PurpleDaze
Member
Hi,
I found this forum and have been perusing it for a couple of months, since confronting husband about my suspicions and he confessed. Would appreciate comments from any PAs or partners of PAs. We have been married for decades and have grown children off on their own. I had a nagging suspicion that something was different, without having any idea it would be this issue! Turns out he has been PMO with tv, phone, and computer images/videos. I would say it had escalated to where it was noticeable in the bedroom. There was never a lack of desire on his part, which is sort of baffling to me. But there had recently been some occasions where he "couldn't finish" which was new in our encounters. Never an ED issue, but a few not reaching orgasm issues. I also felt an emotional disconnect from him, sometimes feeling like roommates going through the motion, with sex benefits a few times a month. We love each other but I had a nagging concern---first that I wasn't satisfying to him anymore, quickly followed by thoughts of he's trying too hard, let's just enjoy the process (the journey rather than being concerned about the destination). I knew he was attracted to me, just thought maybe he was tired or we are getting older, etc. Little did either of us know that his PA was the culprit. When I stumbled on some erotic film in his Netflix account, it led to a confrontation and his full confession about other ways that I hadn't even thought to check (his computer and phone, etc). He's been PMO probably for ten years, gradually increasing in frequency and intensity,from what he's told me. It may have started with Sports Illustrated swim issue. When we had our discussion points two months ago, he quickly cancelled his auto renewal for SI and told me to toss it when it arrives. (guess what arrived yesterday.....I told him it had arrived and I took care of it. He said he was just curious and thought we could look at it together) Nope, that wasn't the agreement when he came "clean" two months ago, so it is gone. He seemed okay with that, but wanting to negotiate from his original condition of having me throw it out when it arrived. Anyway, he immediately deleted his separate Netflix account when he came clean and we both just use mine now. He told me that all the time he was doing this he knew it was wrong but thought as long as I didn't know it woudn't hurt me. He said he was very careful to cover his tracks (erase browsing history, etc, but I am slightly more techie than he is, not by much though. We both agreed now that even though I didn't know for the longest time, it was hurting our relationship without us realizing it. Since it has been discovered and confessed, he has agreed to not erase his history and he has moved his computer to a more public area (of his own accord). We took a short break from physical intimacy, but have resumed and both agree it is more passionate than it has been in a long time. I avoid known triggers of what he gravitated to on porn (not sure when/if that will return), and he seems to be fine/understand that. I am trying to build back trust, but feel like I always have to ask the right question. "what she doesn't know won't hurt her". He tells me that seeing how much it has hurt me is a deterrent enough for him not to go back there, but his suggestion that we look at the SI together yesterday makes me doubt. I check his phone and computer every couple days, and he knows that. I don't want to be his parent, I want to be his wife. Not sure when we will be able to move beyond this and get back to our "normal' relationship. It hurts so deeply that he sought out "other stimuli" in addition to me! I cried for days and perused some of the sites that he had gone to, trying to understand, I just couldn't believe this was the same man I've been married to for decades. Will I be enough for him again? I am not beating myself up over this, I know I didn't cause it and that it is his issue. He never stopped being attracted to me. The one thing I dwell on is, why didn't I figure it out sooner before it was so ingrained in him? He is a very honest and trustworthy type person, so this is very out of character for him. He went deep underground with it, and learned how to "cover his tracks". We have told no one else, and anyone who knows him would be shocked to believe he could do this. I would be curious to hear any responses from any of you on our journey thus far. I know some of the guys read this site as well, and for you I just want to say--if you think your wife/gf/significant other doesn't know and isn't being hurt by not knowing, you might consider my experience. I didn't "know", but I sensed a difference. And I much prefer honesty over deceit, as I am sure is the case for most people. And I desire relationship, not being objectified. So, we are two months into recovery, with one setback about a month ago. We were at the start of a planned vacation and I discovered him masturbating in the shower. He said he never intended to "finish", but was checking to be sure he could get an erection, in anticipation of our likely vacation sex. I called BS on that because ED has NEVER been an issue for us EVER, so why would it suddenly be an issue now? We stepped back from that and started over, with the understanding physical intimacy should be off the table for awhile. We spent our vacation week getting the non-sexual part of our relationship back, and the passion grew to a natural desire for physical intimacy and that was wonderful. I felt desired as his wife and best friend, not just an object for his sexual gratification. I'd be curious to hear from the guys on the Sports Illustrated issue we had yesterday. Was he slipping back into temptation after asking me two months ago to destroy it when it arrived in the mail, but thinking it would be okay to suggest we look at it together? And that swimsuit issue is of course nothing as explicit as what he'd been seeing/doing. I hope we are on the right road to recovery. Our relationship is worth it, but oh how it hurts! Comments, discussion welcome.
I found this forum and have been perusing it for a couple of months, since confronting husband about my suspicions and he confessed. Would appreciate comments from any PAs or partners of PAs. We have been married for decades and have grown children off on their own. I had a nagging suspicion that something was different, without having any idea it would be this issue! Turns out he has been PMO with tv, phone, and computer images/videos. I would say it had escalated to where it was noticeable in the bedroom. There was never a lack of desire on his part, which is sort of baffling to me. But there had recently been some occasions where he "couldn't finish" which was new in our encounters. Never an ED issue, but a few not reaching orgasm issues. I also felt an emotional disconnect from him, sometimes feeling like roommates going through the motion, with sex benefits a few times a month. We love each other but I had a nagging concern---first that I wasn't satisfying to him anymore, quickly followed by thoughts of he's trying too hard, let's just enjoy the process (the journey rather than being concerned about the destination). I knew he was attracted to me, just thought maybe he was tired or we are getting older, etc. Little did either of us know that his PA was the culprit. When I stumbled on some erotic film in his Netflix account, it led to a confrontation and his full confession about other ways that I hadn't even thought to check (his computer and phone, etc). He's been PMO probably for ten years, gradually increasing in frequency and intensity,from what he's told me. It may have started with Sports Illustrated swim issue. When we had our discussion points two months ago, he quickly cancelled his auto renewal for SI and told me to toss it when it arrives. (guess what arrived yesterday.....I told him it had arrived and I took care of it. He said he was just curious and thought we could look at it together) Nope, that wasn't the agreement when he came "clean" two months ago, so it is gone. He seemed okay with that, but wanting to negotiate from his original condition of having me throw it out when it arrived. Anyway, he immediately deleted his separate Netflix account when he came clean and we both just use mine now. He told me that all the time he was doing this he knew it was wrong but thought as long as I didn't know it woudn't hurt me. He said he was very careful to cover his tracks (erase browsing history, etc, but I am slightly more techie than he is, not by much though. We both agreed now that even though I didn't know for the longest time, it was hurting our relationship without us realizing it. Since it has been discovered and confessed, he has agreed to not erase his history and he has moved his computer to a more public area (of his own accord). We took a short break from physical intimacy, but have resumed and both agree it is more passionate than it has been in a long time. I avoid known triggers of what he gravitated to on porn (not sure when/if that will return), and he seems to be fine/understand that. I am trying to build back trust, but feel like I always have to ask the right question. "what she doesn't know won't hurt her". He tells me that seeing how much it has hurt me is a deterrent enough for him not to go back there, but his suggestion that we look at the SI together yesterday makes me doubt. I check his phone and computer every couple days, and he knows that. I don't want to be his parent, I want to be his wife. Not sure when we will be able to move beyond this and get back to our "normal' relationship. It hurts so deeply that he sought out "other stimuli" in addition to me! I cried for days and perused some of the sites that he had gone to, trying to understand, I just couldn't believe this was the same man I've been married to for decades. Will I be enough for him again? I am not beating myself up over this, I know I didn't cause it and that it is his issue. He never stopped being attracted to me. The one thing I dwell on is, why didn't I figure it out sooner before it was so ingrained in him? He is a very honest and trustworthy type person, so this is very out of character for him. He went deep underground with it, and learned how to "cover his tracks". We have told no one else, and anyone who knows him would be shocked to believe he could do this. I would be curious to hear any responses from any of you on our journey thus far. I know some of the guys read this site as well, and for you I just want to say--if you think your wife/gf/significant other doesn't know and isn't being hurt by not knowing, you might consider my experience. I didn't "know", but I sensed a difference. And I much prefer honesty over deceit, as I am sure is the case for most people. And I desire relationship, not being objectified. So, we are two months into recovery, with one setback about a month ago. We were at the start of a planned vacation and I discovered him masturbating in the shower. He said he never intended to "finish", but was checking to be sure he could get an erection, in anticipation of our likely vacation sex. I called BS on that because ED has NEVER been an issue for us EVER, so why would it suddenly be an issue now? We stepped back from that and started over, with the understanding physical intimacy should be off the table for awhile. We spent our vacation week getting the non-sexual part of our relationship back, and the passion grew to a natural desire for physical intimacy and that was wonderful. I felt desired as his wife and best friend, not just an object for his sexual gratification. I'd be curious to hear from the guys on the Sports Illustrated issue we had yesterday. Was he slipping back into temptation after asking me two months ago to destroy it when it arrived in the mail, but thinking it would be okay to suggest we look at it together? And that swimsuit issue is of course nothing as explicit as what he'd been seeing/doing. I hope we are on the right road to recovery. Our relationship is worth it, but oh how it hurts! Comments, discussion welcome.
