New Member: My story so far and Journal

anewme

Member
Hello to all members.

I found this community 1 day ago and I have been reading a lot of posts and watching a lot of the videos etc.

I have finally had to admit to myself that I am a porn addict and it is causing some serious problems in my life.

I am a 34 year old father. I am also in a long term relationship. My situation has gotten to the point where I feel like I am going to destroy everything if I don't get this under control.

I use porn / chat sites and dating sites frequently to fuel my addiction. I have been using these things for about 7 or 8 years now. I have had trouble with PIED in the past but I have kind of used some techniques to control it. For example, a few years back I had issues where I was having trouble getting it up for "real girls" I then searched on google and found out that many guys had the same problem, i realised that all the porn and masturbating was causing this. A lot of this advice was similar to what it is on here e.g stop porn. So i did, I stopped using porn and masturbating for a week or two and I noticed a huge difference, everything seemed to come back and it didnt take as long as most people were saying, maybe because i didnt view porn until i was in my 20's.

Anyway i found a technique to sort of control it, but still watching the porn and using the other sites. I work away from home, so one week before I know I am coming home, i "detox" by not allowing myself to orgasm. I still watch the porn and masturbate but just not to orgasm. This worked most of the time, but the main problem was that I needed to wait a few days to get back to "normal",  and if i PMO'd in that time it wouldnt work very well, by that I mean, it needs constant stimulation to stay up.

Sometimes I loose my erections and occasionally I cant get it to happen without quite a lot of foreplay. I know that the issue is all the P and M, its no accident that when  abstain, even for a few days, things are much better in the bedroom.

This is not the only issue for me. As i said I use chat sites and dating sites too. Mainly I use them to find other users to cyber with, but recently I have met a few people for actual encounters. This has resulted in me feeling terrible, and being absolutely terrified that I may have picked something up, I have also used a prostitute. These things are the ultimate reason why I am here. I don't want to be this kind of person. I spend hours and hours of my life trawling chat and dating sites looking for people to talk to who share my ever increasing list of fetishes. I see something in a porn movie that turns me on then I spend hours looking for a person in real life who would be willing to do those things, then when i find them I create a meeting with them, usually that was enough but recently I have actually been meeting a few of these people and this is the make or break time for me because this is a path I really don't want to go down, and thats why im here. I beleive porn is the main  factor in influencing me do do these things and causing the functional problems in the bedroom.

I am also begining to hate the person that I have become. I have a vision for myself as the kind of person  want to be, and this is not it, at all. I can't even begin to understand how no one knows what I am doing or how I have managed to keep all this secret for so long.

I just wanted to come clean somewhere about myself and my story. I have tried this before but I usually just waited till my erections got batter then went straight back to "using again". It has really seeped into all aspects of my life, I have even looked at these things behind my laptop with a room full of people, on chat sites with my gf next to me, porn with people in the next room, even in the same room with the volume down. I am going to get caught and i know it and it is going to destroy my life.

One of my main issues is the way I work. I work away from home and stay in a hotel where i have access to anything I want with no one there to question me. When I am at home, I study which gives me a great excuse to always be on my laptop, my gf works too so I am free to do what I want with my time at home. I really need to find some kind of project that keeps me away from the internet, ideally it would keep me out of the house too. As i said, i came to P quite late in comparison to many people, therefore i know i can function normally without it, but it has been some years now since I knew how to do that and when I have free will and spare time, I always end up back in the same place.

I have a problem and I need advice on how to keep away from it. I just wanted to get all that out there as I really need this to work this time for the sake of my life and my familys future. Thanks for reading.
 

anewme

Member
So i guess this is day 3.

So far no P no M and no O. I have a gf though so I am going to be concentrating mainly on no P and M.
So far it has been very easy because of the disgust I feel with myself. I have added to P block softwares to my laptop and my phone. I was considering getting rid of my laptop and buying a computer and putting it in full view of everyone in the house and allowing everyone to use it, this way i will be less able to view anything and will be less willing to risk viewing P if other people will be using the computer.

I have also been thinking of things to do to get out of the house when I am home, but i feel I need to commit myself to something either financially or in some other way to remove my free will. By that i mean i "must" do something rather than tell myself that i "will" do something. I have more discipline when i feel like I have no other option.

My gf doesn't know about this. She knows I have used porn and knows it has effected us in the bedroom but se has no clue how serious it is. I am trying not to tell her about this and trying to take care of it on my own, i don't want her to think of me like that.

Feeling a bit disappointed in myself, i think this is with the realisation, after reading so many stories on here, that I actually do have a real problem, i think i've been telling myself that everyone is probably the same but now i know they are not.

I can't remember the last time i got a spontaneous or morning erection.  do get them with my gf, but sometimes it takes a bit of time, other times it is fine but it seems to depend on how much P and M ive been partaking in. Probably in 2 years there has been 3 occasions when i've not managed to "perform" at all and maybe once when Ive lost the erection during sex. Other than that it has been manageable but I know for sure that it could be so much better. I normally wait 2/3 days before even attempting sex after we done it, but i feel like I should easily manage 2 / 3 times in a day if everything is operating as it should.

Im just at the start of this journey. I feel like this website and forum is going to help a lot. Its really good hearing all the other stories and seeing that there are so many other people in the same boat.

My two main reasons for being here are
1) improve my sex life with my gf
2) get my life and time back that i have wasted on P and other P subs.

and my goal is to completely remove P and P subs from my life all together and M.

Im determined to get there.
 

nekkhamma

Member
Just do your best to identify the cue that triggers your porn watching habit. Work on a plan to form a new routine instead of going for porn when the cue is triggered. That's the only part that requires exertion of will power to override porn watching because will power should be conserved and used only when it is necessary. That works for me till now.  Another thing that helps me stay on track is to make a determination to strive for celibacy for the rest of my life. I know this is not applicable for most people, but I think it helps if you have some form of determination in your mind to keep you resolution. I hope you find success in your new journey.
 

anewme

Member
Thanks for the reply.

I am currently just trying to figure out exactly what my triggers are then once I identify them I will come up with a plan for avoiding / dealing with them.

Celibacy is not a priority for me, it is the opposite, I want to have great sex with my partner we actually had sex today and it was much better than it had been recently even with just 2 /3 days of no PMO.

My greatest concern is to overcome the addiction to porn and negative effect this has created in my relationship and the sheer amount of my life and time I have devoted to P and P subs.
 

anewme

Member
Day 4

I have not had any urges to look at P or M, but I spent quite a long time outside today and I seen lots of things that I now regard as triggers. I seen lots of women basically and I noticed myself breaking my neck to check them out and checking my rear view mirror to see if I could see how their asses looked. I knew I was doing these things and could stop myself a few times but not every time. This would definately been a trigger for me but since I know what I am trying to do, I did not do anything about it, but I would prefer these things not to have that kind of effect on me. Of Course I understand that I am a red blooded male so I am going to have these urges, but I need to accept them and give them less attention.

I think I understand what brain fog is now. I have been feeling like that for a few days. I have also felt more low than normal. I am not sure if this is due to a lack of P and P subs or if it is just how bad i feel about myself after coming to terms with the fact that I have this addiction and I am finally facing it.

Anyway, I have no motivation or urges to look at P or M so long may that continue. 

 

anewme

Member
Day 5

Today was much like yesterday. I have had no urges to go online and look at porn or go to chat sites / dating sites. I still feel quite disgusted with myself for my behaviour, but I am vigilant about hat feeling slowly going away, because I think it will, and when it does, i think that will be the danger time for me. I was out in town today and the weather was better, so there were inevitably less clothes on show, which made me look a bit more than I would have liked. That seems to be a pretty big trigger for me. I also remember when I used to look at websites that had ads with hot women on them, Id stare at the add, then after a few seconds id open a new window and go straight to my favourite porn site. I've been aware of these ads recently and have managed to totally ignore them. I'm only on day 5 and so far, so good. I am being much more productive and getting things done. I feel fine and just waiting to see how much more difficult things get in the coming days and weeks, as I am sure they will. One thing I want to see happen is the return of morning wood. This hasn't happened as yet but it will be a milestone of sorts when it does.
 
V

virtueorvice

Guest
Good luck!

Don't forget you can use AdBlock and also K9 Web Protection. Those two would have. Since I added adblock to my chrome I rarely see any ads on the internet!
 

anewme

Member
Thanks for the reply.

I have K9 and it has helped. The ads I am referring to was my own fault really because I had to disable the ad block and some aspects of K9 to view a streaming site I use when me and my gf watch movies in bed at night, but obviously I am not going to PMO infront of her so that isnt such a big issue. I might just stick to netflix from now on though!!

Last night I had a strange experience. I woke up at around 2 or 3 am feeling extremely erect....I had been having porn based dreams and I could feel as I was waking up that I had the urge to sort of grind myself against the bed. I quickly realised what was happening and then stopped it. I realised that it must be my subconscious minds way of trying to get its fix. The rest of the night I couldn't sleep. This was very strange for me and it proves beyond doubt this this is deeply embedded in my mind.

Today is day 6.
I can't remember the last time I went one week without viiewing P or P subs or thinking as cleanly as I have this week.
 
V

virtueorvice

Guest
Dreams and strange feelings, rush of emotions, and unstable thoughts are normal. You are getting out of, and changing patterns that you have been on for a long time.

We need self-talk more than before. We need to understand that changes are to be accepted and tolerated! Don't trust your feelings that much. You may study more and gain knowledge!
 

anewme

Member
Day 6

I felt better within myself today, less disgusted in myself and I was vastly more productive than usual. I had a much better time with my family too. My attention is all on them, i'm not distracted or trying to find excuses to hide behind my laptop to do the things I usually would do.

I did notice some triggers and urges today. I was formatting an old hard drive from an old laptop and I found my old browser favourite pages. i read the titles, i almost automatically clicked on them but i hesitated and then i deleted it. I also had to enter an old email address that I used for purposes other than that which are wholesome. I had to do what i needed to do in there and then get the hell out, which I succeeded in doing.

I think that because my mood is better today, my libido is more active too. it was another warm day and the same old things were happening, being out in public and seeing the women wearing less and less each day. I need to learn how to drown those things out. I have become so accustomed to only thinking about sex that it is just automatic.

i like how these last few days have been. Im getting things done, being productive, i've been less irritable too. I think im in a danger zone now because the better i feel the more likely I am to tell myself that I was never really an addict and that I will be ok to go back to it but just do it less often....i've been here before, so not this time. his time im sticking with it.

Almost a week in now.
 

anewme

Member
Day 7

Has been another day the same as usual of late. No urges to watch P, but still having the odd thought about P and finding it difficult not to look at triggers in the street. Apart from that things are going pretty well. No more strange dreams, still no morning wood, although i'm not too concerned about it. This must be the longest i've gone as far as I can remember without stimulating myself in some way sexually and the good thing is I have not felt a strong urge at all to do so. Hope it continues. 1 week down.
 
Thanks for sharing your story!  One week is a real milestone and I congratulate you.

Your story about escalating to chat rooms and real encounters including a prostitute is something I can identify with.  Porn is what got me started and has(had) me on a path of complete self destruction.  Being able to share success and struggles on this forum in the last few days has been a big help.

I also travel a lot (2 weeks per month for the past 2.5 years) and the times away from home are not easy.  I was reminded at one point that other men who are not in a relationship or otherwise living with someone are in the same state as me when I travel (alone at night after work).  And they are able to make it through this life PMO free!  That has helped inspire me to reach out to volunteer organizations when I am away to see how I can help out.  I tend to exercise more in the evenings to fill the time and get to sleep early before too much of the crazy nighttime thinking starts up.  A funny quote I heard once was "Nothing good happens between dusk and dawn."  That was more true in my case than I could imagine :) 

Keep sharing and I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Take care,
Adam
 

offaxis

Active Member
Hello anewme,

Thank you for sharing your diary here. You have shown a lot of bravery, honesty and courage already to post on here and get help. I find that inspiring and would like to encourage you to keep sharing. Please continue what you are doing, it is a very positive thing for yourself and those you love.

There are many things you have written that I connect with. It's hard to know where to start.

You are on the right track in recognising keeping yourself occupied with positive, fulfilling activities for you. What these are takes time to discover and will be personal to you. These are positive ways of self-soothing that you can use when you feel triggered, or better, to stop you getting triggered in time.

As mentioned, trying to develop better self intimacy to understand what you truly feel when you want to watch porn or feel trigger can really help a lot in figuring things out. Do you act out to feel in control? Stop anxiety? To escape from what exactly? Exploring these questions has helped me understand myself better and feel less like my addiction controls me. I can start to recognise early when my addiction wants to grip me, and avoid it sometimes.

Practical steps like putting blockers on your computer, having the whole family view etc. are good positive steps. Many ISP's can disable adult content too which helps. The more layered defence, the better. You can also have an accountability partner too.

The biggest friend of porn addiction is secrecy and shame. There are many others like you who have this blight on their lives. Finding a way to share your struggle out in the open with a close trusted friend or local anonymous support group helped take away a lot of the power porn had over me. It's no longer a deep dark secret but part of my past and who I was.

Having your partner help with your struggles can be a great burden on them. Be cautious. It very much depends. Only you can judge. I would say think long and carefully before telling her, seek advice and plan how and the right moment. And be happy you are doing it for the right reasons in your heart. You cannot untell something to somebody. Personally I now feel that total absolute honesty is necessary for a relationship to have true strength, but when and how that is done is very important. I lied/hid for many years and this cost me my marriage and the woman I loved. For me, disclosure and facing that lack of honesty in my part was the only way as I could try to fix the relationship based on lies otherwise. It is much better if you come clean with her than if she finds out and also better when doing so if you hide nothing, even just showing her your raw feelings and blog here may be part of that to demonstrate your sincerity when/if you feel the time is right.

The porn will always win if you fight it alone. But you are not alone, you have us here and many others by your side to reach out.

Feeling like you want to objectify women is something I can strongly identify with. I found in my earlier days of abstinence, the cravings were huge. And physically you are programmed for it. Denying it completely for me is not a positive thing. But I can choose how I act on those feelings. That is, what is a good expression of that urge for me? To run off and masturbate to some porn or fantasy in my head? To letch at women in the street? To seduce a woman by lying to her? Or to have a truly fulfilling experience shared with my partner and the love I feel and gratitude with her, based on reality not fantasy? Again, only you can answer this.

For me, the biggest emptiness came when I realised I actually wanted emotional intimacy and love with a woman, more than just sex, and sex alone was not going to fill that hole in me. I used to think sex was that connection but it isn't. That is a hard, terrible sadness and loneliness but is part of being human. So if I acted out, I would still be staring at the same emptiness in myself, only feeling even worse about myself. Porn won't fill that in me. So what's the point in using it? I wanted to use porn and woman to hide from the unpleasant parts of myself and also the unpleasant feelings of life itself that everyone also faces and learns to endure and manage more healthily - I didn't develop those skills inside myself like most people do, and I didn't even realise it - I just used porn instead. I was being a coward to myself. So maybe I am stepping away from the porn but in doing so, having to face bigger problems in life and myself. This is the path ahead.

For me, abstinence has had a positive effect but it's very hard. Particularly the first several weeks. But even months in, strong physical urges still come and probably always will. You are lucky to have a partner to express yourself sexually with and can explore each other, rather than junk porn fantasies in your head. Explore the real woman you are with, her mind, spirit and lastly her body through knowing her being. Focus on the real and physical, not a fantasy.

This is a long process that takes time, and there are a lot of ups and downs on the way. Be kind to yourself and please keep posting. You are a good man who has done bad things in the past but that past is now behind you and you can build a brighter future. Be brave, you have great strength and good luck to you.

Peace,

R
 

anewme

Member
ATWANTtoStop, offaxis,

Thank you both for your replies, advice, support and kind words.
This group is truly the difference between success and failure for me so far.
I take on board everything that was shared here and will endeavour to put this advice into practice.

Yesterday was day 8 for me and this is day 9. I have been on courses for work the past few days and except from getting my head turned from some pretty girls and the odd day dream back to P scenes, everything has been quite good. My relationship with my gf this last week has been really good. I have had so much time for her and i've been in a better mood all together. I can see she appreciates this in the way she has responded to me. This just goes to prove that most of the irritations in our relationship were stemming from me being distracted by P and P subs and her feeling neglected, which she definitely was being.

Offaxis,

It is not that she doesn't know about the issue. She knows about it because one time in the past I explained to her that I watched P and sometimes I watched it too much. I think i explained this to her after I had trouble "performing" one night. I told her that I was dealing with it and her response was that I should deal with it, but I don't think she wanted to be actively involved in the process. Since then, as described in earlier posts, I have been managing the issue of performance by abstaining from orgasm for several days to a week while still watching P and P subs, this largely kept performance at a level where no questions were being asked (not that it was at a level that it should be). What I am getting at is that I could tell her, but i don;t get the impression she wants to be burdened with it, she will most likely tell me that it is good what I am doing, and get it under control, but if she finds out about some of the other areas that this has led to, she will be crushed, and she will quite rightly, walk away, there is no doubt about that.

So far on this journey things have been positive and I have had no strong urges to relapse. Hopefully it continues. 
 

anewme

Member
Day 9

I had a few P flashbacks today when driving. I was feeling good today also, which I recognised as danger time, sometimes that makes me complacent. I had a slight urge to watch P during the flashbacks but obviously I didn't do it. I made love with my gf this evening. I thought that since I had not taken part in any P or M in 8 days that I would be extremely in the mood and "ready" immediately. This wasn't the case, i took me a bit of time to get there, but when I did all was good, and I could have went for as long as I wanted, which is not usually the case with me. Maybe I am flat lining, because I assumed that I would have huge urges for everything sexual as I usually do If i do not take part in any O for a week or so, but this time it feels different. I feel like I could lose interest in it for a month, but clearly I can't do that or questions will be raised.

Anyway, onward and upward. I was just talking to my gf there about how things have been really good between us this week, she agreed, she actually said to me that this week i was "the guy she fell in love with" , which just goes to prove all the issues we were having were stemming from the lack of attention I was giving everyone around me. I feel like I have woken up. My goal is to never watch P or M to anything unwholesome again.
 
Well done and glad to hear you are reaping some of the rewards so early in the process.  I had similar flashbacks today but knowing that I have committed to no PMO on this site has really helped me...more than other commitments I have made in the past. 

 
Job well done anewme :) I think that we are of course all doing this to heal our problems, mostly our own, but glad to hear that your effort is being recognized by your lady as well! Keep going. I am on Day 5 myself (first time I am trying no PMO) and it hasn't been that hard so far but reading good stories like yours will help in future stages.
 

anewme

Member
Yesterday was Day 10

Another fine day. I don't know if it is connected or not, but I work out at the gym and I record everything I do and try to build strength. I had been stuck for quite a few weeks but last week each day I went to the gym my strength seemed to take a jump from what it had been before. The last 2 nights I have been walking around the house singing and whistling very late on and my gf is asking me why I am not coming to bed, I just didnt realise the time and I was busy doing things, extra energy.

I used to plan my days, thinking about what windows I had to look at porn and porn subs, over the last 10 days I have been able to use those windows for paying attention t my family, and doing jobs around the house, DIY things that have been needing done for ages etc. It almost feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, like I don't "have to" find time each day to obsess over sex.

I never used to be able to see a trigger, then turn my attention away from it immediately, but I am able to do that recently. Thanks for the responses. It is very encouraging to see and to know that there are people going through exactly the same thing as myself.
 
I think it's more about energy levels than anything else. You just have much more energy to utilize on other things now because while it didn't matter at youth (maybe up to your mid-20s), it takes a lot of energy and effort to masturbate in your 30s, at least for me and for a couple of friends who feel the same way.

I never had any trouble in my 20s but in the past couple of years, I have had a lot of sleepovers with my dick after I masturbated haha :)
 

anewme

Member
Yeah definately energy levels feel way up, sort of feel like im buzzing lol.

Day 11

Was watching a video on youtube today, in the background was a woman with a short pink dress on, I then noticed that I was totally in a trance watching her, it was the first time i felt any sort of..........i dont know the right word.......stimulation.......it didnt make me want to go to watch porn, I just wanted to keep watching her, thats when i knew I had to stop the video and do something else, which i did. Since then the day was relatively event free, same as usual recently, so much more productive, getting so much more done in a day than i used to in 3 or 4, i feel like I am getting my life back.
 
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