This post was updated on 10/09/2021
In this post, we take a closer look at the withdrawal symptoms of NoFap.
What to be expected as NoFap withdrawals and how to alleviate those symptoms so that they won’t overpower you and lead to your relapse.
So, this article would go a long way in helping you reach your NoFap goals.
NoFap withdrawals are not to be taken lightly if success is to be achieved in NoFap.
What you will learn
What a withdrawal symptom is in the first place
Your brain doesn’t like to change.
Why?
Because if your brain wasn’t built this way, you wouldn’t be able to stick to your core beliefs, ideas, and the values that make you; you.
And without these components to your existence, life would lose its meaning.
This brain set-up is all well and good until you need to break a habitual way of life—to live a better life.
So, when you tell your brain you want to stop watching porn, it doesn’t care it will be a good thing for your life.
When a change signal is sent to your brain, either through a resolution (or a commitment), at first, the motivation circuit of your brain is switched on.
After all, something new promises excitement (dopamine).
You get psyched, excited, and ready for whatever the challenge might be.
But this excitement phase doesn’t last for more than two days.
Since this commitment (or resolution) of yours contradicts the status quo, the fear circuit—primarily the Amygdala (which is located in the Limbic system of the brain) also switches on.
This is a mechanism that’s built-in to protect us from harm.
But since the brain’s language of harm is CHANGE, regardless of how necessary it is for you to change, the fear circuit gets into high gear anyway.
Here’s a video detailing 3 ways to get rid of the withdrawals you’re getting on NoFap for good. Check out the video below:
The brain tasking the neurological and physiological part of you
Think of it as a battlefield where you are fighting the villain called your brain.
In this scenario, your brain is the bad guy and it can use all the other parts of your body against you.
Because your brain controls all the other parts of your body, whenever there is a perceived discomfort (change), it sends pain signals to different parts of your body.
All in an attempt to get you to reverse your commitment/resolution.
Your brain starts by giving you some mental discouragement.
If that doesn’t work, if you are still motivated to follow through on your commitment/resolution, a small burst of dopamine is secreted when the thought of the old habit crosses your mind.
Since your brain automatically seeks more dopamine, a huge craving cycle is triggered.
If the cravings still don’t get the job done, other withdrawal symptoms like headaches, nauseation, fever, serious mood fluctuations, and other symptoms are triggered as well.
So basically, your brain uses withdrawal symptoms to resist change.
People are different, so don’t be scared
What Mr. A would experience as withdrawal symptoms would be different from Mr. B’s.
You might experience a ton of NoFap withdrawal symptoms while another person might be battling just one or two.
The intensity (and duration) of the NoFap withdrawals you get also depends on your level of addiction to PMO.
But what I have found is that across the board, the symptoms are similar and alike.
Except for some rare cases where the symptoms tend to be extreme.
10 withdrawal symptoms of nofap you should know
It’s time to dig into what to expect during your NoFap challenge.
These withdrawal symptoms are normal. And if you’re having these symptoms (one or more), it signifies that NoFap is working for you.
Porn flashes and huge cravings
This is the cream de la cream of NoFap withdrawal symptoms.
And this withdrawal symptom is the single reason why 90% of porn addicts relapse.
This is where your willpower and your resolve will be tested the most. But unfortunately, in most cases, it’s not always enough.
People can’t and don’t know how to manage these porn cravings when they start happening.
The seductive pull or urge to watch porn is called craving. Initially, a craving starts with a stimulus.
Scientists refer to this stimulus as a trigger.
A trigger can be internally generated—for instance; porn thoughts or images you recall.
Triggers can also be externally generated—seeing erotic images or a sexy girl walking down your street.
Porn triggers have been found by a study (through PET scans) to cause the brain of the addict to release a small burst of dopamine similar to actually watching porn.
What this means is that those porn thoughts you have will spike dopamine in your brain—causing strong cravings since your brain is wired to seek more dopamine.
“What many do not realize is that cravings are false messages from the brain that have been conditioned and reinforced over the years.
One thing to be conscious of about cravings is that they will come at some point whether you try to stop them or not. The more you try to resist or suppress them, the more reinforced they become.”
- Dr. Childress.1
NoFap Flatline
This is when you experience very low libido and your john john can’t get up for $50,000.
This is the most common signal from the brain that NoFap is working.
You wake up in the morning, nothing (no erection).
You see a sexy girl in real life, nothing again (no erection again).
Apart from the low libido that comes with the NoFap flatline, you’ll observe that you’re also bored, fatigued, and nothing excites you.
The flatline usually starts after 5-7 days into NoFap.
It scares a lot of people (who don’t know that it is a normal thing that happens on NoFap) into relapsing.
People relapse just to test if their penis is still working. I owed my first relapse to the flatline.
“OH GOD, MY D**K IS NOT WORKING ANYMORE. THE WORLD IS GOING TO END”.
If we are being realistic, this is to be expected and well prepared for.
Because after all those years of programming your brain to get an erection by watching porn, you suddenly stop and expect to wake up the next day to an early morning boner?
Common!! REALLY?
Some people claim they never experience the flatline, but I don’t see how that’s possible if you are not stimulating yourself to erotic thoughts.
I like the flatline. As a matter of fact, I love the flatline.
It gives the mind and body peace. Instead of fighting the flatline by trying to get a hard-on, it’s best to just ride it out like a wave.
For me, I found that flatline helps the whole NoFap process. It allows the concentration of the mind on something more productive.
If you can’t get an erection for the next few weeks, just move on.
The benefit of the flatline through these weeks is that you won’t have to be dealing with random erections that resulted from a wild porn thought.
How long does the nofap flatline last?
It varies from individual to individual. But based on this NoFap timeline, the flatline usually subsides around Day 45.
But again, I have seen people that still experience flatline 4 months into their nofap. Just know that it’s part of the process of your body healing itself.
But if you’re the type that your flatline is taking more than two weeks, and you’re in a relationship, or wants to get in one, you can try the following to speed up the process;
- Do physically intense exercises constantly. Exercises like weightlifting, playing a team sport like football, basketball, and so on. This boosts testosterone levels and testosterone increases libido/sexual interest. To boost your testosterone in a much higher level, so that you can have energy to support your exercise efforts, build lean muscles effortlessly, and supercharge your libido/sexual drive and erections, you can try this all-natural product. It has helped me in the past.
- Hang out with friends and people you just met (more). This takes your mind off the whole my-dick-is-not-working thing. And while you’re out, maybe you realize that sex isn’t all there is to life and that the world doesn’t revolve around your dick.
- Engage in activities you’re passionate about.
Emotional Highs and Lows leading to mood swings
Forming a porn and (or) masturbation addiction came about as a way of coping with some underlying emotions.
So, when you go on NoFap and remove PMO from the equation, those emotions that have been suppressed for so long start bubbling to the surface.
It’s common for people on NoFap to experience strong emotional feelings about a trivial matter.
A little issue might cause a lot of anger. The sight of a dog might cause tears trickling down the face. Recalling a memory might bring a lot of unexpected happiness.
These highs and lows leave you in a mood rollercoaster.
One minute you might be feeling extremely joyful and glee. And the next minute, you might be angry at nobody in particular.
The first step to deal with this emotional rollercoaster is to identify these underlying emotions and address them.
Being mindful of one’s emotions is a skill that’s cultivated with time.
Mindfulness meditation and deep breathing are tools that can be used to get proficient at it.
The aim is to identify the emotions, acknowledge them, and if there is something that can be done on your part to make it better, do it without adjournment.
If it’s something that’s out of your control (as most emotions are), accept that you can’t control everything and let go of the emotion.
With time and practice, the ability to be in touch with your emotions will start breeding inner peace and the emotions will start regulating.
Feeling tensed
This withdrawal symptom stems from masturbation and orgasm addiction.
After some days on NoFap, there is a tendency to start feeling like there is a ticking bomb inside of you that might go off any second.
You start feeling so tense as the sexual energy starts building up and you feel like you are about to implode.
You feel like you desperately need the release and you start feeling the need to let it out like you constantly do in the past.
“Something might happen. I might develop prostate cancer. It’s been two weeks”.
All these mental chatter and tensed feelings are just your brain adjusting itself to the new reality. Some people fall victim to a relapse at this stage when that “need” to release flood their brain.
Recognizing it as just a mental dialogue that it truly is, helps to triumph in this situation.
This is the perfect opportunity to channel this energy and tension into other activities. The activity that works best for this process is to engage in a form of High-Intensity Exercise.2
If the HIIT can’t be done for one reason or the other;
Other options to relief tension when you’re on NoFap include;
- take a walk outside,
- go for a run,
- or start doing some house chores you’ve been putting off.
The goal here is to involve in a form of physical activity whenever this symptom shows up.
Boredom
When the brain has been trained to only get dopamine hits from porn, other activities won’t give that level of dopamine to the brain.
When you’ve watched porn for a very long time, that continuous act has been flooding your brain with dopamine. Due to this, the D2 receptors in your brain has been reduced.3
As a result of this, your brain has become numb to most of the other activities that are supposed to give you pleasure and be fun.
In the first two months of NoFap, if there is no change in routine, there is a high tendency to be feeling bored a lot of the time.
Until the D2 receptors are re-calibrated, being bored might be a very common thing that occurs from time to time.
During NoFap, you might be amidst a crowd, or engaging in other activities that are supposed to be fun, but, since it’s not porn, your brain would not register those activities as fun.
This is why it’s very important to incorporate some D2-receptor-building activities into the day while doing the NoFap challenge.
Some D2-receptor-building activities you can do;
- reading a book,
- learning or playing a musical instrument,
- listening to music,
- meditating,
- cooking, or learning to cook a new recipe,
- learning a new language,
- going out and socializing more and so on.
The key here is to avoid leaving that new time-slot (time which you used to watch porn and masturbate) empty.
Make sure you consciously fill it up with a positive and empowering activity that has a form of learning involved.
It doesn’t need to be an elaborate activity as you can see from the examples I gave above.
Depression
This does not happen to everybody while they are on NoFap. But when it does happen, it starts around day 30 and it lasts for a month.
Again, this is due to the reason why addiction started in the first place.
Those emotions that have been bottled can start coming to the surface. And they might be leading to a form of sadness.
This doesn’t happen to everybody, but it does happen to a considerable number of people.
The best way to deal with NoFap depression is to face those feelings head-on and try to engage in mood-lifting activities like watching your favorite comedy or hanging out with people that lift you mentally.
Headaches and fever
Cases of headaches and fever have been reported by some people on NoFap. This is not a very common occurrence also. It happens very rarely.
These types of headaches are called Withdrawal headaches. The cycle of these headaches are usually short, but they can last for days in some cases.4
You need to be able to recognize this type of headache and fever when they occur because they can be easily mistaken for migraines.
The best action to take when experiencing this is to see a physician to help rule out any other form of a disease that might be hiding under the hood.
NoFap Insomnia
Insomnia is a sleep disorder where you have trouble falling asleep and/or staying asleep.
It can be a medical condition on its own, but it’s also a common NoFap withdrawal symptom that a lot of people experience.
People that experience this most are those that usually PMO right before they go to sleep.
When they’re on NoFap and they stop PMOing, they find it difficult falling or staying asleep.
NoFap insomnia starts early (around day 2-7), but once your body adjusts to NoFap, you find it easier and easier to fall and stay asleep.
If you’re experiencing insomnia as a NoFap withdrawal, you can try the following things to cure the withdrawal symptom as soon as possible;
Ways to get better sleep when you’re on NoFap
- Get to bed early and make the time consistent.
- Cut off caffeine from your diet. If you must consume caffeinated products, don’t drink it after 2 pm.
- Stop using any electronic device one hour before your bedtime.
- Do breathing meditation when you get to bed. This calms your nerves and kind of hibernate your brain. This allows you to fall asleep more easily.
Brain Fog
I know what you’re thinking; “isn’t brain fog supposed to reduce on NoFap?”
Normally, it should. But some people experience more brain fog as a withdrawal symptom in the first month of their NoFap.
Brain Fog on NoFap is when you have a muddled-up mind, where you can’t seem to think straight.
Experiencing brain fog as a withdrawal symptom or not when you’re on NoFap is hugely dependent on your anatomy.
Another factor that can influence it is your lifestyle choices. If you have other addictions that are affecting your prefrontal cortex.
But with time on NoFap, the brain fog will start lifting.
So, if you start finding it difficult to focus and concentrate when you’re on NoFap, here are things that can be done to improve your focus;
- Focus on one task at a time.
- Stop other habits that shrink your prefrontal cortex. Habits like excessive video gaming, consuming too much sugar, and so on.
- Reduce the distractions in your environment to the barest minimum.
NoFap wet dreams
Once you start NoFap, and you’re no longer ejaculating every day. This leads to semen accumulating in your body.
Your body thinks of ways to discharge the excess, spoilt, and worn-out semen. Hence, when you’re on NoFap, you experience wet dreams more.
Contrary to popular beliefs, getting wet dreams when you’re on NoFap is a sign that your reproductive systems are working efficiently.
Here’s a video explaining how to control wet dreams on NoFap:
You should also check out this post on NoFap wet dreams to go deep into the world of wet dreams and learn everything you need to know about wet dreams.
On a final note: NoFap Withdrawal Symptoms
Whenever you get any of the above symptoms, CELEBRATE!!
POP A CHAMPAGNE!!
Why?
Because Nofap is working!!!
Your body is detoxing and your brain is dumping the porn pathways!
If you have experienced a different kind of withdrawal symptoms from nofap that you would like to share, please drop it in the comment section below.
STAY HEALTHY, STAY WEALTHY, STAY BLESSED.
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Sources and Footnotes
- Lead researcher on a study of cravings. Prelude to Passion: Limbic Activation by ''Unseen'' Drug and Sexual Cues of Drug and Sexual Cues.
- HIIT exercises is a round of intense workout, followed by a short rest, then another round of intense workout. There are different variations to it though. I personally like HIIT exercises because it releases bursts of naturally-rewarding dopamine and endorphins. These are different HIIT workout routines you can try.
- A 2016 Neuro-imaging study conducted in Germany confirmed that the brain changes observed in other addictions are also present in porn addiction. One of those brain changes is the reduction in D2 receptors in the brain:Ventral striatum activity when watching preferred pornographic pictures is correlated with symptoms of Internet pornography addiction
- A complete headache chart courtesy of the National Headache Foundation
113 thoughts on “10 Withdrawal Symptoms of Nofap: Things to Expect to be Better Prepared”
Thanks for the article. For #4, please give examples of what you mean by “High-Intensity Exercise”. Thanks.
Hi Davo. I’m glad you found the article helpful. High-Intense Interval training exercise (HIIT) are exercises where you alternate between bursts of high-intensity exercise and low-intensity exercise/rest. You do the former for 20-30 seconds, followed by the later for another 20-30 seconds. An example of HIIT exercise is spiderman plank, or mountain climbers. You do it by doing the spiderman posture on the floor and bring your knees to your chest as fast as you can.
HIIT exercises are very good dopamine builders and that’s why they can be helpful while on nofap.
Hope I answered your question davo.
“High intensity interval training” abbreviated as HIIT. This form of training is done by changing intensity and tempo of exercise periodically. HIIT training has many benefits and is great at stimulating and exhausting the nervous system. An example of hiit training could be something as simple as going on the treadmill walking for 60 seconds and sprinting for 30 seconds. Counting 60 seconds of walking and 30 seconds of running as one set, the goal is to repeat this for about 15 to 20 minutes or 10 to 15 sets.
I am on day 18 of hard mode. I am having trouble sleeping and waking up in the morning with a huge urge to masturbate. It is affecting my sleep quality. When does this normally start and pass for others?
It’s different for everybody.
But for me, I’ve always had sleep apnea and there are measures I take to make sure I sleep when I hit the bed way before nofap.
But sleeping patterns and waking up routine are habituated. So, if you stick to nofap, and you keep sleeping early, and you don’t edge early in the morning, it should regulate in three weeks or more.
Good sleeping pattern is something you’ll work at. The more you work at it, the better it gets.
Hope that helped you Jake.
It is a great arrival that has gave me a cue about symptom because during nofap day 8 I am feeling headache and nausea.as well as urge
For the headaches get clear quartz crystal. Secure by hand or cap on the aching area of head. Relax.. it will be gone within 20 min.
Thanks for sharing this nice tip Coondalini.
Hi, every1. Thx for article it is really helpful for me. I was adicted to porn since 16 (i am 35 now) and quited porn 10 months ago (hurray) but lately I am starting to become tired of “Emotional Highs and Lows leading to mood swings”. Actually i came to the point when i think something is wrong with me and they will never go away. For how long can my porn addiction cause those mode swings?
Hello Petr,
First of all, I want to congratulate you on quitting porn. You have achieved something amazing my friend. I’m really happy for you.
Regarding the question you asked, I think your body is still detoxing because you started using porn pretty early. With that in mind, the solution to an emotional related problem is to deal with those emotions.
If you do a deep search, you’ll notice that those swings are being triggered by some specific emotions. You have to address them when they come bubbling to the surface.
For emotion regulation, I would whole-heartedly recommend you start practicing mindfulness meditation (if you are not doing so already) even if for 5 minutes every other day.
I had the same problem in my first year of nofap and mindfulness meditation helped me a lot for recognition of those emotions and self-acceptance.
I hope that didn’t sound too cheesy.
Have a good one.
Hello, they will go away soon. Trust me, It’s your body trying to fight the change. Acknowledge the change and live your life to the fullest and stay healthy.
I am in the flatline stage as I am entering day 33. It started around day 30 and I have most of the symptoms of flattline mentioned here. This article is the most comprehensive guide to the topic. Many thanks
You are welcome Dan. Wish you all the best on your nofap journey.
Pls I need an advise I started watching porn and jerking off at the age of 16 now am 31yrs if affected my relationship affected my life so bad and made me misses many opportunities in life it took my years b4 I could realize what my problem is really are , I started nofap this year I was in my day86 and I notice some changes I faced many attack from the withdrawal symptoms but the will I was able to resist it , on the d night of my day 86 my x called me and we are having a long discussion before I know it she started doing sex call with me before I could knw I forget am on nofap journey so I jerk off that night after all is done i remembered and was not happy wit myself feeling guilty after then I started another nofap journey which am currently in day 31 but this time around the symptoms am feeling is too much than the first time I experienced, headache , weakness, feeling cold at night with strong urge , wet dreams currently my brain is feeling hot and also feeling pains at d spine of my back to my neck this feeling is hell can’t sleep well at night , it’s been a long while I slept well I use sleeping pills at times , eye 👁 floated , I don’t know if all this signs am feeling now is a prove am getting better or not pls I need an advise but I didn’t watch porn at all
Hello Richard,
I think it’s your body healing itself from the inside out.
So, don’t panic. And with time, it will get better.
But as I always say, if you feel it’s getting too much, visit a medical doctor and have tests done.
Make sure they check your vitals and make sure everything is as it should be in your body.
Best of luck!!
Hi im defiantly feeling the headaches and a little fever, and its only ben 2 weeks so far, and as today my emotions within my head are starting to be irrationally aggressive, does those numbers of days really refer to everyone? or is my reboot a bit fast? am I predicting to early and should I wait and see?
then reply within the next 3 weeks?
I think it’s how long the symptoms last that will determine how fast your reboot is. So, I’ll wait and see how long the symptoms will last as the number of days is different for everybody. Cheers
Hey Ola
What an awesome piece you’ve got here!
I want to know though; are feelings of self-consciousness and mental overload a part of the withdrawal symptoms?
Coz surprisingly, I no longer feel comfortable being around people. It’s like there’s something obviously embarrassing about me that they’ll eventually notice.
Is this unusual?
How can I handle it?
Please pardon my rambling though.
Hi Prince,
Having mental overload sometimes while on nofap is a common occurrence.
The feeling of self-consciousness and feeling uncomfortable around people are symptoms of social anxiety.
I have heard of some people that have felt this way when they were rebooting. So, it is not unusual.
But you have to figure out if the condition is Porn-Induced or a clinical condition.
Firstly, I would recommend you read this post I wrote on the relationship between porn, nofap, and social anxiety.
There is a link to a test in the post that you’ll find helpful. It will help you figure out the level of your social anxiety.
The post also recommends what to do in any of the situation you might find yourself.
Another thing I would like to add due to my personal experience is that after years of porn programming, social dynamics can seem foreign to you.
You might simply be “out of practice”. So, make sure you keep socializing and you might find that it gets easier.
And again, it might just be another sign of your body detoxing like I pointed out earlier and you just need to wait it out.
I’m also a fellow rambler, so, forgive my rambling.
Hope that helps.
Ola
Hey Ola,
What an awesome piece you’ve got here!
I want to know though; are feelings of self-consciousness and mental overload a part of the withdrawal symptoms?
Coz surprisingly, I no longer feel comfortable being around people.
It’s like there’s something obviously embarrassing about me that they’ll eventually notice.
Is this usual?
How can I handle it?
Does this make any sense, or does it seem like a rambling?
Thanks I love the tensed up one. I’ve always found that bit the hardest and you’ve addressed it greatly. Thank you so much for this article you’ve inspired me to go and beat my personal best (since being on nofap) of 24 days
You are welcome Aka.
And I want you to know that you can do it (beat your personal best) if you put your mind to it.
Best of luck
I m on day 7 and already feeling lot of body pain and headache and my mind playing all sorta tricks on me and continuously reminding me of sex with my ex girlfriend and porn at the same time i hav been watching it for over 10 years and my mind did forced me to watch porn once in last 6 days but at the same time my wilpower is fighting hard with it and i hav locked everything on my phone which included nudity or other sexual stuff but i m in so much pain right now physically and mentally
Hello Navdeep,
The first few weeks are the most difficult when you are on nofap. If you keep at it, it will surely get easier.
When you feel mental discomfort, you can take a cold shower or do something else that would take your mind off porn.
If the physical pain you are feeling are just withdrawal pains, as a result of your mind playing tricks on you, once you change your focus from porn thoughts to other things, the pain will reduce.
But if the physical pain you’ve noticed is not nofap-related, then you should seek a medical practitioner.
As regards your willpower, if you would like to know how it works, and how to boost, you can get this manual I’ve written here
I wish you all the best on your nofap journey.
Thank you so much for writing this article. I had been strongly addicted to porn for nearly 13 years. Once I stopped during no nut November for only 20 days I started to have extreme anxiety. I took this as a chance to break away from porn and am now on day 60. My life has been such a roller coaster. I often don’t feel mentally present. I can’t believe I’m alive at times and I don’t know the reason behind that. All I know is reading this article made me fee hopefull again. So many people laugh it off like it’s not a big deal going through withdrawal. Every since day 20 up to 55 I’ve been going to bed each night early dreaming of better days ahead.
Thank you Grant. I’m glad this article is helpful for you.
I would like to commend you on achieving 60 days of no porn. You are a fighter.
I want you to know, just as I said in the post that withdrawals are good. It indicates the level of addiction and it also indicates that your body is detoxing and that nofap is working for you.
They do get easier as days go by. Always focus on the positive and acknowledge the other side, be grateful for the good things in your life. This will surely improve your mood.
I wish you the best. You are an inspiration to us all.
It’s been almost a week, and i have a very annoying headache all day long.. just like cigarette or caffee withdrawal.. is this kinda normal? Hmm
It’s normal Andre. And with time, it will get better. If you feel like the headache is getting out of hand, go and see a doctor and be diagnosed. This is to rule out any possibility that it’s not a normal withdrawal headache.
Ola
I would recommend everyone on this journey to look up some of Mantak Chia’s (Taoist practitioner) work like the book : Cultivating Male Sexual Energy. It has helped me tremendously in understanding more deeply how to transform this amazing energy to heal us from within.
I also came across another great book called: The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. I think reading a few pages from this fascinating book while rebooting from your porn addiction is an exellent way to get better insight into how your brain is healing.
Tnx a bunch Ola for taking time and writing this article!
You are welcome Elias
Normally i would be ashamed to be reading something like this…let alone being ashamed that I’m in this position in the first place. But hey…..meditation meditation meditation….I will not lose what’s true and dear to me over anything… I seek life…I seek existence….
hello I am 21 years old I don’t smoke don’t drink not alcohol or any caffeine.You mention about headache’s a mild pressure in the back of my head I was really addicted in past 6 with 7 years at start I was masturbating 4 times a day and now 3 but I got ‘Mycotic infections of the penis’ so I stopped masturbating
for 2 weeks but i did once in the start of the second week so I am counting from this week the days that I did not masturbate , anyway I wanted to know if this mild pressure in the back side of the head is from masturbating or not. I am really afraid and no money to go at least for now in the doctor
Hello Red,
You should track when this headache started. Did it start when you stopped masturbating? Also, have you ever experienced it before?
And If the headache is getting past 2 weeks, and it’s consistent, the best thing to do is to find a means to consult a doctor.
Hope that helps.
Have a nice day
My depression has been addressed by regression therapy. Mood swings are common. Fatigue is what I am experiencing a lot. I have gone through Masturbation and orgasm ( MO) withdrawal earlier as well when I was 14 years of age. I felt very fatigue and sleepy then. I slept almost 15 hours a day for about a month.
I started heavy porn usage due to my depression.
I am now going on PMO now again. Sleep and keep drinking a lot of fluid. Practicing mild exercise will help.
STAY STRONG BUDS.
Thanks for the contribution Abhijit
I am 28 years old. I started masturbation when I was 16, since then I have masturbated almost every day. From past few years I felt difficulty in focusing on things and surely felt the lack of concentration. I used to take things lightly even the big things doesn’t worries me, i also had a persistent pain on my lower back and knees. This pain usually occur when I masturbate in continuation , then I take a few days gap but then I again feels the urge and I starts again but not just once but at least twice a day. This whole mental condition of mine just scares the shit out of me. Because of all these things I started feeling guilty when ever I masturbate and yet couldn’t control the urge. Now for past 2 week I somehow managed to control myself which is my personal best till now. I was having flatline before I quit and still having it, also some weird body pain, I am just concerned that whether I should be worried or not?.. And what about the lack of concentration and focus?.. Will it improve with time? And the lower back pain.. Was it because of the masturbation?
Hello Mudit,
I’m 100% sure that the lower back pain is as a result of constant masturbation. So with time, it will improve.
Also, the lack of concentration and focus is due to brain fog which is caused by porn and masturbation. It’s an end product of a reduced frontal cortex.
So as you exercise willpower more by restraining from porn and masturbation, the concentration and focus will return.
You can learn more about willpower, concentration and focus, and the prefrontal cortex in this manual
I wish you the best on your nofap journey.
Have a good day
Frank
after only few days of nofap i became able to quit smoking and started exercising again.
i workout a lot i hit the gym 4 days a week and also run every single day
5-10km
symptoms m having is :
1)my body temperature rise up and i start sweating like a pig
2) I Feel aroused all the time sometimes i get an airection that last maybe more than an hour.
3) become more confident and maybe kinda aggressive and angry for nothing
4)Lots of energy that make me want to train
5) Bored
6) everything make me think about sex
Hello,
I’m happy for you on your progress and momentum on nofap.
That’s incredible!!
With time, the withdrawal symptoms will reduce.
Cheers!!
Thank you for this info! Whenever I PMO excessively, I feel a huge brain fog, where I get “zombied” and my mind doesn’t feel up front if that makes sense. I can’t think, I am very out of it/spacey, and feel disconnected overall. It is like my brain is literally numb. Could you explain more about if PMO leads to this feeling, and why it does?
Hello Tony,
Being “Zombied” and Brain Fog is DEFINITELY a side-effect of excessive porn watching and masturbation to it.
What brings about this nasty side-effect is a little something known as “Hypofrontality”.
Hypofrontality is a general disease that 99% of impulsive behavioral addicts (like PMO addicts) suffer from. What hypofrontality means is the physical reduction in the grey matter of the frontal brain region. This comes about after years of activating the limbic system at the expense of the frontal brain everytime you give in to the impulse of PMOing.
With a reduced frontal brain comes impaired functionalities. And if you can guess it, one of the functions of the frontal brain is working memory (good for focus, concentration, holding temporary information) and other memory functions. That’s why a porn addict will sometime hold a key in his hand and still be looking for it all over the house. That’s what is known as a foggy brain.
Because of the plastic nature of the brain, with long abstinence from PMO, as you are exerting more willpower and activating the frontal region more on your nofap, the region starts increasing in size and the fog starts lifting, you start focusing better, you feel better connected with your brain, and all those other cognitive functioning improves.
Hope that answers your question Tony.
Have a good day.
Frank
What day would you start getting an Erection again?
Hello Klai,
That day is different for everybody.
The erections come when your reboot is complete or close.
Dude , really congrats for an amazing publication, goes really profound for someones who has really comprehend all the scientific information about Nofap to the experience of living it in flesh is like.
For me One of my hardest withdrawal symptoms that i had experienced is INSOMNIA. I think that’s it’s simplily because i have so much anxiety and tension that i’m not pleasuring my brain with orgasms that he is used to, that it cannot find it’s natural relaxation
Hello Alexander,
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you found the post profound.
I think the solution to insomnia is to build better sleeping habits like; going to bed early, going to bed at the same time everyday, no electronic devices one hour prior to bedtime, no caffeine after 2pm (if you consume caffeine), and so on.
You can even download some deep sleep binuaral beats and listen to it when you want to sleep.
I suffered from insomnia as a part of my withdrawal to NoFap. And the things listed above really helped me then.
Have a good day.
Frank,
This is very important and helpful information. You allow for people to experience true understanding on what to expect going into nofap.
I’m 22 and I started watching porn everyday when I was around 18. I’m currently on day 4 of NoFap. All the information around masturbation, orgasms, and pornography are either meant to scare us or create some taboo around the concepts. Instead of properly educating us on how to handle these situations when they might arise in our lives.
Anyways thanks for the information you’ve helped us a lot. I’ll be referring back to this article as I continue my journey. Good luck to everyone out there trying to better themselves!
You are welcome Emmanuel.
I’m glad you found this article helpful.
I’m on my 60th day but I still experience a lot below:
– tingling tip of my tongue
– random itch on my body but no rash (occurred last night)
– insomnia
– dream of a colleague where I am frightened about
– random/negligible aches on my body
– sweats (i’m not that sweaty before) even on a cold room
Please advise.
Hello mate,
Any of the symptoms you listed above are what I’ve never experienced except insomnia.
So, I can’t say much about them. They might also be withdrawals to PMO and they might not be.
The bottom line is if this symptoms (except the dream which is just a dream IMO) persist, consult your Doctor.
Hope that helps.
Have a nice day
Also, I feel like dizzy sometimes and a slight headache after I ate.
Hi Frank,
Thank you. I’ve read about hormonal imbalance on men and most of the symptoms are the same. Like, a slight headache after taking a meal. Btw, the symptoms above is not persistent. The only persistent is the sweating (not too much sweating though) I just noticed that I’m not this sweaty as before.
Hi again,
Do you think Nofap / PMO withdrawal can lead to hormonal imbalance? Thanks again Frank.
I have back pain since past 2 days. I am on Day 6 of nofap. Can you tell me any way out? Is this a withdrawl symptom? For how many days will this pain last?
Hello Bingo,
When you PMO too much, you can start having this back pain that’s similar to hemorrhoids. When I was PMOing everyday, I started having this back pain and when I sit or stand for a few minutes, the pain starts. But the first few weeks of nofap actually fixed the back pain for me.
Back pain is not a withdrawal symptom of nofap in my opinion. The back pain is a very common side-effect of PMOing too much. Which nofap does actually fix. So, if your back pain has started before nofap, I can say that you should give it a few weeks and it will go away. But, as you said it started while you’re doing nofap, I’m not sure if it’s a withdrawal symptom. I’ve not come across a case like that. Then again, I can only speak from my own personal experience and things I’ve read and confirmed to be true online.
My advice to you (and the advice I normally give on things like this) is you should give it a few more days and be vigilant to notice if the pain is increasing or decreasing. If there’s no change or the pain is getting worse, you might need to consult your doctor in order to rule out any other thing it might be.
Frank
PS: Keep us updated on how it goes. If it subsides on its own over the next few days, back pain might be worthy of adding to our list of withdrawal symptoms of nofap.
I’m 4 weeks in no PMO and the last two weeks I’ve been experiencing PAWS, not only from quitting PMO, but also quitting Kratom. I quit alcohol a little over 4 months ago. I relapsed on Kratom a week ago and have been experiencing sleep disturbances the last 2 weeks (I can’t seem to get more than 5-6 hours a night of bad sleep). I understand it’s important to channel the energy and I’m curious as to how to combat PAWS while also sleep deprived. If I had decent sleep I’d have more energy to do things to help me. I don’t know how to get through this other than waiting out the feelings of being super tired, lethargic, anhedonia, etc. Thanks for the help.
Hello Colin,
Insomnia is a very popular type of PAWS. And it is a very common occurrence as a withdrawal.With what you just said, it isn’t way off that you’re experiencing insomnia with quitting PMO, Kratom, and alcohol a while back.
When it comes to combating insomnia and any other PAWS, you have to get really creative. First of all, mindfulness meditation has been found to really help relief these withdrawal symptoms. When it comes to your sleeping, you have to start doing some sort of sleeping rituals. My own ritual to make sure I fall asleep when I want to are;
1. I go to bed early-ish and I make sure it’s around the same time every day. I never mess with my schedule. Even if I’m having a hard time falling asleep, I stay on the bed.
2. I use some sleep story tapes, or sleep-inducing hypnotic tapes, and I also have a sleep playlist that I’ve carefully curated over the years. I have any of these playing in the background and believe me, they work like magic. These tapes, apart from helping me fall asleep quickly, they also help me achieve a deep sleep state faster and I feel well rested whenever I wake up.
3. My bedroom becomes a sleep sanctuary at night. No bright lights at night, I turn off all my devices and leave them in my study.
I’ll publish a full post about insomnia as a standalone withdrawal symptom in the nearest future. Till then, I hope these tips will help you sleep better.
Have a good day,
Frank
hey I been exposed to PMO since about 13, I am 24 now. I found out about no fap and porn how nasty it is for your body and i quit porn all together for about a 1-2 years. The only time I would orgasm would be from actual real sex with a woman. when I first wanted to stop I experienced all the bad withdrawls symptoms. didnt want to leave the house , terrible axiety, fear of just anything and after i stayed away for about 1-2 years it was done i got over it. I dont think i was a heavy addict, I mainly did it at night before bed every day (sometimes twice a day) but nothing like 4-5x a day everyday for those 10+ years. I relapsed for some reason i dont why i guess i just got bored one day and just fell back in the habit. Also had regualr sex but had this idea that if i dont let the semen out I had to find a way to whether it was sex or PMO. I been clean since December 7th and have not PMO’d ever since. However I did have real sex during that period i wanted to know if me having sex will interfere with me refraining from PMO, also I wanted to know if my symptoms will get worse or will I have an easier path due to the fact that #1 i was not a super heavy user like some stories i’ve heard, and also because I had stopped for 1-2 years. Need all the advice i can get at this point.
Hello Oneil,
First off, I want to congratulate you for getting back on the nofap wagon.
The withdrawal will come, it’s only natural. It might not be as strong as when you first did nofap then.
But even if it’s as strong, you got over it the first time, you’ll be able to do it again.
Finally, what you’re talking about; having the need to let the semen out after sex is known as a “chaser effect”. I wrote a full post on the nofap chaser effect here. You should read it. It’ll be of much use to you moving forward.
Have a nice day,
Frank.
Hi.
I’m on day 19 of my Nofap hardcore.
I’m experiencing most of the withdrawal there, but the most are social anxiety, fatigue, depression. Mood swing.
It’s hard but I’m putting all myself into this hoping to start enjoying life again soon x
Peace and love to everyone
You got it Alessandro.
Keep going!!
I am on my second flatline. The first lasted a number of months, but no withdrawal symptoms other than that. Then, a brief period of libido returning, followed by a second flatline, where I 50% of the time experience low motivation, social anxiety, headaches, nausea, etc. I think because I went for such a long period without any of that but low libido, I’m getting hit by other withdrawal symptoms full force. I’m feeling normal today, though. Went back to song writing after about 5 days of being bored out of my mind, no joy in the little things, no desire to pursue any activities. So, for the moment everything’s okay, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
I am making my first attempt this week and I am currently experiencing every symptom. I became so disabled yesterday that I was unable to motivate myself to work competently. I found it surprisingly easy to commit to this, especially after flat line came into play after a few days in. Understanding the underlying, hidden cost that goes along with the fee in willpower is important.
You’re right about the cost of willpower Simon.
Wish you the best of luck on your nofap journey
Hi thanks for the article , i wanted to ask you about shaky hands after withdrawl .
Hello,
I’ve never personally experienced shaky hands as a withdrawal when I’m on nofap but I’ve read about people that experience it.
As I always say with any porn withdrawal you’re going through, if it’s persisting, visit a doctor to have some tests done so as to confirm if it isn’t something else that needs to be treated.
Hope that helped.
Hi
does nofap causes Numb penis please anyone help…………..
Hello,
I don’t quite understand what you mean by numb. If the numb you mean is not feeling any sensation of touch on your penis, then I would say that I’ve never come across anybody experiencing that type of symptom. I would recommend you see a doctor about that.
The symptom that’s attributed to nofap is the flatline which is not the same as numbness of the penis.
Hope that helped.
Hi everyone. After six year of porn addiction and masturbate…I am on week six after quitting…I am in anxiety, stress and insomnia.plz help me any medication or exercise
Hello Sid,
For the anxiety and stress, I would recommend daily meditation. Even if it’s just for 5 minutes daily.
Insomnia can be relieved if you do away with caffeinated products during the course of your day, by getting to bed earlier and at the same time everyday, and 1 hour before bed, do away with all your devices…. and so on. But no matter how bad the insomnia is getting, it’s a withdrawal symptom that would pass (if you didn’t experience it before nofap).
Hope that helped.
Hello, I was introduced to porn when I was 10 years old by a good friend of mine. So I got addicted very early to it. I have been on nofap now for 35-37 days. The last couple days I have been feeling very lazy and just wanting to veg out and watch nflix all day an play video games, but no tv. So then after a day of this I got huge cravings to drink and eat cookies. So yesterday I didnt know why I wanted them till I read this pages information. I wasn’t aware they are my brains way of trying to get another dopamine fix. I keep waking up with morning wood, and have wicked strange dreams lately. Yesterday I almost blew it literally, as the feeling was so intense, but I stopped myself and took a cold shower. Today I am having cravings again, but after reading this page, I know its withdrawal symptoms by my brain, to get me to the old me. But since I started this, I really don’t want to bang this chick I used to always, and have done my best to stay away from my girlfriend! I have a high sex drive, which doesn’t help cause I constantly feel the need to release. High sex drive is not all its cracked up to be. When I was a teenager used to do it myself 6 times a day, then it just became 2-3 times a day, since Ive had my female playthings Ive reduced it to 1 or 2 times a week. Now though I am tired of being addicted to this, so iv’e been on an off no fap the entire year. But doesn’t help when girls are constantly calling or texting to go over and chill. I am on hard mode, and I don’t think the girls will understand so I just ignore them. These no fap powers so called are real, chicks everywhere young and old stare hard at me, or bump into me to touch me. Online too girls just msg me for no reason. I am fighting the good fight with this nofap but the girls don’t make it easy on me. I had tons of energy to do work, but the last few days, I have just wanted to chill and watch movies. My energy went way down but my craving went way up. What can I do to beat my addiction, i’m tired of this constant urge?
Hi Dan,
The cravings and urges are signals that your body’s detoxing. And there’s really no way around it than to try and keep your mind off it and wait it out.
The more days you add to your NoFap, the lesser the cravings you feel becomes. The shortcut around it, if there’s any is that instead of getting dopamine hits from netflix and cookies, you can try meditating, exercising, and picking a positive and passionate hobby. All these activities will help you sink time and reduce cravings to the minimum.
Hope that helped.
Thank you! Yea your right with time, my brain has stopped making me have all these cravings, and if I do, I drive to the store then just drive back home, and my fapping addiction is getting more manageable. At first wow I couldn’t go one day without it. Now I can go a few weeks, and then about week three the green monster starts to tear me up and really starts pulling at me, I find I have to do something else, or I will have wasted 3 weeks for 20 mins of nothing literally. Well I just relapsed the 17th so starting a new streak, hopefully this time I can beat it, lol not literally! Thanks!
Hello! I am on 58th day’s of nofap feeling mood swings depressed.i have sleeping issues from couple of days hardly sleep 3 hr sometimes 1-2 hr only..I had never experience sleeping issues before.i am also noticing zero urges and no erection…
Hello Danish,
All these are signs that NoFap reboot is working for you. Just keep the streak going. And soon, all the symptoms will pass.
Wish you the best of luck on your NoFap journey.
Thanks dude!..Would you tell me how long it will take to get recover, I am 20 yrs old and addicted for 5 yrs I used to masterbuate occasionally ( 2-3 times in a week)..
Hello friend,
Recovery time will be different for everybody based on anatomical differences and level of addiction and the type of nofap mode you’re doing.
But you can check out this post to get an idea of what time you can expect to recover.
Hope that helped.
Hello,
I am in 9th day of nofap, I am doing no fap because lately when masturbate I started looking for more stimulation form porn, it feels like i dont get enough of everything.
And sometimes when I try to stand up from lying in bed when masturbate i cant hold the erection.
In my nine day of nofap I get mild erection when wake up at night, but I hardly get aroused when daylight, can I get my erection hard again? And how long?
Hello Nana,
I can’t give a specific duration when it’ll take to get your full erection again.
The idea is to stop masturbating to porn for maybe 3 months and see how your erection changes over this period.
But three months is the standard time-frame.
Wish you the best of luck on your NoFap journey
Thank you so much for this article. I am just starting on week 3 and I have experienced almost all the symptoms on this list. The worst being severe anxiety, tension, unmanageable stress levels and also a bit of the shaking hands. I didn’t realize what I had done to myself. I used to equate pornography with sexual freedom and didn’t realize I had in fact enslaved myself just like any other addict. I now understand I had been completely hijacked and feel very little temptation to relapse despite the extreme distress. The withdrawal is harrowing, it has only in the past few days I have felt hope as I am beginning to have brief periods of normalcy. To anyone else going through this withdrawal please know you are not alone. Others are facing the struggle and care about you.
Thank you for your insightful contribution friend.
I’m on my 5th day on no fap and I have started to get very severe and painful headaches. My exams are nearer and that fear of exam combined with nofap, I guess it causing me tension headaches. I was on pmo addiction for more than 2yrs and I am now 18 yr old from India. I have already hit the flatline. I am also having mild fever right now.. I’ll update after few days.. Thanks
(It’s me the same person in the comment.)
I have forgot to mention that I had tried quitting pmo addiction many times before this.i usually relapse I day 4 and maximum I had gone once was day 7. That time I didn’t observe serious withdrawal effects but I was feeling boredom.. It was very difficult to control myself to not pmo till day 3-4 . After that I hit my flatline.. But usually relapsed thinking my di*k was not working. Thanks for this article it has helped me a lot. Please pray for me 🙏. I seriously want to quit this.. It is feeling of hell for me. I have experienced depression for past 2 yrs and the pmo addiction also started with it.. I want someone to talk but I have none. I want someone to share my feelings.
Sorry if I was too open
Thanks
Hello Shashank,
It’s a wonderful thing to share your feelings. It not only helps you but others that are also currently going through the same thing as you.
Keep faith and don’t give up on NoFap. Believe me, it’s totally worth it.
You can use the contact form on this site to send me a mail if you ever need to talk.
I wish you best of luck on your NoFap journey.
Thanks for writing this article, I found it very helpful. It’s good to have a guide on what to expect, instead of just venturing into the unknown!
Thank you, this was very refreshing and helpful.
You welcome!
A lot of yall may not care, but I’m on day 18 of NoFap, the best a have been in years 🙂
I’m happy for you Jackson
What about me brother? I am feeling dizzy whole day. It’s been A week in my journey . I have almost no energy and an urge to sleep whole day long without doing any work . I feel sleepy whole day. Also I Have no motivation to do anything. I am also feeling somewhat insecure about myself and I want to stay in the house whole day and don’t indulge with people socially and not go outside either.
Hello Dishant,
These are all withdrawal symptoms that will pass.
Stay strong bro
hi, Frank.. i’ve read your article and now i am aware of the withdrawal symptoms that i may encounter along the journey.. my only question is.. how can a beginner like me resist sexy girls on the road when it is part of daily life seeing them? i mean, how can i avoid thinking dirty things that will lead me to relapse when unintentionally seeing booties :'(
Hello Vince,
As a beginner on NoFap, you can’t resist sexy girls on the road.
To be able to resist sexy girls on the road, you need to train your mind to catch these porn thoughts early so they don’t lead you to a relapse.
A consistent meditation practice helps with this.
If you don’t have the luxury of meditating consistently, in your early days of NoFap, you can use what I call the one look rule.
The one look rule is that if you’re out and about and you see a bootie, look away immediately and don’t look at it again.
It’ll feel strange at first, but with practice, you get used to it.
What the one look rule gives you is mindfulness. The mindfulness of not engaging.
Hope that helped.
Have a great day.
I keep reaching day 4 or 5, and then I start worrying that i’ll fail during a high streak, so I relapse. Is there any advice you could give me to push past this?
Hello Joe, I talked about these difficult days of NoFap and how you can beat them in this article. Read it up and you’ll find it really helpful.
Have a great day.
I keep getting to day 6 or 7 and then finding it very challenging to not watch porn. How come these days are the hardest? Is there any good tips for me to combat it?
I started “hard mode” on January 11 of this year. This isn’t the first time I’ve tried. I’ve relapsed because I didn’t focus and remember why I was doing this in the first place, which is first and foremost about being able to have healthy relationships, to master myself, body and mind, and for moral reasons. Generally speaking, something triggers me to start thinking sexually, maybe a gorgeous young woman I see somewhere, and I’ve generally permitted such thoughts, because that’s okay, right? Wrong.
I’ve learned that I have to do hard mode and cut all sexual thoughts off at the root. If I let my mind wander into fantasy land, I’m doomed. I remind myself of the reasons why I’m doing this and of the life that I want to live, and I reinforce that porn and frequent masturbation is killing that dream. I’ve tried just quitting porn in the past alone, but that never works longer than a few days or at best a week. I need to stop literally every sexual activity and even thought.
This time has been so much easier because I don’t let my mind wander. I’ve made it 25 days now, the first 22 of which were extremely easy. I’ve had a few somewhat rougher days since then, in part because I started counting. I didn’t know until then that it had been three weeks. Now I’ve been thinking more about all of this, and about how long this can go on. Still, I’ve handled things well so far. I don’t allow my mind to wander, so this “rough” patch hasn’t been that bad.
I got myself burned out on porn and started then. By the end of the first week I entered the flatline stage, and that’s where I am still. I’ve had some issues with sleeping, and my mood has been worse lately, but it’s hard to ascribe that to hard mode. There have been legit reasons to not sleep well and to feel like crap other than abstinence. I simultaneously started hard mode and a new diet and exercise regimen, so I think that has been helping me tremendously. I’ve also been more productive lately, so there’s that.
I have two separate goals here; one realistic and another I refer to as shooting for the moon. First, I want to abstain at least until I can get hard without thinking about sex (and obviously without watching porn). When a stiff breeze gives me wood, I know I’m good. Second, if possible, I would like to abstain until I meet someone and begin a new relationship. If my first new sexual experience can be that, that will be a mission complete.
I want to get fired up by normal-looking women, and be hot for that, not some BS on a screen. After that, if I have to rub one out occasionally, because we got in a fight and she’s being a pain, so be it. Ideally, I will never masturbate again, and just let that energy flow into other areas of my life when I’m single.
Good luck, everyone! I wish you well.
Thanks for giving us your account of NoFap Jack. I wish you the best of luck on your NoFap.
I’ve had a dead sex drive and no active day boners my entire nopmo journey (almost 4 months) and it is making me extremely worried that this is permanent damage. Is this a withdrawal symptom? I heard that flatlines usually dont last this long. I’m a healthy 19 year old who’s just stuck in quarantine, should I go see a doctor about this or should I wait another 4 months?
First off, I’ve seen flatlines that lasted a whole year and some that lasted for more than that. So, your situation isn’t unique.
And of course, it’s also a withdrawal symptom that leaves when your body and dopamine pathways are fully healed.
Secondly, how do you know you’re still flatlining?
Because the only way you can confirm if you’re still flatlining is when you’re with a real-life sexual partner and your sex drive is still very low.
What I’m trying to say is that before you see a doctor, wait for some time, and not only that, try and get a partner to sort of confirm if your sex drive isn’t back yet.
Hope that helped.
Assuming that what we have been told is correct that pmo reduces dopamine receptors – would you not think that depression begins pretty much straight away as the receptors are at their minimum when quiting and are not receiving their regular flood of dopamine through masturbation? Why would depression kick in after a month when the receptors are beginning to heal at that stage? Surely the orgasmic high doesn’t last a month and therefore it wouldn’t leave you for a high for a month (and thus masking depression). Saying that it takes a month before depression kicks in is inconstant with other cessation of addictive behaviors – ie you do not quit smoking, drugs, alcohol and the addiction starts after weeks – it pretty much kicks in straight away. Try depriving a nicotine addict for 24 hours and you will see emotional lows pretty much at the beginning because his dopamine levels are very low – by the month stage nearly all of them state that they feel so much better.
Biologically this theory does not have much merit which makes me wonder why this is the case.
Hello Malaka,
You made a valid point. And I want you to know that the one month I mentioned is an average. There’ll surely be those that start getting depressed after a week, and there are some that don’t get depressed at all.
But, I think this is where PMO addiction differs from other addictions. Because I’m SURE that there’s a delay between the time of quitting and the start of depression if there’s any.
There’s usually this honeymoon period when you start NoFap. You’re full of energy and your testosterone levels are high and you feel like all is right with the world and you can go on NoFap for all eternity.
The duration of this honeymoon period varies for individuals depending on their level of addiction to PMOing. If there’ll be depression, it’s always after this honeymoon period.
I can’t argue that this delay is consistent with the dopamine receptors being depleted, and on paper, there shouldn’t be this delay, but this timeline is consistent.
I think at the end of the day, it all boils down to the level of damage PMO has done to your dopamine pathway, how long you’ve been an addict for, and what your sexual experience was before you got addicted to porn that determines what your recovery and withdrawal symptom timeline will be like.
Hope that made any sense at all.
Hi Frank. Thanks for the really helpful article. Its reassuring to know I’m not the only one who feels they have an addiction that needs addressing, and that what I am experiencing us most likely withdrawal symptoms.
I started masturbation fantasies in my early teens. I was born with a physical intersex condition and had huge amounts of surgery to create a functional penis throughout my childhood (from age 3 to 16, and 30 surgical procedures).
The constant treatments, physical examinations, medical display to groups of interested trainee doctors, being photographed, and so on, over 13 years, provided my teenage self with a rich source of material for use in sexual fantasy. I think it was also a way to help me cope with the trauma of the surgeries and feelings of humiliation and body dysmorphia. I felt like it wasn’t my penis at all, and they were trying to emasculate me. I certainly had no say in what was being done.
I’m in my late 50s now. The coping strategy of masturbation started in my teens has ruled, and ruined my life.
A week ago I decided I had to stop it, and change forever. I’ve managed to abstain so far. But I’m feeling terribly ill. I have constant headaches, horrendous brain fog and I am totally exhausted. I’ve missed a few days off work, and when I’m at work I’m unable to function properly.
I so want to make this change in my life. So your article is a comfort. I also wanted to tell someone, and feel some support. It’s not something I can talk to anyone about, and it feels a very lonely road.
Thanks
Tim
Hello Tim,
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Don’t give up. The withdrawal symptoms will subside.
I wish you the best of luck on your NoFap journey.
Hi Frank,
Many thanks for your article. Now I understood a lot of things from your writing.
My case is different from others, actually I found flatline myself before knowing porn induced erectile dysfunction. I didn’t know about nofap theory then. I’ve been masturbating since 13yrs(with porn).One holy day coming from my work, I thought of doing masturbation but my thing was completely in sleepy mode and even ejaculated with flaccid state. I was scared then and searched internet for some knowledge. Then I came to know that erection problem will occur due to daily porn consumption. Then I stopped watching porn but continued to masturbation because when I stopped watching porn I had completely no morning erections, no libido and no motivation. I was scared and I used to try masturbating (without porn) to check if I’m okay. But I couldn’t get any erections but ejaculation occurs. After checking with internal specialist, everything was okay but my Vitamin D was very low. So I took D supplements. After 2months I went to meet my girlfriend and eventually I learned that my erections were okay.
I stopped watching porn since 7 to 8 months but limited my masturbation without porn for 4 times per month.
Now I read your article and I’m going to stop my masturbation habit too and will see the results. I think it’s easy for me to do nofap challenge now cause I already stopped watching porn. I have to admit that after stopped watching porn I feel myself confident, less anxiety and mental peace.
I learned taosim’s male deer exercise for better sexual function and mental peace.
Please give any suggestions for sexual recovery from the damage
Occurred due to excessive masturbation and porn addiction.
Once again Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
Thanks for the contribution Karthee.
For faster sexual recovery, I would recommend reading this post.
Hope that helped.
Hi everyone. I AM ON DAY 6. I have been a porn addict for about 25 years. And last week I finally decided to put an end to it. Ive been Ruining my life since a child because of it. Im also a recovering alcoholic with 2 years sobriety. I can attest that going through alcohol withdraw and this have been very similar in the symptoms I’ve had in just a few days. I was mostly a heavy binge user. But I would still have days I would only watch a little. Regardless it was consistent. This has been very difficult for me and I sometimes feel like I’m never gonna be better. When I withdrew from alcohol, I said I never want to feel like tgis again. I wish I would have stayed away from porn 2 years ago. Please pray for me in tgis time of need. It feels terrible, that must mean it’s working. Best of luck and thank you for the information and encouragement from all the people here sharing there stories. I didn’t realize how many people truly are effected by such a addictive thing. Be strong everyone, everyday. We will endure.
Frank,
You mentioned there can sometimes be extreme symptoms without listing any. Any chance bad vertigo is one? I’ve been getting these vertigo attacks every 4 to 6 days since quitting. I have to lay still for many hours until the vertigo slowly diminishes.
I had the habit for over 40 years and it’s been about 3 weeks since I stopped.
Thanks,
Greg
Hello Greg,
I never experienced vertigo and I haven’t seen anyone that also experienced it.
Maybe someone that’s been through this type of withdrawal can contribute here
Hello actually I’m on nofap 15th day. from day 3rd to till today I’m getting sleep deprivation. everyday night around at 2 or 3 ‘o’ clock I’m waking up after that I couldn’t sleep till morning. this sleeping problem everyday causing high depression, anxious, headache, body pains, anxiety, and today I got fewer also. also I can’t sleep during day time. if you knows please give me a solution. still how many days it’ll continue. sometimes I feel when I was fapping there is no problems, now why this much problems. sometimes it also feel can I give up?
Hello Nayaz,
There’s a YouTube video I made here(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GquKfMySAb4) where I addressed how to beat insomnia when you’re on NoFap.
I wish you the best on your NoFap journey!
Hey, I started nofap about 10 months ago, I have had several decent streaks since starting with the longest being 88 days. I have had probably 20-30 slips in those 10 months. Most have been short views lasting a few minutes followed by shame for days following. My issue is even 10 months in I am battling depression that started shortly after starting nofap. Do you think it’s normal to have depression this far in and do the slips reset my healing keeping me stuck? I have had some good moments but the depression always seems to come back up after awhile. Thanks so much for your content.
do people who only get no sex drive at all and no erection only get the flatline or does it apply to people who are still horny and have urges aswell? because that would be me im at 65 days and i am close to relapsing due to how hard it is with these urges. i currently have no benefits like increased confidence with women and decreased social anxiety. right now im more socially anxious than when i was actually fapping and now developed a massive headache which i only get if i dont get alot of caffeine. will all of these go away soon? the headaches are not often and only come once in awhile. my personal feeling is i feel my body is trying to trick me into relapsing if i dont get any benefits while im doing it and just receive the opposite instead.
Every problem you have from nofap will become normal and you started seeing progress in life ain for 75 days because after this days the semen in your lower body will started to lift up that will give you mental strength and confidence so anything you fell neglect it for mimimum 75 days