Did I relapse?

Dlavoe

Member
About 2 weeks ago, while watching wife sharing porn videos online, I stumbled across a forum on Redit that allowed users to share pictures of their real life partners. I found this to be the next novelty, I would no longer even watch porn, I would simply go to this forum and fantasize about how these guys were sharing pictures of their real life partners. I then created an account and proceeded to make a post asking if anyone was interested in seeing my fiance. Simply making this post and fantasizing about sharing a picture of her for another man's pleasure made me climax. But as always, I had to push it a little further next time. I later got on private conversations with other guys that responded to my post, and started to send pictures of my fiance. It all fed in to my fantasy, I actually never sent any nude pictures, even though they would ask me for them. I would climax just by sending a picture of a regular selfie of hers, because I knew there was another guy in the world jacking off to my fiance. I however knew that if this pattern continues, I would eventually end up sharing a nude picture of my fiance. Somebody that means the world to me, this is disgusting, disloyal, disrespectful, and extremely shameful. It is for this reason that I said enough is enough. I am aware that I have overloaded my reward circuit so much that I am on the verge of betraying someone I love just to get a squirt of dopamine.

I have actually not suffered much sexually, I still get morning wood somewhat frequently and am able to have sex. Perhaps it is the fact that I remained sexually active while growing up that allowed my brain to wire itself to a real person AND to porn.
I am on my 6 day of not watching porn (Redit included of course). I did not find it that difficult in the begging, however yesterday and today have been quite difficult, with my brain yearning to go on Redit and indulge in the horrible act of sharing my girl. I am not planning to do a "hard reboot" since I believe it is too hard and I don't have ED. However the frustration and desire to get on redit almost got the best of me yesterday and today. I climaxed to pictures of my girl, the problem with this is that I fantasized about sharing these pictures of my girl. I never got on redit or shared them, in fact these were not even nude pictures, these are the type of pics any normal girl would post on Facebook. The excitement came from thinking that another guy in the world would jack off to them. By the way I am not gay at all, as most people in this forum know, porn has a weird way of curving your behaviors.

I'm not sure if to say I have started over...I mean I am still on day 6 of not doing any porn. But the fact that I fantasized about it makes me feel ashamed and that I have somehow started from day one. In fact my brain was telling me, "oh well you have to start your day counter again, so you might as well go on redit and do it today since it no longer counts".
 
Hello - I am sorry to have to say this, but if you fantasized about the reaction caused by posting images on 'Redit' to achieve the same effect as PMO, I would say you did suffer a relapse.

I have a particular fetish I could easily satisfy looking at YouTube  - not a P site, no nudity - but it would be the same as P for me, and it would have the same consequences: feelings of guilt, beating myself up, isolation from my wife (and resenting her getting in the way of my addiction). If something gives you the same rush as using P, you have to avoid it, it's that simple.

On the positive side - you have questioned your behavior and reflected on it. Use this as a basis for making good choices in the future.
 

Dlavoe

Member
Ah damn, thats disheartening news....so u would say fantasizing about porn is the same as pretty much watching it, neurologically speaking?  I feel like I don't  have to stop masturbating since I don't have ED and can still have pretty good sex. stopping masturbation would simply be much harder, but am I going down a bad path?


Should I start my counter all over again?
 

yesyes1234

Active Member
Yeah, everything related to P or giving the feelings of P is best to avoid. Including fantasies. It reactivates the same pathways etc. It's not as bad as watching P, but it is not that far off either. I think I would make a distinction so you don't feel like you need to start over. But you can start counting since you climaxed to fantasies along with when you did to P, if you want.
 

Dlavoe

Member
Thank u for ur insight u are an awesome help. Ok what if my brain just randomly starts to fantasize or think about it but I don't act upon on it, don't climax or anything. Can I count that as another day? Sorry for all the questions, I just need my guidelines.
 

Dlavoe

Member
I'll be frank with u, my brain is just telling me "well if u got to start all over and ur days don't count anymore u might as well actually get to enjoy it today since u start ur counter tomorrow"   

I'm very rational and I listen. Would u mind telling me some reasons why this would be a retarded idea?
 

yesyes1234

Active Member
I know how it is. It's just a way it tries to trick you to fall back in. I'm sure it has given you tons of rationalisations so far. Our brains think the P and dopamine are fundamental for our survival.

It's important not to give in after you have relapsed. Even though you reset the counter you'll have done twice as much damage if you fall in twice and so on. Binging, edging etc. are really bad as well.

I think you can still count those. Have you seen the posts about spreadsheets? I think they are more helpful, so you note the different types of "relapses" you fall into. The best thing you can do is of course to change mental direction as quickly as possible.
 

Clew1

New Member
I am new to this too.
What is pmo mean?  Can I have sex with my wife during reboot?
How long does it take?
What is nofap?
I'm almost 90 days in and still having issues having sex. Frustrating!  My wife is understanding but in her mind when I have issues it is due to watching porn..
 

Dlavoe

Member
I seee. I'm so sorry for still asking questions but seem to have a good head on your shoulders for beating this. So i actually don't have any problems with sex, yet.... Thats why I think the option of still being able to M is ok as long as it isn't to porn or to porn fantasy. But what about naked pictures from my own gf, the girl I already have sex with. Do u think that has any negative effects?
 

yesyes1234

Active Member
No worries. We are here to help each other. And I know how it is in the beginning. There are a lot of things to keep in mind. If you are able to get through it by M'ing, I think that's fine. It's whatever works for you (as long as that mindset doesn't lead to P).

Typically it seems that the once with the bad cases need to abstain from M and ses as well, but the once with the "milder" versions are able to M and have sex during reboot.

I'm afraid all artificial stumili are bad. Even pics of gfs. The mechanisms are too closely linked to PMO or masturbating to porn pics.

@Clew1
PMO = orgasm by masturbating to porn
Nofap = quitting masturbating to porn

I'm afraid it can take some time. The 90 days is typically a general guideline, but it can take a while longer. But 90 days as a newcomer is very impressive. Congrats.
 
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