(Edited for clarity)So pretty much, it’s exactly like I said. My boyfriend and I met in college pretty early on, and we immediately bonded. I’ve always been attracted to more feminine guys, so he’s definitely on the feminine side. That honestly doesn’t bother me; in fact, I quite like it since I’m bisexual. He’s so funny, smart, and amazing, and I love every part of our relationship—except the sex.
I’m 21 and in a relationship, so I expect to be having regular sex. Not to seem superficial, but at times we go an entire month or more without sex, and it’s hellish. It’s not because we don’t try—he’s just always soft. When he gets hard, he loses it quickly. If I stop for even a moment, like to grab a drink of water from the nightstand, he goes soft. If he misses the hole while trying to put it in, he goes soft. Literally, if the wind blows and the stars aren’t perfectly aligned, he goes soft.
Now, I am an extremely patient person, and I’m hesitant to bring up my worries because I don’t want my man to feel inadequate. I really love him, and we’ve grown a lot together over the past few years. But I’m reaching my breaking point. Three years without actual sex because your boyfriend can’t get hard is crazy.
Mind you, he’s an athlete. He eats healthy and focuses a lot on overall health. It’s not a diet or exercise issue—his entire life is about staying fit and helping others become physically healthy. This is why I’m so perplexed. A perfectly healthy, fit, young man having these issues doesn’t make sense.
For the first six months, I chalked it up to nerves. When we met, he was a virgin, so I had no problem teaching him and taking things slow. But even from the beginning, there were alarming signs I brushed off. The first time I gave him head, he didn’t even get hard. I asked if he was hard, and he said he was, which scared me because I thought it was micro. But even then, I decided that wasn’t necessarily a dealbreaker if we could learn to work with it (that’s how much I liked his personality, and because sex isn’t my biggest priority).
Later, I saw him fully hard and realized it’s not micro; it’s average. He just seems to have severe difficulty maintaining an erection. I’ve been thinking for a while that he might have ED, but I don’t know how to bring it up. Honestly, it’s humiliating for me as his girlfriend to feel like I have to force my man to have sex with me. And just when I think we finally will, he gets soft.
What’s even worse is when he’s a few strokes deep, and I feel him getting soft inside me. It’s soul-crushing. It makes me feel inadequate, unattractive, rejected, and sexually frustrated. Almost every time we’ve attempted sex, I’ve cried in the bathroom afterward because I get so emotionally and sexually frustrated. I know it’s not a looks problem because I keep myself looking nice.
I’ve talked to him about this, and he said he’d try. But I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing him to have sex when he has no sex drive. Anytime the conversation comes up about me wanting more sex, he shuts down and clams up. I understand it’s difficult, but I’ve been patient for three years, and I don’t want to keep pushing this back. I just want my man to desire me.
He says he does, but he’s just not horny for vaginal sex much. He doesn’t even masturbate often, and when he is horny, he still struggles to get hard. I’ve tried to talk to him about us working through this, but he always shuts down. At this point, I’m seriously worried it might be a medical issue.
The last time I mentioned it, he said part of the problem is that he gets anxiety about being unable to please me. That anxiety creates a feedback loop—he gets soft because of the pressure, and then I’m not pleased, which reinforces the anxiety. I think anxiety is a part of it, and we’ve gotten him a therapist for that.
However, he’s shown so many signs of low testosterone that I can’t ignore it. I suspect his anxiety stems from his difficulty staying erect, which could be related to testosterone. His nonexistent sex drive, constant moodiness, exhaustion, and trouble building muscle all match the symptoms of low testosterone.
He’s often randomly depressed, moody, and tired, even on days he hasn’t done anything. While he focuses on athletics to compensate, he always feels like he’s not looking good enough. For me, he’s the most attractive man I’ve ever met, but I understand his insecurities.
I want to work through this with him and possibly pursue a long-term relationship after graduation. But if we can’t fix the erection problem, it’s a dealbreaker. I can’t spend my youth (or worse, my life) in a sexless relationship, never getting my needs met.
To be clear, I use toys and even occasionally involve him, but it’s not the same as true intimacy with my partner. I want him to want me organically—not as a chore. I know he’s attracted to me, but his body just doesn’t respond.
It’s causing resentment, and that makes me feel horrible because I truly love him. My sex drive keeps increasing while his seems to decline, and I can’t keep doing this. I worry he’ll feel judged, which is the last thing I want. I just need help figuring out how to deal with this in the most tactful and peaceful way.