piece of the puzzle to fully overcome addiction, addressing the roots of emotional turmoil that lead to addiction are key. Again, that is my opinion.

C)Feeling function turns on, which is why PAWs is so heavy and leads so many to relapse. Proper function of our feelings and handling is a whole other concept.

I've made more progress in these 100 days then I did in the first 400+ because I am pairing both together. I am by no means out of it, but I am better equipped than I use to be.