Broke up with LDR ex (37M) after freezing/panicking during our first intimate meeting. Can attraction ever come back after something like this?
I (26F) recently got dumped by my ex (37M) after a 6 month long-distance relationship. We had a Dom/sub dynamic, which was pretty new to me, but overall he was a kind, patient, and emotionally aware guy.
While we were long distance, I was silently dealing with depression, low libido, and severe anxiety partly due to medication,which was also causing me physical discomfort even when masturbating. I was ashamed and terrified of being judged, so I hid it all from him. Because of this, I was cold and ambivalent throughout the whole relationship, and I constantly avoided video intimacy by telling him I’d feel more comfortable waiting until he came to visit me in person.
When he finally came to see me, my anxiety completely spiked. During our first intimate moment, I panicked, froze up, and rejected him (including refusing to give him oral sex). I just couldn't perform or respond the way I had imagined in my head. Shortly after, he ended things, telling me he lost the attraction/connection and that something had fundamentally changed for him.
I was devastated. I reached out to explain that my reaction wasn't because I didn't want him, opening up for the first time about my severe depression and the medication side effects I had been hiding. Despite explaining all of this, he was cold, wished me the best, and told me to move on.
After he flew back, I was in a complete state of desperation and spam-called him until he answered. On that call, he told me directly that he felt rejected during his visit and didn't experience any pleasure. He even asked me jokingly, "You didn't like my penis, right?" because of my refusal earlier.
I was crying, but at the same time, I genuinely desired him. He said he really felt bad for me but i have ro let him go , i told him i felt so lonely qnd want to have sex, so we did it on camera. Afterwards, he admitted he mainly did it because I was crying and wanted it, and he just wanted to make me feel better. When I asked if he was faking it, he said no, but that he was tired from working out and that it didn't matter anyway as long as I was satisfied. He gave me some general advice (exercising, meditation) and said he'd check in on me as a friend later.
Because he’s naturally a caring person, I can't tell how much of his post-breakup behavior was genuine attraction versus pity or just trying to soothe me.
My questions are:
-
Do you think attraction can realistically ever come back after something like this? If someone loses attraction because they felt sexually rejected or disconnected, can seeing that the other person is actually working on themselves and comfortable expressing desire change things? Or is a loss of attraction like this usually final?
-
Does a sexual rejection like this genuinely hurt a man's ego and attraction, even if he comes across as super confident?
I’m not looking to manipulate him or force anything,because ii'm genuinely working on myself. I just really need an objective perspective on whether rebuilding attraction and trust is even realistic here, or if I need to accept that it's gone for good.
Posted Sep 25, 2026, 5:05 PM UTC