I have a few days here and there where I feel great but most of the week I feel pretty horrible while I'm rebooting. I meditate, I eat clean, I go to the gym – but still don't feel great. What are your tips? I can't wait for this to pass!
A low mood won’t usually come on without a specific reason. Your job is to identify that reason and rectify it. Example. Some time ago my boss was unhappy with me for not completing a job in the way that she wanted. This caused me to get frustrated/stressed/angry. Was I overreacting? Yes. The result? My heart rate went up, my nervous system kicked into overdrive, neurochemicals like adrenaline and cortisol were likely released. The next day my mood was low, my motivation was lower, I wanted to binge eat and ignore the gym. In essence it is a domino effect. You regulate low moods by regulating your life, your lifestyle and yourself.
It’s common to have a low mood during flatlines because of neurochemical changes unrelated to your life circumstances
Correct, but if you want to speed up your recovery it makes sense to understand why you are hitting the flatline. For some people it is not important, for others they will be required to if they want to heal.
What do you mean? Flatline is normal with nofap right? It's part of PAWS? I think my low mood is natural because I'm sick of having no libido and wasting time. My career was what sustain me before but had a pretty rough few weeks at work. I don't feel like this every week but more weeks than not.
Having low mood and low libido is not normal. Having endless amounts of energy and loving life should be the norm you aim for. When first starting NoFap, entering the flatline is good because it is where true recovery starts to take place. For those of us that enter PAWS, some of us can get stuck in what feels like a long flatline. If you are in PAWS you want to start thinking about what is making you constantly enter the flatline if that makes sense.
I haven't heard this before. I've read that PAWS are PAWS and it's nothing to do with thinking or habits – just the mind doing what the mind does as it heals.
Simply abstaining from PAWS is not going to work. We know this because there are pretty much 0 recovery stories from PAWS. If abstaining from PAWS worked most of us would be recovered by now. I was the same and thought exactly what you did, that PAWS had nothing to with habits and thinking, and in some ways it doesn't but know that abstaining from PAWS (for some of us) will not work. You could be waiting for a train that never comes. Changing my recovery tactics has really helped and for the first time in a long time I am gradually starting to feel better.
I remember one of your posts being one of the very first posts I ever read on this forum when I joined. That was almost 4 years ago. So my question is do you have any idea why you have not recovered? Why are you still stuck in PAWS after all this time? You are suggesting that what I am saying is not related to PAWS (which is absolutely fine!) but if what I am saying is not true, what exactly is? After almost 5 years of being on this forum, have you been able to figure out a resolution for PAWS other than just abstaining and waiting? My intention isn't to come across as negative in any way, but you're suggesting that I have no idea what I am talking about, despite having no idea how to beat PAWS.
"Simply abstaining from PAWS is not going to work." – this doesn't make sense man. PAWS is not unique to nofap – it comes with many addictons. I'd look up what paws are – we seem to be on different planets. I have recovered from nofap 2-3 times but relapsed and fell back in it. Every time I relapse, the awful PAWs sometimes come knocking. I can go days feeling great and then a few feeling awful despite healthy habits – incredibly healthy habits. My question was simply what do guys on here too when paws are kicking their ass. They do pass, but it's horrible when you're in the thick of it. There are thousands of stories of people recovering from paws – both nofap and other addictions.
I am well aware. On the forum PAWS is being referred to as a period after initial recovery where symptoms get worse and heightened. But I understand what you are saying. If you've healed and then relapsed 2+ times and come back to this forum, have you really recovered?
Well depends on what you mean by recovery – but I'd say yes as all symptoms went away and I felt great - that's recovery for me. It was the overconfidence thinking I'd beat it that took my back. Libido healthy again and raging one night a quick MO turned into a PMO. Recovering to me means getting my sexual function back, which I did. It sounds like you are classing recovery as getting back to full health and never ever relapsing ever again as all urges are gone forever. I don't think that's realistic IMHO. Urges will be there from time to time. Fair play if people get there – not saying I'm right, that's just my opinion. Alcoholics still have urges - it's a lifelong decision to abstain even when you don't want to. For me, it's easy to abstain when I have paws as I want to break free from it. And when I feel great again and healed, a quick relapse takes me back.
Yeah I just said haha. Being in PAWS for ages, when you heal – you feel amazing and libido is very hard to handle. After a few weeks, usually coming home late after a few drinks, a quick PMO pulls me back in, and then another 2-3 days later. Then I'm back here for motivation and to remind myself not to do it again when I heal.
You relapsed because of being in PAWS for ages? Was this all three times? Get that demon off of your back, you do not want to keep returning.
I feel like I explained it already. Not to worry. Paws will go like they have before – and I won't relapse this time.
