Symptoms Associated With Edging & Withdrawal

Do you live an inactive lifestyle? Do you eat a balanced diet? Enough time outdoors for vitamin D? Do you take any medication regularly that may cause side effects? Do you drink/smoke/use any drugs? I feel like a lot of these could be from that and not PMO. Also, have you done a blood test in the past year? Check thyroid levels because a lot of thee symptoms describe hyperthyroidism symptoms. Idk man lot of factors affect the way we feel. To attribute all of these to PMO without any science/evidence is a stretch.

 

I can relate, I've been dealing with all kinds of chronic pain and illness for years and the doctors haven't been able to help me either. If I could ever get a good enough streak going I might be able to prove one way or the other if nofap is the cure or not. I have been looking for evidence and I've found a lot of posts where people claim to have recovered from many different issues with nofap, so...fingers crossed. Good luck

 

These are the ones that overlap. I've had them all at one time or another, but some are infrequent or have gone away.

• weakness/lethargy
• chronic fatigue
• lightheadedness/vertigo
• watery ejaculation
  
• POTS
• tinnitus, other ear issues
• eye floaters
• autoimmune conditions (maybe)
  
• low back pain
• frequent urination
• mood swings
• muscle tremors/soreness
• tenseness
• headaches/migraines
• lack of motivation
• depression
• heart palpitations

These are some symptoms that I have that aren't on your list

Occasional Nausea
Tailbone pain when sitting
Ribs feel bruised when applying pressure
Strained/Dry Eyes
RSI type pains in my hands
Upper back pain
Burning pain in knee
Dripping after urination


Yeah, it is crazy how quickly things get dismissed. I think there is lot to be learned still in the medical industry and one day PMO may even be known to harmful.

 

@kopykat

You are totally right about modern doctors.

We know our physical conditions and the causes of our ailments better than anyone, particularly better than medical doctors.

Doctors have sent me for medical tests which I knew well I did not need, and I've resolved that they will never manipulate me like that again.

Many of them have exaggerated and distorted ideas about perfect health, which all depends on them.

Granted, it is often necessary to see a doctor, but at the same time, I will decide for myself what medication I take and what procedures I undergo.

And, as you clearly see, they are doing it for money.


This is why I have been very leery of Dr. Fauci and have opposed vaccine mandates.

Much of what Fauci and the CDC are saying defies common sense, and it is even contrary to the "science" they claim to be following.

One should have the liberty to decide whether to have biological agents injected into one's body and not be coerced by the threat of getting fired.

Do you know Fauci's salary? It's about $434,000. You can look it up online.

No bureaucrat is worth that kind of taxpayer money.

Doctors who make much less also have big financial interests.


I also have a long-running edging habit.

I've been stuck in the same cycle for many years, and hours of my days have been wasted porn surfing and edging.

I think I'm being virtuous somehow by not ejaculating, when really I am just prolonging the experience indefinitely for hours and days on end.

As one with the same problem as yours, I can identify with many of the terrible aftereffects you listed.

Tinnitus is an interesting one.

I have a ringing in my right ear, which I thought was due to an ear infection earlier this year.

Edging, if it hasn't caused this, could only have made this worse.

Certainly, edging puts a strain on the entire body, the nervous system especially, and it must affect the blood pressure.

I may need to see an ear doctor about it, but I wouldn't expect him to understand this part of the problem


You and I know our behaviors and can perceive their effects.

Medical doctors can't see beyond what they've read in textbooks.

The wisdom of the ancients tells us that there is physical, mental and spiritual health in continence, and warn of the depletion which results from sexual indulgence.

All of this, we know from experience.

We must beware that modern medicine also condones and often encourages masturbation as necessary for health.

That is also why your doctors are incapable of making a precise diagnosis of your condition.

 

The most frequent and severe are chronic fatigue (also), headaches, random aches and pains (back, ribs, knees, tailbone), and a strange feeling in my chest that I think I forgot to mention. Its hard to describe, but its pretty bad and it may somehow be connected with anxiety or palpitations, I don't know. I agree about the overlap. It can be hard to believe sometimes, but there is too much evidence for it to be coincidence. I guess we just have to get long enough streaks to see for ourselves. Thats the tricky part, its easy to get discouraged (I just got to 54 days and didn't see hardly any improvement, then relapsed), but a lot of the stories I read say that it took them 3 or 4 or 6 months before they regained their health and energy, sometimes even longer. So I guess we just have to keep going no matter how daunting it seems, it'll be worth it in the end.

 

Hi,

I could have written this myself, although I don't have acne or depression (despite what other people say!). What we are experiencing and describing is a definite syndrome. There are other threads on Nofap that cover this.

There is also Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS). I'm not sure how you distinguish between PAWS (which affects all addicts regardless of the type of addiction) and the kind of symptoms and effects that seem to be caused purely by PMO. There is a lot of overlap.

A couple of further points to chip in: I think edging is the most damaging aspect of PMO, and may be the thing that distinguishes people like us who have all of these awful symptoms, from those that appear to not be affected.

Secondly, I've found from my personal experience that these symptoms can get significantly worse with age. I was in a fairly stable binge cycle for over a decade, where I'd abstain for 3-10 days, then relapse with a binge, feel like shit for a few days, then slowly get back to "normal". But during my late 40's, I found that it took longer to recover; but this happened so slowly that I didn't notice until things were actually a lot worse. I've since lost my job and now struggle to do basic things like housework, due to exhaustion. I know that many, including some here will attribute this to depression, lifestyle, "wrong thinking" etc, but from over a decade of being aware of my problem, and observing and tracking it, I know I'm right. So use this as extra motivation to quit while things aren't too bad for you. Easier said than done though, I know.

Also, yeah, doctors are the worst, with a few rare honorable exceptions. I'm not so sure it's about the money, more about the fact that they have zero intellectual curiosity and... well I could rant about that for hours, so I won't, but bottom line is we have to figure this out for ourselves.

 

I get the same "hunger" or "itch" that I do when craving sugary foods, caffeine, and PMO.

I recognize that this is a primitive hunger and craving for dopamine and have been replacing the cravings with exercise and cold showers.

What are your favorite "escapes"?

 

Yeah, edging withdrawals are brutal. Some consider them worse than a basic relapse. In the YBOP book, it is mentioned that binging every 2-4 weeks can have more negative effects than moderate daily PMO. Reduce duration over time if you cant stop at once, then go full nofap.

 

Some people meditate, some jump into a cold shower immediately, some do jumping jacks/push ups as a way to replace the habit with something else.

Check out the book Atomic Habits and the Power of Habit. You will see that there is the CUE > ACTION > REWARD process.

If you can catch yourself at the CUE point, you can reprogram your brain to do something more positive and productive.

 

I added the book to the wish list but I hope it's the right author.

 

Atomic Habits by James Clear
Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg