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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

Reigniting intimacy & sex

4 replies

hoopyloopy2 · 06/08/2024 11:23

Wanted to give some hope here to anyone stuck in a sexless marriage. Mine was - for years - and we stopped communicating in so many ways. Couldn’t find a way to discuss why or even define it, though we’ve had our share of health problems, bereavements & life disappointments. No big rows either and the love was always there - but we had settled into an almost platonic & somewhat tense and irritable dynamic in our early 50s. Very little touching and kissing even. I thought we would never rekindle things and felt really bleak about our future together.

But a few months ago something shifted. Combo of eldest DC leaving the nest, peri/meno (which since HRT seems to have increased my libido) and a bit of a carpe diem reckoning after losing two friends same age and others divorcing.

Reading lots of erotic fiction also massively helped me to start feeling sexy again and one night after a couple of drinks we just found each other again and had sex. A couple of months later, it’s still getting better and I am enjoying bring intimate so much, it’s like falling in love again after decades together - cheesy as that sounds! It has been transformative in every way…we are kinder and more playful with each other, less irritable with other people, more confident in myself. Since then we are both so much happier and I am looking forward to the future. Still not doing much talking about it though which perhaps we need to work on!

Just posting to give hope and encouragement really. If your relationship is basically sound but you are not having sex, it CAN change.

OP posts:
LilacRaven · 06/08/2024 14:16

That's a lovely outcome to share for those who are in a similar situation.

For someone younger who doesn't have any issues, can I ask when did your relationship turn? I can't imagine osing the romance and sex in my marriage but not sure of I'm naive or just lucky.

hoopyloopy2 · 06/08/2024 19:58

I think having children was definitely a bit of a passion killer, and we just didn’t prioritise our relationship over parenting them for several years. Then came a couple of bereavements & some difficult years with job stress for DH. Looking back we should have communicated better but I think I carried the idea that it was my fault and I should have somehow found a way to keep sex alive. So I felt like I was a failure and shut down in a way. When actually it was an issue for both of us to solve.

OP posts:
Mothersmith89 · 06/08/2024 20:30

I have been in a sexless marriage for 6 years and I’m 36. I have recently broken up with him. I feel awful I really do. I just feel too young for this

im happy for you. But the thought of sex with my husband gives me the shivers, is that normal?

LilacRaven · 07/08/2024 07:52

Mothersmith89 · 06/08/2024 20:30

I have been in a sexless marriage for 6 years and I’m 36. I have recently broken up with him. I feel awful I really do. I just feel too young for this

im happy for you. But the thought of sex with my husband gives me the shivers, is that normal?

I can't say if it's normal but for me it's not. I fancy the pants off my husband and want to rip his clothes off whenever I see him.

I have pre school children and find life and parenting really hard but have found that it makes me appreciate my H even more. I think it helps that we both keep fit so that we feel good and confident in our bodies.

Sounds to me like you've done the right thing. You only get one life don't see the point in coasting along with the wrong person. It is possible to have both friendship and passion in a marriage.

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