Hi everybody! I am a 24 year old male who has been mastubating (mostly without porn) for about 9 years. I have been trying to quit for about a year now. I would get to nofap streaks lasting around 1-2 weeks, but I always end up relapsing. I think my main problem is that for so long, I have relied on mastubation to help me sleep, so I find it difficult to fall asleep without it. It's like when I lie down, my brain's instinct is to fap, and it gets worse the longer I stay awake. I was wondering if anyone had any advice? How to you fall asleep when the urges hit you? Excited to start my new life, and hope we can all help each other!
Hey @live 1892 , First welcome. I'm not anyone special on here - no moderator super powers. So, take what I say as just being from a regular member. For me I've been going to bed when I'm tired. Even if that means waiting up a bit longer and reading or watching a bit of TV, I don't go to bed until I'm ready to sleep. The opposite is true, If I'm sleepy earlier (maybe because I didn't get enough sleep from going to bed later the night before), I go to bed. No tech in my room. All the "equipment" I used to have for "m" has been cleaned out - that includes lube, cleanup towels (or socks), no internet connected devices in my room after bed. Some on here say sleeping in certain types of clothing helps. But, I find that I just sleep in what's comfortable for the weather. I started here when it was very hot, went through the winter (where I tend to wear more clothes) and now it's getting hot again. But, you might try sleeping in different clothes if you think it will help. --> L
hey dude whats up this is sumer even i used to have this addiction fapping before sleep the first thing i did off the internet before 10 step 2) did hard pushups of real hard work full day so that body is fully tired you can play volleyball at night or any sport which make you tired like hell step 3)reach home take shower have food go to sleep thats what i did i did pushups on my bed also when i didnot feel like sleep now i am completely fine i hope this help you
Thanks sumer! So, just to clarify, you would do the pushups right before bed? wouldn't that give you adrenaline and keep you awake?
I've found that exercise during the day has helped me be more tired come the nighttime. Sometimes, I've needed to take a cold shower right before bed to lower my body temperature, not so much to combat urges, though it's helpful for that too. Also, I've found cutting back on caffeine has helped (I used to drink black tea until 5-6pm and wonder why I had issues going to sleep without PMO at 9-10pm). I've seen the suggestions to take up meditation right before bed to calm the body. Also listening to some quiet relaxing music has helped. If all else fails, I get up, do something specific (read a book, watch a tv show, post to nofap, etc.) for 30-60min and then try to go to bed again.
Thanks StopTheMusic, I will try and stay up a bit longer, if I'm not that tired, or have a lot of urges.
Thanks again, I need to learn to force myself to do something other than fap if I can't sleep, even if it means sleeping less.
i do push ups just before bed when i am not feeling sleepy at all so when i do pushups immediately i dont get tired but sleep comes little early
I struggle with this too. At one point I made the decision that I wasn’t going to MO, even if that meant staying awake for a long time. So far that has helped me with my streak. Where I have difficulty is that I get emotional and don’t always work that out very well when I’m so tired. Exercise helped last year, but I haven’t gotten serious about it this year.
Hi. Welcome to forum! Make sure you create a personal journal thread in Reboot Logs section and blog there on a regular basis. As well as just generally be active participant in various forum discussions. I recommend this to everybody new here because it's the major thing that helped me when I was first starting. Just lurking on forums, reading and learning is great. But it usually is so much more powerful to engage. It helps to keep us motivated and accountable when we are active part of community. And keeps this in front of our minds so we don't forget about importance of it and slip away in our old habits. Sharing is also therapeutic. This is a major reason why AA meetings work so good. But that was developed before internet era. These days we can get most of the same benefits online through communities like this. So don't underestimate the power of active participation. I would also like to suggest you to look into mindfulness meditation. It has helped me personally tremendously to learn how to deal with urges and triggers. It takes a while to get good at it and notice results, so you need to be consistent with it, but once you do it's very powerful. It has been used by sages for thousands of years to deal with various issues of the mind. And in recent decades the science is also catching up to what ancient sages have know for centuries. Meditation these days are widely used as very effective tool by psychologists for treating addiction and by neurologists for supporting recovery of the brain. It is a great exercise for the brain the same way as jogging is great exercise for the body. Check out this Ted talk, it gives a good idea of what's it about when it comes to philosophy. As far as practical side of it there is this awesome smartphone app called Headspace for guided meditations to get you started. Wish you lot's of strength and success in your reboot journey!
