And so does continuing to edge at the same pace for an extended period as I eventually have to stop as well

What part are you responding to? Are you sure you quoted the right message lol?

On that subject, what the fuk are we even arguing about now? Seems like you're just desperately trying to find something to disagree with me on, very odd

that you're chasing orgasms, well technically you are chasing ejaculation cause for you they are one and the same

You seem very confused my man. Wish I could enlighten you but I can't afford to spend hours here. Gonna have to put this convo on ice for the moment bro, hope you understand

sure pal, we know you have better things to do

Yeah I'm watching paint dry, really can't miss it.

Bye bro

Day 158/01 - Well I failed to even reach one day without masturbating. Really embarrassing stuff considering I am yet again breaking the promise to stay away from it. It’s been a week of this now and I am getting increasingly concerned. More worryingly, there was an escalation and I have entered back into pornographic territory.

I got through nearly the entire day. It was around 10.30pm when it happened. I was trying to put a film on using the torrent site I use. For some reason it wasn’t letting me search for any titles, I kept trying but to no avail. Eventually I looked on the home page and there was a section titled ‘popular films’ or something like that. I flicked through a few pages and they were mainly foreign films, some of them had quite suggestive movie posters so I clicked on one. It was a Filipino film and it contained pretty graphic sex scenes. I don’t know what I was expecting really, I definitely was intrigued by the sexual nature of the posters but I didn’t think it would be quite that graphic. I probably watched for a minute in total, being fully honest I skipped to the scenes where the action was happening. I clicked back and then saw another Filipino film and so I clicked on that and did the same thing for another minute.

You couldn’t see penetration or genitalia but these were basically glorified pornos, honestly they wouldn’t be that out of place on pornhub (apart from the long running time and slightly better acting). I got hard as a rock to be honest, the rush was pretty powerful and I did start touching my dick a little whilst the last sex scene was playing. I turned off my laptop but then thought **** it and ended up masturbating until orgasm. To be clear, I masturbated after the films were turned off.

This was obviously a relapse in terms of masturbation but if I was being strict this would be a porn relapse too. I stumbled onto the films by accident initially but I certainly took advantage of this and let myself leer for a couple of minutes, and also clearly was only watching them to receive the stimulation. Clicking on the second film is inexcusable really as I can’t pretend I was doing it for any other reason. Still the fact that I didn’t search for them does make me lean towards being more generous in the way I view this. Plus I did stop after only a couple of minutes. It won’t be a good enough reason going forward as clearly I need to be prepared for this but I think it’s reasonable to be lenient for a first time offender.

In truth, I felt torn about whether to reset the streak or not. I wrote a whole other post where I decided to reset the streak. I definitely could see the benefit in starting over, it would send a clear message to myself that no slip ups would be tolerated and would allow me to renew my focus. But I was also concerned that by starting over I would risk further relapses being more appealing due to the weaknesses of the streak model (meaning it is easier to justify relapses during the early days of a streak as you are losing less days). I also didn’t think it would reflect the level of healing after five months if I suddenly was on Day 1, it would give a false impression and be confusing for anyone reading my posts. I was ultimately so torn that I decided to flip a coin for it as I didn’t feel fully comfortable with either decision. Heads I’d reset the streak and tails I’d keep it going. Tails won.

My feeling at the result of the flip was mainly relief but also that this was probably (just about) the right decision. Overall, I think resetting the streak would do more harm than good. It would be harsh to go back to Day 0 for this. As seriously as I take it I don’t think it does quite qualify as a full on relapse. This was mainly a mix of willful naivety and curiosity resulting in a slip up, I think it gets classed as a peak. I think it’s a serious warning to me to buck my ideas up but resetting my streak over it would have been harsh and potentially misleading.

Fully understand if someone reading this thinks I’m rationalising and being too lenient with myself. I accept it’s a strong possibility, it would certainly fit with how I’ve been for the last week where I’ve definitely not taken my slip ups seriously enough. But I will give myself one more chance to continue my 158 day streak, after five months of being so good I feel I have earned it, but I write clearly here that any slip up like this again will result in me going back to Day 0. I will be fully honest in my reporting, as I always am, and anything that resembles this experience will from this point on be classed as a relapse.

I am disappointed in myself. I hate feeling that I can’t trust myself and that is what my actions are forcing me to feel. It is also definitely a strange feeling to be even contemplating whether I relapsed to porn. I truly thought I was long past having to worry about that, despite all the addiction information I’ve absorbed over the last five months I was still naive enough to think that I had completely mastered my own problem. This incident must put an end to my complacency and show that I will always have to be on guard against slipping into porn use. The rush I received was very powerful and there was a strong temptation to continue. Those sensitised pathways will always be there and my addict brain will always be waiting to jump back into the driver’s seat.

I must be very careful now. The relapse dominoes are occurring. It started with masturbating last week, now it has already escalated to softcore films, if this isn’t stopped it is clear where I am heading. To be frank, my recovery is absolutely in jeopardy at the moment and I am determined to batten down the hatches and make it through the next few days. If it remains an isolated incident then my five month long recovery will have been unaffected and I will continue my healing journey as if it never happened. The danger is if this is the first of a string of similar incidents, if it leads back to bingeing etc then it absolutely could wipe away the progress I have made. My mission now is to do everything I can to ensure that it remains a one time event.

Today I am going to focus completely on getting through without masturbating. That will be priority number one, two and three (that and avoiding porn of course). I am also going to reintroduce a little more structure and discipline into my life. I am going to start following my daily rules again, specifically I am going to bring back the rule regarding no electronics after 9pm in response to this. This wouldn’t have happened if I had still been following that. Part of the reason this happened is because I have been more lenient with myself due to my new attitude. I stand by the benefits of this change but the masturbation incidents over the last few days, culminating in last night’s escalation, are a clear sign that I need to find a better balance

^ dam bro

this is why i decided not to quit fapping completely and just cut down frequency/duration by a LOT. I've cut down by 80%+ compared to previous years.

ur bound to relapse at some point if ur a healthy male. Only method that can save you is a female

this is why i believe my method is superior

just stop fapping so much like a degen and try to bust quick instead of edging for hours

I hear what you're saying bro, and happy you've found your own way of dealing with it, but I went five months without coming close to any porn. That proves that it's possible and, no offence, I think the belief that it's impossible to avoid watching porn is an excuse to allow the addiction to continue. Masturbating may be a slightly different story but porn is definitely avoidable. I don't think one little brush with a softcore film undermines my lengthy streak away from it, and I'm confident I will be able to completely abstain again

You could subtract like 2-3 weeks from your streak, but this is the only chance you get. Congrats though my guy, I saw your first post about it and was like there's no way this guy is gonna follow through and keep updating us this whole time, I skip to the end and there you are. LFG. What helped me was putting a screentime limit on my phone and the Cold Turkey blocker on my laptop, and had someone else put the screentime limit password for me so I can't override it. Also deleted most apps, basically any apps where you can see harmful content. Also had a 7 min. screentime limit on Safari. I'm not as far ahead as you but slowly making it.

Thanks for sharing with us, lmk of any useful strategies if you can. Cheers!

If you fap too much, can it inflame your prostate?

no - if you don't coom often enough it can

Subtracting a few weeks isn't a bad idea tbf but I'm just going to stick with the streak. I think giving myself a warning is sufficient for what happened, the most important thing will be to ensure it doesn't happen again. I don't think a one off peak at a random film that contained sex is enough for a relapse but if it happens again I'll reset my streak.

Appreciate your support bro and sounds like you've got some good tactics. In terms of strategies I've found useful, here's a few I can think of off the top of my head:
- Research and absorb as much as you can about the harms of porn addiction, especially during the first few weeks. Fully recommend YBOP website as well as the book and the radio shows Gary did. I spent the first month of this streak consuming nothing else but info about porn addiction and this really helped me to finally take it seriously.
- Realise that you will probably need to tackle a wider internet/smartphone addiction. Sounds like you're onto this already but for me I definitely had to unplug from the Matrix. I quit YouTube, turned my smartphone into a dumbphone, limited my use of the internet to a one hour window etc. It's still a work in progress but this has definitely helped. Porn is the most damaging aspect, at least for me, but there is a wider issue with receiving constant stimulation that needs to be tackled (in my experience).
- Take a lengthy break away from online dating apps. This was a key one for me, I kept them during the first 90 days or so and they were a constant source of temptation. It's tricky to do, especially if you'd grown dependent on them for a dating life like I had, but I believe necessary. Dating apps are just too similar to porn in how they function (the suggestive images, constant novelty etc) so I think a break is essential.
- Journaling. Maintaining this journal has really helped me. It's forced me to be honest with my self and be accountable. What happened last night is a good example. Without this journal I would probably have swept what happened under the carpet and left myself vulnerable to it happening again. But this journal forced me to confront it and this has helped me to stay connected to what I'm doing. I'd really recommend finding some place where you can post your progress publicly. Feel free to post here as much as you want if you don't wanna make your own thread.
- Tackle other addictions but don't spread yourself too thin. I have tackled my nicotine addiction and internet compulsions over this reboot but I didn't do it until a few months in. I think accepting that tackling porn addiction is going to take up most your time and energy is okay during the first 90 days or so. But after you need to ensure that you holistically improve your life to further protect yourself from relapse.
- Arrange a rehab break if you can. Fully accept this isn't realistic for most, and wasn't really feasible for me but just happened, but if you can take a period of time out of regular life I think this really helps. If you can take a break from worrying about work, bills, stress etc and dedicate your attention to the reboot this will certainly help. I've done this from Day 70 till now because I left work and moved back home. Wasn't done deliberately for this reason, and it's been tough too as you'd imagine, but definitely think it aided my recovery.
- Don't fall into 'streak mentality'. This is something I've learned on previous attempts, but do not get too sucked into thinking the streak is everything. Relapses are part of the process and the important part is to avoid bingeing. If I could go back six or seven years ago when I first learned about NoFap I would stress to myself the dangers of intermittent using. Basically, if you go a few weeks without using but then binge this is a bigger addiction risk then everyday use. Ensure relapses are kept to a limited session.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle; primarily diet, exercise and sleep. Pretty obvious but essential. Also I'd throw meditation in there.

You'll get there bro, sounds like you're doing well. Hardest part is wanting to quit, that's where most fail, so you're already ahead of the curve. Just take it one day at a time

From what I've read, excessive masturbation, especially if it involves a lot of edging, can potentially lead to prostate discomfort or inflammation due to increased blood flow and prolonged arousal. However, I don't think it's the most common cause of prostate issues. On a similar subject, I think the risks of prostate cancer from not ejaculating are overblown. It's a common meme but I'm yet to see any concrete evidence. I'm not promoting abstinence as a way of life, for me it's only ever a temporary goal, but don't be frightened by this claim as it seems more a rationalising story porn addicts (who are in denial) tell themselves

it causing prostate cancer is overblown but it is widely accepted that it can damage the prostate including contributing to prostatitis

I don't think it's widely accepted at all, there seems to be a lot of differing views on the subject. While some believe that regular ejaculation might help maintain prostate health, claiming that abstinence causes damage is not widely supported by scientific evidence. Feel free to link a study (though recognising that a one off study is rarely conclusive) or any other evidence that backs up your claim. I'm open to change my mind on this as I don't promote a complete abstinent lifestyle but I've yet to see any real evidence

there's gotta be a reason they regularly empty the balls it for quad and paraplegics and it's frequently said for the prostate health

I get where you're coming from, but I think the practice for paraplegics is more about preventing other issues, like urinary problems, rather than specifically about prostate health. If you've got any specific studies or info that connect this to prostate health in general, I'd be interested to see it.

It's frequently said in internet discussions that regular ejaculation is necessary for prostate health, but I've never come across any solid medical evidence to back that up. I remember reading about a study that suggests ejaculating 20 times a month might correlate with a reduced risk of prostate cancer, but that's just one study and I don't think it's been conclusively accepted. Other than that, I haven't seen much that indicates abstinence harms the prostate. Again, genuinely open to being proved wrong on this as I don't feel I really have a dog in the race

ask your PC and/or urologist - both of mine agreed that regular release is good for the prostate

More looking for evidence for your claim that abstinence "can damage the prostate including contributing to prostatitis". I agree that regular release (note: release not prolonged edging sessions) is harmless to the prostate and may even be beneficial, but I don't think this automatically means abstinence therefore damages the prostate.

Not trying to be confrontational about this, don't feel we have to get into a big argument, I just don't think it's right to give people the impression that this is settled science

I was advised by both with the level of sexual activity I was looking at it that twice a month was the bare minimum before i was looking at potential harm and that with no sexual activity they said potential prostate harm could arise as early as 60 days

Any evidence for this claim at all, I doubt a urologist would advise this unless they had some sort of research or study backing it up?

it was a conversation - ask yours

Ah gotcha, respect that you personally trust your urologist's opinion but I don't think you should claim that it is "widely accepted" that abstinence causes prostatitis if you can't produce any evidence at all

urologist and PC - it was both their opinions that this is a known thing. Not a "well this might cause a problem…"

So well known that you can't produce a single study or shred of evidence to back up your claim…

you're asking me to do homework for the misc?

Asking you to back up your claim, if that's homework to you then I guess I am.

It's okay you know, you can admit that you can't find anything or don't want to, but you just shouldn't act as if this is settled science. You may have thought it was because you'd read someone tell you about it on a bodybuilding forum but now you should be a bit more humble to the reality that it's medically inconclusive

Yeah I'm not gonna bother - I'll take the docs' word over my own online research

No worries mate, thanks for trying