Now that PrEP has been recommended by the World Health Organization as a means for HIV prevention and has been the focus of this provocative article that made a recent cover of New York Magazine, 2014 seems to be the year that the little blue pill is finally hitting the mainstream as an effective weapon in the battle against HIV.
Though it’s great that PrEP now has advocates with just a bit more trustworthiness than Michael Lucas as well as some very encouraging efficacy percentages on its side (one study found it 99 percent effective among those who used it regularly), a great deal of gay men are still unsure of whether it’s the right choice for them.
Emotions are high and opinions are varied about this bold new way of HIV prevention, so we ask you, Queerty members: Is It Finally The Right Time For HIV Negative Guys To Start PrEP?
QJ201
It’s definitely the right time if you are an HIV negative bottom who wants loads up your butt.
Buddy of mine was out in Fire Island last weekend…he went to play with some guys…and they were just handing out PrEP pills and no one was using rubbers…and “Oh we’re all negative”
Ben Dover
Why does the World Health Organization simply ASS-ume that every gay man is into anal sex? As a bottom, yet – which is the cause of the overwhelming majority of HIV transmissions.
That’s an ASS-umption generally made by right-wing homophobes.
For example: in the case of an HIV-negative guy who’s found out that he doesn’t like anal, and only does oral (and other stuff), PrEP would be absolutely fucking ridiculous.
Ben Dover
@Ben Dover: Let me rephrase that – “the overwhelming majority of HIV transmissions” – more like 99.99% of them!
Jamlampar
I feel though this may be a good thing,60/40, the fact that more gays are going to forgo using condoms is not in anyway a step toward lowering HIS transmission rates!
BeachGuy2014
No, because the vast majority think this is a free card to not use condoms! This should be used with condoms all the time, just as a backup in case the condom breaks. Stick to condoms, cheaper, no side effects, cleaner.
bs29697
No, the article does not give any of the side effects of this drug. I’ll just stick with condoms they’re cheaper and no side effects unless allergic to latex.
Matthew
As a negative man in a five year monogamous relationship with a positive male (+ before we started dating) I think this is an amazing break through. For my husband and I to feel even the slightest bit more confident while intimate is a HUGE deal. I hate that the “party kids of fire island” or “BB boys of (insert most recent PrideFest here)” are giving others a reason to question something that is major game changer in my loving private relationship. It echos the voices of anti-gay marriage… Will people abuse the power to marry or the power of PrEP? Yes. But please dont judge and shut down your opinion for one demographic when there are good people, in loving relationships, simply wanting to live happily ever after together behind much quieter doors. (+) + (-) can = Love
kernowcraig
@Matthew: I think you make a great point. Used in the correct environment, this will bring huge relief to many couples. I wonder if its a similar question to those raised in ANY relationship straight or gay about when is the right time to stop using condoms. Whoever you are, if you practice unprotected sex, outside of a monogamous relationship, you risk disease.
robirob
Sex can be a wonderful thing with PrEP, with condoms, both, or without. Just accept the consequences of your own actions / decisions and have no regrets.
Cam
@Ben Dover: said…. “Why does the World Health Organization simply ASS-ume that every gay man is into anal sex? As a bottom, yet – which is the cause of the overwhelming majority of HIV transmissions.”
_____________________
I get your point, but actually numerically the overwhelming majority of HIV transmissions are heterosexual around the world.
yaph
@QJ201: yeah they are morons you need to take prep every day not just before a fuckfest
BJ McFrisky
@Cam: said . . . “The overwhelming majority of HIV transmissions are heterosexual.”
That’s terrific, Cammy. Now tell us, what does that have to do with preventive pharmacological therapy for gay men?
cformusic
it’s easy to be judgmental about the potential ramifications of giving a pseudo “get out of jail” free card to our more promiscuous brothers in arms..but just like condoms..you have to present everyone with all of the available options and leave it up to their best judgment..the best preventative measure will always be education and psychological self-esteem building/maintenance..problem is those initiatives are hard to deploy on a wide scale
Cam
@BJ McFrisky:
Gee BJ, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that you have no concern for actual facts or falsehoods.
The fact remains, that the World Health Organization identified multiple groups in the report over this medication. So commenting that nearly all HIV infections are due to men having anal sex is incorrect.
Then again, since you continuously defend anti-gay bigots, I can see why my pointing out that every problem in the world isn’t the fault of gays may upset you.
Saint Law
Hmm…stick a rubber on when I have anal sex or rigidly adhere to a regimen of medication with cumulative, health threatening side-effects?
That’s a toughie.
Teeth
If you can get it, and if you bottom, then abso-freakin-lootley.
Teeth
Motorcycle helmets don’t make people drive motorcycles more dangerously. There have already been studies done which show that people’s sex behavior does not change on PreP– if you were monogamous of the town ho, or somewhere in the middle (like most), you stayed about the same.
Stache99
@Teeth: That’s a great analogy. Yeah, when I put the seatbelts on you should see me go crazy on the roads. It’s like I lose all control and think I’m Mad Max or something. . Kidding:)
kjoemurphy
Overall, I’m extremely troubled by the tenor and tone of the comments on this and other Queerty posts about PrEP. As members of a sexual minority, I find it disturbing and incredibly ironic, that we would throw stones at our brothers and trans sisters looking to utilize a tool to protect their health by casting aspersions at their sex lives, private decisions and any number of other character points that we have no business commenting on or even making assumptions about. This is one of many potential options for folks, and for those that determine it is appropriate for them in consultation with their health care provider, that should be the end of it. No one is making assumptions/generalizations about gay men, or saying that PrEP is right for everyone, but to categorically dismiss it as either a bastion of the morally corrupt or sexually irresponsible is both counterproductive and simply mean-spirited.
vive
@kernowcraig, “Whoever you are, if you practice unprotected sex, outside of a monogamous relationship, you risk disease.”
Just to amend this, a large percentage of HIV transmissions occur INSIDE monogamous relationships of the serial kind most guys have, because they don’t know their status or their partner’s.
Apart from that, yes, I agree, PrEP is a GREAT thing, that we have a preventive pill for such an insidious and complex virus is really close to being magic, and an answer to many of our prayers (even if, tragically, more than 30 years late). For those of us who came of age just as AIDS appeared, that we have lived to see this is a goddamn miracle.
vive
@kjoemurphy, thank you for your sane comment (a rare property for a comment to have on this subject).
vive
@Ben Dover, “Why does the World Health Organization simply ASS-ume that every gay man is into anal sex? That’s an ASS-umption generally made by right-wing homophobes.”
I find your comment extremely misguided. It is like saying that because bigots dislike dark-skinned Hispanics, let’s educate them that some Hispanics are white like Europeans. You see the problem?
masc4masc
Guys can’t even remember to wear condoms, but they’ll remember to take a pill they really don’t need every day. Yep, this should help to make things less complicated (sarcasm).
Teeth
@masc4masc: You don’t take the pill in the heat of passion or while loaded. I encourage you to not take it, since it offends you. But for those who can get it and know that they will BB bottom at some point, I encourage you to consider it. We also have to think about heard immunity issues.
alterego1980
@kjoemurphy: OK, you’re totally correct. But instead of just poo-pooing the haters, Everyone needs to get the word out on what this drug is for and why/how it’s supposed to be used as well as the possible side effects. Knowledge is power and those who don’t know or don’t care to know should be educated. When Queerty asks point-blank, should negative gay men take this drug, I say hell no, because it’s generalizing and stereotyping. But there are people for whom it makes total sense.
It’s somewhat similar to the birth control pill and abortion argument in the sense that many who oppose birth control pills point to promiscuous women and women getting 3 or 4 abortions and how horrible that is and we should not tolerate abortion in this country. Well, that is a terrible outdated example. We all know, through education of the statistics, that most people do not use birth control in that way. I believe most people will not, and should not, use prep as cart-blanche to go have a slutty time. Slut shaming people who are on prep will do no good for anyone. By the same token, asking if all gay men should be on it is disrespectful to gay men in general.
masc4masc
@Teeth: Doesn’t matter. Remembering to take a pill you really don’t need is a lot different from remembering to take a pill you need to keep yourself alive. Cass Mann (now deceased AIDS activist) still has a bunch of videos uploaded to YouTube. He was very honest about the toxicity of the drugs and very adamant that they shouldn’t be taken by guys who aren’t already infected just so they can bareback freely. I encourage to look him up.
Polaro
First off, you don’t get to judge someones else’s sex practices. You need to leave that baggage at the door when you want to discuss the efficacy of a drug (besides, you just sound like a bitter crone when you do). If safe sex with condoms worked, we would not have the continued spread of HIV among gay men, so that argument is a FAILURE. If PREP helps reduce the spread of HIV in addition to other safe sex options, great. If you do not want to use the pill, don’t. If someone else does, frankly, its none of your business if that is how they chose to protect themselves either in lieu of or in addition to a condom. What is all our business is to support whatever method is best to keep men safe from HIV. I made it to 54 negative and I take PREP. I still uses condoms, and I am now more relaxed about sex with the combination. PrEP was actually shown to help proven herpes in an Australian study. And if I chose, under the right circumstances not to use a condom, that is purely my business, and not yours.
Stache99
@masc4masc:Anyone who makes this kind of bigoted statement as you did a month ago is not part of the solution. Should we just put everyone with a disease or virus in camps or is HIV where it ends? All I ever hear from you is negative.
“it’d be great if all poz guys got their date of infection tattooed on the back of their necks”
Polaro
@masc4masc Truvada is not the same as a full HIV drug panel, which is brutal and is why people who say HIV isn’t a big deal anymore need their heads examined. The side effects for PrEP are very different. It would be interesting to hear more about people’s experience with Truvada for HIV prevention. That has some real merit in this discussion, if the side effects are more than I have experienced, which have been zero, by the way, I’d like to know.
Stache99
@Stache99: All I’m saying is that I’ve never seen an ounce of compassion from you for anyone. I really feel sorry for your wife and kids that you supposedly have.
masc4masc
@Stache99: Wow, you had to do some digging. You are really mad at me, aren’t you? lol I see you conveniently chose to only use part of the quote. You know the guy in the picture of that story had his neck tattooed. It wasn’t a concept/suggestion I came up with on my own.
This article is about NEG guys, not poz. I never claimed to be part of any solution. A question was generally posed to all of us, and I simply answered. I’m not so desperate to bareback that I’ll be brainwashed into taking a toxic “magic pill” Big Pharma stands to make a shitload of money off of after they secure the neg market.
And yes, I am negative. Jealous?
Ben Dover
@vive: I don’t see where you’re going with that bizarre analogy.
I am not disparaging anal sex. (Considering my screen name, how could I do that?) I am merely pointing out that a lot of gay men don’t particularly like it or don’t do it at all.
This news report, like most, implies that the WHO assumes literally all sexually active gay men engage in anal sex. Or maybe it’s Queerty who’s assuming that (which is worse, come to think of it).
Ben Dover
@vive: To be fair, the links use better wording. The WHO doesn’t say actually that. As so often happens it’s more of a headline problem.
masc4masc
@Polaro: Oh, Truvada sounds pretty brutal too, buddy:
http://www.truvada.com/truvada-side-effects
No thanks!
Stache99
@masc4masc: Nope. All I had to do was a search on your name in my Queerty folder. Every time you post you have something negative to say so I had allot of gems to choose from.
Jealous? LMAO. More like disgust.
masc4masc
@Stache99: Yep, negative. Neg and proud! Not a lot of germs to choose from here. I bet it does disgust you. 😉
This obsession of yours was flattering at first, but it’s starting to get quite creepy.
Stache99
@masc4masc: Well, that’s good to hear. I’m sure the wife appreciates that too when you come home from the bathhouse and book store midnight getaways.
masc4masc
Never been to a bathhouse or “book store”. No desire either. I appreciate having an immune system that effortlessly functions all on its own.
JennyFromdabloc
What are possible side effects of long-term PrEP drugs? HIV meds have side effects. Even cholesterol meds are showing to build up plaque in the brain leading to dementia.
barkomatic
PREP articles always seems to bring out the most rabid haters with sex issues. Truvada isn’t AZT–it’s generally well tolerated and isn’t “toxic”. It’s amazing to me that there are gay men who want to impose their moral beliefs on others to the point where it risks lives–though I suppose I should not be surprised. A lot of people where against condoms as well (and some still are) thinking that they promote promiscuous behavior.
The most self destructive gay men I know are those that claim moral superiority and lecture those around about their wonderful monogamous and trusting relationship. They are just trying to extinguish their own desires by criticizing it in others. I’ve seen more than a few of these “monogamous” guys kissing strangers at the bar and then going home with them — which brings me to my point.
A lot of people get HIV while in relationships they thought were monogamous. PREP is a good thing and no one should feel bad about taking it–or not taking it.
kjoemurphy
@JennyFromdabloc: Like everything, individuals must determine for themselves if the potential benefits of taking a medication outweigh any potential pitfalls. And this is a deeply personal evaluation that cannot be reduced to a cynical dyad of smart condom users and stupid bareback sluts. As a PrEP user, I can tell you that removing the prevention strategy from the heat of the moment (and potentially alcohol induced fog) that surrounds sexual encounters makes it much easier to adhere to consistently than condoms. Additionally, I can report that I have had absolutely no adverse side effects, with the exception of stomach upset the first week. And while the long-term effects may not be fully understood yet, Truvada has been prescribed for more than a decade and has proven highly tolerable for the vast majority of people. Should anyone experience any adverse effects, they can simply stop taking Truvada as PrEP and (as so far demonstrated by the research) these adverse reactions reverse themselves.
HIV medications have come a long way and most have very few of the toxic side effects associated with earlier drugs from the 80s and 90s. Finally, there are a number of studies underway currently to see if there are other potential delivery mechanisms for the same protective benefits, including monthly injection. This would go far in addressing any potential adherence challenges posed by the daily pill.
Polaro
@masc4masc: Sorry, hun, but the list of POSSIBLE side effects does not look much different from the POSSIBLE side effects from aspirin. If you don’t take any drug based on the POSSIBLE side effects, you would take nothing. You’ve got some issues with sex and other people having it. Seriously, you need to just not take it and leave it to the big boys to make more educated decisions based on actuality.
vive
Why does this comment keep getting autoflagged? Let’s try again, apologies for changing possible trigger words.
@masc4masc, regarding the sid@ effects: the pr@duct literatur@ includes sid@ effects that were seen in poz patients on various c@cktails over the years. It is therefore hard to know which of these sid@ effects may have been due to Truvada itself, as opposed to the effects of the virus, the other m@ds, or the combination.
Sid@ effects seen with Truvada in PrEP trials were mostly some initial malaise or stomach upset that went away after a few weeks. Many p@tients (including myself) report no sid@ effects, not even initially. The only really notable sid@ effect was some mild changes in kidney function in some patients that reversed when the dr@g was stopped. Patients on PrEP are monitored every 3 months with bloodwork so this or anything else would be picked up right away. So the risks of PrEP are really low.
As for taking it every day, after having been proven effective, newer studies are showing very good adherence in gay test populations. Women have been successfully taking birth control m@dication for decades with much less of a life-or-death reason to adhere to the schedule than gay men with PrEP.
Jody
Yes, negative guys should now consider PrEP as one way of (greatly if not completely) reducing their chances of contracting HIV.
The research is pretty clear at this point that the medication works and works well. When taken consistently it reduces the chances of contracting HIV by 99% or more. When taken inconsistently, it reduces the chances of contracting HIV by 70-96%, depending on how inconsistent someone has been.
The side effects for a negative person taking Truvada are generally mild to nonexistent. That being said, one is still monitored by a doctor regularly, both for any problems with Truvada and for regular checks for other STI/STDs, something most gay men aren’t in the habit of having done.
Some people are able to use condoms each and every time, which is great. Research has shown, though, that there’s another large segment of people that use condoms inconsistently or not at all. That’s where HIV is spreading. If you aren’t using condoms each and every time or not at all, then yes, you should consider PrEP as a preventive measure for HIV.
Between PrEP, condoms, and retroviral treatment for HIV-positive people rendering their disease undetectable and pretty untransmittable, we now have the ability to “burn out” HIV by preventing its spread. PrEP is an incredible advance. Something people should consider to keep themselves health and safe from HIV.
masc4masc
@Polaro: Fine by me. I wasn’t planning on taking it anyway. I have no issues with sex or other people having sex. You can bareback your brains out and drop dead tomorrow, and I promise I won’t care one bit. You have a problem with my opinion on this matter, not the other way around. Enjoy your pills and happy barebacking!
masc4masc
@JennyFromdabloc: http://www.truvada.com/truvada-side-effects
Yikes! But don’t worry because Polaro has now informed us that Truvada is just like aspirin. =)
vive
@masc4masc, I would indeed encourage you to actually look up the side effects of common over the counter drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen (stroke, heart attacks, liver and kidney damage, fatal intestinal bleeds, and many other scary ones). PrEP may indeed be safer than aspirin. It is sometimes said by those who study these things that if aspirin were to be submitted today to the FDA as a new drug, it is doubtful it would even receive approval for general use at all.
Teeth
@vive: Exactly. Third leading cause of liver failure in the USA? Tylenol. All drugs have dangers.
Personally, I’m excited about the potential for PreP to make a significant interruption in HIV transmission. I would love to think of the kids coming up never having to have the kind of horror stories that my generation had to see. I don’t need PreP– I almost never bottom, and when I do its with someone I know well. But I am glad the option is there.
Brian
Yes… if those HIV- guys have medical insurance.
My job doesn’t offer insurance. And in my state, the the cheapest plan of the “Affordable” Care Act would cost me slightly more than $400 per month.
Don’t push this on HIV- men. Blame our nation’s incompetence and resistance. I’d take the drug if I could. There are millions of eager-yet-poor consumers like me.
Brian
@bs29697: The side effects vary from person to person, of course, but I’ve read that the side effects of Truvada are generally mild to non-existent. A personal anecdote: I took one course of the drug once as an emergency measure, and I felt no effects. Sometimes took it with food, sometimes without, and yet I never felt anything odd. Liver and kidney tests showed no change at all. It worked well… the only problem, as I see it, is that it’s expensive.
Teeth
@Brian: That’s an issue about how we do healthcare, not about the usefulness of this medication. If you are at risk for contracting HIV, I think it makes sense for the government to support your meds. It will cost us a lot more in healthcare, lost earning, and infection spread if you do seroconvert. Try to stay healthy until you have a better job.
masc4masc
Well I don’t take aspirin either. Some of us just won’t be part of the “safe barebacking movement”, but you guys enjoy. Good luck! =)
vive
@Brian, I think the company has an assistance program for patients without insurance. If you are thinking about it, that might be an option to investigate. Medicaid might cover it if you are eligible for Medicaid, though someone else might have better information on this. Apparently there are programs some places providing PrEP to low income women at risk, maybe other risk groups are included in these. There may be some clinical studies that you might consider. I would contact your closest infectious disease or HIV clinic and ask them about what the options are.
vive
@masc4masc, nobody is forcing you. What people are objecting to is that you seem to feel the need to be sanctimonious about others’ choices.
masc4masc
@vive: What did I say that was “sanctimonious”?
Stache99
@masc4masc:Ha. I come back and see that your still at it. Being a miserable SOB seems to be your thing.
Sanctimonious..Making a show of being morally superior to other people. Synonyms: self-righteous, holier-than-thou, pious, pietistic, churchy, moralizing, preachy, smug, superior, priggish, hypocritical, insincere.
Yup. That definition fits you like a worn in pair of gloves.
masc4masc
@Stache99: You’re the one who’s all over anything I say as soon as I comment. Go back to whatever you were using to stalk my posts and see how you’re ALWAYS the one that initiates conversation with me and mostly
through personal attacks. Since I’m so miserable, what does that make you for hanging on to my every word? Go take your meds and call it a night, buddy.
Stache99
@masc4masc: Sorry to say that I’m not HIV pos. I’m sure you’re glad to hear that though:) I do know allot of people who are and they have better morals and character then a smug POS like you will ever have.
Anyways, have a great night buddy..
michael mellor
If a perfectly healthy person wants to put chemicals in his body, go right ahead. You will be harming yourself.
michael mellor
AIDS is not caused by anal sex. You can have anal sex a million times with a healthy person and not catch it.
buffnightwing
Why does queerty let a flame war go on here? I am interested in discussing this issue and masc4masc comes in all angry and dominates the conversation. Sad.
buffnightwing
Gay men use so many drugs and alcohol that taking one more pill should be very easy. I don’t think guys that do party drugs are gonna be worried about side effects after all the horrible side effects from regular drug use and alcohol use. Hangovers, nausea, alcohol poisoning, depression, etc.
We need SEX education at grade 4.
vive
@buffnightwing, that is quite the generalization there. The great majority of gay men I know aren’t partiers or excessive drinkers at all. Maybe you move in different circles. I do agree with you that any side effects of PrEP are likely to be negligible compared to those of excess alcohol and other party drugs.
Teeth
@vive: He’s obviously hate-baiting, but he is right about ETOH– I can’t think of any substance that does more harm than alcohol. It’s responsible for a tremendous percent of E.R. visits, too. But it’s still a false analogy.. it’s not that Truvada’s SE profile is less than alcohol, it’s that Truvada’s SE profile is less than AIDS.
Teeth
Sorry: Side Effect Profile
buffnightwing
@vive: We aren’t talking about the gay men “you” know, we are talking about gay men that need to be targeted for PrEP. Not “ALL” gay men silly. Just the ones that need it, that are at higher risk.
vive
@buffnightwing, I am not a partier and, as I have mentioned before, I am on PrEP. I think the idea that it is mainly partiers that need to be targeted for PrEP is false. Studies have shown that most gay men (I think 60% was one figure) don’t always use condoms, that sometimes not using condoms is about as risky as never using them, and that most HIV transmissions occur between boyfriends (about 70%). Many guys don’t use condoms in the kind of serial monogamous relationships most gay guys have, based on assumptions of HIV status that may not be true.
Brian
@vive:
“I think the company has an assistance program for patients without insurance.”
Nope. Not true.
“Medicaid might cover it if you are eligible for Medicaid.”
Nope. I’m not. Neither are more than 95% of gay men.
“I would contact your closest infectious disease or HIV clinic and ask them about what the options are.”
The option is to pay out of pocket. At my closest clinic, and at nearly all clinics in the USA.
I admire your optimism, but your inaccuracies are too lame to be worthwhile. Stop spreading misinformation. That won’t help. My two comments didn’t come from ignorance; rather, they came from an exorbitant amount of information. Ignoring reality is the very problem of HIV/AIDS. Stop.
kjoemurphy
@Brian: Yeah, you have definitely been misinformed. ACTUALLY, Gilead has 2 payment assistance programs. One, the co-pay assistance program, which I enrolled in (in less than 5 minutes) has no income requirements and covers up to $200/month for your copay. They other is means based, and will cover significantly more — aimed at people without insurance or who are underinsured.
In terms of Medicaid, again, you are mistaken. So far, all Medicaid programs have been covering. Some require pre-auth, while others like California and New York have explicitly stated their proactive support of PrEP. But either way, if you are eligible for Medicaid — which in states that accepted the ACA Medicaid expansion — all gay men making below 138% FPL would be — then it will be covered.
Also, there are places that are working to identify ways to cover PrEP for people who still can’t afford it, even with insurance and copay assistance. For example, Washington State just announced its PrEPDAP program, which will use state funds (I believe from Pharma rebates) to help people access PrEP who otherwise couldn’t.
masc4masc
@Stache99: I love how you’re claiming that all your poz friends are better than me….right after accusing me of being sanctimonious (which BTW both you and vive declined to give a specific example of when asked). And please, it’s “a lot”, not “allot”. What backwoods school did you attend? LOL
http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-the-Difference-Between-Alot,-Allot-and-A-Lot
vive
@Brian, I would sympathize if you were correct, but you are wrong. From the Gilead Truvada assistance program web page (emphasis mine).
“The Truvada® for PrEP Medication Assistance Program assists eligible HIV-negative adults in the United States WHO DO NOT HAVE INSURANCE obtain access to Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). To find out if you are eligible for this medication assistance program, call 1-855-330-5479, Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (Eastern). – See more at: http://www.gilead.com/responsibility/us-patient-access/truvada%20for%20prep%20medication%20assistance%20program#sthash.i8UG2Sih.dpuf“
Billy Budd
If they ever develop vacccines against HIV, I will immediately take them. Apart from that, I will keep using condoms. No PrEP for me.
LorrieFludd
Just stop having sex with people you don’t know. It’s hilarious that people claim that most people contract HIV in a monogamous relationship. Having sex on the first date is not a monogamous relationship. Hold off on sex until you get to know your partner well. And if I were in a relationship with someone that I didn’t trust enough so that I had to take this pill out of “better be safe than sorry” fear, then that isn’t a relationship worth pursuing.
Jeton Ademaj
68& of HIV transmissions occur in the context of a committed relationship.
50% of HIV transmissions among gay men are transmitted from guys in their first 2 months of infection…the recently infected are BY FAR the most infectious.
PrEP works *if you take it*, and it prevents HIV more effectively than condoms at any given level of adherence. it also need not be taken in the heat of the moment, and …
….ready for it….?
THE SEX IS FAR, FAR BETTER.
people who hate PrEP seem bitter about their awful sex life…but hey, if wearing a hefty bag on your penis works for you, GREAT. it has NOT been working for nearly enough gay men to halt the HIV plague, however.
now there are more powerful options allowing for vaaaastly better sex.
http://www.poz.com/articles/iPrEx_OLE_results_761_25922.shtml?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=tji&utm_campaign=conference
feel free to hate on Safer Sluts, we’re having more fun than you many times over. 🙂
masc4masc
@Jeton Ademaj: Only proves that 68 percent of transmissions came from guys that think hooking up with the same guy for more than 2 weeks constitutes a committed relationship.
@vive: Is Jeton’s reply is sanctimonious?
Jeton Ademaj
“sanctimonious” is just a pejorative for “strident”…like “committed” and “persistent” might be neutral and “unflappable” and “indefatigable” would be superlatives of same.
example: “masc4masc is quite sanctimonious about his anti-sex hostility, such that he feels compelled to obfuscate the statistics on HIV transmission simply because it might imply that his sexual restraint was not ultimately justifiable on health grounds. he would prefer to think of himself as ‘unflappable’…and to pretend that ‘true love can prevent HIV’, but of course he’s merely obstinate.”
…the more you know…
vive
@Jeton Ademaj, “THE SEX IS FAR, FAR BETTER. People who hate PrEP seem bitter about their awful sex life…but hey, if wearing a hefty bag on your penis works for you, GREAT. It has NOT been working for nearly enough gay men to halt the HIV plague, however.”
So true!
JDean
nah
it’s a poison pill for stupid whores.
And stupid whores are … well, if they’re willing to take poison that doesn’t protect from any other STDs
JDean
@Jeton Ademaj:
Woooo dude! You caught me!
I am soooo jealous I don’t look like a fucked up crypt keeper from all the years of HIV drugs ravaging my body. Yep! I am soooo jealous I don’t have to take toxic poison to keep myself alive every day.
By the way, how’s the poison you take every day to keep yourself alive working for ya bud? M? Considering how fucked up you look from ingesting that garbage into your body every day you should know.
How about you tell everyone about your lypodistrophy for starters m?
It’s so hilarious when the skanks and whores like you, that fuck anything that walks by, are the only ones promoting the Truvada garbage.
Hahaha
Stache99
@JDean: You should sign back into your other screen name masc4masc. I recognize your bitter trollery anywhere.
Jeton Ademaj
@JDean: well let’s see now, having lots of awesome sex is “bad”, being a bitter online troll is “good”. meds that keep me alive and feeling great are “poison”. the guys i find hot find me much hotter than i can possibly believe and usually call me a sex god…but the bitter troll braying about the need for a hideously boring sex life says i’m ugly.
decisions, decisions. 😀
you can flail uselessly in my direction but PrEP has little effect on me as an individual…it just happens to benefit the gay community overall, by offering an HIV-prevention tool that works better at HIV prevention than condoms, enables better sex than condoms, interrupts the transformation of homosexuality in a Brady Bunch nightmare, gives both bottoms and tops HIV-protection that is fully independent of their partner’s actions or status, and can be taken completely outside the often complex circumstances of real sex. before brushing teeth, for instance.
you DO brush your teeth, don’t you?
your retroactivism is what gets people sick, and guys like you turned Safer Sex into trolling and lectures. every word you type drips misery directed outwards.
as Richard Berkowitz (co-inventor of Safe Sex) said last October, “Safe Sex only worked when it was about the fucking, don’t let anybody ever tell you different”.
chemoprophylaxis could save you from the depths of bitterness.
JDean
@Jeton Ademaj:
Ahahahah. Sex god? You? Bahaha. You are making me laugh. Having sat at the same table as you … nnno! Just. No. Maybe to a guy who’s a 4 or a 5, yeah you are a sex god, naturally :))) hahaha.
And there it is again the “your retroactivism is what gets people sick”.
No dear YOU got yourself sick. Blame yourself for the choice *you* you made to fuck without condoms. How about it’s your fault you are poz? Someone decided to fuck around without a rubber. How’s that any of our fault but your own?
Some of you poz hoes love to blame others, “like me”, for your being poz.
It’s easier than looking in the mirror and saying to yourself you fucked up.
If anyone is bitter, it’s you dear. Bbecause most guys don’t want to touch you when they see you. It’s nobody’s fault that you lack self control, and responsibilities, not others “like me” 🙂 but nice projecting there. Whatever gets you through your miserable days.
You are bitter because you are miserable. The hot guys you want fuck turn you down the second they see you, or know you’re poz. HIV drugs like the shitty Truvada you’re trying to push on people, have ravaged your body with side effects, made you look 20 years older, can’t sleep, and how’s that constant sweating working out for ya?). You can’t just have the cute foreigner with the sexy accent hook up with you because I cut you down faster you blinked, and that just galls you. You have to settle for guys you don’t find all that attractive.
If not wanting to fuck a disgusting, poz hoe that has slept with half the city, and is full of disease makes me bitter then I am only so happy. If not wanting to take the same toxic sludge you are forced to ingest daily just to keep yourself alive makes me bitter I am a OK with that lol
I’ll take people believing I’m 10-15 years younger than my real age, being HIV- and the ability to bed almost any guy I want, over settling for HIV meds that in 5 years would have me looking like worn out old hag with diarrhea, lypodistrophy, sweating even when its cold, and the myriad of other awesome side effects of HIV drugs.
Fortunately for me, and many others, I don’t take my cues, clues, or approvals from barebacking aids whores. It is only unfortunate that I have to be associated with your disgusting kind.
Jeton Ademaj
*into* a Brady Bunch
JDean
@Stache99: Is that toilet stall you’re in too dark for you or are you just prone to confusing people?
Jeton Ademaj
@JDean: u mad, brah? that’s a whole lot of bullshit from someone who pretends to be unperturbed stalker…did we really ever meet, or is using my real name the basis for the comical pack of lies you strung together?
the closest you came to the truth is that i do sweat more after i added 50 pounds of muscle, and prefer breathable and moisture-wicking fabric. that, one can glean from facebook, or google if one is desperate enough.
some actual facts: i got infected back when i used condoms, and i’m not remotely alone…those devices are nowhere near as effective as you bitter rubber hitlers pretended for years:
http://www.aidsmap.com/Consistent-condom-use-in-anal-sex-stops-70-of-HIV-infections-study-finds/page/2586976/
cry about how ugly you hope i am all you like, online bitches hiding in anonymity are somehow lacking in standing…meanwhile, i enjoy a sex life better than any porn or any teenage fantasy. 😀
the lie u’ll always fail at is in pretending u know jack about HIV prevention. pat yourself on the back for your embittered asexuality all day, but science has refuted you: chemoprophylaxis works better than anything you advocate. Treatment, PrEP, PEP…made even safer used with condoms, but made even hotter used *R*A*W*.
furthermore, Truvada’s side-fx profile is about as severe as aspirin, frankly. when one looks at prescribing information, it’s usually a good idea to actually read about frequency and severity of any given effect…and compare the rate to common meds considered safe for most. PrEP is a serious protocol that is nonetheless very worthwhile for AT LEAST 500,000 people at high risk in the USA, if not more. oops, does feeling stupid make u spaz?
don’t be mad becuz u got suckered by other bitter queens into revealing your true, black-hearted colors…and then had the PrEP debate shift under your feet.
PrEP works, and already History is revealing the guarantee that you will be remembered as somebody who spread disinformation, lies and bitter hatred…at a time when HIV is a gayer and younger disease than ever.
but hey, at least ur anonymous! 😀
“You can’t just have the cute foreigner with the sexy accent hook up with you because I cut you down faster you blinked, and that just galls you.”
LOL—what a bizarre fantasy! gotta love the trolls…
vive
@Jeton Ademaj, yeah, JDean is a known troll also posting under other aliases here. Nothing good ever comes from feeding them, but I know how hard they are to ignore 🙂
Jeton Ademaj
@vive: thanks vive, but if u notice, i tend to tie a harness around trolls and use them to pull my wagon. imagine that first time someone ever tied a bunch of dogs to a sled… 😉
JDean
@Jeton Ademaj:
Mad about what?
That I don’t look like a poz whore? Because I don’t have lipodystrophy like you do? Because my face isn’t caving in from the toxic drugs? That my stomach isn’t bulging out like yours is from years of toxic medication? The same toxic shit you take daily, and that is in Truvada. Or am I mad because I haven’t aged 10 years in the span of two years from taking the toxic garbage you take? Or maybe I’m mad because I don’t have HEP C and genital herpes from fucking random people?
Fuuuck it’s so maddening that I don’t have to take toxic medication, it just drives me crazy hahaha. And missing the opportunity to have STDs shoved into me from random skanks, fuck! So peeved! lol
People taking HIV drugs talking about side effects:
http://videos.nymag.com/video/Another-Kind-of-AIDS-Crisis#c=1CVVZQ0HF7L35TL8&t=Another Kind of AIDS Crisis
Memory loss, Alzheimer-like side effects, heart attacks, facial wasting, body wasting, premature aging, liver enlargement.
??????????? :-)))
Stache99
@vive: I don’t understand the point of being a shithead like this Jdean troll and I don’t understand why Queerty makes this site so friendly to trolls. Most sites have a flagging system at the very least.
vive
What happened to the “flag” button? JDean is clearly in gross violation of the comments policy.
Jeton Ademaj
@JDean: still in fantasy land? is that how you stand yourself? switch accounts, concoct random lies about meds/stds/meeting ppl in real life/etc, dodge the subject (Truvada PrEP) and basically keep screaming outwards at others…in hope of avoiding recognition of what a soul-poisoned nutjob you are?
it’s not working. i’m gonna go enjoy my “ugly” self with another hotty…raw AND safe. feel free to go on conflating the side effects of 25yo HIV meds with the fx of 3rd n 4th wave recent HIV meds…the more lies you pile up, the easier it is to ride your troll ass. 🙂
BlogShag
People please don’t fall for this big pharma scam. This industry is vile to the core. Their interest is to keep you sick, because that is how they make money. And when you finally die, oh well, onto the next one.. The side effects are like those that are on chemo
Don’t fuck everything that walks, and if you are one of those unfortunate people that don’t show symptoms when you have an STD, you’ve got big problems
BlogShag
@Ben Dover: That might be true, but you are from safe if you only do oral sex. Oral sex can transmit some nasty diseases