Thoughts on dopamine experiment...

[JayDeeSee]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I want to share my experience so far and get some feedback. I hope this comes out in a coherent fashion...

I've been reading up on what porn does to the brain and have decided to cut out porn, edging, literally anything that might cause a sexual response, even turning off provocative videos of scantily clad ladies and trying to distract myself when sexual thoughts pop into my head (which as you can imagine Is really hard to do). Like, literally not even touching my penis except to pee. I rarely ever masturbate because of POIS but I looked at porn and edged nearly daily, sometimes multiple times, and even edging gave some mild POIS symptoms. I've never been able to shake the idea that this is related to neurotransmitters and I believe that pois is (at least largely) a result of the repeated long term unnatural dopamine spike that comes with watching porn and orgasming to it. It definitely doesn't seem to be universal, but I believe our particular brains/dopamine systems experience a glitch/crash  caused by the repeated unnaturally high boost of dopamine from porn/erotic thoughts and the resulting crash from it that, and over time has thrown our dopamine systems out of whack and POIS is that time it takes everything to come back into balance. Essentially, a withdrawal period.

When I had my first real girlfriend when I was 18, we were very sexually active and I don't recall ever having POIS. Thinking back, my POIS started when I started to have easier and more access to porn. I watched and masturbated to porn more frequently and me and my GF even started watching porn together while getting it on. POIS really kicked into high gear for me after she moved away to college and porn and masturbating to porn become way more frequent. Porn and masturbating/edging has been a constant since then.

So anyway, on to the real point of this post. As stated earlier, I'm about a month and a half into my no porn, no edging, limiting sexual visuals and thoughts as much as possible experiment. And it has been a rollercoaster. (I should mention that I still O with my GF 2-3 times a month). After about 2 weeks or so I flatlined bad for a couple weeks. It was like a depression state. No real emotions, no interests, little motivation and energy, couldn't even get an erection.

After that the libido started to come roaring back, and it is absurd how ridiculously horny I am ALL...THE...TIME after 1.5 months of this experiment. I feel like I'm in puberty again. I have good energy and motivation. Attraction to women feels more natural (I don't know how else to explain it). Even my mood seems to be more stable. POIS symptoms still last 4 days, but they feel like they're slowly getting lighter and easier to handle, with the worst symptom being feeling tired, and the occasional irritability. I can't help but feel like this is the result of my dopamine system starting to heal.

Another thing is I read that testosterone and dopamine levels correlate with eachother. Meaning that when testosterone levels rise, dopamine levels rise and vice versa. I'm thinking that's why testosterone helps so many of us, even those that don't have low testosterone levels. This is another thing that really started to point me in the dopamine direction.

I've read that the dopamine receptors can take months, or more, to heal and return to a more natural state. I will continue to update on this journey.

[Danmh]

Hi JayDeeSee

Thank you for your very interesting post. Any new developments during the past month?

All the best
D

[JayDeeSee]

Hi JayDeeSee

Thank you for your very interesting post. Any new developments during the past month?

All the best
D

Well, I'm 2.5 months into this experiment, have watched zero porn but admittedly edged once during it. Was probably also getting a little relaxed on trying to stop sexual thoughts and not watch suggestive videos. I was seeing noticeable improvements in symptoms. However, I'm currently in the middle of a POIS episode and this is the worse episode I've experienced through this whole thing. Admittedly though, I was in the middle of a flatline for about a week (low drive, low libido, a mild depression like state) at the beginning of this POIS episode but my GF wanted to get it on so I obliged. I'm guessing that has something to do with these current symptoms. I will continue this experiment until I feel I've reached a definitive conclusion.

[Warrior]

Excessive porn use is no doubt bad for you for many reasons. It should be moderated, but that's the porn user's responsibility imo.

I do not think it is the cause of POIS though. Many people have used porn without developing POIS. Many people are porn/sex addicts without having POIS. It just doesn't sound right that the POIS period is the body's way of recovering from the un-natural dopamine spike.

There are clearly many different types of POIS. And I think there is a small percentage of people who think they have POIS when really they have a psychological guilt issue or simply excessive dopamine indulgence which makes them feel crap (which happens to everyone -- if you indulge in too much pleasure after a while it becomes nasty, it needs to be relatively moderated). In that instance, it would make sense that the brain needs time to heal from the dopamine exhaustion. That isn't POIS though imo.

I only experience POIS when I ejaculate more than once every 3 weeks. So it would make sense that if you've been abstaining, your POIS symptoms are weaker initially. If you think it's working for you though, don't let my message dissuade you. POIS is so complex, there are so many different types, it's worth experimenting with anything you may consider the cause to be. It's a strange condition that unfortunately a lot of us are clueless about. So do what you need to do!

I noticed in your past posts the supplements you mentioned that helped you are very similar to my protocol which is very effective for me (the supplements you mentioned -- garlic oil, b12, methylfolate, etc are essentially apart of my working protocol). Have you tried raw minced garlic, let it sit for 10 minutes, then swallow with fenugreek, gluten-free diet, and a B-complex? I say this because I've tried garlic pills in the past and found they were not as effective as raw minced garlic sat for 10 minutes. I also found the garlic and fenugreek not nearly as effective when I wasn't on a gluten-free diet. B vitamins are also better taken with the other B vitamins rather than individually also (in your case the methyl b12 and folate may work more effectively as part of a B complex).

Anyways good luck!