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

Huh?

 

Are you willing to expose yourself like that ? Women don´t care about your struggles, in fact, their subconscious will despise your situation. While you are trying to figure it out, they will think :

- What the fuck is wrong with this guy ?

It is a big risk you are taking but i wish you good luck. If you notice any change with that approach, tell us.

 

I realize it's an unpopular stance for me to take, since it seems customary to adhere to either one or the other, but I think one doesn't necessarily exclude the other in this case. The majority of the uplifting and inspiring posts I've read have credited time as the main healing force—that's what I meant by the elephant in the room—but I think we should do everything in our power to roll away the stone. That said, our individual biases may be at play here, so maybe our elephants are different.

I would love to hear what the outcome of your rewiring experiment is, so do keep the thread posted if you go through with it. Speaking of rewiring, I wonder if @Experiment1996 is feeling better nowadays. He hasn't been very active here lately, but last time he checked in he was pulling a lot of levers to see if he could heal faster, and he reported PAWS reductions. Hard to say if they were from time alone, measures he took, or a combination of both, but here's to hoping they continued!

 

Never mind, he actually posted recently.

 

@Experiment1996 told me yesterday he Will make an update soon. Dont know if he is better.

 

I relate to what you are saying here. This is exactly what has happened with a girl previously, and is what probably pushed me further away from rewiring with someone during my reboot.

But I think I just need to be sure that rewiring or regular intimacy is what is missing for me in terms of recovery. Most of all I’m not sure if I’ll get this opportunity with the time off work that I have.

Yeah I’ll document everything and keep a close eye on what happens, I think that’s important.

 

I think what I understood re-reading this thread is that unconsciously everyone wants the other to heal. I think the reason we disagree with one another’s points is simply because deep down we want the other to acknowledge that another form of healing might be possible. Or at least that’s how I recognise it.

So I think for those of us that want to wait recovery out, that’s ok. And for those of us who want to be proactive about recovery that’s ok too.

But as I mentioned I am going to attempt to rewire starting next week if I can, and I’ll update as I go. Any additional input during the process will honestly be welcomed.

 

Benzos
Weed
Alcohol
Caffeine
Anti-Depressants

Each of those have their own PAWS community. How many of them required "rewiring" in order to heal? I don't monitor them closely but from what I've seen they all follow a pretty similar pathway to recovery. Or are we to say that porn PAWS is different and requires something none of those do to get out of it?

I think the sad fact is that it recovery just takes a very long time and there's no way around it. There is still a reluctance to place porn PAWS on a level with those or even acknowledge its existence at all, despite ample anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

 

I understand what you are saying here. I think that it is up to everyone to decide what they believe is (and is not) the cause of PAWS for them. I don’t think it’s for me to decide for anyone what is causing their symptoms.

What I will say is that I need answers as to why rebooters like @Grateful Retainer, @Don Quinoxte, @NoFapSuccess2018 and others healed after engaging their libido again or having a partner. Or why I feel almost back to normal the day after I have a nocturnal emission.

I started rebooting at 30 and now I’m 35. I think for me it has been too long and something has to give. Again, I am not putting this onto anyone and saying they should do the same. I’m simply saying that I need to venture out of the cave and see what’s above ground. If things don’t work out at least it can be considered that time is the one and only answer and nothing else.

 

I tried rewiring consistently for a long period of time more than 6 months I'd say. I can safely that, it's not the approach for me personally. I feel better without it. After every orgasm i felt like shit for 10 days or so. And when i stopped rewiring was the time when i could truly see improvements. I don't think it's for everyone, but suit yourself, try it out if you're willing to do it. Every recovery is different.

 

This was my experience previously also. A horrible slip back into the flatline after orgasm. So to avoid it my plan would be to stick with light intimacy first (little to no orgasm) and see how that goes first. I think regular intimacy should be enough, but if no progress, step it up to maybe one orgasm every 3 weeks. I'm conscious that my nervous system is fragile, so the aim is not to rush and just see what occurs.

 

I find that I feel pretty bad after a wet dream but not as bad as if I relapsed. And if I just masturbate it's sort of in between the two. The longer I go without orgasm, the worse I feel in general no matter what causes it.

 

I couldn't say. I think for everyone it might be different.

For me I would say my libido is extremely low but it is there. As long as I stay away from stimulants (caffeine, alcohol, sugar etc.) it essentially remains.

 

Hey guys, I've been experiencing this thing in my recovery and I just wanted y'all's opinion on it. So basically my current recovery began in April 2023, and since then the recovery has been good I've been feeling nice, overall, compared to previous years. I've also been working out and I'm also doing a dopamine Detox, so that means no insta, YouTube, internet scrolling, music etc. And i feel amazing when i don't do all these things (stimulants) i get mental clarity no brain fog no anhedonia as well but no libido and pied is still remains but mentally i feel very clear. But the problem is, whenever i indulge in any of these activities, i start getting this tightness in my frontal cortex and i experience brain fog and I'm not very relaxed mentally i start getting a bit depressed and not that upbeat. For eg. I watch a couple YouTube videos or scroll Instagram for 10-15 mins, and i start experiences these symptoms. Also I'd like to mention there's no sexual stimulation involved at all on any level when i use YouTube or Instagram so that's not the case at all. (also I really don't even seek sexual stimulation online like I used to previously all the time, like i wouldn't even bother looking at a model's picture on Instagram I'd just keep scrolling without stopping for a second even). Also the same thing happens if i smoke a cigarette( I'm not a smoker i just have one , once in a very long time 3-4 months), these symptoms happen with twice the intensity. Also one thing is to be noted that, before this current recovery, this never used to happen, like even if i smoked a cigarette or watched YouTube for hours i used to never get brain fog.
My guess is that my brain has entered the phase where it's healing itself and has gone into recovery mode so even a slight hindrance is irritating the brain, not letting it regulate the access dopamine properly.
I would really love to hear your opinions and suggestions on the matter. And going forward, i really think continuing with the dopamine Detox is the best i can do, because that is when i feel the best mentally.

 

Earlier I went to a restaurant with family, there was a cute waitress there. I tried to feel something when looking at her but I couldn't, she may as well have been a dude. I really can't imagine any kind of intimacy being possible right now on my part and I don't think it's something that can be coaxed out of me. The only time I can ever feel anything when looking at a woman is if she's dressed extremely trashy but even then it's not authentic attraction, more like a crack addict who just saw their dealer walk down the street.

Ever since puberty, all I've ever known is extremely high libido and ever since nofap all I've known is zero libido. Nothing in between. Tbh the flatline is a blessing in disguise, otherwise I'd never have been able to quit porn. I'm also somewhat grateful my libido is dead as otherwise I'd be questioning whether all the other stuff I'm experiencing is because of PAWS or just who I am.

I hated going to the restaurant by the way. I actively avoid these kind of occasions as I know I can't enjoy them and that just makes me feel worse about the situation. It's a bit better than it was six months ago though. I remember at my lowest point my mood would crash just from going for a walk or lifting some weights, basically the total opposite of how those things should make a person feel.

 

I can only give my opinion and what I have experienced myself, but here is what I think:

I experienced this earlier on in my reboot. I could only be online for maybe 15/20 minutes before I would start to get the strange sensation in my head/brain. It was the same for video games and most other forms of stimulation. While I can't be 100% sure, I translated it as my nervous system having become more sensitive to stimulation. As I recovered, 15 minutes became 35 minutes, then 45 minutes. The more time I spent recovering, the longer I was able to handle stimulation.

Sorry I cannot provide more clarity, what I would say is keep monitoring how your nervous system responds to different forms of stimulation. Good to hear you're seeing improvements.