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Porn Withdrawal Symptoms: What to Expect
Porn Withdrawal Symptoms: What to Expect
Is porn addiction withdrawal a thing? Yes, as with any addiction, it is absolutely a real thing. And there are plenty of practical ways to work through this stage in your brain’s healing. Here’s how to get started.
What Porn Withdrawal Symptoms Feel Like
There is no single version of this. Just as no two people’s porn use is the same, no two people’s withdrawal is the same. But the same handful of symptoms come up again and again in what people describe, and most of them are psychological rather than physical:
- Irritability and a short fuse — small things land much harder than usual
- Trouble sleeping — either not being able to sleep, or wanting to sleep constantly
- Low mood, and sometimes real depression
- Anxiety, sometimes arriving with no obvious trigger
- Brain fog — trouble concentrating, a sense of moving through treacle
- Restlessness and agitation, often alternating with exhaustion
- Headaches and unexplained physical aches
- Cravings that arrive in waves rather than as constant background noise
- A flat, blank feeling where things that used to be enjoyable simply are not
Two things are worth knowing about that list. The first is that these symptoms change, sometimes fast: people describe feeling hyperactive one day and unable to get out of bed the next. The second is that they are not a sign something has gone wrong. They are the sign your brain has noticed the supply has stopped.
How long this lasts is the other question everyone asks, and the honest answer is that it varies — but what people describe at each stage is more predictable than it feels right now.
Realize that Porn Addiction Withdrawal is the First Step Toward Healing
Withdrawal symptoms can tell you two really important things about your situation:
- You are truly addicted to porn
- You are fighting back
Withdrawal symptoms are your brain’s way of throwing a temper-tantrum. It wants its hit of dopamine, and you just cut off its main supply.
“When a brain that has become accustomed to chronic overstimulation stops getting that overstimulation, neurochemical changes in the brain start happening. As a result, many users report withdrawal symptoms.
This might sound bad but it is actually very good. Like a bodybuilder who learns to love the burn because it is tearing their muscles down to grow stronger, we can anticipate and welcome the pain of sex addiction recovery. Withdrawal sucks and it can be frustrating, but it means our brain is changing. Instead of looking at withdrawal pain as evidence of how messed up you are, think of it as painful healing or soreness after a workout.”
— Fight The New Drug, citing Avena, N. M. and P. V. Rada, “Cholinergic Modulation of Food and Drug Satiety and Withdrawal,” Physiology & Behavior 106, no. 3 (2012): 332–36.
You Can Fight Withdrawal Symptoms by Rewiring Your Brain
You can quite literally hack your own brain by helping it to rewire in a more healthy way during this stage of withdrawal. And the rewards of quitting porn make the effort worthwhile. As you now know, what your brain wants is dopamine. So here’s the trick: when you are craving porn, replace that with something else that can give your brain a similar hit. Here are some activities that produce dopamine:
- Eat a carby or sugary snack
- Exercise
- Play video games
- Sleep
- Work on a goal
- Call a friend or watch a video that is guaranteed to make you laugh
While some of these are not particularly healthy habits, they are healthier than porn addictions and can help you get over the hump of the withdrawal process. That hump does not last forever.
Don’t Isolate Yourself
Surround yourself with healthy, positive people. Go out. Get outside. Go on a date. Hang out with friends. Go for a run. Go to church. It is so easy to isolate when you’re fighting the symptoms of porn addictions withdrawal, but it’s much harder to fall back into bad habits when you are surrounded by healthy people who care about you. For help with your sex addiction recovery, reach out to us at Compulsion Solutions. We’ve been in your shoes and we can help.
These challenges also apply to sex addiction more broadly — learn about withdrawal symptoms that come with sex addiction.
Understanding why your brain craves dopamine during withdrawal can also help explain what you’re going through.
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You give me hope, but I know I need help before my wife can no longer tolerate it. I've been struggling porn addiction since I was 13; I'm now 45. The longest I've been able to abstain from porn was 21 days. It's deep mentally for me. I've requested the first chapter in hope that the info in it will begin my journey. HELP ME PLEASE!!!
Harold, I'm glad you've requested the free sample. That's a great first step. If you'd like to discuss getting support, give me a call.
George Collins, Director
925-932-0201
My boyfriend is 7 weeks clean and we are looking for more reading materials. He has quite masturbating and watching. The urges to watch porn are less but still there. The urge to masterbate is gone. Will the porn urges ever go away completely?
Hi Amanda, The answer is YES.......IF he does his "homework." Send for the free samples of our books by filling out the form on this page. If you like the free samples then you can get the books on amazon.com. They work....IF you work them. Give me a call if you have more questions. We do individual and couples counseling with folks from all over the world.
Best, George
Would like a copy. My husband has been addicted to gay porn, I wasn’t aware. The men in the family all have some type of addiction, father etc. the learning disabilities are from the mom but this appears to be male genes
Thanks
Help me
Call me. 925-932-0201
George
I have been struggling with Pornography for 10+ years. Ive had times at most of 8 days without Porn and I was miserable. I know about the Dopamine affect and spent time learning about it. This does make sense to replace the Porn affects with a sugary sweet for example. I struggle with PTSD, Brain Damage, Clinical Depression. When I am off Porn and Im Sober I am actually very depressed, I feel all the pain that I once Numbed, yet at the same time when I do go to Porn im in awful social anxiety, I isolate myself from the world, doesnt help with Covid, I still go to the gym but its different when I watch Porn because, I can see everyone naked in my mind and my confidence hits rock bottom. This isnt who I am or who I want to be. I have a devine purpose and Dreams to accomplish. I want to be Porn Free but its impossible ive been told by many counselors. The reason being this, Porn is something we can maintain but we can never quit it.
Trey, Send for the free sample of my book, "Breaking the Cycle." I was a LOT like you, then got it together enough to get a master's degree in psychology, so I was able to stop the porn and depression and get a great life. How I did it is in my book. Fill out the form in the sidebar here and you'll have a sample of my book in your inbox within 30 seconds. Let me know how you like it. It works if you work it.
Best, George
(925) 932-0201
I really need the book.... Maybe it will help me
Hello, I have been dealing with affects of my using pornography for 35 years and the internet and easy accessibility made it ten times worse. I have come a long very well in SAA. Been divorced and no girlfriend the last 4 plus years I’ve used to deal with loneliness, low self esteem in being unable to find companionship. I know I need to stop: 8 days now but feeling strong withdrawal symptoms. For my sanity; I know I need to stop: indefinitely.
Tim, Give me a call here at Neulia-Compulsion Solutions. I'd be happy to talk to you about long term sobriety.
Best, George
925-932-0201
Hello, Iam a Woman affected throughout my life by many men and the sexual compulsion to "look" to evaluate, even those that have chosen to take it further. I'm in no way saying that their or this behaivor is tollerable... what I do want to say is that I see how this happened. You have all been tricked. They've used the power of your own brain to cause you to NEED it.
I wish I could convey the desire I have to be able to be outside in the presence of others and not feel like I'm being evaluated by men to check my worthiness for a second look, also and probably more so... I'd LOVE to be in the presence of others and know that I am enough for MY partner and to feel safe knowing that he is not interested in any other woman or her parts. I'm so unhappy and I don't know how to resolve my desire to have a partner in Life vs the pain of "Men being Men" or men being condemned to the point that they push away the Truth. How do you get past denial?
As far as I can see, it's important to develop the ability to observe your mind and behavior. If you can do that you can overcome objectification and sexualization. That's what we teach men here at Compulsion Solutions.
George
Sir i have shivering in my voice since last 2 month dealing with withdrawl and i can not have eye contact to anyone also my brother ,mother ,friends it feeling to bad to me because i am not that kind of person i have very funny conversation with my friends but now there is no interest to talk with friends and difficulty to have eye contact with them after i suffer from withdrawal symtoms of porn addiction
Shubham, I understand your pain. DO send for the free sample of my book, "Breaking the Cycle" by going putting your name and email into the form in the sidebar at the top of this page. If you like what you read, get the book and the companion workbook and change your life. It worked for me and it will work for you.
Best, George Collins, Director