Hey guys! So i read in articles withdrawal symptoms like sadness depression and tiredness, and it is kinda weird from my perspective… Whenever I do no fap I am full of energy and I’m social and on edge,it’s like I’m enjoying it, the only difficult part for me are the cravings and when there is inproductivity. I Have withdrawal symptoms like headtentsion, restlesslegs, insomnia and intense dreams but that’s it…
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Hey man. Yes it is normal all of us have experienced some sort of the symptoms you mentioned as the mind wants to stay on the addiction as it is doing it for that high firstly and secondly the body is a well managed ‘machine’ if I can call it that. Like everything has a balance within the body.
Don’t know if you have heard it in biology the term I am mentioning is homeostasis. The body has a process in keeping things in balance. Stuff like your blood sugar, blood pressure, hormones etc. once one thing is out of place the body is triggered to react to the change to adapt to it and to restore balance as quick as possible.
So yeah there is a bit of a “confusion” time where the body is trying to normalize and adapt on how to figure a way out to restore the balance.
As with nofap it is very complex as a lot of hormones are in play and also the body is undergoing a series of transformation as it has to deal with less dopimine and also have to deal with a imbalance of other hormones and also has to deal with new senses it is causing.
Hope this helps you to understand it a bit better. Sorry for going a bit nerd, but it is the best way to explain it.
Good luck man stay strong and awesome!
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Withdrawal Symptoms of Nofap: Things to Expect to be Better Prepared
In this post, we take a closer look at the withdrawal symptoms of nofap. What to be expected if on nofap and how to alleviate them so that they wouldn’t get so overpowering that they lead to a relapse.
One caveat to the nofap challenge is that it is not a very easy thing to do. On the surface, commitments are easy to make.
“I will go 90 days on nofap”.
A very easy promise to make, but doing it is another ballgame entirely.
The withdrawal symptoms are what people should know when trying to undergo the nofap challenge. They are not things that can be taken lightly if success is to be achieved in nofap .
This article would go a long way in helping you reach your nofap goals.
Knowing what they are would make you better prepared when the withdrawal symptoms start popping up. Just in case you don’t know what the benefits of nofap are, check here and get an idea.
What you will learn
What withdrawal symptom is in the first place
Withdrawal symptom is just a way your brain fights back in order to resist change.
When a change signal is sent to the brain, either by a means of resolution or commitment, the motivation circuit of the brain is switched on.
You get psyched, excited and ready for whatever the challenge might be. This might last for two to three days in most cases.
As the motivation circuit is switched on, after a short period of time, the fear circuits, primarily the Amygdala which is located in the Limbic system of the brain is also switched on.
This is a mechanism that is built in to protect us from harm. But due to the fact that the brain’s language of harm is CHANGE, no matter how necessary and needed it is for the individual to change, the fear circuits get into high gear anyway.
The human brain doesn’t like change. So, when you want to break a habitual way of life, your brain will try all things in its arsenal to get you back to the old pattern.
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 has at its disposal, all the other parts of your body.
Because the brain controls all the other parts of the body, whenever there is a perceived discomfort, it sends different types of pain signals to different parts of the body.
It starts to get you to reverse your decision by giving you some mental discouragement. If that doesn’t work, if you are still motivated to do it, then, it gets to the stage where a small burst of dopamine gets secreted in the brain when the thought of the old habit cross the mind.
Since the brain automatically seeks more of dopamine, a huge craving cycle is triggered. If the cravings don’t get the job done, other symptoms like headaches, nauseation, fever, serious mood fluctuations, and other hosts of symptoms are triggered.
■■■■ and masturbation addiction is similar to other Compulsive addictions
The similarity in ■■■■ and msturbation addiction to other compulsive addictions like smoking is remarkable.
Just like other addictions like smoking, drinking, over-eating, excessive sugar consumption, where the reward center of the brain is hijacked, PMO addiction also follows the same trend.
A lot of nofap rebooters report symptoms that are similar to smoking and drinking withdrawals while they are on nofap.
Some withdrawal symptoms are general and mostly experienced by almost everyone on nofap while some extreme withdrawals are seen in some rare cases.
As regards your willpower, if you would like to know how it works, and how to boost it specifically for nofap, you can get this manual I’ve written here
The Triple Decker effect: why the withdrawal symptom list is long for nofap
People often lump ■■■■ and masturbation addiction together. Hence, the birth of the Nofap community.
When most people want to reboot, they often opt for the hard mode which is abstaining from ■■■■, masturbation, and orgasm (PMO) all at once.
What I’ve come to realize is that the big three on the list above which is PMO are three separate types of addiction.
■■■■ abstinence presents its own withdrawal symptoms when abstaining, masturbation addiction also presents its form of withdrawal symptoms and orgasm presents its own form of symptoms.
When you take on nofap, expect a frenzy of withdrawal symptoms.
They are often subtle, and if there isn’t a prior knowledge about them, they are not often recognized and therefore, not tackled properly.
People are different, so don’t be scared
What Mr. A would experience as withdrawal symptoms would be different from Mr. B.
You might experience a ton of them and another person might experience just one or two.
It also depends on the level of addiction.
But what I have found is that across the board, the symptoms are actually similar and alike. Except for some rare cases where the symptoms tend to be extreme.
What are the withdrawal symptoms of nofap?
It’s time to really dig into what to expect might happen during your nofap challenge which are normal and that if you are actually having these symptoms (one or more), then nofap is really working for you.
This is the cream de la cream of withdrawal symptoms. And this is the single reason why 80% of ■■■■ addicts relapse.
This is where your willpower and resolve will be tested the most and unfortunately, in most cases, it is not always enough.
People can’t and don’t know how to manage these when they start happening. And why most people relapse is because they lack enough willpower.
Although cravings are things that are experienced temporarily, it doesn’t always feel temporary. Because ■■■■ has hijacked the reward circuit of the addict, the brain will want more ■■■■ to get a dopamine high.
The seductive pull or urge to watch ■■■■ is called craving. Initially, a craving starts with a stimulus. Scientists call this a cue but I prefer the word trigger.
The trigger can be internally generated. For instance, ■■■■ thoughts or images recalled or any type of erotic thought. It can also be externally generated such as seeing erotic images or a ■■■■ girl down the street.
This trigger (through PET scans) has been found by this study to cause the brain of the addict to release a small burst of dopamine similar to actually watching ■■■■.
What this means is that the thought of ■■■■ by a ■■■■ addict spikes dopamine in the addict’s brain causing strong cravings since the 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 it or not. The more you try to resist or suppress it, the more reinforced it becomes.
From my personal experience, some nights when this gets so intense for me, I start shaking like a heroin junkie and I would look at myself in the mirror and start laughing at myself.
As regards your willpower, if you would like to know how it works, and how to boost it specifically for nofap, you can get this manual I’ve written here
This is when you experience very low libido and your john john can’t get up for $500.
This is the most common signal from the brain that nofap is working. You wake up in the morning and nothing.
You see a ■■■■ girl in real life, nothing again.
The flatline usually starts after 5-7 days into nofap. It actually scares a lot of people who don’t know that it is a normal thing that happens on nofap.
Some of these people actually 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 and honest, this is to be expected and well prepared for.
Because all these years of programming your body and brain to get an erection by watching ■■■■ and you suddenly stop it and expect to wake up to an early morning boner??
Common!! REALLY?.
Some people claim they never experience this, but I don’t see how that is possible if you are not stimulating yourself to erotic thoughts.
I like the flatline. In fact, I love the flatline.
It gives the mind and body a peace and quiet. Instead of fighting it by trying to get a hard-on, it’s best to just ride it out like a wave.
For me, I have 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. At least you won’t be busy dealing with an erection that resulted from a wild thought throughout the day.
How long does flatline last?
It varies from individual to individual. But based on this timeline, the flatline usually subside around Day 45.
But again, I have seen people that still experience flatline 4 months into their nofap. Just know that it is part of the process of your body healing itself.
The best and wise thing to do is to allow it to happen.
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This is a rampant occurrence in the first three weeks of nofap.
Most addictions are developed as a form of coping mechanism for some emotions or feelings.
Forming a PMO addiction came about as a way of coping with some underlying emotions.
So, when the habit that is being used to cope is removed from the equation, those emotions that have been bottled up and suppressed for a long time starts bubbling to the surface.
It is not uncommon for people on nofap to experience strong emotional feelings about a trivial matter. A little issue might cause a lot of anger, a simple sight of a dog might cause tears trickling down the face and recalling a memory might bring a lot of unexpected happiness.
These highs and lows leave the individual in a mood roller-coaster. One minute you might be feeling extremely joyful and glee and the next minute, you might be so angry at nobody in particular.
The best way to deal with this is to identify these emotions and try to address it.
Being mindful of one’s emotion is a skill that is cultivated with time. 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 is something that is out of your control, accept that not everything you can control and don’t judge yourself or the emotion.
With time and practice, the ability to be in touch with one’s emotion will start breeding inner peace and the emotions will start regulating.
You can learn more about willpower, concentration and focus, and the prefrontal cortex in this manual
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. 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 feeling are just your brain adjusting itself to the new reality. Some people do fall victim 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 very well for this process is to engage in a form of High-Intensity Interval Training Exercises (HIIT).
If that cannot be done, other options are to 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.
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When the brain has been trained to only get dopamine hits from ■■■■, other activities won’t give that level of dopamine to the brain.
When someone has watched ■■■■ for a very long time, that act has been flooding the brain with dopamine. Due to this, the D2 receptors in the brain has been reduced.
So, the brain has become numb to most of the other activities that are supposed to give pleasure to us 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. You might be amidst a crowd, or engaging in other activities, but, since it is not ■■■■, the brain would not categorize it as fun.
This is why it is very important to incorporate some D2 receptor building activities into the day while undertaking the nofap challenge.
These activities include reading any book or novel you fancy, learning or playing musical instruments, listening to music, 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 (initially used for PMO) available in your day empty. Make sure you consciously fill it up with a positive and empowering activity.
Doesn’t need to be an elaborate activity as you can see from the examples I gave above.
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 about a month.
Again, this is due to the reason the addiction started in the first place. Those emotions that have been bottled up will come to the surface and those might be, in most cases, 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 this 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 up mentally.
You can learn more about willpower, concentration and focus, and the prefrontal cortex in this manual
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.
It is best 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 in order to help rule out any other form of disease that might be hiding under the hood.
On a final note
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 ■■■■ 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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I am currently in day 65, and I am suggesting from severe insomnia. I can’t study. I can’t concentrate. Even when I do exhausting exercises daily for 30 minutes for weight loss. Do anyone has any suggestions. It’s currently 6:33 A.M. in India and I haven’t slept for the whole night. Please help me.
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Dear bro, all I can say is that stay strong. This time shall pass too. @Forerunner , @babi do you have any suggestion about this. Brother, you’ll have two choices fap and instantly escape the pain or struggle, stay in the fire of your pain till it passes and come out like a beast. The pain and struggles you are going through today is building your character. Keep going man. Its not easy to reach 65 days, but its very easy to end everything.
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I had severe insomnia after 20 days too in my previous streak. You have to stoo drnking coffee or energy drinks, do 2 hours of training, and most of all be productive, walk a lot, do things. Whatever lose end you have, deal with it
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@Brahmachari_17 If you’re up past 6 AM, your mind may be tired, but your body isn’t exhausted enough to sleep. You have to exert yourself even more.
Don’t spend any time thinking about “I haven’t had X hours of sleep.” Your body will go to sleep if you’re in any danger. There is nothing to worry about. If you’re unable to sleep, this means that you have too much energy.
Do something else that’s productive with the time. If you are unable to concentrate on studying, watch an informative/educational video or documentary. Read a good book. Work on a hobby. And put in more exercise than 30 minutes.
Relax, and let go of anxiety, worry and stress. No one ever died of lack of sleep. If your body is in any danger, it will send you to sleep on its own. See it as an opportunity - you’re gaining some hours in the day while others are asleep. With time, your body will adjust again.
Keep going brother - 65 days! 
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You are absolutely right. You must be able to endure the pain now. I want to say, just imagine the moment you we reach 100 days, everyone. Everyday please imagine it, before going to sleep and take one day at at a time and one moment at a time.
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