cold turkey or wean ?

Well based on your calender you've made it longer than me without PMO, but I'm an all or nothing kind of guy. There is no weaning off for me. I can't just watch a little without losing complete control and finding an excuse why not to quit. One day something in me just clicked I got rid off all my artificial stimulants and made it very difficult for me to regain them so that I am less motivated to even try to relapse. In my opinion it's like, can an alcoholic just have one drink? Most likely not that can only drink to get drunk so if you look at it that way weaning off is not an option.

 

So is dopamine released during M or at the point of O?

 

Both. The levels at each phase of PMO vary from person to person, but I think the most damaging part is getting all amped up on that big rush of searching and finding new/niche porn. Because with a live partner, you can still get dopamine from orgasm, but unless you have new partners all the time, you won't get that hunting/novelty dopamine kick.

 

My husband continued to masterbate without porn (while fantasizing) for seven years after giving up porn. He still had the brain fog, tiredness and our marriage was headed to divorce due to lack of connection until he found nofap. He's now 30 days into a hard mode reboot and it's making a huge difference in his life and mine! Two cents from a wife: masterbating without porn is not a reboot and doesn't work.

 

I'm definitely a cold turkey kind of person, so it's a no-brainer for me. It's so much easier to categorically let go of something and exclude it from your life than to indulge "just a little"... that little bit easily grows back to the original amount or more. Now, with M, the fact that it can be healthy with the right mindset (i.e. not compulsive or harmful to the rest of one's life), I feel it's something that can be re-introduced after a proper reset. I'd still recommend cutting it out entirely for a certain period first.