I had already told in one of my earlier posts that its a highly competitive dog eat dog world where people are trying constantly to get one ahead of you. If I recall the sheer amount of insults and humiliations I had to suffer just because I was too engrossed in PMO - that would be a reason in itself to quit.
Let alone sex being the sacred act of bringing another soul into this world - it was marketted as a must do recreational activity without any consequences.
Have your fill - ad infinitum and ad libitum; was the motto. An utterly absurd proposition, if you think in retrospect.
Releasing is fun, releasing is normal and anyone who doesn't do it is either gay or has issues.
All this bullshit being peddled to "relieve stress" was another factor.
High Speed Internet just complicated things further. While smoking, drinking - have been there for thousands of years; high speed internet porn has been there only for 20 years. Whilst smoking and drinking do not capitalize on any fundamental urge - porn feeds on the urge to procreate (which is perhaps the most driving factor for a male).
All this has given us is awkward high school years, failing college grades and underperforming dead end careers with poor sleep patterns along with no prospects.
We are the generation raised on porn.
I have a desk job with highly limited scope for intense physical activity. To the extent my joints are starting to get affected. But when I am on a decent period of abstinence - say more than 3 months; my knees stop hurting completely. Like zero pain even though my weight is obese class.
But right after 3-4 days of daily relapsing - Lo behold the devil strips my knees of all cartilage and I have severe knee pain.
This could be dismissed as a co incidence - but it's not since it has happened the third time in 2 years.
There's no supplement in my opinion to replace the life you lose whilst ejaculating.
You may have all the Zinc, Selenium, Pygeum, Magnesium, Vit D, Vit E and K along with Chromium and Molybdenum - double your stack or triple it; follow X/Y/Z relapse protocol; you cannot escape the consequences of release. Especially when your body clearly gives signs to stop. Take an analogy.
The supplements are akin to paints and the vital life force is akin to the painter's mind. Unless the intangible energy used to re arrange these raw minerals into this complex fluid is present - there's no semen produced.
Some people do not have knee pain but report gastrointestinal problems like a rumbly stomach, irregular bowel movements, etc.
Brain fog and anxiety are just the tip of the ice berg. When the damage is advanced - the body suffers too.
Have started exercising and sleeping a bare minimum of 7 quality hours a day as a result and have changed my diet to real foods. Hope this gets better. And obviously - have left all and any sort of conscious ejaculation as well.
This isn't placebo - its reality and now I am burdened with the truth since now I have a prerogative to obey this rule.
What I've realized is that 99% of the time - the only reason for my relapse (which occurs after months of semi decent and hard mode streaks) is that I have no reason to continue.
It feels that all is lost, there's no point in retaining; might as well as relapse another time.
If this percentage was smaller; skipping this step would still make sense. But now it doesn't.
Would practice compassion towards myself (this comes after a lifetime of being extremely harsh and unforgiving inner voice). Lets see where this takes me. Being hard on myself definitely didn't take me anywhere.
For me, forgiving myself would be tougher than having a long abstinence period. In fact - it feels neigh impossible. Would report on how this goes.
Most people here report benefits (tangible ones) - in a couple of weeks. There's still 20 weeks left. Other men will find reasons to relapse - especially near the start of the new year whereas you would be beginning with a decent 20 week abstinence period.
I did not mean to sound unnecessarily competitive - but this has become a cut throat dog eat dog world in 2026.
This is a very good opportunity to practice radical forgiveness; forgiving all your past relapses and completely accepting them - and ultimately moving on and making SR a lifestyle.
20 weeks isn't 6 months - and its definitely not a whole year. But its a solid concrete period to practice abstinence long term. Hope this helped.
I've been hooked since I was not even 10. And now I am approaching 30's. I seem to have exacerbated health issues which I surely believe was caused by losing excessive life force - like the numbers which make you vomit. Waiting for the diagnoses and I pretty sure some fucked up condition awaits me in my late twenties.
Lads - start young and stay on the narrow path. You will figure out other ways of having gun and feeling relaxed -- but don't fall for the PMO shithole.
Long story short - my largest streaks were 24 months and 9 months long respectively. Both the streaks were broken by not setting boundaries and cutting triggers - and being complacent that I had moved beyond SR.
Nope - then reality hit hard. Bad luck, misfortunes - although touch wood they weren't that big - or I think so.
There's never such thing as "moving beyond SR" - you have to build a system to stay on it for long periods of time to get benefits - possibly ending in release only when you find "the partner".
Complacency cost me both of my streaks in which benefits were actually racking up.
Had watched this popular horror summer flick before; and now that my 6 month period of abstinence from this fake filth is complete - I cannot help but feel like Nikki from Obsession.
It's like when I was on PMO / K O R N - some other personality had taken over my body. And now that I've stopped watching it; I see the damage it has caused. Forget about the dopaminergic consequences - I don't even feel myself anymore.
I am just like - WTF ? (As this "streak" spiralled me back into my pre frontal cortex which I suppose had been offline for all these years because of this dumb shit).
I feel like I was under the sway of this habit for so many years and now that I've abruptly quit it - I am back online. But I do not resonate with my friends, career or hobbies anymore. It's like a totally different spirit had taken over me when I was watching porn.
I've taken in from this sub what I could, and after long time lurking it's time to leave. My only advice is - don't feel down when you do not feel the benefits not kicking in. Its your brain recalibrating from years of PMO abuse and it will take time. The second you relapse you put yourself back in the hell you climbed out of.
More so over - the benefits appear only after a relapse when you are able to compare the after / before situation.
Stay tight. Unless supplements are verified to contain what they contain - and are super cheap - stay off them. The seed is enough.
And yes - SR is nothing without deep restorative sleep. Gotta give yourself the shuteye. Hope this helps.
The reason my mind craves caffeine is simply because I've grown to like stress. Get a kick out of it. Can't be alert without it.
Rather play a stressful FPS than relax and just be. How does this connect to PMO ? Before PMO I thought this was normal. It is not. Was stuck in the cycle of PMO making me stressed bout everything - and this carried on for so long it became my actual state.
TLDR = I have forgotten the skill of just letting go and relaxing without PMO.
M 28 5ft 11 - 100 kgs weight. Have fasted earlier with mixed results, always rebounded. One of the remarks from my co workers made me reflect how I've become so docile because of the weight gain.
Today I begin OMAD, eating in the noon. Let's see how far this goes. Will add comments to this post instead of creating new ones. Any tips for afternoon OMAD'ers would be appreciated.
Right now - I am exploding with energy. Not the physical kind of energy which can be expended in a workout but rather a mental edgyness - like a mania. How do I ground myself ?
The usual sperm cycle is about 70 days. You'd need about 5-10 cycles of pure retention to notice the magic. Thus - the bare minimum of difference at this rate would start at 6 months. Grow TF up and abstain longer instead of whining.
Got back morning wood after 5 months of cold quitting. Good sign. Was a PMO addict since 10 yrs of age. This is worth it.
I have cut out supplements such as Zinc, Magnesium and the entire test maxing lot too.
I am not here to say that PMO isn't enjoyable - but it never leaves you satisfied. At all.
They pushed this agenda down our throats, using advertising, movies and other subliminals to make it seem everything is about sex. Changed our expectations and morphed our desires into something outright demonic.
Feel betrayed by the media (well, for the nth time). I was naive and took at face value whatever was shown to me.
Not anymore now. At least in this respect, I take control back.
Whenever I go for long periods of retention (more than 3-4 months) I start noticing synchronicities and co incidences. To the point it has made me convinced that the law of attraction indeed exists.
Has anyone of you managed to leverage this phenomenon to get abundance and wealth ?
Sometimes I think this is the law of useless co incidences and law of trivial synchronicities - if only I could manage it to get me wealth - wouldn't that be great ?
Its been 140 days plus without this vice - and today is the first time I felt that my brain is rewiring itself. I don't... want porn anymore ? I've never felt like this before.
This is my first non-vice streak (strict period of abstinence without even alcohol and reduced caffeine consumption).
Earlier streak - although 2 full years - was full of other vices and occasional peeking at corn.
But this time it is somewhat different. The rewiring is patently visible and I am able to remember numbers way better. Sometimes - I am able to articulate words a lot better.
This is of immense hope to me as some people saw me as "bright" when I was young. Sadly this is no longer the case due to a decade and half of severe PMO addiction.
I've quit PMO for good this time. Hope life gives me more reasons to continue than relapse.
Office work seems boring as hell now. Unable to sit at a desk for 10 hours straight 6 days a week. Yup, its 6 days a week. Pays well but kills the soul.
The only vice I am thinking of not giving up is gaming. I do not game currently as my laptop is pretty basic - but I intend on getting a gaming setup 1 year down the line.
I intend on starting intermittent fasting by skipping dinners - who knows that might increase my sleep quality which is crappy as well. Bad lucid dreams, mostly.
The hardest part has not been cutting off porn - which I've watched enough (and it just... fell off like a ripe apple from the tree of my consciousness ? Maybe I've outgrown that I want real experiences ?) - its been cutting of jerking off and taking alcohol the latter of which I miss.
But both have led me to make questionable life decisions at pivotal moments and I do not thing I would be going back to them unless, say I win a lottery. I am safe that way.
I intend on continuing this period of abstinence till Christmas, will update you folks on the status every 2-3 weeks or so.
The only problem I have is lethargy. Take women and sex out of the equation and I have zero motivation to do anything. Makes me realize how everything I did was connected with getting girls. Oddball of a realization - but it is true.