Introduction: Learned about NoFap around 6 months ago

Hello there, I'm an 18 year old male.
I learned about "discovered" M around almost 5 years ago, and then started watching P around a year later.
After I got addicted to PMO, I found out that I wasn't the one who invented M and found out that it is prohibited (obviously that implies that I'm a Muslim).

Ever since I got addicted and found out it was prohibited I've been trying to quit. And I won't be exaggerating if I said I tried over a hundred times and failed.

However, since I knew it was prohibited I wanted to quit way before I knew anything about its side effects, actually direct effects, on the brain and human body. And I guess this helped save me from extreme addiction.

I continued to look for a solution. I would do PMO at varying rates, initially when I first started to do M I used to do it at least once a day. But that gradually started to decrease when I started watching P (because I wouldn't want to do M without P).

Around eight months ago I found out that to be able to quit completely you would have to to do PMO for at least 90 days, so I printed out a calendar and started shading out days and set a target, and for the first time since my addiction I completed a complete 20-25 day streak, but in the last few days I used to edge, which eventually lead to my breaking of the streak.

I tried again, but kept failing after ten days.

Then I found this channel on YouTube (in Arabic): @MohammadAlqattan1

The guy has playlists with episodes to watch everyday on the 90 days, and this was the first time I heard of the effects of PMO.

I was like: "Dang, all this is because of PMO?!"
Obviously when he would describe the effects it was like he had observed me for the last few years and was describing me.

So I started watching his videos, and after I started watching his videos I didn't do M or watch P (on purpose) for the next 120 days or so.

However, at around day 50 or something, I stupidly read a story that was, lets say "exciting". I didn't know that brakes the streak and just continued until around day 100 in which I read an explicit S story.

I checked here on the form and found out that reading S stories breaks the streak, so I planned another 90 days, but by now I wasn't in that shock I was when I started out and took the matter way to lightly, and did PMO last January.

After this failure I didn't last more than 5 days, and did it again. Then I did PMO around 2 more times with 5 days in between, and then I made a few changes to my routine and then continued on NF for around 25 days, then failed again.

This time I set the following rules:

1. Get rid of my smart phone completely (I replaced it with a button phone that supports WhatsApp, and I moved all the banking stuff to the computer)
2. Listen to a video on NF every day and take notes
3. Listen to a video of a series of the explanation of a book on purifying the soul (الداء والدواء بشرح الشيخ الفوزان) and take notes
4. Increase daily reading of Quran
   
5. Thank Allah for every extra day of NF

And I'm now on day 17, and I've got the worst brain fog I've had ever, and my short term memory is disgustingly terrible, I've failed my responsibilities multiple time it's really bad.

Ramdhan is going to start this Monday or Tuesday, and we are meant to fast throughout the 29/30 days, and O breaks ones fast. And breaking your fast for no valid reason in Ramadhan is a major sin.

I ask Allah to help me with my journey and keep me steadfast.

I want to thank the NoFap community for this amazing site and the support. I hope to document parts of my journey as it goes along. Thank you for your time.