New and struggling with withdrawal

Hello, I'm a love addict and newcomer to LAA. I've started my sobriety 8 days ago, as I was working though my most recent relationship collapse, but in ways that continue to be unhealthy and damage my life (excessive dating, sickly search for validation in the form of love, amongst many other behaviours damaging to me and my surroundings). I realised with therapy that there is a clear pattern to my love and relationship habits; The 40 questions were all but one applicable to my addiction. I'm struggling with withdrawal; breaking no-contact, fantasies and imagining, re-downloading dating apps so I can lose myself in someone again- I'm trying really hard not to do these things. There are also many painful triggers around, that make sobriety difficult.

But my surroundings don't take love addiction seriously and think it's something I made up to seek attention while broken hearted. This makes my withdrawal even harder, because I'm not allowed to speak of it in terms of addiction and sobriety with my surroundings, even though that's really what it is, I think. 

I'm relieved I found a group of people who will believe that one can in fact be addicted to love, and that sobriety from love addiction is not a joke or a made up thing. I have already read lots of relatable stories on here and finally feel like I'm not crazy, I'm just trying to heal from a deeply painful addiction. 

I look forward to being a part of this support network and hopefully, one day, I can be of support to someone who's in my position now.