27M Success Story - Life Transformed

Hi all,

I've not posted here for a long time, basically because of the success and new life NoFap has given me. I hope my story motivates and inspires you to stick to your goals and keep going. I know how hard it is but I'm living proof it gets so much better in time. A long time in my case too.

I used pornography daily from probably the age of 13 or 14 right up until I was about 25. I was single all my adult life and had times when I simply could not get hard when I ended up with opportunities to get laid. Sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't, but I was never fully hard when I could. This always troubled me and it took me years to figure out what my issue was. I wondered if I was gay, if my hormones where abnormal. And then I read about porn addiction and it transformed my adult life.

I first read about porn addiction and PIED probably 2 years ago and it was something of a eureka moment. I suddenly felt hopeful. I'd struggled for years wondering why even when I would be turned on I couldnt get it up with women. I realised for myself it was a combination of PIED and performance anxiety and I made a concerted decision to stop porn there and then. This was probably around 18 months to 2 years ago.

Fast forwarding, I gave 90 days hard mode a try. I was single so it was simply a case of refraining and trying to fully reset for me. I tried numerous times - 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month streaks with numerous relapses and binges inbetween. It certainly wasn't a straightforward gradual increase, it took a long time to even out my streaks. Sometimes these would be broken masturbating to porn, sometimes not. Initially I was weak and would binge heavily, but with every short streak, the next one got that little bit easier. Eventually porn was no longer a neccessity but this took a long, long time for me, 6 months to a year perhaps. It was all I had ever really known as an adult, as I'd never had a relationship and had only had a handful of one night stands, usually tragic events in themselves. I never hit 90 days but even the shorter streaks inbetween helped - they made a HUGE difference. Suddenly real people became more attractive. My social awkwardness and confidence improved, I just felt more normal. It's hard to put into words what kicking an addiction feels like - the urge for porn simply wasn't there any more - the sense of pride I felt was enormous. It transformed me as a person. I felt like there was a light and the end of the tunnel and I wanted to keep progressing as much as I could.

I probably averaged out at around 2 weeks between each time I would masturbate when I felt I was over porn. I used sport to quench my restlessness and this was an enormous help. I never intended to fully quit, as I did not want to lose my sexuality altogether. I simply wanted to return it to normal. This took me about a year, maybe longer, and when I masturbated I did so without porn.

So at the age of 26 I felt like I had kicked my porn addiction and could masturbate without it, at more reasonable amounts per month. I can't stress enough how much you have to stick to your guns, even when the urge to PMO is at its strongest. Sometimes I gave in, sometimes I was strong enough to resist. But each time I resisted the next urge would be that little bit more manageable. There would be random instances of intense urges every now and then for maybe the first 12 months but these are now completely gone, for reasons I will explain below.

Around 5 months ago, I met a girl who transformed my life. We started dating and took things slow. I was petrified of things not working, if I would still have ED, if I should tell her etc. We dated for a short time and we just clicked. I've never been so comfortable with someone before. When we first slept together just bodily contact was enough to get things working. I was overjoyed. It was the first time in my life I felt comfortable, I felt normal, I felt happy. We've been together since and we sleep together every day. I've not told her about this as I feel it's in the past now, and any issues we have I'll work through with her. I still feel I'm healing - I'm not saying everything is perfect. I have a LOT of precum and this can sometimes kill my erection. I have to use hands to get hard a lot of the time, whether hers or mine, but I'm assuming this is something that is just conditioned into me through years of masturbating with infrequent sexual encounters. Hopefully this will improve as time goes on, who knows. It's not a major issue as it's easily resolved with foreplay. There have been times when I simply could not get hard but this happens to the best of us from time to time. We laugh it off and move on, and the next time we have sex is usually more intense due to the extended period without orgasm. Every cloud has a silver lining - learn to take the positives out of even the worst of situations!

I was a major addict I'd say - watching porn and PMOing from the age of around 13 to 25 - so I feel I was very much one of the ones who'd struggle to recover. It took a long, long time and I still feel like I'm healing, but I'm 10 times the man I was 2 years ago. NoFap transformed my life. It gave me a sex life. It made me human. I hope you all stick to your goals and find happiness. I certainly have, so thank you NoFap. This will be last post here; I wish you all the very best of luck and the best advice I can give is keep going. When you relapse, brush it off and carry on. I had probably a dozen relapses in the first 12 months but I kept trying, kept gradually extended streaks between relapses until suddenly the urge for porn was gone. Keep going until you hit that point and your life will be better forever.

Thank you, good luck, and goodbye.

B.

 

Hi all!

It's been a very long time since I was on here, so wanted to come on to say I'm still going strong, and that I feel I owe something to this movement and this community for getting me where I am today. I wanted to answer any questions you might have regarding my journey and I hope I can motivate and inspire you to keep going until you reach the point I did around 6 months ago.

Hope to hear from some of you and help you on your journeys!

B

 

Thanks jangory49, self-belief is something that comes in time - as you gradually surpass bigger and bigger streaks/goals, everything else falls into place. It's an incredibly rewarding path to follow. Best of luck in your journey!

B

 

Anything I can do to help man - I've walked that road and want to help in any way I can

 

Still going strong guys - going to check up again over the next few days to try and help anyone in need of advice. Any questions, ask away!

B.