# Longest You've Gone Without Sex **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567 "2008-12-03T21:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/21 "2008-12-03T23:35:16Z")
23 yrs. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/22 "2008-12-03T23:42:11Z")
In February it’ll be two years. Let’s not let that happen! It sucks, I mean… it’s hard, I mean… it’s been very difficult for me. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/23 "2008-12-03T23:50:56Z")
About 8 months – I didn’t feel like it the last few months of my pregnancy, and then for a few months after the baby was born we were both waaaaay too tired to even think about it. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/24 "2008-12-03T23:54:13Z")
6 years. Following my divorce I wanted involvement with a woman like I wanted leprosy. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/25 "2008-12-04T00:11:12Z")
Not long enough. I stll gets the cravins’. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/26 "2008-12-04T00:27:18Z")
13 months (which is my current dry spell) is the longest. Before this one, the longest was…maybe five months? ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/27 "2008-12-04T00:32:19Z")
Completely outclassed by a significant number of posters here, I see, but I think the longest stretch for me could be measured in mere months. Certainly not up to a whole year. I don’t think I’d go completely crazy going any longer, but I’d probably start buying softer cheeses. Heheh. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/28 "2008-12-04T00:33:35Z")
43 years. > [@faithfool](#): > > We’re not talking before you lost your viginity here. Had it and then are ceasing to have any more at the moment. Never mind, then. ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/29 "2008-12-04T00:41:08Z")
6 weeks when I was with one man who liked oral a whole lot more than the traditional variety. I finally complained. Outside of a relationship probably about 3 weeks or so. Being female, once I start “hunting” it’s generally not too hard to find a willing partner. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/30 "2008-12-04T00:44:08Z")
Um, like 6 months-ish, on a couple/few occasions. They were all related to a long-distance relationship. I’m so done with those. > [@kasuo](#): > > How do you go on living and maintain sanity? The internet is for porn, the internet is for porn. Grab your dick and double-click for porn, porn, porn! ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/31 "2008-12-04T01:11:28Z")
Wow. This thread is kind of scary. Years? Really? 10…years? 20…years? Years? I honestly can’t imagine it. Is it because you have a low (or no) sex drive? I was a late bloomer and didn’t start having sex until 21, but it’s been pretty regular since then, on average, say, 6 times per month, and much more frequently at the beginning of relationships. The longest I think I’ve gone cold turkey is a few weeks, and I’m not sure it was even that long. I’m not a sex maniac, or at least I didn’t believe I was before reading this thread, but if I don’t have intimate, physical contact with another person for more than 5 days I become noticeably irritable, so it’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around some of the numbers expressed here. ---
**Author:** ![Valerieblaise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@Valerieblaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valerieblaise)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/32 "2008-12-04T01:27:55Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Wow. This thread is kind of scary. Years? Really? 10…years? 20…years? Years? I honestly can’t imagine it. Is it because you have a low (or no) sex drive? No, quite the opposite, in fact. But I’m capable of not giving into every hormonal urge, especially if there’s a good reason NOT to. Sometimes other things have to take a priority over sex, no matter how badly you physically crave it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/33 "2008-12-04T01:32:04Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Wow. This thread is kind of scary. Years? Really? 10…years? 20…years? Years? I honestly can’t imagine it. Is it because you have a low (or no) sex drive? In most cases, I’m gussing it’s lack of opportunity. At least, that’s my main reason. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/34 "2008-12-04T01:33:28Z")
I broke up with my last girlfriend in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/35 "2008-12-04T01:33:45Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Does oral count? Anal? Handjobs? Damned straight. Gotta mix it up! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/36 "2008-12-04T01:39:43Z")
Three months… Apparently once I started grad school I took a vow of chastity (unknown to me)… I went from at least once a week to… once every 3 months? _Sigh_ But what hurts for me the most is the lack of cuddling. I went from falling asleep touching someone else to… nothing. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/37 "2008-12-04T01:50:44Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > But what hurts for me the most is the lack of cuddling. I went from falling asleep touching someone else to… nothing. ☹ Cuddling? Oh that I get every night. I mean sex I can get from any prostitute, but cuddling is a different story. But I’ve been in a relationship for a long time. Maybe it’s being in NYC, but I actually find it hard NOT to have sex (ergo cheat on my GF). Other places…not so much a problem. But seriously, if I suddenly found myself single and went without sex for more than a few months, I’d pretty much devote my life to researching anything having to do with picking up women. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/38 "2008-12-04T02:01:10Z")
> [@kasuo](#): > > How do you go on living and maintain sanity? 11 years. Because the last time was with a woman whom I thought was my soulmate, but it just didn’t work out in the end. Haven’t really been looking for it since (and this is all tied up in just how much I loathe the dating scene, and some other things). I have…redirected the energies in other directions since then. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/39 "2008-12-04T02:11:43Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Wow. This thread is kind of scary. Years? Really? 10…years? 20…years? Years? I honestly can’t imagine it. Is it because you have a low (or no) sex drive? > > I was a late bloomer and didn’t start having sex until 21, but it’s been pretty regular since then, on average, say, 6 times per month, and much more frequently at the beginning of relationships. The longest I think I’ve gone cold turkey is a few weeks, and I’m not sure it was even that long. > > I’m not a sex maniac, or at least I didn’t believe I was before reading this thread, but if I don’t have intimate, physical contact with another person for more than 5 days I become noticeably irritable, so it’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around some of the numbers expressed here. Lack of a willing partner, in my case (it’s been 8.5 years). And **un** willing partners are just no fun at all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567/40 "2008-12-04T02:15:33Z")
At present, three years into our marriage, it’s been about 5 months. That’s probably as long as the dry spells get, but for young people in love those are sucky statistics. We’re both very busy, I’ve been sick, and… it’s complicated. I wish it could be different, and we work to make it different whenever we can, but I figure in a relationship otherwise full of blessings and joy, something’s gotta give. I’ll take the love over the sex any day, vs. the other way around, and I know he agrees. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-gone-without-sex/475567.md?page=3)