How long will it take to rewire? And how will I know?

So, I’m on 159 day and I have withdrawals all the time. E.g months ago I felt confident, I had motivation to work on myself and everything indicated that it would be better. Now I don’t want to get out of bed... It takes time.

 

Rebooting is very long process.We cant say anything when we will fully heal.Yes!!As u said sometimes u feel motivate or after sometimes depressed.No doubt its withdrwal...

 

Yes. first 15\20 days were ok, then some withdrawal periods started at 40\50 days.
Then from about day 70 to now it has been most withdrawal days with maybe two weeks of feeling good (no mental pain, no body pain, really really strong and energetic at weight lifting and running).
The rhinitis started slowly but steadily, and i've been to the emergency room at day 70 (it was a panic attack caused by the fact that i really couldn't breath right).
Then the worst withdrawal period was from day 97 to 2\3 days ago (day 106), with suicidal thoughts, and pain all over the body.

For now the mental pain is almost gone, still a lot pain on teeth\skull\neck etc.

I don't know exactly where i am, i don't know if i've gone through the worst and it will be better on, but i'll find out.

P.s. today i'm feeling kinda good, very calm, but physically i have absolutely no energy.

 

Interesting, the symptoms seemed to peak for me at about the same time, 50 - 70 days

 

I hope my peak is gone, because it's quite hard, only shit and no pros, but i'll go thru anyway.

 

How long will it take? It depends what you do to quit/reset.
I have been at this 2 years, I have had streaks of 162 days, 103, 90, and lesser of 60 days I don't considered myself 'healed' but on the other hand I am far happier and would never go back to just accepting PMO -each streak for me has been better and better not just length but cleansing it out not to mention over those years I have PMO'd about 98 % less than I did when I was PMO'ing every other day. I have also set my standards much higher so now I 'reset' days on, for example a lingering fantasy.. so I don't consider my low day count a failure'.

Check out success journals, see what works.. what seems consistent in most:

1. cold showers
2. some for of guided relaxation (breathing meditation)
3. do NOT fantasize- that's PMO's back up drives. Do not edge .

 

Do any of you use antidepressants as well if the withdrawal symptoms are severe? I am curious because I had to and it's unfortunate but it helped me though.

 

I considered it and still am a bit, interesting that they helped, mind if i ask which? I was given the option of zoloft/sertraline

 

i would try exercise+ meditation+cold showers + supplements first. Ad's can have all sorts of weird effects on different people

 

I couldn’t agree more! This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and here’s why.

I have been using PMO to soothe and comfort every negative emotion for 22 years. So taking that security blanket away, has left me a basket case or raw emotion and I haven’t learned coping mechanisms to deal with them in a healthy way.

So PMO recovery isn’t just stopping the action. As the op mentioned relapse happens because we don’t deal with the root causes. And for me the nofap journey is building new coping mechanisms slowly over time.

My therapist keeps reminding me “you’ve been sober for 5 months, but you have 22 years of PMO habits. It’s not going to go away over night.” And I hold this advice close. I feel there’s no magic-pill solution. Slow and steady wins this race and it’s a 1-2 year journey to completely balance out, IMO.

 

Totally agree.

 

Citalopram. It's a weaker basic SSRI than the other ones out there.

 

Hi John Dk thank for sharing! I have not experienced any of that and I'm on day 25. Was there time before you started experiencing all that?

 

I am facing these withdrwals after 70 days...Now withdrwal is less intense bt not fully gone.Currently on day 238 days hardmode

 

Reading through these posts has helped tremendously to understand what is happening to me and could possibly happen! Thank you guys so much for sharing. I read an article that talks about how the brain actually produces a chemical to cope with the excessive amounts of dopamine produced when fapping regularly. It talked about needing time for that chemical to be removed, but didn't mention anything about the dramatic withdrawals you guys are speaking about. I will definitely be prepared to reach out if that ever begin to occur with me! I'm at 25 days and was so confused as to why it was getting harder, not easier...

 

Well brother Rebooting is full of ups and down.Mostly people feel these withdrwal after sometime.Its coz of heavy use of Porn...So pain is must on this journey.If we wanna fruit of our hardwork

 

Yeah and I'm like most ppl here, I started getting into it heavy around 12 which makes 25/26 years of pmoing for me. I guess I just never realized the actual physical toll it was taking on me or what it would take to stop.

 

Can you share this article with us?

 

I did but the anxiety and depression was unbearable after a while. I do take vitamin d3 supplements. What supplements would you recommend?

 

Plus how long do withdrawals last if I were PMOing in this instance? I look at porn daily but not always MO. Maybe MO like 1 or 2 times a week and then I'd stop a week and then come back. That's how it was for me. I'm hoping the withdrawals don't last too long.