Just for the record, I have been sleeping 2-4 hours daily for the last 5 days. I am on my 41st day of NoPMO. I feel tired but restless, anxious. Whenever I manage to get calmer and am about to fall aslept I get an adrenaline rush or a twitch and am suddenly kicked out of the calm and dozing state, fully awaken and in terror, my heart beating fast and with palpitations. I have practiced meditation before with beneficial effects, but this time meditation makes it worse, I don't know why, it makes me more anxious. Then during the day I experience episodes of dizziness, headache, eye strain, etc. In the dark of the night I have crazy thoughts, like being possesed by a demon, losing my judgement, approaching death, etc. The few hours of sleep are full of dreams. This is being really tough. Anyone have experienced similar symptoms? Please say something. PS: I am not worried about anything. Work is good, family is good, money is good, health is good, motivation is good, etc.
I completely relate with what you're going through although without the negative thoughts of being possessed etc. I've had problems with my sleep for about 4 years now and just recently I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, which explains the symptoms of being restless and tired. Perhaps the first suggestion I would give is to actually see if you don't have the same problem as me by getting a test done from a sleep doctor. You'd be surprised with the amount of people that have it but don't even know it and quite frankly I never suspected I had it either since I'm a fairly fit individual and don't fit the stereotype of an obese person having trouble breathing during their sleep.
I've been in pretty much the same situation. It's always best to get checked by a professional but if is just PMO withdrawal then It will get better. In my experience it was a case of riding out the symptoms. It seems that we have to experience the emotions that as PMO was masking. Meditation allowed me to sit with the discomfort and not react to any of the weird thoughts or feelings. That's key. Keep going. Over time it will change for the better.
Yeah I remember the first 2 months of getting really bad sleep. It will get better. I know you have seen my other posts about how working out can help with recovery. I think that could be very beneficial here.
Did you guys have insomnia ever before quitting PMO? I had some insomnia for the first time in my life 6 months ago. I thought I fixed it, but maybe I didn't.
Yeah I did have it but it's hard to tell whether it was because of PMO or because of the sleep disorder I have.
I found something really interesting: Comment by https://www.reddit.com/user/fapstronautimus/ on https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/3z4msb/is_insomnia_normal_while_doing_pmo/ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080819213033.htm
I still have it as an on and off symtpom now and even developed it years ago when I had a lot of symtpoms. It comes in waves now really but it's still one of the worst symptoms.