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Post by mrslowmaintenance on Jan 30, 2017 1:11:09 GMT -5
I am a new member and I am sad (not sad) that I haven't found this site sooner. I have been married to my wonderful H for 8 years, we have one child who is 3. At this point I am at about 4 years of a sexless marriage, maybe even longer. I track when we have sex so that when I bring it up that it's been ages I can genuinely say "it's been since XYZ". Last year we had sex 6 times and we only reached six because one time happened to be on Jan 2 and the other on December 30th lol. It's been at least 5 years since we have had sex on a classic "getting laid" kind of holiday (ex: b-day, v-day, anniversary). I am really on here tonight because I walked in on him masturbating.
This would normally not bother me, hell I do it often enough, but we had sex like two weeks ago and I'm very confused because he tells me he can't get in the mood for weeks but here he is rocking his world one room away from y daughter and I playing? So fucking fed up.
So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!!
I love him, truly. We talk regularly of the future, have built our lives together, challenge and build each other up. However, when I get so deep into my loneliness his touch makes my skin crawl, because I know the desire in me will attempt to crawl from its pit to get kicked in the face once more.
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Post by baza on Jan 30, 2017 2:20:17 GMT -5
A dysfunctional marriage fucks with your head, gets you thinking weird shit, gets you making uninformed choices that feed back in to the loop.
And this, is the mindset from which you are supposed to work your way forward. It is terribly difficult.
At this point, I'd quote you here where you say - "any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!!" What do you actually mean by this ? Does 'awful' to you translate as cheating ? Does 'awful' to you translate as divorcing ?
'Awful' in this group often translates as 'staying'. The three options you've got, staying / cheating / divorce are all perfectly valid options
Trying to repress things - as per your question - ain't much of a long term plan. It is akin to trying to hold a balloon under water. A constant and absorbing task to which there is no end. And, sooner or later, you are going to tire, fall asleep, fumble or something, and the balloon will rise rapidly to the surface. And while you are engaged in this pointless task, other aspects of your life will plummet due to lack of attention. Repression is not much of a plan.
Read here Sister mrslowmaintenance, read a lot. Get a handle on what you are dealing with. It ain't a pretty sight.
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Post by rejected101 on Jan 30, 2017 4:42:36 GMT -5
I am a new member and I am sad (not sad) that I haven't found this site sooner. I have been married to my wonderful H for 8 years, we have one child who is 3. At this point I am at about 4 years of a sexless marriage, maybe even longer. I track when we have sex so that when I bring it up that it's been ages I can genuinely say "it's been since XYZ". Last year we had sex 6 times and we only reached six because one time happened to be on Jan 2 and the other on December 30th lol. It's been at least 5 years since we have had sex on a classic "getting laid" kind of holiday (ex: b-day, v-day, anniversary). I am really on here tonight because I walked in on him masturbating. This would normally not bother me, hell I do it often enough, but we had sex like two weeks ago and I'm very confused because he tells me he can't get in the mood for weeks but here he is rocking his world one room away from y daughter and I playing? So fucking fed up. So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!! I love him, truly. We talk regularly of the future, have built our lives together, challenge and build each other up. However, when I get so deep into my loneliness his touch makes my skin crawl, because I know the desire in me will attempt to crawl from its pit to get kicked in the face once more. mrslowmaintenance, I too am married to someone who I genuinely love and adore. Our marriage is actually very very good in so many ways but I too got to a similar point as you. The lowest was 8 times in a year and 10 times a year was about the norm. How did I know that it was this because I too started tracking and marking my calendar. And finally, on a night just 8 days after we'd last had sex, a night where wifey and I had been in together all day and night she went to bed slightly earlier then me and I too went upstairs and caught her jerking off. She had gone to bed "tired" yet I caught her nearly 90 mins later when I was in the way up. She didn't realise she'd been busted either and I kept it from her. I started to check her phone internet history after that for around 6 months and I found that she watched porn a couple of times each month. The fist occasion I caught her she definitely wasn't watching porn so it suddenly dawned on me that she jerks off with porn and without. Give or take I managed to uncover that she jerked off about once a week. I feel hurt, I felt undesirable, I felt cheated on, I wondered if there was a performance issue on my part (not that I have had any complaints from any woman including her and orgasms for her were always included in our sexual encounters). I literally felt like she had been having an affair from the beginning of our relationship and it absolutely devastated me. Worst of all though is with an affair you have the absolute right to divorce and everyone would understand. I had the dilemma of do I divorce someone who doesn't fuck me enough and who I've caught masturbating which feels like an affair? Anyway, I finally gave the game away to her and confronted her and I simply got told that she has a low libido, there is nothing wrong with how we have sex and in fact she "loved" what we did and that jerking off wasn't a sexual act to her. Our marriage started to decline for around a year because I became a refuser in other ways. Do I want to make the effort to spend time with and make room for this person who sneaks behind my back and has sex on her own? It got to a stage where we were close to splitting and we went to couples therapy. During those sessions we were told out right by the therapist that sex is important and you should try and have patience and understanding for your spouses sexual preferences as well as your own. I felt I'd been patient, understanding, in no way pushy and literally My wife had been pissing on my back and having sex whenever she pleased. The therapist said a compromise should be sought! Well I have to say things have improved for me and my marriage. Not much but 2016 saw us being a great couple again, spending time and as for sex we reached the dizzy heights of having sex 19 times. Why do I still visit this site because I suppose I am still getting over how badly this all affected me and it is a place to unload what's in your head or what's been in your head for years.Also I come here through fear that our old sex life is just around the corner. I truly hope not or it will be probably be affair city for me. So you need to talk with your partner to see if improvements are possible because if you're anything like me, no improvement would definitely have led to me systematically dismantling of the marriage because being faithful in a marriage is so much more then simply not shagging other people.
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Post by bballgirl on Jan 30, 2017 8:14:19 GMT -5
mrslowmaintenance wrote "So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!!" Yes you recover with or without your spouse but the odds for recovery are better without. If you still love him then I suggest you have an open and honest conversation about his porn addiction and why he's choosing that over you. Make him tell you what turns him on. What type of porn he likes. See what you are up against, if he's into gay porn then dump his ass. That its not acceptable to not have sex with his wife and if he wants the marriage to work out then all of the energy and desire that he puts into porn he better figure out how to refocus that to you and in a convincing way. Get used to it? - Hell No! There are so many men out there that would want to have sex with you. Lower your desire- Hell No! If you like chocolate but your H doesn't like chocolate does that mean you should never have chocolate? If you like going on bike rides but your H doesn't like to should that stop you? Fuck him and his selfish ass. Sorry you're here but it's a great support group.
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Post by Dan on Jan 30, 2017 8:43:37 GMT -5
So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!! You've pretty much hit on all your options in your one sentence. To recap, you can: - have the necessary discussions with him so he can change is behavior... if not to change to fully what you want/need, then at least "meet in the middle". This will take frank discussions, a willingness to change on his part, time, and quite likely some professional help.
- "get used to it" -- lower your own desire and libido, and/or just lower your expectations and make do with low/no marital sex. This might also take therapy: individual therapy for you!
- stay in the marriage, but go outside the marriage for intimacy. (not saying it is a great option for everyone... just sayin' it IS an option). This takes time, some money, and a great deal of risk.
- leave the marriage. This takes a heart wrenching amount of work, and a boatload of money.
Sorry to tell you what you already know, but ALL of those are difficult. The first is the most difficult, because it requires TWO folks to change... and if he doesn't want to change, it is off the table. While you decide how to work on option 1, you have to get used to the idea that you MIGHT have to choose between options 2, 3, and 4. Personally, I've tried 1, 2, and 3, each at different times and to different degrees of "success:... but none is a long term solution. So I'm steeling my resolve -- starting to make life decisions -- for option 4.
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Post by Dan on Jan 30, 2017 9:40:19 GMT -5
I am really on here tonight because I walked in on him masturbating. This would normally not bother me, hell I do it often enough, but we had sex like two weeks ago and I'm very confused because he tells me he can't get in the mood for weeks but here he is rocking his world one room away from y daughter and I playing? So fucking fed up. On this... may I ask a clarifying question? You mentioned: "I walked in on him masturbating" but you did not mention porn. However two replies did assume that, where I had not. Is porn involved? One other reply also mentioned "porn addiction". I'm not sure I'd jump there... but then again, I'm not sure if there is a clinically agreed-to definition of "porn-addiction". (If anyone wants to discuss THAT in particular, PLEASE start a separate thread... let's not hijack this thread...) Porn or not, addiction or not, I DO think this means you have to start the discussions with him. His equipment obviously works, and he is obviously interested in getting off; take that as a PLUS SIDE of your situation. He might have other issues that he is too embarrassed to talk about. He might have health or body image concerns (his health/body). Some men feel awkward having sex with their wives after their first child, unable to navigate wife being both "mother" and "sex partner". Maybe the issues are even with you. Please don't misunderstand: I'm not saying it is right or fair or trying to excuse his behavior! I'm saying "you need to try to get to the root of it all." And: he's a man, he'll probably resist, so be SOMEWHAT patient, SOMEWHAT understanding. This is the most important thing: his willingness to discuss this and work on it is the key bellwether of your chances at saving the marriage.Back to the masturbation itself, I guess I'm suggesting this: DON'T assume "he is masturbating, and that is causing our marital sexlessness". Said another way, I suggest you approach it like this: "marital sexlessness" and "him turning to masturbation" are two results from the same underlying CAUSE. Try to work with him -- and likely a marital therapist -- to get at that CAUSE.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2017 11:55:34 GMT -5
I am censoring my thoughts right now. I really hope this works out for you.
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Post by mrslowmaintenance on Jan 30, 2017 14:24:32 GMT -5
So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!! You've pretty much hit on all your options in your one sentence. To recap, you can: - have the necessary discussions with him so he can change is behavior... if not to change to fully what you want/need, then at least "meet in the middle". This will take frank discussions, a willingness to change on his part, time, and quite likely some professional help.
- "get used to it" -- lower your own desire and libido, and/or just lower your expectations and make do with low/no marital sex. This might also take therapy: individual therapy for you!
- stay in the marriage, but go outside the marriage for intimacy. (not saying it is a great option for everyone... just sayin' it IS an option). This takes time, some money, and a great deal of risk.
- leave the marriage. This takes a heart wrenching amount of work, and a boatload of money.
Sorry to tell you what you already know, but ALL of those are difficult. The first is the most difficult, because it requires TWO folks to change... and if he doesn't want to change, it is off the table. While you decide how to work on option 1, you have to get used to the idea that you MIGHT have to choose between options 2, 3, and 4. Personally, I've tried 1, 2, and 3, each at different times and to different degrees of "success:... but none is a long term solution. So I'm steeling my resolve -- starting to make life decisions -- for option 4. Thank you everyone for the replies. A little more background. Our first year of marriage I was working two full time jobs to support 5 adults while trying to go to college. I had little time to sleep but still actively seemed the attention I needed to reassure me this wasn't all for nothing. He had a serious pirn addiction, and a serious masterbation problem. (Honestly the whole house did and it was fucking disgusting.) I had to drop out of school because u couldn't do it all anymore, and when I did I told him he had until our lease was up to fix his shit or I was gone. He did! And we told a select few people about what was going on to help keep him honest, as well as remind him of what he was about to lose. Fast forward, sex life still limited, but his masturbating was so infrequent that I would clean wet dreams off the sheets. While trying to get pregnant I has the most sex of our whole marriage. However, anyone who has tried to get pregnant knows that that kind of sex is not the good kind. No sex while pregnant and none until baby was about 4 months old. He did use porn a little at that time but that was understandable Now, he does not look at porn much. He is open to talking about all of this he just doesn't have much to say. He did tell me when we talked about it that he marterbates about once a week but it's not sexual, that it is just to get off. We went to a counselor a few years back when I was postpartum depressed, he wasn't having sex with me, and seeking emotional love from another woman. It just feels like I have to bring it up every single year that this is a problem for me and it is always going to be important to me. I just wish I could be happy without needing sex! Alsi...We are 26
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Post by mrslowmaintenance on Jan 30, 2017 14:26:35 GMT -5
I don't think I could leave. I have spent years helping him build his career, I am just now back in college to try and finish what I started ô years ago. We have a child, and retirement assets that I don't think I could truly recover from losing.
Or... Now this may sound awful... Is there something he can eat or take that may increase his desire??!! Lol, what a joke right lol
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Post by Dan on Jan 30, 2017 15:03:52 GMT -5
I don't think I could leave. I have spent years helping him build his career, I am just now back in college to try and finish what I started ô years ago. We have a child, and retirement assets that I don't think I could truly recover from losing. Or... Now this may sound awful... Is there something he can eat or take that may increase his desire??!! Lol, what a joke right lol SOME men have low testosterone, which can lead to low sexual desire. Good news, low-T can be tested for, and hormone replacement therapy is available. Now the bad news... ALL of these have to be true for that to be the solution: 1) He has to be willing to WANT to do this for you / for the marriage / for himself. 2) He has to overcome the embarrassment that some men feel and actually TALK to a doctor about this. 3) If he is heavy and/or has diabetes/or high blood pressure, he may need to admit and address those, too. 4) Low-T has to be the actual problem. 5) He'd have to be one of the men who responds to testosterone replacement with returned/increased libido. Other than that... no, sorry, no pill for low desire. (Men here want this for their wives, too, BTW...)
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Post by baza on Jan 30, 2017 17:03:19 GMT -5
OK. Rule out the porn as the "why" he is sexually uninterested in you. Select another "why", say 'low T', and chase that one over the horizon and back. When that proves a pointless pursuit, select another "why", and chase that one around and round. Do that until the penny drops that it doesn't work. Your mileage will vary on how long this realisation takes.
Then, revisit those 3 options you've got. Stay - and keep "why" chasing. Cheat. Leave.
There is no 4th option whereby *you* can fix *him*.
If, there is "fixing" to be done, it will be done by him, of his own volition - his own choice - or - there will not be a fix.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2017 17:29:43 GMT -5
So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!! I can tell you that I never got used to a sexual starvation diet. And the last 6 years of celibacy were horrible. As to lowering your own desire, I once considered that. I now know that it is a horrible thing to be in a situation where you would even think that is a viable option. At 26, your H should be all over you. I have no idea why a man would not want a sexually aroused woman in her 20s. I am so sorry you are in this situation. Do you have an education or other career options? You may be the rare exception who can stand this for a long time, but I kind of doubt it. I would say you should suggest counseling to address this issue. If your H refuses, then you need to figure out how to escape. I am speaking from 28 years of misery.
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Post by unmatched on Jan 30, 2017 20:02:39 GMT -5
I am a new member and I am sad (not sad) that I haven't found this site sooner. I have been married to my wonderful H for 8 years, we have one child who is 3. At this point I am at about 4 years of a sexless marriage, maybe even longer. I track when we have sex so that when I bring it up that it's been ages I can genuinely say "it's been since XYZ". Last year we had sex 6 times and we only reached six because one time happened to be on Jan 2 and the other on December 30th lol. It's been at least 5 years since we have had sex on a classic "getting laid" kind of holiday (ex: b-day, v-day, anniversary). I am really on here tonight because I walked in on him masturbating. This would normally not bother me, hell I do it often enough, but we had sex like two weeks ago and I'm very confused because he tells me he can't get in the mood for weeks but here he is rocking his world one room away from y daughter and I playing? So fucking fed up. So here is my question; does anyone ever really recover from this or genuinely get used to it? Or is there any way to lower my own desire so I don't do something awful???!!! I love him, truly. We talk regularly of the future, have built our lives together, challenge and build each other up. However, when I get so deep into my loneliness his touch makes my skin crawl, because I know the desire in me will attempt to crawl from its pit to get kicked in the face once more. You can't recover from it while you are still in it. If your situation changes then you have every chance of making a full recovery. Can you get used to it? That might depend on what you mean. Lots of people live with it, but it eats away at you from the inside and it is always there. It is like being an artist and spending your whole life working in an insurance company, or growing up in Italy and then deciding to spend the rest of your life in a cold, grey rainy city where you never see the sun. Yes, you can do it. Will you feel you have lived your life to its full potential? Unlikely. I know you have a lot invested here and there are lots of good things about your marriage. But please consider you are 26, and you have been in a SM for 4 years. Project forward another 4 years of the same and think how you will feel after 8. Then double that again and think how you will feel after 16 years of SM. At that point you still won't be 40 and will have another 30/40/50 years ahead of you. I am not saying you should necessarily leave. But you need to change something if you are to create a life that will make you truly happy.
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Post by mrslowmaintenance on Jan 31, 2017 1:25:10 GMT -5
To flashjon I am working towards medical school right now. I had worked in hospitals and other things (getting the highest pay to help him advance) but I have been back in school for two years and was a stay at home mom for the first year of my littles life. So at this point, I am 26, haven't worked in 3 years and have no viable income, usable degree or place to live. I would absolutely lose my daughter and most likely never be able to apply to med school. I do really want to be with him. He is open to talking about all of this, I just feel so bad every time I bring it up. I don't like telling the second most important person in my life that there is something he is doing wrong that makes me dislike his physical contact, ya know? I'm sure a lot of you can relate, which is so nice (but obviously it isn't either haha).
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Post by mrslowmaintenance on Jan 31, 2017 1:33:08 GMT -5
To unmatched. I can agree with that, I am an extremely passive person when I'm comfortable. So it would be very easy for me to just avoid conflict and let things progress on his terms.
As much as I am only 26, I don't actually think I could recover from a divorce at this point. Or at least not be able to be at the level of retirement capabilities, financial stability, career possibilities etc. And just the thought of not being able to be with my daughter just destroys me.
I know there is no easy answer here.
I plan to talk with him again and try and put things more into perspective of how important it is to me, as well as thinking of a few similes or examples of things I do for him with a similar gravity.
I am fortunate in that we have been to councillor, so I know if things get too desperate feeling he will do that for himself/us/me (and it did help before but faded very slowly with time & life changes). He also is okay with talking about things that are uncomfortable for me: like my childhood sexual abuse and conflicts with my own self masturbating and other weird things that no one likes talking about. So I do have that weighing heavy in my favor, I think it really is my own personal guilt that holds me back from opening up more. Gah this sucks
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