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

Ok, that is encouraging. I have a long time partner whom i love and it would be hard to go without O for a couple of years.
Another question: i just spent a couple of hours going through this thread again, as well as others. I see so much information about the flatline being tough, but most guys report emotional or sexual symptoms. I barely see reports of just being unable to function physically: not being able to stand or walk and just laying down feeling horrible, which is what is happening to me. You mentioned dizziness in your post. How was it for you during PAWS?

 

So yes I did have sex the entire time. However there is no doubt in my mind that it prolonged things for me. However again had I not had sex with my wife constantly I probably wouldn’t have been able to get three years of sobriety under my belt. The relationship with her in the beginning was the biggest motivation for me to kick this thing. This thing is different for everyone. I think if you keep having sex but cut out the edging you are moving in the right direction. You have to think though that your nervous system is pretty shot right now. Do whatever you can to give it the time it needs to recover.

I have definitely heard of people having massive physical side effects from this thing. Go look at the Benzo Buddies forum and see what those people go through. There seems to be a lot of parallels in how this 2 addictions line up with each other. The dizziness was annoying but not disabling. Usually when I would wear my glasses it would minimize. It’s weird, now I hardly have to wear my glasses at all anymore. I enjoy the questions so don’t hesitate to ask.

 

Lol I meant to type consistently not constantly. I think she would have gotten pretty sick of me if that were the case.

 

thank you so much. It helps a lot to be able to share this and to hear that my symptoms are not just mine alone. I am absolutely freaking out today. Can't move, limbs are heavy and weak, totally shaking, very dizzy, heart palps, almost passed out earlier with hot flashes. Considering going to the emergency. I don't even know how to evaluate my journey because i have been reducing PMO for a long time but relapsed countless times without knowing that i was relapsing. I was just 'drinking my coffee' to get through the day.

 

I can relate too. For the past 2 years that I been cutting down because of over 25 years of pmo, then I got pied. After every steak of 2 or 3 weeks I would have crippling symptoms like you do and would replase.

I have a steak of 31 days Now and my anxiety and depression is horrible that I can't even barely work.

I went to my doctor 5 days ago and got some antidepressants of 10mg of citalipram.
Hopefully this will help me weather the storm because I think I'll be feeling like crap for atleast a year or more.

 

Antidepressants can cause even worse and longer withdrawals than porn

 

I been on 20mg of citalipram before and weaned off it with no withdrawal symptoms. I'm on half of that now so I think I'll be ok.

 

Что вы думаете о спорте? Многие пишут о помощи себе во время перезагрузки поднятием тяжестей или бегом. Но, увы, я заметил, что пока я нахожусь в стадии строительства отмены, спорт делает меня еще хуже. Я чувствую головокружение и краснею. В моей прошлой серии тело само начало прощать физические нагрузки в определенный момент. Сейчас он к этому не готов, несмотря на 58 дней.

 

same, can't work. And same pattern with relapsing every week or 2 and having these horrible symptoms. I am trying to stay away from anti-depressants because i suffer from occasional AFIB (i am hoping that nofap will help this as well) but if it works for you, great.

 

I can't exercise at all. It is interesting because until recently i did not know i was going thru PAWS. I was given a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia 6 years ago in in Fibro, if you exercise, you crash afterwards. So i thought this was the explanation for me. But for some, low exercise tolerance might be a symptoms of PAWS

 

Anyone else experiencing low blood sugar? I noticed that my symptoms are worse when my BS is low and better (but not gone) after food.

 

For the first 120 days the only exercise I did was daily walks but even with them I felt my mood and energy levels going down, gradually though I became more tolerable to them and could walk for longer until I started feeling bad. After 120 days I got back into lifting weights and the first couple of times I felt really depressed afterwards, normal people feel great after a workout but I felt terrible. Again though this has faded over time and now it's not too bad. At 58 days there was no way I could do anything strenuous like weights or running, I had zero motivation to do anything at that point either but physically I was also too tired to even consider it. Listen to your body.

 

I'm just on edge guys. I can't even imagine what it's like to feel the energy in myself. I don't understand how people work 8-12 hours every day. And where do they get the strength to go somewhere after work, it already seems to me that such people have some kind of cheat code in this life. I am already so used to living with almost zero energy that it is already strange for me to see cheerful and active people. Since I started making long stripes in 2022, I've been feeling even worse all this time. I live in a cycle from a flat line with abstinence, to breakdowns of binge drinking.

 

I really hope all of you guys who are suffering can get some improvement.

 

It is defiently a possibility that PMO caused your symptoms. Is it for sure? We simply dont know. However i suggest you read about Semen Retention which is what you are going to be doing anyways. Semen retention and people on long nofap streaks usually get healed of many physicial and emotional illnesses, its extremely common. Semen retention i reckon you dive down that rabit hole. I would suggest you not having sex, but ejaculating is probably the most important thing for you NOT TO DO, however if you need to have sex with your wife i would suggest looking into NEO and Karezza, maybe it will even change your relationship for the better. Its basically sex without ejaculation, you can practice your body with time to do that. Read, get inspired, and trust you are on the right path. Have a good journey my brother.

 

Im on day 202 after many long streak in the past. Im a very severe case of PAWS. For the past 1.5 month i have been in a horrible wave, anxiety has been off the charges, anxiety attacks, ocd, and stress. Its never been as bad as it is now, however my urges have been huge too for romance, sex, lust, etc. I hope this is the final wave before it gets better. Im kiind of at a point where i dont know what to do. If 2 years strict semen retention doesnt make me feel better even after all these years of streaks, then i simply know that i wont get better, and that will hurt a lot. Semen retention is kinda my only hope left, i dont trust the anti depressant anti anxiety route, its ust gonna destroy my brain even more in the long run. I dont trust adhd meds, im prone to paws and withdrawals. I have felt the benefits on semen retention before my paws got a lot worse, i simply know there is a way to get those back. I will keep going for as long as i have to, just keep going and believeing. And hopefully i will get rewarded or at least pointed in the right direction.

 

If you are anything like me you probably masturbated to porn for much longer than 2 years.

Yeah it would be nice to recover the damage done in 1 year in 1-2 months but some people will need more.

I abused porn pretty badly for 14 years, especially the first 7.

Now I still have bad PAWS after 13 months PMO free. And this is not even 10% recovery time of my PMO time.

Even 5 years of recovery would only be a bit more than 1/3 of the time I spent watching porn everyday

 

thank you. i think this is what kills me the most: not knowing. It is a leap of faith. I can suffer and be non-functional at all for months if i know it will help. But the not knowing is crazy. But i guess this what we all have in common in these forums. We must believe and keep the faith that all will be well. Re. your suggestion for altnernatives to traditional sex: we have been experimenting already with Tantra, parts of which go a bit in the same direction as what you suggest. I did not know about Karezza. Sounds a bit like edging, or?

 

Yeah i know exactly what you mean, for me its been a leap of faith too. However on my first 2 years of short streaks i felt the immense benefits of semen retention or maybe just not being addicted to pmo anymore, before all this flatline long withdrawal stuff hit. So therefor i have more faith and i also have good days and good moments where i feel the benefits for a short time, so that gives me hope. Im sure semen retention will heal you and pmo may even be the cause of all this.
Karezza as i understand it actually contains very little movement and focus a looot on bonding etc, but again i dont know. For me i was so addicted to orgasm that i simply cant have sex for now

 

I really want to encourage you to not put an artificial time limit on this thing. When 2 years came around for me and I wasn’t feeling any better I was super discouraged. I felt countless times that I would never recover. I woke up this morning feeling great man. I’m not saying this to brag just to give you a little hope that this thing truly is temporary. Keep pushing. I went down the anti depressant road briefly and there is no doubt in my mind they set me back. I really think it’s key to just let your nervous system do what it needs to do accept it and just ride it out.