PIED Recovery Signs (Here’s How To Know You’re Good)
PIED Recovery Signs
(Here's How To Know You're Good)
If you are suffering from porn induced erectile dysfunction and you are doing a so called PMO reboot to fix your PIED, you are probably having some anxiety about how long it will take.
You are probably also wondering if there are any reliable PIED recovery signs that could show that you are on the right track, and that recovery is just around the corner.
Well, guess what, there are indeed a few good PIED recovery signs and in this article you will discover exactly what they are. Make sure to read the whole article, because there will be additional important information about each of them further down.
So, how do I know when I'm recovered from PIED?
Well…
Here are the PIED recovery signs…
- Return of morning wood.
- You feel a physical response in your body when close to someone you find attractive.
- You can masturbate with a strong and solid erection without using porn or porn fantasies.
- You have less of a “chaser effect” after an orgasm.
- It's easier for you to get turned on – sometimes all it takes is just a smile from a real life woman.
- The flatline has ended and your penis is back to normal size and form.
- You feel more sensitivity in your penis when for example washing it.
- Semen leakage, when going to the bathroom, has reduced or stopped.
- You no longer have any problem reaching klimax.
How reliable are the PIED recovery signs?
Just picking one of the signs in a vacuum won't tell you the whole story and is not a good indicator that you have recovered from PIED.
If you, on the other hand, have started to notice many of them happening to you it's a pretty good indicator that recovery is right around the corner.
In fact, if several of them ring true, you might already be fully functional…
…but it is still not a guarantee.
Unfortunately there is still only one way of knowing, with 100% certainty, that your PIED is gone. That is when you can achieve and maintain a full erection with a real life partner.
Let's take a close look at them, one by one, so you can get a better understanding on where yo might be on the recovery timeline.
Sign #1: Return of morning wood
Yes, morning wood is indeed something every healthy man should have.
After having rebooted for some time, many guys start noticing a return of morning wood. In fact sometimes guys don't even realize it has been gone until they start experiencing it again.
This often happens gradually, with some weaker morning woods here and there, until it's back with full force, in all its glory.
I'm not getting it every morning…
Be aware of the fact that, even if we are healthy and fully functional, we do not always notice the morning erection. It depends on at what stage we happen to be in the sleep cycle when the morning rolls around.
So it's perfectly normal to notice the morning wood only about 2-5 times a week, depending a bit on your age as well.
Also, older men notice morning wood less frequently.
How good of a sign is it?
The gradual return of morning wood is pretty good sign that progress is being made and that something is taking place inside your brain.
However, there are still some guys who find that they can start having real sex even though they have not yet noticed a fully solid morning erection.
The other way around is true as well; there are some guys who still can't achieve a solid erection with a real life partner, even though they get good and solid morning erections.
Conclusion: While it is a good indicator that change is taking place, on its own, it can not really tell you whether or not you are fully recovered from PIED.
However, if you have started noticing a return of strong morning erections, you are definitely much further along the way towards recovery than when you didn't get it. No doubt.
Sign #2: You feel a physical response in your body when close to someone you find attractive
This is also a pretty good sign that PIED recovery is taking place, but first we need to define “physical response”.
It simply refers to any physical feeling you have in your body when close to someone you find attractive. It can be small things like…
- Butterflies in the stomach.
- A warm and pleasant sensation.
- A tingly sensation somewhere in the body.
- A sensation of wanting to be close the person (pure attraction).
How good of a sign is it?
So, as you can see, a physical response does not necessarily mean you popping a full on boner right then and there. In fact, that seldom happens for older men, no matter how healthy. Unless there is kissing and hugging going on.
However, if you do get a physical response such an erection when close to someone you like, then yes, that would be a really, REALLY good PIED recovery sign.
Conclusion: It is one of the stronger signs on the list. But just like the others, using it in a vacuum is not that reliable. You want to experience multiple signs.
Sign #3: You can masturbate with a strong and solid erection without using porn or porn fantasies
This is a really good PIED recovery sign.
In fact, what it does tell you is that, since you can get it up to touch alone, you are no longer are dependent on porn for achieving an erection.
This is great, but you need to know that even if experiencing this, some guys can unfortunately still be struggling a bit with a real life partner.
The reason for this is probably because your hand has been a part of the PIED equation for so long. I.e. porn + your hand = erection.
So, while the porn may be gone your hand might still be activating the “equation” in your brain, and thus that also fires up an erection.
How good of a sign is it?
Being able to achieve a strong and solid erection to masturbation alone is such a good PIED recovery sign that, even if you were to belong to the guys who still can't get it up with a real life person, it's just a matter of some more rewiring and you'll be good to go…
…and probably not much of it either.
Conclusion: No longer being dependent on porn to achieve an erection is a very good recovery sign. However, since there are guys who still struggle a bit with real life people, even after they have started to be able to get hard with porn-free masturbation, it's not 100% reliable.
For the majority of guys, though, it would probably be safe to say that if you can masturbate to sensation only, with a full and strong erection, you are good to go.
Sign #4: You have less chaser effect after an orgasm
The term “chaser effect” is often used to describe a state of intense cravings that can follow after an orgasm, either with a real life partner or by masturbation.
How good of a sign is it?
This is perhaps the weakest PIED recovery sign of them all.
Many guys out there, in the PMO rebooting community, want to have this one on the list, but I personally don't put that much weight on it.
Why?
Well, because the chaser effect is not unique to a porn addiction. It is actually a normal biological phenomenon and can happen to guys who never had any problems with porn to begin with. And that makes it a pretty weak sign in my opinion as you could be a fully functional man and still notice a severe chaser.
Granted, the chaser effect does indeed seem to be something that is more prevalent among porn addicts, so therefore it can be used as, at least, some form of indicator.
Conclusion: If you noticed a severe chaser effect after orgasm before and it has reduced over time, it could be a sign. But, don't put too much weight on it.
Sign #5: It's easier for you to get turned on – sometimes all it takes is just a smile from a real life woman
Ahhh…the reason for rebooting in the first place…
…to fix our sexuality in order to be able to feel love and lust for real life women again!
How good of a sign is it?
It is a good PIED recovery sign.
Being able to be turned on by real life people is what we want.
However, just being turned on is still no guarantee that you will be 100% functional in the bedroom. While most guys who are far from being recovered won't be able to get turned on by real life people at all, it is still not a guarantee for a successful night if you can.
Conclusion: just like with the other signs, you can't stare yourself blind on this one alone. Sure you might be good to go, but it's not a certainty.
Sign #6: The flatline has ended and your penis is back to normal size and form
If someone who is new to the whole PMO reboot world is reading this they might be wondering what the hell this means.
Normal size and form?
Yes, the flatline is a very common phenomenon that happens to many guys (not to everyone, but to most of them) when they quit using porn.
The flatline is a period of time when the libido drops to absolute zero. It feels like someone sucked all the testosterone and dopamine out of you, and even the penis can shrivel up and feel cold and totally lifeless.
Yup, you read it right. It's probably because the brain is not sending any arousal signal to the penis at all and thus there is very little blood flow to it. This is a temporary, albeit frightening, phase that often lasts somewhere between 4-8 weeks. Sometimes shorter and sometimes longer than that. Everyone's reboot is unique.
How good of a sign is it?
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because when a guy starts to get out of the flatline, it could be a PIED recovery sign.
When guys emerge from the flatline they often feel things like an improvement in mood, more motivation and a return of libido.
The penis also feels more full and “alive”, having more sensitive again.
Conclusion: It's definitely a sign that some healing has taken place, but unfortunately it can't tell you if your PIED is gone. In a vacuum, this PIED recovery sign alone is not the strongest on the list.
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Sign #7: You feel more sensitivity in your penis – for example when washing it
This automatically happens when you get out of the flatline, but it is more than that. Just getting out of a flatline does not always fully heal any potential sensitivity issues we might have, caused by all the years of porn use.
However, when you get out of the flatline, you notice some increased sensitivity because of that, and you keep rebooting a bit more, and then notice yet another level of improved sensitivity, that second level is a great sign of PIED recovery.
How god of a sign is it?
It's pretty good.
Especially if it's accompanied by sign #5 .
Conclusion: I hate to sound like a broken record, but even here it's not 100% sure your PIED is gone. However, if it's accompanied by sign #5 and sign #3, you can start to feel pretty confident.
Sign #8: Semen leakage has stopped or reduced
In order to reboot, and rewire their sexuality away from pixels on a screen and towards real life people, a lot of guys also give up ejaculation for a period of time.
They do this because it has been shown that recovery is often a bit faster that way.
Then, since they don't get any release, there is often some small semen leakage when urinating or during bowel movement in the bathroom.
This tends to happen more in the beginning of the reboot than further along in recovery, and thus guys like to talk about the cessation of semen leakage as a PIED recovery sign.
You can for example see guys on forums, like Your brain rebalanced and Reboot Nation talk about things like this.
How good of a sign is it?
In my personal opinion it's not a good sign at all.
Why?
Well, because for example during bowel movement, just the sheer fact that the intestines are moving a bit, it can then due to the physical movement alone press out some of the overfilled semen. I hardly think this has anything to do with brain changes. And remember, PIED is caused by real physical brain changes.
In other words, semen leakage can happen no matter how recovered you are.
Conclusion: Since semen leakage tends to happen less frequently further along the reboot, it may be viewed as a recovery sign, but it it's a poor sign. I don't think there's a strong correlation between the cessation of semen leakage and PIED recovery, other than just the sheer fact of more time spent rebooting.
Sign #9: You no longer have any problems reaching climax
One interesting fact for you to learn here is that delayed ejaculation is often the step that precedes PIED.
In other words, guys who have noticed DE with their partner, but don't have any ED problems should beware. If they continue to over consume porn then PIED might be the next step on the horizon.
How good of a sign is it?
Well, if you notice a reduction of delayed ejaculation during successful intercourse, then obviously you're home free.
If you notice it during porn-free orgasm then it's a pretty good sign.
Oftentimes guys with mild PIED have to use a hard grip and almost force themselves to klimax when trying porn-free masturbation.
Conclusion: So, if you can use a normal “light” grip during porn-free masturbation, no porn fantasies and it doesn't take a lot of effort to reach climax, it is a very good sign.
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PIED How to know when recovered
Final words
So there you have it.
If you want to know if you're recovered from PIED then look at these 9 signs and then draw your conclusions from that.
It's the best you have to go by, if you exclude the grand final test, which of course is when you end up in bed with a real life, flesh and blood partner. And when you do, keep in mind that performance anxiety might also be an issue.
For more info on how to distinguish between PIED and performance anxiety, read my post PIED or performance anxiety – How to to tell the difference.
Also, if you would like more info on the best and fastest ways to fix your PIED, then also take a look at my article, How to fix PIED.
-Scandinavian Bob-
P.S. If you keep relapsing and need my help to stop doing so, or if you just want to ask me something about rebooting in general, you can reach out to through my contact page right here.
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