what should i do to help my recovery in your opinion ? waterfast ? or do you think time alone is enough ?
Im pretty sure fasting helps. I never did just a water fast but every time I juice fasted, it seemed to be followed by a nice surge. I would eat as pure as you can. Nuts, berries, fish, limit your gluten, processed foods, etc… If youre very physically active, consider giving it a break. If youre not, consider getting into a routine. A lot of this is speculation obviously but this is my experience. Quit PMO, and limit your MO. No edging. I think a lot of the problems can be boiled down to the brain and prostate though. Fix those and most of the other symptoms will resolve quicker, IMO.
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Hey, thanks for coming back and reporting about your recovery!
Do you think you might have overtrainend before and drained the body out? How was your workout routine?
The moment your recovery begun, what do you think, how high was your body fat percentage?
Thanks man! And fucking enjoy your life…
Thank you very much for sharing your story and recovery. It means a lot and gives us hope. I’m really happy for you!
Are you still avoiding PMO or do you masturbate and watch porn today when you are recovered? If so, how often do you masturbate in a week? During your year on nofap, did you have any setbacks?
PMO?
Can someone explain?
PMO = porn, masturbation, orgasm.
I abstained for a 6-month period during the first ten years after crashing, with maybe 3-4 sexual encounters occurring in those 6 months, and it didn’t help.
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Hi @anon63826377. Our forum software automatically silenced both of your accounts due to sockpuppetting and hid the topic.
The content you posted is here:
…But your 2nd account will be deleted. Only one account is allowed per member.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to share your recovery story. We need as many of these as possible and they’re some of the most valuable threads possible.
I agree that PMO is counterproductive. People can definitely get this stuff without it, though. I have seen on PSSD forum women who have never masturbated in their lives having all the same symptoms as us. But it’s definitely counterproductive and for some here it might even be the whole explanation rather than PFS separately at all.
Don’t be ridiculous.
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Second what @Greek is saying. Read the symptoms in studies by scientists from top institutions at www.pfsfoundation.org.
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thank you Greek !
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Thanks alot for coming back, can you please write down the things that you think helped the most In some order.
Also do real sex should also be avoided or only PMO.
Can you tell me what helped you penis sensitivity the most.
Also did you experience prominent penile veins, my penis hurts after ejaculation.
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Woah man! This is really great… many people considered penile shrinkage and sensivity problems as permanent problems. But you said that it is 100% back again. But can you exactly say that your penis sensivity is as good and healthy as Pre-Fin state?
Also, are your orgasm quality and intensity came back to normal? You had any of low semen volume and orgasm problems? @anon63826377
Thank you so much for telling us about your experience.
As Sunny11 said, I would like to know what the most important elements for your recovery were.
Do you have any particular blood tests to recommend? @anon63826377
I really cant say what order to do things. I would try them at the same time and be ok with the fact that it will be difficult to figure out which was most helpful to you. Everyone is different also and the duration you took Fin probably plays a role as well. Id get bloodwork done but I cant say id recommend getting on hormone replacement therapy but Im sure its helped some feel better. Maybe you dont want to wait 15 years and the risk is worth the reward. Seems reasonable. In any case, get educated on your personal profile. In my last year of recovery my T was low (360) and gradually increased over the year. Currently its 730 after my last test. My vit D was pretty low and that was a simple fix that I think had a somewhat positive impact on my recovery.
No, I think occasional sex is probably the only time worth considering testing yourself. Its the unnatural overload of dopamine that is likely the problem. Think of all the sexual sides as withdrawal symptoms.I would just avoid PMO and for a considerable amount of time. The standard in nofap forums is 90 days but Ive read of some guys that needed a year or 2 before they were 100%. I think our situation is considerably worse on average so I would give it a year at least. Its difficult but it was undeniable that the longer I went without it, the closer to normal Id feel. Problem was that when I would relapse, I would feel back to square one for a bit. Personally, I think that any amount of restraint isnt wasted by the occasional relapse but the longer you can go, the better. I think time is a big factor too.
Fasting, probiotics, and no fap all had a noticeable improvements on my penile sensitivity. Sometimes this was very short term but overall it seemed to have an upward trend. I think gut flora has a role in this too. Things felt better on an empty stomach and taking probiotics. Before I introduced any of those, I was pretty numb genitally. Sex didnt feel particularly good at all. I would have times where I thought my sensitivity was almost normal but now that its ACTUALLY back, I realize that I was still a ways away at those moments. I seriously forgot how good things are supposed to feel. It was so gradual, I was like a frog in a boiling pot of water. My scrotum sensitivity returned to normal after penis sensitivity but it was a terrifying process. In addition to the testicular shrinkage/softening during that time, when Id wake up in the morning my balls felt so awkward. They felt more lifeless than usual. They felt lighter than they should be, even for their reduced size (40-50% reduced roughly. and this fluctuated) and my scrotum felt very mushy. Id also get a cold sensation in the back of my scrotum/perineum area. And theyd move for no reason at all. It was very strange and I was worried about losing my testicles. I had an ultrasound which was fine and just detected 2 epididymal cysts on my left testicle which Ive had since my prefin days.
Prominent penile veins was one thing I never really encountered. I did have a patch of raised skin (what appeared to be scar tissue beneath the skin). There werent too many symptoms I didnt experience over the course of this but this was one of em. I had a mild hourglass shape when semi erect, and hard flaccid (esp in mornings, if I had any blood flow upon waking at all) and if you experience these I think the worse thing you can do is test yourself to make sure youre still semi functional. I dont know if its a healing process or what but it was very apparent and now its gone. It did seem that M made matters worse when I was experiencing hard flaccid. It was like my penis was begging to go into hibernation. Its scary to read all about the “use it or lose it” theories. I should note that size didnt come back to normal at once. It was more like a balloon that keeps getting reinflated and after each time, it had more and more capacity for expansion.
Thank you. Prior to fin, I worked out practically everyday in college. I did a lot of low rep high intensity exercising and a fair amount of running. I was 155 and maxing out at 285 on bench. Im not particularly well educated on what effect lifting has on androgens but I thought it was just worth noting that PMO and lifting was a big part of my routine back then.
Before I gave lifting a long break last year, I still felt like I was gradually recovering. My body fat % in college was around 10% but it is much higher now at 36. I weight about 190 and am 5’8" and less strong than I was. I was really lean at 21. After fin, the gym became an exhausting chore but I forced myself to do it till recently.
Id recommend the general PFS blood tests for everyone to get a better idea of your personal profile. Mine revealed a low T level 2 years ago, elevated FSH/SHBG (but not very far out of range) and low vit D. Some things are an easy fix and should be addressed immediately to eliminate it as a contributing factor. I took vit D and felt like it helped some. I know that many people have normal levels across the board and still experience these symptoms so its relevance may be minimal but its still worth having, if nothing else besides having something to compare yourself to at a later point. I had T checked about 4 years after PFS as well which I was told was normal but I cant recover those results as they threw out records older than 7 years. I think seeing a specialist to measure physical symptoms via doppler/neural exams etc, will give you a better picture as well but Id just be wary of any rash surgeries to correct any problems which could possibly be resolved on their own. Im sure Drs like Goldstein would have a very good understanding of that though.
Ill also add that I never had the full panel of bloodwork done till I spoke with Goldstein so I cant say how drastically my hormones have changed over 15 years. I can only report on the past 2 years of tests + symptoms over the 15 years.