Guys who have completely stopped PMO: did you quit cold turkey or gradually?

In my experience it is more effective to try to not use any external stimuli for sexual gratification. Whether to allow masturbation or not people's views and experience might differ on, but personally I've noticed that I very rarely have an urge for masturbation except if I've already peeked at porn.
When you do relapse, it is great if it's with something milder than you were used to. That's why in the last three months, I put most focus on staying away from porn videos—my goal was to not PMO at all, but when I did give in, I still made sure to stay away from porn videos. But I wouldn't tell myself it's okay to relapse to nude photos, or to anything else. That just keeps one addicted.

 

When you don't eat for a while your body becomes hyper sensitive to smells of food, pictures of food, etc. They will be 10 times stronger than usual. While this is biologically useful (the body signals that it wants food), the same can happen with addiction to porn. Your mind and body might think that porn is neccessary for their survival and heighten your perception in the direction of hot women, naked skin, ...
But don't worry, this will pass. You are right: There is no need for exercise. It will happen naturally by itself because pornography is not an essential ingredient of life. In fact, "exercising" to become less sensitive could be another clever excuse of the addict mind to relapse. Withdrawals won't feel very good but eventually they will pass and you need to go through them. Embrace them as part of your healing.

 

I completely agree with Serendipity2's post!

While I was getting groceries I remembered your second question. I do not have a girlfriend, but I would like to give some input. Based on my intuition and the experiences I've heard from others, it can be easier to stay clean when you are in a romantic relationship. For one, because you have someone to fight for, for two, because you can get support from your significant other. However, despite that, I hope that I will be able to consistently stay clean before I get into a romantic relationship. This is because, also from intuition and the experiences I've heard from others, it can be extremely painful when your significant other relapses. I once talked to a girl who was addicted herself as well, and thus could sympathise with her addicted boyfriend, and even still when her boyfriend relapsed it hurt her very much and she felt inferior, comparing herself to porn actresses. I would not want my girlfriend to have to bear the burden of my addiction!

 

I want to be honest and say having a partner / someone that you are interested in makes it a lot easier. I suffered from PIED and was PMO'ing for over 8 years from quite young. I wanted to be able to be intimate asap, so I thought it would be best to go cold turkey. Fuck me it was DIFFICULT but that motivation really drove me on. I think it was a risky method and still is, because if thins don't work out with your partner, it can fully kill your motivation. If I really had crazy urges all day, I would MO without just from imagination, but please note this does set back your recovery. For my journey, I knew I would end up looking at P if I started looking at other stuff. The way forward for me was definitely cold turkey and I think it worked best. But everyone is different, so I genuinely think you have to figure out what works for you.

 

I have tried no PMO in the past. I made it to 90 days when I first started but I relapsed and went back to my old ways. I am taking a different approach. I have quit looking at psubs but still allowing MO, just until I have psubs under control where I feel like I don't need to look at it anymore. I plan on doing this for 90 days and try to refrain from MO as much as possible. So far I have a streak of no PMO for 7 days then MO'ed. But I still continue no Psubs. This is the approach I think will work for me. I already feel the difference with a few days of no PMO. It is very beneficial, mood has changed, I feel more focused and smarter so it allows me to do the things I want to accomplish. I think you should find what works best for you. I feel like I am progressing with this approach so this is what I will do.

 

it's been two years and i've struggled like crazy. some times i was struggling not to jack off for even 3 days. sometimes a week. sometimes a month. sometimes i struggled to even ask girls out. sometimes i struggled to let myself enjoy the process of a developing relationship. sometimes this sometimes that. it's all been a process and I've grown a whole lot. my current streak is on day 39, and i'm doing fucking great. i'm actually putting in 0 effort not to jack off these days. it took me a while to get here. but if you keep trying, if you keep growing, you will eventually put this behind you.

 

if you went from jacking off everyday, every few days, or every week, to once or twice in the last 18 days. that doesn't mean you're a failure. that's progress. failure would be not trying again.

 

personal advice: get the fuck off social media. i reinstall social media for 2 weeks at the beginning of every semester in college so i can checkout any clubs i'm interested it, but past that i stay the fuck off. you still need to consume content and let your body fill it's social meter somehow. i recommend getting a used kindle paperwhite and downloading some books so you have content. as for people i recommend a martial arts club or sports club. i know you're not in college. but you don't have to be in college for this.

 

Hi refinement. Sure, but it may not be what you want to hear, but this is something what I think worked for me. I couldn't do no P before, just like you, because I had no experience with sex or women for that matter. I did some adult webcamming, I am shy, so I learned how to talk to women online that I liked. I did this a lot last year. During this time, I also went to an erotic massage once. She was beautiful, you wouldn't believe how beautiful she was, and I still wonder why she does this instead of something else like influencer or modeling. Having some practice with women online already under my belt, I made a very strong connection with her and the experience was positive. So you see, I had a lot of lust I think and lack of experience with women. After this, I went to a sex therapist, to help me quit camming online. I was able to do this. I also quit any other habit related to dopamine, like caffeine and too much computer use. So now I am ready to do no P. It isn't even difficult, I can do this. The MO is difficult, but once I have P under control I will work on long streaks of no MO and also start finding a partner.

 

Hey brother. With regards to adult webcamming, I did all the above. It was important for me to be seen and heard. I don't think I would have gotten the same experience if I did not show my face. But I started slow, where I would show myself but I would type instead of talking. Then I got the courage to talk for the first time without turning on my camera. The first girl I had a conversation with, was positive. I couldn't believe it. So I got the confidence right then and there to try it more. Eventually I turned my camera on and I was off to the races.

I have a very high sensitivity to caffeine. I cannot drink it. It makes me more horny and it affects the way I think. I think because I already have a very high dopamine addiction, so if I drink it I become nervous and my body cannot handle it. So, it depends on how your body reponds to it. I think in your case it's okay to drink it.

 

Oh no, sorry, I only did webcam sex, but I did show my face. I did this for a while, and never had an issue. The site is very serious about recording and webcam girls will get banned if they record video of clients. So far I haven't seen any videos of myself online lol.

You can usually tell if someone is being ingenuine or is in it just for the money. Some of them are, but usually they're not very attractive. Most of them are normal people believe or not. Most of them enjoy doing it. So don't think because you are paying for something, it's not going to be genuine. They all want to be wanted and liked, just like you and I, they want to have a good time.

 

I am confused. @babyyoda, are you suggesting webcam sex as a means to aid in quitting porn, despite yourself needing a sex therapist to help you quit webcam sex again?