PrEP on Demand Study Shows Promise

[seaboy4hire]

For the record I am not pro condom nor pro prep. I am pro whatever works for you. But shaming one or the other is stupid.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[jimboivyo]

But shaming one or the other is stupid.

 

and so is believing that one pill will fix everything

 

this isn't a dig at you. it's just common sense from someone who's lived and learned the last 68 years of life

[marylander1940]

false feeling of security and for those who profit from it, sheer stupidity

condoms AND prep. if the pill only route has failed once, it will fail again

 

https://www.poz.com/article/prep-fails-gay-man-adhering-daily-truvada-contracts-drugresistant-hiv

 

Good combination, unfortunately guys think fuck condoms I'll just take a pill...

[+ ArVaGuy]

Like many of us, I spent my thirties attending memorial services. Now in my fifties, I'm attending Gay weddings. What a beautiful difference twenty years can make.

 

That difference has come about due to a very high price. A price paid by an entire cadre of our gay brothers who should be approaching their fifties, sixties, and seventies. One cannot help but wonder, would we have Gay Marriage today were it not for AIDS? But that's another discussion.

 

The last three decades have seen remarkable strides in the treatment of HIV. There are people alive today who would have died very quickly in the 1980's and early 1990's. We have benefited from the advancement in available drugs and research in finding a possible cure.

 

Among those advancements is the possibility of a vaccine or immune booster, a pill, that may be very effective in preventing HIV infections when utilized with condoms as prescribed by the FDA. However, I'm certain that the FDA realizes that many on PrEP have dispensed with condoms and are barebacking during sex.

 

The users of PrEP who don't wear condoms have made a rational calculated decision in that regard. So far, so good as they say. If this drug and the others soon to come on the market prove effective then it's a godsend.

 

What I hear from the "condom only" advocates comes across as slut shaming. This is the same reaction many of the women who were among the first to take The Pill to prevent unwanted pregnancies experienced. Today no one says a word about women on The Pill or other contraceptives for that matter.

 

Then as now, much of this slut shaming comes across, at least to me, as entirely based on fear. The attitude is dismissive, judgmental, and arrogant. There's a complete refusal to recognize a major advancement has been made in preventing HIV in the first place. Their refrain is always the same "condoms are the ONLY WAY and if you don't agree you are a slut."

 

For the life of me I can't understand this attitude.

[LookingAround]

and so is believing that one pill will fix everything

 

this isn't a dig at you. it's just common sense from someone who's lived and learned the last 68 years of life

The odd thing is that some appear to believe that "condoms only" are 100% effective which is demonstrably not true.

[TruthBTold]

For the record I am not pro condom nor pro prep. I am pro whatever works for you. But shaming one or the other is stupid.

 

Hugs,

Greg

 

I chose Prep because it worked for me in a weird way and then paired it with condoms - as much as my will would force me. It is imperative that I take certain meds at least twice a day so it really it is no big deal to plunk an extra Truvada in my pill case. Luckily (and I know I am lucky) I can afford the med and all the follow up blood work. I also know that there is a certain chance that is taken with both regimens. For instance, my condom could break AND my Prep regimen could fail but I just tried to decide the likelihood of the various options and went with the combination that was most likely.

[+ Lance_Navarro]

Like many of us, I spent my thirties attending memorial services. Now in my fifties, I'm attending Gay weddings. What a beautiful difference twenty years can make.

 

That difference has come about due to a very high price. A price paid by an entire cadre of our gay brothers who should be approaching their fifties, sixties, and seventies. One cannot help but wonder, would we have Gay Marriage today were it not for AIDS? But that's another discussion.

 

The last three decades have seen remarkable strides in the treatment of HIV. There are people alive today who would have died very quickly in the 1980's and early 1990's. We have benefited from the advancement in available drugs and research in finding a possible cure.

 

Among those advancements is the possibility of a vaccine or immune booster, a pill, that may be very effective in preventing HIV infections when utilized with condoms as prescribed by the FDA. However, I'm certain that the FDA realizes that many on PrEP have dispensed with condoms and are barebacking during sex.

 

The users of PrEP who don't wear condoms have made a rational calculated decision in that regard. So far, so good as they say. If this drug and the others soon to come on the market prove effective then it's a godsend.

 

What I hear from the "condom only" advocates comes across as slut shaming. This is the same reaction many of the women who were among the first to take The Pill to prevent unwanted pregnancies experienced. Today no one says a word about women on The Pill or other contraceptives for that matter.

 

Then as now, much of this slut shaming comes across, at least to me, as entirely based on fear. The attitude is dismissive, judgmental, and arrogant. There's a complete refusal to recognize a major advancement has been made in preventing HIV in the first place. Their refrain is always the same "condoms are the ONLY WAY and if you don't agree you are a slut."

 

For the life of me I can't understand this attitude.

 

Thanks so much for your intelligent perspective on this matter. There is a reason that prior to Aids, gay men rarely used condoms, BECAUSE IT FEELS BETTER. Condoms have saved millions of lives and continue to be a great preventative, but technology and medicine are providing new options. I understand that such change can seem scary and irresponsible to some, but we must have some faith in science and science is showing great success with Truvada. As has already been stated enough times, condoms aren't 100% effective so the notion that condoms are better than PrEP is simply inaccurate.

 

I'm not shaming anyone for using condoms and I understand their perspective, and I expect the same level of respect and understanding from others.

 

This whole thing bothers me in the same way that I'm annoyed when guys who are HIV- will not consider having sex with a guy who acknowledges being positive. They aren't interested in a discussion about undetectable viral loads, they would rather just put everything into a box, black & white, positive & negative, right & wrong.

[+ WmClarke]

Beautiful post, ArVaGuy!

 

One minor quibble

 

Today no one says a word about women on The Pill or other contraceptives for that matter.

 

Have you listened to a certain political party's candidates lately?