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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

I have not had sex with my DH for 12 years

99 replies

Playedaway · 08/10/2013 20:49

Namechanged for this. Booble plate, MNOldies yada yada yada. Not trolling.

It just is not possible for me to have sex with my husband. Too many awful things have been said and done and my relationship with him is utterly pants. We have stayed together for the children. It has been hard. Frankly, it has been horrific. Please don't suggest counselling. We have done that three times and the one thing I have learned about counselling is that it helps for a short time but is useless in the long run. it just prolongs something that should not be prolonged.

So I went to a conference last week, and met a beautiful intelligent funny and clever bloke. I spent the entire conference in a blissful fugue of - well - lust tbh. It's been a gamechanger. It just reminded me how it was to be happy. Truly happy, both sexually and to be in comfort and amity with someone else. I haven't slept for four days and I am confused and muddled and I don't know who I am.

I don't even know if I feel guilty tbh. For years I have not had sex. I like sex, I remember that now. I do not know where to go from here.

OP posts:
Lucca22 · 09/10/2013 09:40

That's ok.....when someone is full of themselves and their needs it's usually a recipe for disaster and that's what it was like living with him, one disaster after another. The guy will die wondering what the heck life was all about only to find a whole new set of problems.....it's nice to have a belief!

monkeynuts123 · 09/10/2013 14:30

Lucca has lost me now! Op, you have talked about your husbands parents bad marriage and impact of that, you have talked about your children and their needs and impact of that. But, we haven't heard anything yet about you. What is your relationship blueprint? Why have you stayed so long? Not the kids, why did you stay, what have you been getting out of it? Negative as well as positive? Why do you want to leave now? No not the conference man, why do you want to leave now? There's a bit of a pattern here talking about how everyone else is responsible, but how are you responsible? Taking responsibility for it all, and the 12 year sexless marriage that you created together with your husband and lived in for more than a decade, taking that level of responsibility will give you the power to reflect and leave. Good luck

ouryve · 09/10/2013 14:48

It's tough luck if your H disapproves of divorce. My ex did, too. It's no reason to stay together, though. We had 5 years without sex, out of a 10 year marriage, before I upped sticks and left. No kids, thankfully, but it was a huge relief to me when I finally did go - and yes, I very quickly re-discovered a libido.

Missbopeep · 09/10/2013 14:50

Cogito- the reason I said 'buckle down' is this.....

I have the impression- wrongly or rightly- that the OPs marriage has staggered on for a long time ( as do many) with some counselling which helped for a while, then the reverted to their default setting.

She's been 'content' enough with this until the Conference Man appeared.

As per the post before mine here, why has she stayed? What is and was horrific?

The point I was making is that I have the impression that ( no sex excepted) the marriage trundled along. Neither party was making a huge effort to make things better. Nor were they heading for the divorce lawyer.

Some couples live 'happily' with crap - until they have a wake up call.

I sense she is passive in the marriage - but if she wants to give it one last try she needs to buckle down , work out what is wrong and see if it can be fixed.

I have a strong feeling she's coasted along for years neither in nor out of it really, so the options are make a huge effort, or leave it.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 09/10/2013 15:02

sense she is passive in the marriage - but if she wants to give it one last try she needs to buckle down , work out what is wrong and see if it can be fixed"

One last try and for how long this time around?.

And at what further cost to the children who are all too clearly hearing and seeing their parents private war with each other?.

It takes two to make a marriage work; one person cannot and should not continue what seems to read as a slow death of a marriage for the last 12 years. There is nothing left to save or fix here if he and for that matter she is not interested. Couples cannot just coast along like this forever as has been shown here with the appearance of conference man.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 09/10/2013 15:12

I don't see 'content' prior to this either. Some kind of mutual repression and endurance perhaps. Lots of 'awful things' being said. Not contentment.

hellsbellsmelons · 09/10/2013 15:13

Well Missbopeep

You say - the marriage trundled along. Neither party was making a huge effort to make things better

This says otherwise!!

Too many awful things have been said and done and my relationship with him is utterly pants
It has been hard. Frankly, it has been horrific
it just prolongs something that should not be prolonged

They argue all the time - the don't even like each other.
That is not trundling along IMHO. That is living in hell and she has done it for 12 years.

Time for YOU now OP.
Please also understand that I didn't leave home until I was 26!!! Can you put up with it for that long - really!!???
Get out now.

And as for dementedma of course it’s not easy but millions and millions of families around the world have done it and more do it every day as we know life is short. Way too short to spend most of it miserable and passing on terrible relationship and life lessons to our children.

Jan45 · 09/10/2013 15:24

Yes your kids will want you to stay together, of course they will, that doesn't make it right, they've already witnessed a dysfunctional marriage, rows, the lot. The word horrific is how you describe it, I feel sorry for the kids.

You said it yourself, you're both there out of sheer laziness and comfortableness, do it for your kids, if not yourselves, show them that being miserable with someone is not a relationship, they will already think it's the norm but it's never too late to change things.

SharpLily · 09/10/2013 15:29

My parents stayed together 'for the sake of the children'. We spent our childhood wishing they would split up. This is an extremely unhealthy situation for the kids and if there is anything you should be doing for their sake it's going your separate ways in a calm, amicable and dignified manner.

Missbopeep · 09/10/2013 15:37

so if that's the case and I am way off beam, why does she say this?

Thanks all. It might be laziness or selfishness or fear of the unknown that has kept us both in this marriage.

Laziness
Selfishness
Fear

If it's all so simple as some of you suggest why the heck is she still there?

HesterShaw · 09/10/2013 15:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BitOutOfPractice · 09/10/2013 16:33

How do you know the kids are happier with you together? They've got nothing to compare it to

Stop being a fucking martyr and take some responsibility for your and your kids happiness.

Sorry to sound harsh but you sound like you need a kick up the arse

CogitoErgoSometimes · 09/10/2013 16:48

"If it's all so simple as some of you suggest why the heck is she still there?"

The problem and the solution are simple enough. But the OP has spent 12 years rationalising that she's made the right decision to stick around and that a loveless marriage was better than the alternatives. Aside from all the practical and other obstacles to ending the marriage, it can be very difficult to admit it was the wrong decision and that there are better alternatives.

Missbopeep · 09/10/2013 16:58

'The problem and the solution are simple enough'

Are they? Really?

one solution proposed by some posters may not be the right one. Any more than another proposed by another.

None of us is the OP- she has to find her own solution and her problem is not simple or 12 years would not have passed without finding the answer.

Lucca22 · 09/10/2013 22:17

No, no, no.......the problem isn't mine. Although I do have them, lots of them.

thequeenoftarts · 10/10/2013 00:11

I had no sex for the last 10 years of my marriage, with him since i was 17, 2 kids with him, 3rd and older one that was the result of a teenage one night stand ( I was 15 year old virgin ) so grateful anyone wanted me with a child in tow, he was 7 years older and in my childish mind so grown up.

He turned into a cluster head fuck, ea abuse accusing me of countless affairs, me being a tease, men looking at me, during a fantasy session one night he wanted to have sex with my then 15 years old and very underage sister...
He isolated me from family and friends, then i had "our kids", went to leave after a row one night, his sister locked me in a room and told me if i left she wud take my kids off me and i wudn't get them back, I was under 22, no formal education, no money, no family support so I stayed.. I was broken emotionally by then so I stayed..

Got PG once again, (was on pill and antibiotic and he knew and I warned him I would get pg, and so I did and he refused to acknowledge pregnancy until I had a threatened miscarriage at 3 months. He was all over me then, but something inside me died after that.

I stopped sleeping with him then although we shared a bed, our eldest sons communion night I got drunk, woke up to find him having sex with me while I was passed out, another part of me died. He went into business for himself as a handyman, came home with crabs,( I didn't have them as wasn't intimate with him) I evicted him from the bed at that point, onto the sofa. I had worked nights for years to this point, so when I got into bed he got out, huge relief there....

While he was on sofa I swore to him one night that was it for me with men, as I was sickened by it all, 10 years passed and I went to online swinging sites, met several men, my sex drive came back, I felt adored and wanted and special, and met someone i wanted to see more of ( so did man in question) so i told ex straight away.

He flipped began stalking me, recording me, threatening me. We went to mediation, he lied during it, finally it dawned on me he wasn't leaving the house, so I did. It meant leaving my kids who refused to move, they were 15 and 14, and to this day they barely talk to me...Daddy has filled their heads with lies and nastiness. I miss them less and less as time goes by, it was awful going from a full time mother to nothing...an empty space, as if they had died..Be easier at times if they did...The older one sees me, its all such a mess, I regret not having the courage to leave years before, my kids have been damaged anyway, regardless of the fact I tried to stay to keep it all "normal" for them...In hindsight I would change everything, never have met him, ran away screaming when the flags started showing (my sister), , the fact he woudn't wash before sex, nor brush teeth, the accusations of affairs, the refusing to talk to me as a punishment...The fact he had crabs, I thought I was so brave waiting for my youngest to reach 18, ultimate martyr that I was...I never made the 18 years, I discovered the anger building inside me was deadly and every time he walked thru the doors I fantasied about him dying painfully, it was time to get out then...

Now I wish I had done it sooner, not been so afraid, spared my kids and myself the misery, I was afraid to lose them, and guess what, I did anyway...Yes I have my freedom but at a huge personal price..

18th bithdays, 21st's have come and gone and I am not asked to any, in fact they have told me I am not welcome, I walk a tightrope with them, never knowing what way to turn.I guess its easy to blame it all on me, the sad bit is I would never have isolated him from his kids, we had a rotten marriage, he was not a great dad, but he was still their dad,...For 5 years I have cried over what I have lost, now it doesn't seem real anymore, all pictures of them out of date and put away, how do I explain any of this to friends, so I don't talk about them. I once was so proud of them,would have died for them, did anything for them, now they are strangers to me ...

Don't live your life for other people, don't wait for a lightbulb moment, walk away with your pride and dignity intact, its only a house, a ring, a marriage and if its not a happy one, leave...Before your kids suffer as mine did..There is so much I haven't disclosed here as it will out me in real life, screw his parents, your parents, other peoples opinions, live life for you, for today and let tomorrow take care of itself....and most of all be happy.

There is happiness at the end of divorce, but someone always suffers, I never thought that would be me...

Lucca22 · 10/10/2013 09:33

One sure way of getting rid of them is not to have sex, it doesn't half mess them up. Remember, that's where their brains are.

unidentifiedflyingobject · 10/10/2013 15:14

queenoftarts - what a sad story :-(

Notbroken · 10/10/2013 17:00

Queen, that is just heartbreaking.

Darkesteyes · 10/10/2013 17:47

Queen that is heart wrenching Thanks Brew xx

thegreylady · 10/10/2013 18:21

Queen you are a brave lady to share that and I hope that one day, when they are adults, your dc will come to know and love you as you deserve Flowers

thequeenoftarts · 10/10/2013 23:33

Now I am crying, I thank you for your kind words :)

Playedaway · 10/10/2013 23:59

Thank you for sharing QoH - that is really kind of you. I appreciate your experience and I should try to be more active.

OP posts:
Norem · 11/10/2013 08:15

Queen of tarts :(
I hope you have/ find some happiness. Xx

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