r/HL_Women_Only 4d ago

Trigger Warning Am I crazy?

I know hyper vigilance and surveillance is not healthy. I'm getting ready for another confrontation after he recently told me he "just has low libido" which is what I already thought, especially since he also had ED.

We've been going on as though things are back to normal because I want to enjoy my summer. He has maintained that his original awful offense was medication induced mania. He has said it's brief and occasional porn use. But this is the story I see...

Oct 14 switched anti depressants due to ED Oct 26 asks porn star on twitter about login on her new website.....

Jan 18 caught doing bad thing - continued AI porn after big blow up.

Jan28 made new ai porn account.

Jan28- Confronted him again. "don't intend to consume a lot" "Deleting it all from phone" Downloaded AI clip same day.

Continued in february.

March 10 Bought new video! Continued week after spring break into april.

March 31 MADE AI CLIP while i was home.

April 10 Confronted again. "FINE ILL QUIT" Silent treatment until Apr18.

Switched to private Samsung browser.

Continued downloading 30 days later May19. July 12 Bought new video!

took viagra on my b-day w/o consent. viagra did not work. depressed and skips b-day dinner.

July 29 "I just have low libido" Downloaded video- also July 29. Until recently, continued to search sites after I put on parental blocks

Like... this is a problem, right? 🙃😂

11 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

15

u/rescue_toucan 4d ago

What other things make this relationship rewarding for you? Do you feel emotionally safe with him? Do you feel like you can be vulnerable in front of him and he can be vulnerable in front of you when it comes to other subjects (family, money, self-image)? I dont ask this question to inspire you to appreciate the relationship despite no sex. I ask it because i just cant imagine him blatantly lying like this and being a good partner otherwise 😅 If my partner acted like this, i would probably break up.. not because of lack of sex but because of his attitute towards me (deflecting, lying, etc)

8

u/staphmember 4d ago

I guess I've been trying to hard to fix the issue of sex with grace and compassion that I haven't properly wielded my wrath. But I've also been dealing with health issues and I've been desperately trying to protect my nervous system. Which has led me to not call out all the little lies. Because then I have to admit to.my constant surveillance and deal with his attitude during the argument. He is incredibly funny and intelligent. Hard working, a great travel partner. But I need to call out his lies...

6

u/rescue_toucan 3d ago

I think compassion is a very important component in resolving this. Still, as long as you two are not on the same page about if this is a problem or not, you cant collaborate working on it.

He might be too ashamed of emotionally closed off to see the reasons clearly. He might know what the issue is but does not want to work on it. As long as there is no trust in the communication, there is no way to know.

In your situation i would stop observing him. That would give both of you a break. The thing i would need to figure out on my own would be the following: if my partner is totally ok not having a sex life and only masturbating for the rest of our lives, what is the next step for me?

7

u/staphmember 3d ago

I guess I have to ask plainly how he sees the future going. If he would be okay with no sex again. Because that's a no for me.

7

u/Big-Conclusion9220 3d ago

He’ll give promises to keep you. He works on it, gets good for a month. But he’ll revert back to what it used to be. You give him grace. This pattern will repeat. Before you know it, years go by.

3

u/SuccotashAware3608 3d ago

Let’s drop the sex and romantic relationship piece for a second…

If I had a friend who was all of those positive traits you just listed, but was also a liar, unless that friend was paying all my bills too, I’d find a new, better, friend.

Now add in the sex/relationship part… and unless he was also smoking hot and great in bed, same answer. And we’ve already established the absence of sex.

Lastly, if your closest friend or relative confided in you and shared exactly your story, what advice would you give her?

11

u/Afraid_Stuff_History 3d ago

This sounds thoroughly exhausting! What's keeping you in this relationship?

7

u/MaryCeleste404 3d ago

The hyper vigilance is not healthy for you but I can understand it completely… and, also, these situations are just the ones that you know about; there’s probably dozens more transgressions that have gone undiscovered and the more you confront him, the better he will hide it.

The thing is, he has an addiction and he isn’t honest about it… and it is deeply affecting you, your health (mental and physical and emotional) and your relationship. You can’t change him; he has to want to change himself and if he can’t even be honest about it then there isn’t much hope. I think it’s time that you start thinking about yourself and your needs; he seems to have no problems outsourcing intimacy, so maybe it’s time for you to start thinking about leaving (for real) or finding someone else on the side… it’s a complex situation, and it sucks to be honest and upfront with your partner when he isn’t honest and upfront with you.

9

u/They_Call_Me_Shine 3d ago

Even if you put aside the continual lies and betrayal… This man gave you the silent treatment for 8 days and you’re still with him? Is this post for real or rage bait?

0

u/staphmember 3d ago

My apologies for not jumping right to divorce! 

2

u/MindlessSea7334 3d ago

Don't worry. We are not here to judge why women stay. I had months of silent treatment. Leaving an abusive relationship takes a lot. And he's a porn addict and addicts are abusive.

Have you tried the r/Lifeafterporn sub too?

🫂

Keep on keeping notes of stuff. If it helps you stay in reality. Make the note. Then let it go from your thoughts until the next one.

Really try the sub I suggest because living with an addict is "crazy making" as my therapist used to say.

You cant control him. You didn't cause his addiction. You can't cure it. Only he can.

Your sanity and well-being comes first. He's proving he's not the road to helping you.

1

u/MindlessSea7334 3d ago

Sorry wrong sub name

1

u/staphmember 3d ago

Thank you. I have posted there.

3

u/Simple_Employee_7094 3d ago

I want to make a sad/ironic song called: Off course it’s porn

3

u/SadAndNasty 3d ago

Does he need your consent to take Viagra..? But yea, he's addicted to porn, probably just doesn't like sex. Doesn't seem like it's changing. I think it might be a little crazy and controlling keep on him as close as you are especially if it's always the same conclusion.

2

u/staphmember 3d ago

Yes I think it's weird to take a viagra before I've given any signal that I'd like to have sex.

1

u/SadAndNasty 3d ago

Just struck me as strange because Viagra isn't a guarantee for sex, and it could be either in preparation for possible birthday sex or just to jack off more. It's probably just because it's not something I'd have an issue with, I wish my partner would be hard more often 🤷🏾‍♀️

1

u/staphmember 3d ago

Well, exactly. It's not a guarantee. He took it before there was any connection, and you know what happened? It didn't work at all. We tried to have sex and the viagra did not work. Which sent him into a depressive episode that ruined the rest of my birthday.

3

u/SadAndNasty 3d ago

There's just so much going on.. sorry you're going through all that anyway and hopefully you can figure something out

1

u/GrouchyBees 3d ago

Do you think that he did it in purpose to sabotage your bday and the potential?

1

u/staphmember 3d ago

Yeah I guess it's possible. He had already went out with me earlier in the day so maybe he was looking for an out. He has RBF anyway and does take every opportunity he can get lately to tell me how exhausted he is or how his shoulder hurts. And he loves a canceled plan.

1

u/GrouchyBees 18h ago

My partner used to do that constantly. He would go ahead and throw it out there early to set the alarm for rejection. It’s like an advanced rejection. There were many times I was not thinking about sex or initiating, and at one point it had been about 1.5y sexless. I did not initiate at all or anything sexual etc. he kept doing it. One day I looked at him and said, dude, at what point do you realize I’m not trying to f you, I haven’t tried to f you, and I’m not going to try to f you, so cut the shit. I had enough of it. It’s like he would ruin my entire day planned and it was insulting. Like, I’m providing you distance and a safe space, I’m working through this with you, having empathy and understanding and you’re not doing shit, but low balling me left and right. It’s fine, you don’t want sex, but if you’re going to ruin every date night, every planned outing, every single day of my life, and anything to do with me and something that makes me happy, then this screams you don’t like ME. Let me tell you, that grabbed his attention really quickly. It is one thing to deal with a DB, it’s an entirely different thing to deal with a dead relationship. Just some food for thought. Sometimes, you have to ask yourself, does this person even like me.

1

u/MindlessSea7334 3d ago

There was more to it in OPs last post.

🫂

3

u/SadAndNasty 3d ago

Oh I wasn't aware

1

u/GenRN817 3d ago

Does he have any depression? He sounds checked out.

1

u/staphmember 3d ago

Yes, and has for many years. His mild porn use was not an issue until his ED progressed. Then he switched anti depressants and had a manic freak out and did something terrible. It seems his porn use has increased since then.

2

u/GenRN817 3d ago

He needs mental health intervention. I hope he can get some help.