Any stupidly long reboots success stories in here?

It’s not normal to be horny all the time from my point of view. Fapping and edging regularly puts you in that mental state artificially. You should only be in that mode when you’re actually with a woman and ready for sex. Then you’re training your mind and body properly, rather than for pixels.

 

You're not wrong.

I had paws(anxiety, depression, anhedonia,insomnia) for first 15 months. That cleared up. Sleep problem was the biggest to resolve in the last count of months and i had to make changes to my lifestyle and correct my behavioural patterns which i adapted over the years. Sleep has been better if not perfect. Had to make necessary steps to make it better.

Morning erections have been present. Somedays rock hard. Some days semi. Some days non existent, especially if i slept later at 2-3am. Zombie dick or shriveled penis or dead penis is not there anymore. Looks normal.

I function better as a human being. I feel am at my full potential. No brain fogs.

The only thing is i have no libido nor random erections. But i have a very strong urge to talk to women or approach them. And in fact i have done. Never in my life I've been like this nor have I approached a women in the streets or in social setting.

My blood report is completely fine and i checked with a doc in the middle of my progress. Nothing physically wrong with me.

And i workout 3-4 times a week, eat healthy high protein diet. No alcohol or smoking ever in life. Also i am learning couple of instruments and a language.

So this is my progress after 22 months.

 

I totally agree with this. I think that is how normal human beings function. Or maybe in a social setting flirting with a women being in close proximity and there is equal reciprocation, would ignite the healthy libido?

But growing up with porn. You programmed being horny even at random times, while being alone, as a trigger or cue.

 

Well, at least your morning woods are functioning again. That's a great sign. It seems to me that your PIED is severe enough, where you're going to be taking a while to recover erections and libido completely.

When did the brain fog start to clear? That is a bigger concern of mine rather than the erections. I need to focus and this shit brain fog is making it harder to focus.

 

Let me inform you guys discussing on libido, as I said before that I am around 600 days NOFAP hardmode and my libido is tha same as any normal human being has it, the reason why u feel little libido on longer reboot is that the brain has come back to normal and u r now not getting pmo addiction urges anymore so libido goes stable but when u approach any woman and get intimate then you will again start feeling libido in a normal healthy way. So don't worry much about libido just focus on recovery rest things will fall on it's place with coming time.

 

You're right man. That's why we flatline. It's a transition. Either you leave pmo or experience flatline everytime we trying to quit....

 

Yup. Nocturnal and morning woods help me with my mood as well.
And yes, I've come to terms that i could be one of those severe cases. So am focusing on learning and achieving other stuffs in my life which i could have done during my addiction years..and care less about pied and libido for couple of more years. After all, a total 17 year addiction, in which, 12 years high speed internet heavy addiction.
Can't expect my pied and libido to resolve easily.

My brain fog cleared around month 16-17. But one thing is to prioritise sleep and follow proper sleep hygiene. Sleep is a huge factor in recovery.

 

Oh man, I hope my brain fog doesn't take a year and 5 months to fix itself too! Did you notice any changes at 3-4 months in the brain fog department? Any slight clearing??

The brain fog is my worst symptom. I need less of that and to me, that's a priority over the sexual symptoms because being able to focus longer helps the reboot in the long run, IMHO.

 

Curious if you've ever considered trying tadafaldil with a woman to give you a "boost" and allow you to have successful sex? Wondering if doing so might help rewire your brain faster by having sex with a woman as opposed to using P0rn?

 

Not really. Tbh, i startedy journey exactly in mar 2020.
Mar-sept: i relapsed once a month to substitutes(video chat and once to porn). And during this time. I was in a roller coaster of emotions and triggered by every external stuff. Extreme anxiety, depression, anhedonia, triggered by sound. Insomnia was the worst. I literally couldn't sleep. But i don't count this phase because i relapsed.

From oct-2020 to present(22 months): not a single relapse or porn.
And during this time...no improvement in paws or sleep or brain for the first 17 months. Struggled a lot with sleep. But it was getting better than the mar-sept 2020 phase.

Right around month 16-17...I felt like a cloud lifted over me. And it only got better. And right around the time I gave so much importance to sleep hygiene and prioritised sleep. And it helped to boost the recovery.

So to answer your question. Around the 5 months mark of phase 2, there were improvement compared to the first 6month phase. But if i compared the 17 month mark of phase 2. I'd say i still had brain fog and other paws symptoms.
Because when i learn something now. I can remember very clearly. Back then i used to have a fog that stopped me from using my full potential to learn stuff or function in life.

I believe it's only going to get better and better in the months and years to come.

I truly believe in this too. Use it as a crutch while rewiring with a partner during the first 3-6months depending upon the severity of pied. But only after having been in long abstinence.
It would be a boost to sustain erections as it supposed and in turn this would teach the brain the cue= stimulation= erection to a real partner pathway and not the laptop=porn= erection pathway. And in the process libido might come back.

 

I just want to give a message and hope to those who r struggling with this addiction.

My name is Anurag and I am from India, Like many other people here, I was addicted to PMO too for 10 long years and my addiction level was so high that even hardest core porn stopped giving me pleasure so I reached on a dopamine depletion state, my brain's chemical was completely messed up and it started giving me anxiety and panic attacks. I went mentally so weak that I ruined my whole college career due to this addiction.

Now, I started visiting Dr. for treatment and told them about my addiction so they simply said that this is normal so you should not worry about that. He gave me few meds which I didn't take for longer time.

So, no Dr. or science will ever tell u that PMO is bad but actually in reality it's even worst than any drug or alcohol addiction that's why the withdrawal symptoms in PMO is horrible and is freaking hard to recover than recovering other addiction

Note - Drs. think that doing PMO on healthy basis has no harm but they don't realize the consequences if the person has got addicted to it so medical science needs to improve and do some study on this.

But I knew deep inside where the problem lies so I started researching on PMO addiction and it's affect on mind and body and did a lot of research and read many books including YBOP, then at the same time I found NOFAP in 2017 and then from there my journey to become best version of myself started.

I just kept telling and reminding myself during tough phases that what this addiction has done to my life. Today I could have been more successful in life if I was not addicted to PMO, there were phases where I saw no sign of improvements so some doubt started over crowding my brain but I knew deep inside that years of addiction won't recover so easy so I kept patience and also even if I relapse it won't help either so relapse has no option so I started replacing my PMO habits with healthy ones like reading good books, meditation, running 4 km everyday, learnt new skills so through this my journey became easier and easier and I brought the best out of myself including discipline.

Now, today I am PMO free finally and owning a Software firm and earning a good amount of money and I have a gf who is so so beautiful and I no more see her or any women as sex object.

I feel like a man now, my mind is more clearer than it's ever have been and libido is amazing when I am with my gf and when I look directly at her eyes and kiss her.

Now, I am doing research on SR so now my new target is Semen Retention.

So, guys if u r addicted and u want to recover then let me tell you this clean life is worth more amazing than it's ever been and don't worry about libido much, once u recover and become a real man and be with your love then see your libido it's amazing.


Sorry, I just kept short, didn't go in much details so anyone has any query can ask.

Lastly, thanks to NOFAP for letting me connect with people on this website and share our experiences and this is all we r doing for good cause after all we r here to become a real man not a jerk.

 

Appreciate your input man!!!
I used to see your username on PAWS related posts back then. I should have been healed just like you and the other rebooters by now if I kept going....

 

Yeah! even I remember your name bro, PAWS was horrible in my case, but man well worth it in the end.

Bro, just keep going, PMO won't help you either. We have been fapping a lot but now is the high time to quit and motivate others so that our younger generation don't have to go through this hell & pain.

 

Great success story! All the best to you.

 

Bro please tell us about your flatline.???
And how long your recovery time ???

 

sorry but I really don't know this, what's the meaning of flatline? this word goes from my eyes every now and then but I don't know its meaning as english isn't my first language.

 

I will definitely tell you about my journey, flatline and recovery process but I also want u to know that never ever compare your journey with anyone else because our bodies, minds and severity of addiction is different. Some people go through less hell and they recover soon and easily so just take my answer as a experience but don't loose hope if u r struggling with flatline because in the end I know all will pass, it's just brain which plays tricks with us to make us go back to feeding high amount of dopamine to our brains.


Now, in my case the flatline started around day 42 and it remained till next 14 days then I started feeling little relief but again in between days around 60 I started feeling huge flatline where I had no interest in anything even sometimes felt like as if I am dying and no more desire to live this life anymore, this phase was very horrible and it continued somewhat till day 70.

The third flatline stage started around after completing day 92 no PMO hardmode and this was very shocking for me because I thought by 90 days I will start feeling better with PAWS and flatlining but man it was very hell period of time and at this point of time only I started loosing hope and thought to relapse but thanks to my will power that kept me conscious about any possible relapse would result in more severe PAWS or flatline so I just passed through that phase.

After days 110 I started feeling flatline probably almost gone but PAWS was there till 250 days. Here, the PAWS was very horrible in my case, I felt anxious, depressed, mood swings (sometimes very up and down), anhedonia, severe brain fog but my erection was full too strong and libido was okay too. Somedays felt like I am at a new level of life where the world felt so beautiful place but somedays were horrible.

Bro, I hate PAWS, but now pretty much all gone and mental clarity is amazing, I can concentrate well, sharper brain, improved memory, brain fog has lifted up, anxiety pretty much gone, feeling less depressed.



This was my journey in short but what kept me going through flatline/PAWS phases is that I kept the recovery guide and books with me and read it daily, meditation helped me a lot, good sleep plays the most important role in PMO addiction which no one talks about. Bad sleep creates many problems.

 

Not engaging in PMO allows you to be the person who you really are without strong urges clouding your mind. You can think and feel more purely and have a sense of balance about yourself. You become high performance and see how mediocre people are being with themselves, not striving to be better. Overweight, poor diet, swearing all the time….just not being serious with life and changing things for the better. Just treading water.