Why does love hurt soooooo much?

I am in love and it hurts so much i can't take it sometimes and i cry! It is a love that cannot come to fruition at this time and i am so ''frustrated'' and when i think of his sweet and mishievous self i just break down and cry for missing him. I see him now and then and i get a ''fix'' but it just makes me miss him more. I know the real him..it is not a crush. We have had arguments and seen the imperfect side of each other and accept it. I love him no matter what. I try, i really try not to love him. I have done everything to forget..to diminish the ache, i even say a sentence to take my mind off him if i think of him..doesn't work. People say it will go away..it has been a year and a half and i still have an intense desire to be with him. No body comes close. I have heard all the ideas about how to forget..etc. but i want to know about the people who are going through what i am and what you all are doing about it. And if it has succeeded, or just have to live with.