Whenever I do my streaks, there are days when I feel good, amazing, okay, bad, and just awful. I especially feel awful the day following wet dreams.. is this normal? Are all the bad days considered "flat lining?"
No. That's just life man. You have good days and you have bad days. The same with how you feel inside, good or bad. The only difference is that you're facing reality now. You don't have an out. A fake sexual world to escape to. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad. Learn to accept it. Flatlining on the other hand can be prolonged periods of depression, loss of libido, mood swings etc mostly similar to withdrawals experienced when quitting any addiction. A lot of what we experience after starting our nofap journey isn't actually new. It was always there. We were blinded by the brain fog of being addicted to PMO that we never really noticed the subtle things in life. Most importantly, PMO offers a great escape from the pain or struggle that life presents to us.
During recovery you will have days when you don't feel great. That's just normal withdrawal symptoms. It takes about two years from the last time you used for the withdrawal symptoms to disappear. In the meantime you will have good and and bad days. If you persevere through them you will reap the rewards.
I came on the site today looking for a post exactly like this and i cant believe i did. My situation: im on day 28, right now, Ive just woken up and I'm feeling depressed, almost feeling the same i did 20 days ago, while yesterday and i think the day before i felt great. Just waiting for things to get amazing when i wake up.
I struggled with this many times. I would get confused about withdrawal symptoms even though I had a few weeks of clean time. Most of the time I would get frustrated and give up and relapse; only to restart the process. Until I came across this website: http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/withdrawal.htm
Hey Bluffy, I'm also dealing with this random days random emotions thing! I feel bad especially after wet dreams...I think we have to bear with these feelings for a while...The point is you don't get back to PMO just because you are feeling negative...maybe these emotional instabilities are associated with our recovery process and I hope things would get better as we proceed...I'm sure that the days you actually abstained from PMO, even if it was bad or depressing was infinitely better than those dark days you spent hooked on Porn...so cheer up friend! Continue your journey to rebooting and let's fight this together! Cheers!
Remember that life is cyclical, its normal to have up days, just as it is to have a few downers. NoFap however does keep you from your PMO induced dopamine shot and that means there's withdrawal. But there are general things you can do to help level your mood. These are just a few examples and they don't necessarily deal with NoFap related issues, but things like taking care of your appearance, improving health in the way of nutrition (if you don't eat well, chances are you wont feel well), exercise (releases chemicals including dopamine, that will make you feel better after you work out and generally give you more energy) and plentiful rest (people hugely underestimate the importance of sleep) and doing things you really enjoy now and again. Also, speaking of chemical balances in the body, having a vitamine D3 deficiency (which the majority of our modern populace hace) may influence your mood and getting a better quality of sleep can also greatly benefit your feeling state. For that I'd suggest looking into 5HTP and Melatonine supplements. Also, if you are just feeling particularly bad, a simple change of scenery can help to lift your spirit. Just go for a walk (around the block or to a park), some fresh air and sunshine can do wonders.