Weed withdrawal - erectile dysfunction

Thanks for sharing that gummy worm. The best course is a dopamine detox. Not easy. But even your experience with nicotine vape pen set you back so that tells you that it’s dopamine related. 4.5 months is nothing, wait until 7-9 months and you’ll be way better.

I hope so brother . Otherwise I’m just not sure what to do. I feel so emasculated.

I know there’s more to life than sex. But do we really have to give up every single thing that’s enjoyable? I recently traveled and I just wanted to have one cigarette outside in a new city. And my symptoms are so bad I just couldn’t do it. But it’s like- then what’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy small moments like that? But I suppose I’m paying the price for abusing my brain

Exactly, what goes up must come down. Dopamine resensitization can take over a year. You decide what’s worth the pleasure or isn’t. Some things muck dopamine more than others, but the healthiest dopamine producing things are things that you actually work for the reward.

Smoking cigarettes are so gross! Lol reprogram your mind bro! Maybe try substituting something healthier. But I know the feeling of low dopamine and it’s not a fun life. If after a year or two you’re not happier than ever, then decide what you want in your life. After decades of abuse, I know I have to go the distance this time. Life is too short to waste it up in smoke.

Hey I'll chime in. This whole disorder is different for all of us. I had ED problems for about a year. But now I'm past 26 months (No weed at all) and my sex drive is completely normal.

Time + good habits will get you there. I've said this before, consider joining an anxiety support group. Anxiety disorder problems like what we have manifest for a variety of reasons. The best course is acceptance, good healthy habits, and a whole lot of time for our systems to wind down and normalize. A good place to start is Listening to Claire Weekes on youtube.

Be kind to yourselves, every day we push forward we are getting stronger.

Thanks Pawssurvivor, your timeline is of great help.

I just wanted to add that I’ve read that it’s also related to the pundental nerve, which can take months and month to resensitize.

Forums on serotonin syndrome also have great resources.

Nice discussion fellas this is what I’m looking for. We’re all just brothers on a journey trying to get our dicks back at the end of the day

Interestingly I first thought the cause of of my symptoms was an inguinal hernia I had been putting off getting repaired. So I got the surgery and actually got better after for a few weeks. Kept smoking 8 blunts a day. And the symptoms came back

In my research I found that the pudendal nerve is the primary nerve for sexuality . I went down a rabbit hole of pelvic floor dysfunction causing pudendal nerve issues (which I had no reason to have)… and that sh** was making me go crazy. I finally realized it may be the weed. A few days after I quit smoking my dick died completely. It became a shrunken gummy worm. hence the user name …

Thank you pawssurvivor for your timeline gave me hope. I’m just early on I’m hoping

And biohack9. Related to the serotonin, post ssri sexual dysfunction symptoms are very similar to what I’m experiencing. When I research that it frightens me because some of those people never recover

I had that surgery as well for hernia. Post op I had the craziest boners which I thought was from all the blood down there from the trauma of surgery, but then I realized I didn’t have weed for about a week.

Yeah I know the post SSRI is scary, but let’s hope thc isn’t as severe. We have no choice but to wait it out, even though 1-2 years seems like forever. I’m only at 9 weeks, and the last break I went 13. This time I’m for sure going the distance. Even doing the nofap/retention thing which I started at the same time, and no alcohol no caffeine no sugar. I’m actually pretty excited about this new monk mode lifestyle! lol. The dreams have been something else!

We got this, we just need to learn patience.

Hey guys, I mean this in the kindest way possible. You will never find "the answer" as to what is going on in your body. And the more you research and potentially scare yourself, the more cortisol / adrenaline you are going to deliver into your system, and slow down your progress. THC also interacts with your amygdala in your brain, which leads to panic, de-regulates your stress systems, and as a result causes all these nervous system problems. If our stress symptoms are out of balance, then we have to do all we can to bring them back into balance. And often doing all we can is simply doing nothing, living life despite our symptoms, and just bringing them along with us.

I was a pretty severe case in the beginning, and now I'm mostly normal. You can read my old posts, and you'll see how panicked and emotional I was. I had to learn to just finally let go and just give a whole lot of time. I used to research, but it did me no good. I've learned my anxiety isn't all that special. In my anxiety support group (DARE) there are people with many of my symptoms who haven't ever used drugs before. For them it was a trauma, or simply, a culmination of too many life stressors. There are people there too who are recovering from Benzos, other substances, etc. It's the same formula for healing, acceptance, healthy lifestlye, time. We all have health anxiety to a degree, and we've all learned Dr. Google has all of the information to scare us and none of the answers to heal us.

If you do want explanations that calm you, please read "At Last A Life" by Paul David and "Hope and Help for Your Nerves" by Claire Weekes. Paul David in particular had a 10 year anxiety disorder from drugs. Don't be alarmed by that timeline though. He spent 10 years searching for answers with medications, psychiatrists, wholistic therapists, etc. Finally after 10 years he just decided to give up his constant search for an answer, and decided he wasn't going to fight his symptoms anymore. He decided to let go and accept his symptoms so that he wasn't feeding the stress cycle anymore. And then at that point he finally recovered, because he wasn't feeding the anxiety loop in his body anymore. He has an excellent website as well. Go check it out.

So my recommendation is to treat this as an anxiety disorder and begin to let go of all the questions, / fighting of how you feel . I belong to the DARE group, and it has absolutely made a huge difference in how I approach how I feel about my sensations. DARE is founded acceptance and commitment as well as a healthy lifestyle. With DARE I have a support network of people who are not focused on trying to fight their anxiety problem, but are instead focused on how to lovingly accept the problem while they go and live an engaged life, so that the problem eventually fades away. And even if it doesn't I'm learning how to live the best life while the problem is present.

Again this is advice offered kindly. I only want you to both (and all of us) to be on a good path. I've been through the fires of hell as you all have, and I spent a year scaring the crap out of myself googling every symptom I felt, which terrified me even more. Now I can see and even feel some of the light of heaven, and when hell comes to pay a small visit, I know to just give it a hug and say "Whatever!" I hope you consider looking for some support, this is such a hard problem and we all need help with it especially in the early stages. Treat yourselves kindly, I wish you both well.

Great post, but I personally have no anxiety, just no libido lol. I know what’s up, how recovery works, thc puts us in parasympathetic mode, and withdrawals put us in sympathetic. Basically the opposite effects of the weed happen when you stop as the body and brain heal. It’s all good, just here to offer support and keep the thread moving for any new comers. Google sucks btw, it’s heavily controlled and censored. Duckduckgo is the way to go. Thanks again for sharing and I know you mean well. I’ve just been through paws so many times, although I’ve never gone the distance, intentionally. This time I set my intention differently. I’m definitely a severe case, coming from years of concentrates abuse. Good times! Lol cheers!

At last, someone gets it. Accept and live as a non smoker. The abuse I have received from many on here because I didn't understand or know what I am talking about.... anxiety is extremely complex, but the fact you are feeling better and your approach is different is great news.

Thanks Tokeless. Its ok too. I have a lot of sympathy for those who have anxiety or "a case of nerves" as Claire Weekes would say. She says one of the largest problems with Anxiety is just accepting being in the "Anxiety State". In fact she says the first stage of anxiety is "bewilderment", because anxiety doesn't feel like something driven by your thoughts and actions. It feels like illness. And the word "anxious" is used for so many mildly stressful situations (taking a test, paying a bill) , that one wouldn't think how deep that hole can go and how it can affect our bodies. You are right, anxiety is extremely complex. Our unconscious minds can be anxious and in fear, while our conscious mind is not. It's that old story about having two wolves inside us, always in conflict. One is anxiety, panic, anger, hate, etc, the other is calm, peace, love, joy etc. Which one wins the fight? The one we feed. One well lived day at a time, we can nudge our brains back in the right direction. I wouldn't ever deny there can be other underlying factors to anxiety, however in the end the approach is the same. Once a person has taken medical exams, and all is clear, the path forward is simple...not easy, but simple. Acceptance, healthy living, time. Sincere well wishes all!

What will he accept?

I appreciate all the advice. To echo what biohack said, I personally don’t really have any anxiety at all. I just lost my libido and ability to have sex without medication. I otherwise don’t feel anxious or depressed, even about this issue. I just want to heal. One possible cause of erectile dysfunction is psychological, related to anxiety, however I just never feel that way. I do think meditation and refocusing yourself have a role, but in my opinion and experience, there is a strong neurological component to this

The urologist I was seeing recommended a sex therapist to me multiple times, and didn’t really buy the idea that weed may be causing my symptoms. Although anxiety is a valid cause, it often can be used too broadly, discounting what we are going through on this forum

I often read people’s posts and get a sense that they have mental issues like anxiety, depression, OCD, etc that are contributing to their PAWS symptoms. But I know myself- my penis has significantly decreased sensation, it’s smaller, my Sex drive is very low. This ain’t in my head. And if the reality is that I’ll never heal, so be it, I have to keep living my life . I had a good run. But if people have healed, I will keep searching for hope.

Gummy this echos precisely how I feel. Do you get nocturnal boners? I do every night and the dreaming is something else, so I feel much has to do with sleep and healing still. And gives me a lot of hope, as I think our issues shouldn’t be PSSD. you’re right, some of those stories are scary, but I’m still confident we will be ok with time.

I think in the 4.5 months that I’ve been clean, I’ve had like 10 instances where I get morning wood. But often they are half strength. Before all of this, I used to get such strong ones that it was almost painful lol

I met someone on another forum who said around 8-9 months his libido came back and at 15 months he’s stronger than ever. So I do have hope. These symptoms are just very extreme for me. I never went to the doctor before this, I was always very healthy aside from my terrible marijuana habit

Sadly I don’t even remember what it’s like to be horny or to get a nice strong erection anymore. Hope we both recover brother. I’m gonna give it a year and re-assess.