New here, need help/Advice withdrawals/paws

V

Vicbar93

Fapstronaut
Hi everyone
I'm new here I'm looking for advice, I am currently on day 49 Nofap, Bit off a background, I have been addicted to pornography as far back as I can remember maybe 13 years old, I am currently 28 years old, soo 15 maybe plus years off an addiction, over the last few years it really spiralled out of control and ordinary porn just wasn't cutting it anymore which lead to more explicit stuff and fetishes, I realised a year ago or soo it was time to quit and tried my best but never made it past 2 weeks I relapsed almost like clockwork the urges overcome me everytime. This is the longest streak I have ever been on 49 days I am determined to overcome this addiction once and for all, however the withdrawal symptoms have been like nothing I have ever experienced before, I successfully gave up Cigarettes 2 years ago and weed about 1.5 years ago both off which I was addicted too for years, so I know what withdrawal symptoms are like but this is something else, I have lost my job recently because off these symptoms as I wasn't able to even function or work, I was even told by a doctor he believes I'm suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, But I know it's Pmo related and Not that, I'm just taken back by how severe the withdrawal symptoms are.
I'll list them bellow
> Severe Depression
>Anxiety and panic attacks
>Anhedonia
>No energy/ extreme fatigue
>Insomnia
>Libido completely gone
>Muscles extremely weak
> Muscle twitching throughout my whole body
>Fear out off Nowhere
>Digestive issues/Heartburn GERD IBS
>Irritability/Anger
>Brainfog/No concentration (feel like my brain is only working 20%)
>Mumbling words/ Hard to follow up conversation
>emotional breakdowns followed by days off numbness and almost no emotion (almost like a cycle)
It's worth mentioning I was struggling with depression and anxiety before Nofap but Nowhere to this degree it's almost quadrupled.
Day 1 to around day 20 libido was high and energy was up I felt Great, Then the flatline hit hard and these symptoms seemed to come nearly overnight. Almost feel like I'm loosing my mind at times, recently had to start a sleeping medication (trazodone) to help insomnia and doctors want to put me on venlafaxine (Effexor) I'm reluctant to start an antidepressant but feel like I have no choice.
Recently had blood tests also and testosterone is now low and prolactin is through the roof almost double the top end off Normal.
I Quess what I want to know is are these common withdrawal symptoms??
Did anyone here experience these as withdrawals??
And roughly how long before I see improvement??
Also anybody else's testosterone drop during reboot and prolactin increase?? And what does this mean, is it part off the healing process??
All answers are welcome and thanks for taking the time to read this as I know it's abit long winded.
 
Saludos .... oye mi caso es parecido, mi racha más larga llegó hasta los 50 días en Agosto y de allí caí, y no pude repone, se fueron algunos beneficios, la depresión fue un problema desde el día 30 al 50 aproximadamente. Ya estoy de vuelta y siento que noviembre será un buen mes, tenemos que valorar cada día sin Pmo, ya que estamos controlando nuestro ser y no siendo controlados. Ánimo
 
Vicbar93 said:
Hi everyone
I'm new here I'm looking for advice, I am currently on day 49 Nofap, Bit off a background, I have been addicted to pornography as far back as I can remember maybe 13 years old, I am currently 28 years old, soo 15 maybe plus years off an addiction, over the last few years it really spiralled out of control and ordinary porn just wasn't cutting it anymore which lead to more explicit stuff and fetishes, I realised a year ago or soo it was time to quit and tried my best but never made it past 2 weeks I relapsed almost like clockwork the urges overcome me everytime. This is the longest streak I have ever been on 49 days I am determined to overcome this addiction once and for all, however the withdrawal symptoms have been like nothing I have ever experienced before, I successfully gave up Cigarettes 2 years ago and weed about 1.5 years ago both off which I was addicted too for years, so I know what withdrawal symptoms are like but this is something else, I have lost my job recently because off these symptoms as I wasn't able to even function or work, I was even told by a doctor he believes I'm suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, But I know it's Pmo related and Not that, I'm just taken back by how severe the withdrawal symptoms are.
I'll list them bellow
> Severe Depression
>Anxiety and panic attacks
>Anhedonia
>No energy/ extreme fatigue
>Insomnia
>Libido completely gone
>Muscles extremely weak
> Muscle twitching throughout my whole body
>Fear out off Nowhere
>Digestive issues/Heartburn GERD IBS
>Irritability/Anger
>Brainfog/No concentration (feel like my brain is only working 20%)
>Mumbling words/ Hard to follow up conversation
>emotional breakdowns followed by days off numbness and almost no emotion (almost like a cycle)
It's worth mentioning I was struggling with depression and anxiety before Nofap but Nowhere to this degree it's almost quadrupled.
Day 1 to around day 20 libido was high and energy was up I felt Great, Then the flatline hit hard and these symptoms seemed to come nearly overnight. Almost feel like I'm loosing my mind at times, recently had to start a sleeping medication (trazodone) to help insomnia and doctors want to put me on venlafaxine (Effexor) I'm reluctant to start an antidepressant but feel like I have no choice.
Recently had blood tests also and testosterone is now low and prolactin is through the roof almost double the top end off Normal.
I Quess what I want to know is are these common withdrawal symptoms??
Did anyone here experience these as withdrawals??
And roughly how long before I see improvement??
Also anybody else's testosterone drop during reboot and prolactin increase?? And what does this mean, is it part off the healing process??
All answers are welcome and thanks for taking the time to read this as I know it's abit long winded.
Click to expand...

Yeah, check the withdrawals and paws threads. Bunch info there....
 
Hi bro,
Just read through your post. I’m over a year into nofap. It gets easier trust me! But you have to make active changes in your life and routine to help with the paws symptoms.
For example, eating healthy, exercise, weight lifting, socialising etc..

I had nearly all the symptoms you describe.. I also went for blood tests and had high prolactin. From what I’ve read it’s due to stress hormones being high due to quitting an addiction.

It takes time for our brains to heal back to normal level stimulation. The best advice I can give you is to stick with it.. exercise as regular as you can, specifically lift weights to help with your testosterone and your depression and anxiety. Stay away from all artificial dopamine hits, alcohol, smoking, porn, drugs etc.. to help with the healing. Hope this is of some help. I can give loads more advice and tell you more about my own experiences if you want?
 
GHread said:
Hi bro,
Just read through your post. I’m over a year into nofap. It gets easier trust me! But you have to make active changes in your life and routine to help with the paws symptoms.
For example, eating healthy, exercise, weight lifting, socialising etc..

I had nearly all the symptoms you describe.. I also went for blood tests and had high prolactin. From what I’ve read it’s due to stress hormones being high due to quitting an addiction.

It takes time for our brains to heal back to normal level stimulation. The best advice I can give you is to stick with it.. exercise as regular as you can, specifically lift weights to help with your testosterone and your depression and anxiety. Stay away from all artificial dopamine hits, alcohol, smoking, porn, drugs etc.. to help with the healing. Hope this is of some help. I can give loads more advice and tell you more about my own experiences if you want?
Click to expand...
Hi Thanks for the reply it was very motivating, good to know I'm not alone, I'm glad things got alot better for you, I would appreciate it if you could share more with me that would be great to hear your experiences and journey. It would help give me a better insight to what is ahead. Thanks
 
Vicbar93 said:
Hi Thanks for the reply it was very motivating, good to know I'm not alone, I'm glad things got alot better for you, I would appreciate it if you could share more with me that would be great to hear your experiences and journey. It would help give me a better insight to what is ahead. Thanks
Click to expand...

ye mate, if you have any questions for me.. fire away. Been researching heavily into this for a year.
I was addicted for 8-9 years, it was a daily thing for myself, hence why it’s taking me so long to recover. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m 1-1.5 years into this. What we are going through is post acute withdrawal syndrome, so if you read up on that, it will help put your mind at rest. Any questions, feel free to ask.
 
GHread said:
ye mate, if you have any questions for me.. fire away. Been researching heavily into this for a year.
I was addicted for 8-9 years, it was a daily thing for myself, hence why it’s taking me so long to recover. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m 1-1.5 years into this. What we are going through is post acute withdrawal syndrome, so if you read up on that, it will help put your mind at rest. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...
GHread said:
ye mate, if you have any questions for me.. fire away. Been researching heavily into this for a year.
I was addicted for 8-9 years, it was a daily thing for myself, hence why it’s taking me so long to recover. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m 1-1.5 years into this. What we are going through is post acute withdrawal syndrome, so if you read up on that, it will help put your mind at rest. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for the Reply
I'm keen to know all I can about this myself, so any information is more than welcome. I've researched into it abit myself and understand about the dopamine downregulation over time due to years of overstimulation, I have read up on Post Acute withdrawal syndrome and it seems to match all my symptoms alright, I'm just taken back by how severe they are, As I said I gave up cigarettes 2 years ago and weed 1.5 years ago both cold turkey I experienced withdrawal symptoms but nothing like this. I'm Also around 10 weeks no Alcohol too as it was a major issue for causing relapses to pmo. When I think back on it I felt so much better back then when I was Drinking, smoking, using weed and porn, I quess they were just a coping mechanism covering underlying issues, I just hope it starts to pay off and I see the benefits soon.
Do you mind sharing what withdrawal symptoms you experienced? And timeline of when each 1 started to get better?
And did you have a long flatline for weeks/Months?
And as for diet have you followed a particular diet? Or just cut out refined carbs and sugar etc.
Anything in particular that helps speed up the process of recovery I guess.
And how are you now over a year in? Any lingering Withdrawal symptoms still?.
Sorry for such a load of questions, I'm just trying to get my head around it all and give myself a rough timeline of what to expect. Thanks.
 
No it’s alright mate, I don’t mind answering your questions. Truth be told I’m not 100% yet. Still experiencing certain symptoms.
Still experiencing Anhedonia, some days are worse then others but it’s getting better. Get bouts of minor anxiety/depression but they are like 60/70% better then they were. Still struggle with my focus, nothing really overly excites me, feeling like everything is grey, but this is just to do with lack of dopamine, and nothing else. But it’s all improving week by week at the minute.
This is a very powerful stimulus that we have been abusing. To reproduce is a highest biological drive, I’ve read where studies have said porn is as bad for your reward centre as drugs, so if you had been taking drugs for 7 years +, you wouldn’t expect to be back to normal within a few months, it’s going to take 12-24 months to fully recover. Great to hear you have quit weed and smoking. I also have quit smoking. I still drink on the odd occasion socially but not a lot at all, went nearly a year without barely touching any when I first started nofap.
The best way to reboot your brain is to reduce all artificial dopamine stimulants. Try to not even think about porn/sex etc.. overtime the more natural thoughts about women will slowly start to arise again and your libido will return.
What we are both experiencing is simply just a lack of dopamine, due to quitting an addiction, and porn was like our final addiction that we have quit and that’s why it’s hitting us both hard. All the things we are lacking Libido/socialising/ motivation etc are all related to dopamine. Overtime it will slowly get better and you will start to feel how you did years ago before this was causing problems. I don’t really get depressed, or bad anxiety anymore, they got better around the 6-8 month mark. For me weight training/ exercise has been the key to help with Paws and make them more bearable.

Im just over a year in, and i feel fucking worlds better then I did, and really making loads of progress. Even if it takes me another year, the benefits and being back to “normal” is 100% worth it. Mines taken me a bit longer because I didn’t go cold turkey in the early days, still was fantasising, messaging girls for the intention of only one thing, Instagram pics etc.. these things didn’t really do a lot for me because I was so numb but it was my brain trying to get its fix. The key is you need to go cold turkey! Cut out all sexual stimulation for a period of time, then when you feel a bit more up for it, put yourself out there into the real world.

Regarding diet I just eat clean. Nothing in particular. Limit my sugar and fats etc, hardly eat fast food. But I’m playing sport on the weekends and weight lifting in the weeks which has helped me massively! I can explain so much more if you wanted to contact me personally. It’s just hard to get it all into text haha.
Whilst women aren’t a distraction, the best thing I can say, use this time wisely to build yourself into a man that a woman desires and wants to be with, so when your mind is ready, you will be ready.
 
GHread said:
No it’s alright mate, I don’t mind answering your questions. Truth be told I’m not 100% yet. Still experiencing certain symptoms.
Still experiencing Anhedonia, some days are worse then others but it’s getting better. Get bouts of minor anxiety/depression but they are like 60/70% better then they were. Still struggle with my focus, nothing really overly excites me, feeling like everything is grey, but this is just to do with lack of dopamine, and nothing else. But it’s all improving week by week at the minute.
This is a very powerful stimulus that we have been abusing. To reproduce is a highest biological drive, I’ve read where studies have said porn is as bad for your reward centre as drugs, so if you had been taking drugs for 7 years +, you wouldn’t expect to be back to normal within a few months, it’s going to take 12-24 months to fully recover. Great to hear you have quit weed and smoking. I also have quit smoking. I still drink on the odd occasion socially but not a lot at all, went nearly a year without barely touching any when I first started nofap.
The best way to reboot your brain is to reduce all artificial dopamine stimulants. Try to not even think about porn/sex etc.. overtime the more natural thoughts about women will slowly start to arise again and your libido will return.
What we are both experiencing is simply just a lack of dopamine, due to quitting an addiction, and porn was like our final addiction that we have quit and that’s why it’s hitting us both hard. All the things we are lacking Libido/socialising/ motivation etc are all related to dopamine. Overtime it will slowly get better and you will start to feel how you did years ago before this was causing problems. I don’t really get depressed, or bad anxiety anymore, they got better around the 6-8 month mark. For me weight training/ exercise has been the key to help with Paws and make them more bearable.

Im just over a year in, and i feel fucking worlds better then I did, and really making loads of progress. Even if it takes me another year, the benefits and being back to “normal” is 100% worth it. Mines taken me a bit longer because I didn’t go cold turkey in the early days, still was fantasising, messaging girls for the intention of only one thing, Instagram pics etc.. these things didn’t really do a lot for me because I was so numb but it was my brain trying to get its fix. The key is you need to go cold turkey! Cut out all sexual stimulation for a period of time, then when you feel a bit more up for it, put yourself out there into the real world.

Regarding diet I just eat clean. Nothing in particular. Limit my sugar and fats etc, hardly eat fast food. But I’m playing sport on the weekends and weight lifting in the weeks which has helped me massively! I can explain so much more if you wanted to contact me personally. It’s just hard to get it all into text haha.
Whilst women aren’t a distraction, the best thing I can say, use this time wisely to build yourself into a man that a woman desires and wants to be with, so when your mind is ready, you will be ready.
Click to expand...

Hi, fellow PAWS suffer here. My journey was very similar to yours with the symptoms you described. Unfortunately I got complacent and relapsed in the 13th month. One month later and I'm still feeling s***. Do you think this relapse has set me all the way back or perhaps im experiencing a wave which shall pass?
 
wfcasdvwervdsv said:
Hi, fellow PAWS suffer here. My journey was very similar to yours with the symptoms you described. Unfortunately I got complacent and relapsed in the 13th month. One month later and I'm still feeling s***. Do you think this relapse has set me all the way back or perhaps im experiencing a wave which shall pass?
Click to expand...

hi mate,
Yes this will just be a faze that will pass. You haven’t undone your progress in one relapse. Use this to motivate yourself to not relapse again. Write a list down of reasons your doing this and read them daily to keep yourself focused. Make sure your good habits are in place, search habit replacement to help overcome addictions.
 
GHread said:
hi mate,
Yes this will just be a faze that will pass. You haven’t undone your progress in one relapse. Use this to motivate yourself to not relapse again. Write a list down of reasons your doing this and read them daily to keep yourself focused. Make sure your good habits are in place, search habit replacement to help overcome addictions.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response
 
GHread said:
No it’s alright mate, I don’t mind answering your questions. Truth be told I’m not 100% yet. Still experiencing certain symptoms.
Still experiencing Anhedonia, some days are worse then others but it’s getting better. Get bouts of minor anxiety/depression but they are like 60/70% better then they were. Still struggle with my focus, nothing really overly excites me, feeling like everything is grey, but this is just to do with lack of dopamine, and nothing else. But it’s all improving week by week at the minute.
This is a very powerful stimulus that we have been abusing. To reproduce is a highest biological drive, I’ve read where studies have said porn is as bad for your reward centre as drugs, so if you had been taking drugs for 7 years +, you wouldn’t expect to be back to normal within a few months, it’s going to take 12-24 months to fully recover. Great to hear you have quit weed and smoking. I also have quit smoking. I still drink on the odd occasion socially but not a lot at all, went nearly a year without barely touching any when I first started nofap.
The best way to reboot your brain is to reduce all artificial dopamine stimulants. Try to not even think about porn/sex etc.. overtime the more natural thoughts about women will slowly start to arise again and your libido will return.
What we are both experiencing is simply just a lack of dopamine, due to quitting an addiction, and porn was like our final addiction that we have quit and that’s why it’s hitting us both hard. All the things we are lacking Libido/socialising/ motivation etc are all related to dopamine. Overtime it will slowly get better and you will start to feel how you did years ago before this was causing problems. I don’t really get depressed, or bad anxiety anymore, they got better around the 6-8 month mark. For me weight training/ exercise has been the key to help with Paws and make them more bearable.

Im just over a year in, and i feel fucking worlds better then I did, and really making loads of progress. Even if it takes me another year, the benefits and being back to “normal” is 100% worth it. Mines taken me a bit longer because I didn’t go cold turkey in the early days, still was fantasising, messaging girls for the intention of only one thing, Instagram pics etc.. these things didn’t really do a lot for me because I was so numb but it was my brain trying to get its fix. The key is you need to go cold turkey! Cut out all sexual stimulation for a period of time, then when you feel a bit more up for it, put yourself out there into the real world.

Regarding diet I just eat clean. Nothing in particular. Limit my sugar and fats etc, hardly eat fast food. But I’m playing sport on the weekends and weight lifting in the weeks which has helped me massively! I can explain so much more if you wanted to contact me personally. It’s just hard to get it all into text haha.
Whilst women aren’t a distraction, the best thing I can say, use this time wisely to build yourself into a man that a woman desires and wants to be with, so when your mind is ready, you will be ready.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice mate, It's incouraging to hear, I'm glad your 60/70% better, I think your right this whole 90 day reboot is a load of nonsense, I think I could be looking at 2 years or near myself. The depression is the worst for me to be honest out of all the withdrawal symptoms, really thinking of going on an antidepressant, I read that stress lowers serotonin in the brain, And as you said there's a massive increase in stress hormones when you quit an addiction. did you ever try an antidepressant or is it something you thought about during your reboot?. What withdrawal has been worst for you?
I read somewhere myself that porn is similar to drugs at numbing your reward circuit, Do you know much about the neuro science aspect of it all? It's hard to find subjects on it and there's alot of bro science out there lol. Yeah I wouldn't mind contacting you personally It would be great to hear more, as you said it's alot to text. Are you from the UK?
 
Vicbar93 said:
Thanks for the advice mate, It's incouraging to hear, I'm glad your 60/70% better, I think your right this whole 90 day reboot is a load of nonsense, I think I could be looking at 2 years or near myself. The depression is the worst for me to be honest out of all the withdrawal symptoms, really thinking of going on an antidepressant, I read that stress lowers serotonin in the brain, And as you said there's a massive increase in stress hormones when you quit an addiction. did you ever try an antidepressant or is it something you thought about during your reboot?. What withdrawal has been worst for you?
I read somewhere myself that porn is similar to drugs at numbing your reward circuit, Do you know much about the neuro science aspect of it all? It's hard to find subjects on it and there's alot of bro science out there lol. Yeah I wouldn't mind contacting you personally It would be great to hear more, as you said it's alot to text. Are you from the UK?
Click to expand...

Ye bro I’m from the UK. I went on them briefly at the start of the reboot because of how bad I was feeling but I didn’t stay on them long because of the side effects of low libido with anti depressants, whereas the low libido was something I was trying to fix by doing nofap.

I’ve done a lot of research on the brain and neuroscience regarding addiction. I think we can’t underestimate the power of this new modern day stimulus and how much it can affect us. We are both living proof of that. We are the guinea pigs.

Regarding withdrawal, the depression and anxiety for the first 6-7 months was bad but it does get better. I helped ease the pain by exercising which did help massively. I’d say both symptoms are pretty much gone, just get off days where it comes back a little bit, but this is due to me being stressed by something or if I have had a few beers the night before etc. Whilst we are healing, you have to treat your brain like a broken leg, slow small steps and in time you will be running marathons. I think Anhedonia is the worst of all the symptoms (this covers low libido). I’m still suffering with this symptom but it is improving slowly. I think getting a good understanding to what your going through will help you massively keep faith and believe in the process.

Let me know if you want to get in contact bud.
 
GHread said:
Ye bro I’m from the UK. I went on them briefly at the start of the reboot because of how bad I was feeling but I didn’t stay on them long because of the side effects of low libido with anti depressants, whereas the low libido was something I was trying to fix by doing nofap.

I’ve done a lot of research on the brain and neuroscience regarding addiction. I think we can’t underestimate the power of this new modern day stimulus and how much it can affect us. We are both living proof of that. We are the guinea pigs.

Regarding withdrawal, the depression and anxiety for the first 6-7 months was bad but it does get better. I helped ease the pain by exercising which did help massively. I’d say both symptoms are pretty much gone, just get off days where it comes back a little bit, but this is due to me being stressed by something or if I have had a few beers the night before etc. Whilst we are healing, you have to treat your brain like a broken leg, slow small steps and in time you will be running marathons. I think Anhedonia is the worst of all the symptoms (this covers low libido). I’m still suffering with this symptom but it is improving slowly. I think getting a good understanding to what your going through will help you massively keep faith and believe in the process.

Let me know if you want to get in contact bud.
Click to expand...
Im from the UK too (Northern Ireland) I'll drop you a message on your profile sure and we'll get in contact if you want?.
Did you find that the antidepressants helped though? I know they can cause problems like low libido and Erectile dysfunction but it seems like a price worth paying to get some relief from the depression, I'm at a lost end here with it.
I would love to know more about the neuro science of addiction, you're completely right it's good to know what your facing, I'm trying to do everything I can understand it, it's crazy how pixels on a screen can affect your brain soo much, Porn really is poison..
Did you find your energy was really low at the start off reboot? I'm relaying on coffee every day just to get anything done, I've heard it can affect your reboot though? Because it's a stimulant and affects dopamine.
Our brains really are soo fragile during Reboot.
 
Vicbar93 said:
Im from the UK too (Northern Ireland) I'll drop you a message on your profile sure and we'll get in contact if you want?.
Did you find that the antidepressants helped though? I know they can cause problems like low libido and Erectile dysfunction but it seems like a price worth paying to get some relief from the depression, I'm at a lost end here with it.
I would love to know more about the neuro science of addiction, you're completely right it's good to know what your facing, I'm trying to do everything I can understand it, it's crazy how pixels on a screen can affect your brain soo much, Porn really is poison..
Did you find your energy was really low at the start off reboot? I'm relaying on coffee every day just to get anything done, I've heard it can affect your reboot though? Because it's a stimulant and affects dopamine.
Our brains really are soo fragile during Reboot.
Click to expand...

Best thing to do mate, drop me a message and we will have a chat about things ?
regarding anti depressants, that’s your call. I stayed away because of the low libido etc, which is what I was trying to fix.
Completely up to you my friend.
 
Hey man hope things have eased up a bit. I’m almost 2 years into this thing and still battle with my fair share of symptoms. At this point mostly depression, anxiety, brain fog and dizziness. Things have gotten a lot better than they were in the beginning but I am far from 100%. I can function well enough out of necessity since I am a father and husband and have very little choice. I did go cold turkey off of weed at the same time I did Porn and don’t do hard mode because I will not do that to my wife so my road is probably going to be a bit longer than others.​

As far as antidepressants go what I will say is this. I tried them for 5 days. They were prescribed by my GP. They were to say the least a nightmare. All of my symptoms ramped way up. Most antidepressants have a loading period where things could get way worse before they get better. I talked to a psychiatrist who said that when she put me on Prozac which adjusts serotonin that was the wrong drug. He said I should be on Wellbutrin which messes with dopamine. I never could bring myself to get back on them. I say all that to say that if you do decide to go that road please go with a specialist. I would hate for you to go through what I went through. For weeks after I got off of them I was messed up.

That being said I have several friends who are in recovery for other addictions than PMO who swear by them and have had a lot of success. For me I don’t want to be chemically dependent on anything even antidepressants because I never want to experience PAWS ever again, but that’s just my choice.

The things that have helped me are a ton of prayer, Meditation, therapy, and exercise as everyone says. I mostly walk my dog to get exercise which works a lot of the time. One thing that I can’t express enough is community. I could not do this without my friends who I can bounce the crazy ideas in my head off of. Try to get as much support as you can because you are going to need it.

I wish you well. You are in for a hell of a journey but (and I am going to use a biblical metaphor please don’t be offended if that’s not your thing) when exiting slavery sometimes we need to wander through the wilderness before we get to the promised land. You will get there if you don’t relapse. The man you will be on the other side will be able to deal with almost anything life has to throw at you. Good luck.
 
Monkeyboyab2c said:
Hey man hope things have eased up a bit. I’m almost 2 years into this thing and still battle with my fair share of symptoms. At this point mostly depression, anxiety, brain fog and dizziness. Things have gotten a lot better than they were in the beginning but I am far from 100%. I can function well enough out of necessity since I am a father and husband and have very little choice. I did go cold turkey off of weed at the same time I did Porn and don’t do hard mode because I will not do that to my wife so my road is probably going to be a bit longer than others.​

As far as antidepressants go what I will say is this. I tried them for 5 days. They were prescribed by my GP. They were to say the least a nightmare. All of my symptoms ramped way up. Most antidepressants have a loading period where things could get way worse before they get better. I talked to a psychiatrist who said that when she put me on Prozac which adjusts serotonin that was the wrong drug. He said I should be on Wellbutrin which messes with dopamine. I never could bring myself to get back on them. I say all that to say that if you do decide to go that road please go with a specialist. I would hate for you to go through what I went through. For weeks after I got off of them I was messed up.

That being said I have several friends who are in recovery for other addictions than PMO who swear by them and have had a lot of success. For me I don’t want to be chemically dependent on anything even antidepressants because I never want to experience PAWS ever again, but that’s just my choice.

The things that have helped me are a ton of prayer, Meditation, therapy, and exercise as everyone says. I mostly walk my dog to get exercise which works a lot of the time. One thing that I can’t express enough is community. I could not do this without my friends who I can bounce the crazy ideas in my head off of. Try to get as much support as you can because you are going to need it.

I wish you well. You are in for a hell of a journey but (and I am going to use a biblical metaphor please don’t be offended if that’s not your thing) when exiting slavery sometimes we need to wander through the wilderness before we get to the promised land. You will get there if you don’t relapse. The man you will be on the other side will be able to deal with almost anything life has to throw at you. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Good to hear your recovering bro! Each to the own which way they go about recovery. Maybe a period of doing hardmode would speed up your recovery.
I personally stayed off anti depressants, but each to there own.
 
GHread said:
Good to hear your recovering bro! Each to the own which way they go about recovery. Maybe a period of doing hardmode would speed up your recovery.
I personally stayed off anti depressants, but each to there own.
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Thanks Man! I’ve done two small streaks of hard mode one 6 weeks and another 4. I’d probably do more but I put my wife through hell when she first found out about my addiction. It already really screwed up her sense of self worth and self esteem. I try to keep my recovery as low key as possible. She really doesn’t understand what PAWS is. I mean how could anyone who isn’t going through it. I’m not willing to give up the intimacy we fought so hard to build. It does suck though man. I definitely feel it for a few days after sex. Thank you for the encouragement and the suggestion. I kinda feel like we are all members of a horrible brotherhood that will never meet. Just knowing you guys are out there too helps me a ton.
 
Monkeyboyab2c said:
Thanks Man! I’ve done two small streaks of hard mode one 6 weeks and another 4. I’d probably do more but I put my wife through hell when she first found out about my addiction. It already really screwed up her sense of self worth and self esteem. I try to keep my recovery as low key as possible. She really doesn’t understand what PAWS is. I mean how could anyone who isn’t going through it. I’m not willing to give up the intimacy we fought so hard to build. It does suck though man. I definitely feel it for a few days after sex. Thank you for the encouragement and the suggestion. I kinda feel like we are all members of a horrible brotherhood that will never meet. Just knowing you guys are out there too helps me a ton.
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Ye bro! As time passes you will recover!! I get what your saying, but by sticking with nofap, your relationship with your wife improve ten times more once your fully recovered and over the damage porn has done to you. For anyone asking I would always suggest hardmode for the best/ most efficient recovery, but each to there own.

Im just over a year into my reboot and I’m feeling loads better then I did, improvement has been massive! But I’m still suffering with mild paws symptoms, but over the next 6-12 months I know they will pass. Stay strong brothers !! Remember, if your going though hell, keep going.
 
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