Does anyone have a partner with a low sex drive? How did you manage?
Im 25f and am married to husband 31m for slightly over a year now and been together for about 2 years in total or less, unsure...i got married few months after knowing him. I love him so so much and he brings quite a lot to the table. He protects me and provides for me and honestly I'm so grateful to have him in my life. He's attentive, caring, and has a really good heart. But the downside to it is the sex...which is something I crave quite a lot. For context, we have sex 1 to 2 times a week or even less could be once in two weeks. Ive got toys and I do masturbate but it's not like the real thing. Ive had past sexual relationships but was never successful with intercourse because of vaginismus so ive only really done and recieved oral. I just thought I wasn't ready if im honest, they were all really attractive men but sex was a struggle. My now partner had been really patient with me and even helped me get through vaginismus. Once I was able to have intercourse, my sex drive increased even more.
When we got married, he used to initiate sex quite frequently and I wasn't always in the mood due to the struggle which he would understand and we would also do things at my pace. Now it feels like he barely cares about it. Sometimes I feel like he's just not attracted to me and only really has sex when he needs it. I miss feeling sexy and hot. I love the sexual attention and I feel like that's lacking which is creating problems in my mind. My husband has a highly stressful job so I do totally understand why his sex drive may be low. But, also he doesn't watch porn nor does he masturbate. So I think it's just low sex drive. My mind does jump to conclusions like he doesn't find me attractive cos I know most men can't keep away from their woman, and even they've been together 10 to 15 years even and still have a very active sex life.
Anyways, I've spoken to him about this and his response was that he doesn't think about it and said that sex isn't something relaxing for him. He is not able to sleep properly if he has sex and it's just not something he thinks about. He said he is still attracted to me and if he hasn't seen me in a long time then he does think about it. He also said that we live together and men do tend to have less sex with the partner after he's been with her for quite some time. I was upset by these comments at first....because in my head I was thinking he does only care about his sexual needs when he gets the urges and also i felt like I was not attractive enough for him.. He has been cheated on 3x by 3 different women in the past and i.do think this may have been the reason but I don't know I don't want to assume. I'll never cheat but I know this may be a problem for us long term...a huge problem. There are no signs of cheating from his side so I don't think he's cheating on me. He told me we can schedule sex and he can mentally prepare for it and we will do it, however I don't feel like i want to put that kind of pressure on him so I thought to just leave it...I said okay though and also said I didn't want to pressure him. I did ask him if he has a low sex drive, but there was no firect answer other than him saying something along the lines that he does get bored and that interest is in the beginning of the relationship or marriage. I worry maybe he feels these sexual feelings towards other women he interacts with then but he hasn't said this just my assumptions. In all my relationships, men have always found me attractive so this is just very different or has been very different i shall say. My partner works most of the times and our work pattern is different to one another so this may explain the reason for us not having enough sex...we do have sex 1 to 2 times per week or even less. When we both get time off from work like book holidays, I often got sick or i had my period so I don't blame him for that. I also asked him if im shit in bed, he said no. I just really miss feeling wanted sexually. I don't think I should have another conversation with him about this since he's already given me the answer..I just need to accept.
How do I handle my urges and how do I just accept and move past this? It would help to know other women have gone through similar. Im posting on women's thread because I always get answers that men have an issue with this and it feels like women don't really get into this situation where their partners have a lower sex drive. So it would just be nice to not feel alone.
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