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

I am also really worried about this. I’m on day 11 and just had a wet dream last night, unfortunately i believe it was about porn I barely remember it though. I know I shouldn’t be upset because I had no control over it, but I’m just not sure if it delays recovery for us? Does anybody know if they can slow out recovery or if they’re just part of the healing process?

 

I've heard so many conflicting theories on this. Some people claim wet dreams are a sign of healing and a natural way for the body to get rid of semen excess, yet others complain that wet dreams make them feel terrible and are hindering their reboots. I've experienced both wet dreams and nocturnal emissions. In my opinion there is a difference between them. Wet dreams are vivid sexual dreams that end in orgasm, while nocturnal emissions are not even felt. It's almost like the body automatically ejects sperm without you even knowing. Wet dreams are way worse because you feel a similar dopamine rush to when you pmo. I've personally experienced both but I would say wet dreams happen more frequently. Unfortunately there isn't any convincing scientific explanation as to why they happen, and there isn't a proven method to prevent them either. The brain is still a mystery to this day.

 

still struggling, i will be at 9 months tomorrow. Days are still very up and down. Fatigue still there, depression comes and goes, social anxiety, mood swings etc etc. i am getting a few days where things get better but even on those days i dont feel 100%

struggling also with tension behind the eyes / whole body tension. Stress system still cant handle much. On bad days i cant handle noise and light.

In short im still a complete mess, though i would say i am getting better month to month

 

wet dreams go away or reduce on their own after enough time PMO free. Dont buy in to the whole semen retention movement, its rubbish. The real goal is to heal our brains.

i had a lot of wet dreams in the first 6 months pmo free and they have become less and less frequent until now where i basically have none

 

So do you have any physical withdrawals too. May you please tell what worked for you and what didn't because I have also been a daily PMO binge guy for years and my longest streak ended few days back and chaser effect is overpoewring.

 

So do you say that we should be P free for life - agree
But MO free for how long? 6 months, 1 yr , 2 yr or more than that??

 

So if i go 6 months and have one relapse then its all erased? Surely that cant be right. At least i don't hope it is. I got superpowers in the first year on my different streaks and suddenly they disappeared after having a long streak, so i would like to think that i have progressed to the healing phase.

 

I dont think it's all erased, but perhaps one relapse might add 90 days to your recovery for example if in PAWS

 

Just the other day I went and seen a porn vid under 2mn. Then all of a sudden I have had lower abdominal pain. Same pain I've experienced when I was escalating back then and the body had enough but still going by being stubborn....

 

Well, from my experience relapsing after a long streak sets me back to square one. The dopamine high is so intense that it shakes up my entire nervous system. Not to mention that the feeling is so powerful that it always leads to binging. Last time I relapsed I was literally shaking like a heroin addict and my balance got worse. I don't wanna scare you but just warn you from the potential dangers of kindling. I realized that the more that I relapsed after long streaks, the weaker I would become. I got to a point where I started to neglect my own health and hygiene simply because I was so fatigued that I could barely get out of bed. Not to mention the emotional torture I had to go through. Any little thing would irritate or scare the crap out of me. Now I currently struggle with nunerous health problems such as slurred speech, poor balance, loss of muscle coordination, tremors, bleeding gums... on top of all the crippling mental problems such as severe fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, derealisation, anhedonia... etc. Like I said, this is just my experience, so just because my case is that bad it doesn't mean yours will be too, but chances are that the more you keep relapsing the worse your symptoms will get. Just my 2 cents.

 

Okay. Happy to hear that man

 

Man that cant be right. Can you please show me how you came to the conclusion that it sets you back 90 days? So your telling me if i jerked off 4 measly times after 6 months of abstinence i've got 360 more days of hell to suffer through?!? Wtf!?!

 

Yeah. I believe that the nervous system gets so sensitive overtime that any minor arousing image can trigger the same dopamine rush as watching porn. I find it better to resist the longer I abstain though

 

This may sound like a stupid question, but are you able to work at the moment?

From your description above I am in a very similar situation in terms of symptoms and (for want of a better term) disability. Simple, everyday things become extremely challenging. I was going to to go food shopping this morning, but just didn't have the energy, or a clear enough head to drive, so got to the front door and had to turn back. Hopefully I can go tomorrow...

I realise now that I spent over 10 years kindling. Kidding myself that I could cut down PMO and that would be enough. That seemed to hold for a while, but now it's fricking obvious that it wasn't.

 

I've yet to recover from PAWS, but I can totally relate to pretty much everything you've written there. I had no idea that porn or MOing could do this - literally no idea for decades.

 

Damn, that is demotivating. But who knows, maybe i still have some progress over the years from my streaks. Only thing that is to do now is go 1-2 year on hardmode and im more motivated than ever. Its time for me to come out of this shit, i literally have had suicidal thoughts during my PAWS. Im gonna add dry fasting, exercising, and meditation to the schedule as well and hope i will get better in the coming 6-12 months

 

No mate. I don't have a job and I also consider myself sort of disabled though I'm just 25. For me the worst part is not being able to speak properly. My tongue feels numb at times and my left upper lip doesn't move when I talk. It's subtle but clearly noticeable to me and has damaged my confidence when it comes to interacting with people, so I choose to isolate myself most of the time. I read that in some extreme cases, drug and alcohol addicts can suffer from this problem. It's aka being 'dry drunk'. However, I wouldn't rule out neurological damage. I'm not sure if it will ever go away completely if at all, but all I can do is hope. My biggest mistake has been trying nofap for 4 years without taking it seriously enough. At first, I thought 90 days would be enough time to heal, but after seeing no improvements I would get discouraged and would end up relapsing and binging several times. After my last relapse I finally realized how messed up I really was and accepted the fact that this is going to take way longer than 3 months. Sometimes you just need to hit rock bottom to start changing your life around.

 

Don't worry mate. You can do it. Sometimes the worst times of our lives can trigger the best changes. Understand that the ultimate goal is to stop watching porn forever. I'm not saying that you won't be able to masturbate again but give it at least 1-2 years to heal. Watching porn is totally unnecessary and unnatural. It will only drag you back in the cesspool.

 

So question for yall. Sorry if this has been answered already here. What do you guys think about giving up other easy dopamine like activities. Like some examples would be watching tv shows/movies, playing video games and surfing the internet. You think recovery from PAWS goes by faster or the same? Has anyone tried both paths with or without?, succeeded or failed? I ask because some guys compare those dopamine activities to PMO while I disagree for the most part, its not the same at all with how much guilt and shame comes from PMO.

 

I think it could be very beneficial to either completely remove them for a period or periodically.. or significantly limit or reduce their use. I’ve seen benefits from this, or at least an accelerated healing. However after long periods without them I have had PAWS symptoms return from reengaging in these activities in an escapist way. Ideally you want to stop interacting with the sex you are attracted to as much as possible on screens and do it in real life and retrain your brain to get satisfaction through interpersonal interactions. I don’t believe in some of these “dopamine fasts” that people are recommending such as giving up music and other rewarding activities. You want your brain to start getting used to getting its dopamine from sources that are healthy although you have to be careful to not satisfy one addiction for another such as giving up PMO and increasing your media and video game or sweets consumption.