- Date posted
- 49w
Relationship OCD and E.D Questions
Hi all, this is my first post and I wanted to go over my specific situation and see if anyone within this community has dealt with the same thing. A few things to note first: 1) I haven’t been diagnosed with OCD and have yet to see a professional about my issues. So it’s entirely possible that it’s not OCD related. I am in the process of trying to see a specialist, but don’t have an appointment set yet. 2) Because I have not been diagnosed, I am extremely confused about my issues, and if I am feeding into compulsive behavior by researching etc. I have a very specific situation and that leaves me confused about what to do/not do. A little background: I’m in my early 30s and got divorced about three years ago. My ex and I were only married a short time and it was a very toxic relationship. We probably rushed into it and truly were not compatible and figured that out after we said “I do”. She was very emotionally and verbally abusive to me, and just not a great human being. After the divorce, I stayed out of the dating scene for about a year. I met my current girlfriend a little over a year and a half ago. Our relationship has been wonderful so far and I see myself spending the rest of my life with her. She’s kind, thoughtful and cares deeply for me. Up until about four months ago, our sex life was amazing and I had very few erectile issues. That was the same in previous relationships before my ex too. Good relationships and only a few minor erection issues. Then, a few months ago, as I began more seriously thinking about timelines of getting engaged or taking the next step, I started to have intrusive thoughts about “what if this isn’t right for me”. “What if I don’t actually love her”. “What if she doesn’t actually love me?” Thoughts about her past partners too and if she was actually happy with me. Around the same time (though seemingly not related at that point) I also had an episode of E.D. that has since shattered my confidence. It’s been an endless loop of anxiety, panic, and rumination/questioning since then. Sometimes, it works okay, sometimes I lose it midway through. Which causes immense stress and reinforces the cycle. She has been super kind and considerate about it, saying it’s okay and not a big deal, etc. but it eats at me. At the same time, I’ve basically been singularly focused and obsessed about solving this issue, whether or not it’s just an E.D. issue, if it’s related to OCD, related to my past trauma, etc. The thing that bugs me is that for the first 1.25 years of our relationship, everything in the bedroom and the rest of our relationship was great. We waited several months after we began dating to have sex and it has been amazing and really still is when I’m not having anxiety about it. I had planned that we would get engaged this fall and I don’t know how much of these obsessive thoughts and panic is just because that date is moving closer vs something else. When we are together, it still feels great and we can sit and talk for hours on end. Like I said, we have a great relationship. It’s just that in the last few months, with my anxiety and panic, I feel 1000 miles away sometimes, completely in my head trying to figure out what’s wrong and how to solve it. As I mentioned in the top, I haven’t had an ocd diagnosis. But I have really recognized some of the symptoms in myself. This all came out of the blue and caused me great stress. The obsessive thoughts of our relationship being wrong or her not being right for me cause me extreme sadness and despair. But when I’m not having those panicking thoughts and can be present with her, I feel pretty much as good as I always did before. That leads me to my final question/issue. If any males have had similar ROCD and ED issues, how did you handle it? I have taken viagra a few times and it has certainly helped maintain my erection. I just feel weird taking it and am also concerned that if this is OCD, that I’m avoiding something/giving into a compulsion by medicating it away. TL/DR: I’m having obsessive thoughts about my otherwise good relationship all of the sudden that is causing me great stress and anxiety. I’m also having erection issues, which might be the root cause of all of this anyway. I’ve had a past relationship that ended in divorce and don’t know how that might be impacting things. And I don’t know how to handle the idea of taking a pill to help with the erection issues. It’s a chicken/egg issue and I don’t know how to not make things worse.