tallbtm

So did you get the job? And exactly what kind of job were you interviewing for??? :-)

Truvada was chosen initially to test as a PrEP drug partly because it has such a low incidence of side effects. It's well tolerated by almost everyone and has been used for years as a component of HIV-treatment combinations. But in the future, it's likely not going to be the only drug choice for PrEP. There are other drugs and delivery methods in the pipeline that are being tested for use as PrEP. For example, here's an article today about testing an injection that could provide protection for 12 weeks: http://betablog.org/injectable-prep-the-next-order-of-the-day/ As time goes on, there will be other options. Right now, Truvada is the only approved PrEP drug. And it's highly effective.

He Seanel, Three thoughts: (1) If you can get on PrEP, do it. Taking a daily pill that prevents HIV infection will lower your anxiety levels tremendously. I don't know if it's available where you live, but if it is you should consider it. (2) Guys who say they're negative are only negative as of their last test (plus a window period prior to the test that can range from two weeks to three months depending on what kind of test they had). And that's only true if they're telling you the truth. (Some guys lie, even to themselves.) Basically you should treat all "I'm negative" statements as meaning: "I don't know my HIV status today." (3) You're actually SAFER playing with HIV positive guys who take their medications like they're supposed to and have an Undetectable viral load. Guys who are undetectable don't pass on HIV infection. Hope this helps. I know that having anxiety about sex or worrying thoughts after sex takes a lot of the fun out of it.

Why not just go on PrEP yourself? To be on PrEP you have to be confirmed to be HIV negative before you start (and you get tested regularly to make sure you still are). Increasing numbers of guys now know about and understand what PrEP is, perhaps allaying some of their concerns. Don't just settle for a good blow job if that's not what you really want. Life's too short not to enjoy the sex (and life) you really want.

PEP (not PrEP) info from U.S. Government website: https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/prevention/reduce-your-risk/post-exposure-prophylaxis/ Go to your doctor or a clinic TODAY and say you may have been exposed to HIV.

Check out results of the PARTNER study about HIV serodiscordant couples (where one partner is HIV positive and on is HIV negative): http://www.aidsmap.com/No-one-with-an-undetectable-viral-load-gay-or-heterosexual-transmits-HIV-in-first-two-years-of-PARTNER-study/page/2832748/

Great. That certainly took long enough! Hope you're like most guys who have no side effects at all.

No, you're not an idiot. You're just uninformed. That can change with education. Check out the links I gave you.

(1) Terrified of getting HIV? Go on PrEP - Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, a daily pill to prevent HIV infection. There's a whole subforum here about it, and for good basic information start here: ispreprightforme.com and prepfacts.org (2) Hoping I can trust people will wrap up if I write the note on my ass ... Are you nuts!? At a specifically-bareback sex party!? (3) Risk of incurable diseases that limit my intimate contact with the ones I love -- Being HIV positive DOES NOT mean you can't have condomless sex with someone you love. Poz/undetectable partners (who take their meds daily as directed and have a viral load suppressed below "detectable" levels) DO NOT transmit HIV. See results of the PARTNERS study: http://betablog.org/zero-hiv-transmissions-with-condomless-sex/

According to prepacts.org (http://men.prepfacts.org/the-questions/) when traveling you should take it about the same time you would at home. I take that to mean if you typically take it around bedtime (say 11:00 pm), then you should take it again around 11:00 pm in whatever timezone you're in. Truvada works by building up and concentrating in rectal tissues. While it's important to maintain adequate drug levels in your system to provide protection, the slight fluctuations in blood levels caused by travel and a time zone changes shouldn't have much effect, just as missing one dose isn't catastrophic. What's a lot more important is that you were re-tested for HIV and reconfirmed to still be HIV negative before you resumed taking Truvada for PrEP. By itself, Truvada is not sufficient to treat HIV infection and can lead to developing a Truvada-resistant strain of HIV thus limiting your future HIV treatment options.

There's a BBRT CumUnion party at CBC in Providence tonight. Might be a bit intense for a first-timer to a bathhouse though.

Wait a week. It takes time to build up in your system (or more accurately, get sufficiently concentrated in rectal tissues) to provide protection.

Guys who are parTying are rarely much fun. They're either manic and so easily distracted they can't stay on-task for more than a few seconds, or they're utterly unable to get hard in any way. When I see parTying in a profile or a message I now take it to mean he prefer to get high than actually have sex. Too many lousy experiences. I now decline in advance, or if I show up unaware, I just politely leave. Not worth the effort to try to go through with it.

It's titled "Dam Esco breeded by a thug" from Eric Videos. Google the title and you can see it's available all over the Internet on all the streaming sites.

yes

NLBear, I never stayed at that place in Provincetown but from stories I heard I think you're remembering a guesthouse called "The Ranch." Last fall I was in Provincetown and I saw that the place is now called "Crew Quarters." I don't know what the accommodations or "sexual temperature" is there now. You can Google its website; still looks like a place for play to me.

Cuntspunker's advice is great (it's worth reading again!) Try to walk through the hotel beforehand if you can, to determine ease of access, peepholes, best entrances, etc. The Rules page on LarsLukas's website is also definitely worth a close read. You might want to "steal" some of his ideas for rules/guidelines. Be clear on your drug/alcohol policy, whatever that is. [E.g.: "Absolutely no PnP or drugs please (poppers ok). BYOB if you want, but don't be drunk."] And do give timing info: [E.g.: "Arrive between 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. Stay until 2:00 a.m." or "Party goes all night, ending 8:00 a.m."] I've been to one really GREAT hotel sex party. (The others, well, meh...) At that really great one, the host recruited a mix of top/bottom/versatile guys. He screened out those who Party-more-than-Play, those >10 years out of the age range, and others he decided sent "very weird" invitation requests. I don't mean to say he was super-selective or exclusionary, he just didn't send details to some he thought might bring trouble. His guest list made for a really fun time for everyone. I chatted with a number of the attendees later and they agreed on what a fun sex night it was. Have fun, and please tell us how it went -- good or bad! We will learn from what you say.

The Prince Albert piercing is one of the easiest, least painful (really!), fastest healing of just about any body part that you can get pierced. The distance between the urethra and the underside of your dick is actually quite short. The region is very vascular (lots of blood flow). And every time you pee you flush the new wound. This all helps speed healing. My piercer recommended starting no smaller than 8 gauge. If someone suggests 10, 12 or (yikes) 14 gauge, you should be very wary of the "cheese cutter effect." Healing time is a just few weeks. But it will be a bit longer before you're comfortable being at all rough with it. Condoms are important at first because you will have an open wound and an infection will suck (and not in the good way). Wash your hands before you touch your dick and don't let anyone suck on it until it's healed. Expect it to bleed a little bit for the first day or two. You'll want to keep it loosely wrapped with some gauze or tissue and covered up with a baggy condom or a latex glove to avoid staining your pants. This stage passes very quickly. Follow your piercer's advice for after-care: how to clean it with an anti-microbial soap, soaking in warm salt water (which feels really good), etc., and you'll have no trouble. To avoid creating scar tissue, don't even think about trying to move to a larger gauge of jewelry until it's thoroughly healed and toughens up in a few months. Peeing isn't a big deal. At first you'll find it's easier to just sit down. Using a urinal isn't a big deal: just step forward or lean in a bit. You'll quickly learn how to hold the jewelry out of the way of the pee stream to avoid making a mess. (It's not the hole under your dick that causes the problem; it's the urine's natural tendency to want to follow the curve of the jewelry because of the surface tension of liquids that causes the unexpected spray angles.) Don't rush the healing process and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how fast it does heal. If your piercer has a PA himself, he'll be able to give you firsthand advice too. Don't be afraid to ask your 7,000 questions. Good luck and have fun.

You're not at much risk for HIV because you're on PrEP, but you get tested for other STIs (e.g. chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis) every three months. These are all bacterial and can be cleared up with antibiotics. Just ask for these tests when you do your PrEP follow-up doctor visits. (Your doctor should be testing you for STIs regularly anyway; if he doesn't, you should ask.)

You might be interested in this infographic that unpacks the numbers from the iPrEx-OLE study of PrEP's effectiveness. Check out especially column 1 in the infographic: http://www.thebodypro.com/content/75017/taking-a-look-at-prep-by-the-numbers-unpacking-the.html The take-away was this: Nobody who took PrEP at least 4 days a week contacted HIV during the study. Those who took it less often still reduced their risk substantially too. Mathematical models based on large-scale trial data show PrEP's effectiveness at up to 99% when taken every day. (And remember, no credible scientist would ever say something is 100% certain so that's as certain as it's gonna get.)

I'll be on the RSVP one. Looking forward to it!

I just put them in with my other toiletries in a checked bag. Never had a problem on either domestic or international flights. I figure the worst that can happen is they confiscate (steal?) them. Once, a couple of summers ago, at the minuscule Provincetown, Mass., airport I was dropping off a friend for his flight home and there was an amateurish laser-printed page taped up near TSA screening that said Warning: if you have poppers in your bag you must discard them before approaching. We laughed -- only in a gay little town like Provincetown! -- but my friend pulled a half-used bottle out of his bag and handed it to me before heading for his plane. Don't sweat it.

I shave my balls (and have since I was in my early 20s) because I like how a shaved scrotum feels. Elsewhere, I keep my pubes trimmed enough to be neat, not to look overly manscaped. Now that I'm 50, the chest hairs are growing longer and I'm not crazy about the increasing number of gray ones either, so they get trimmed as well (but not short enough to be anywhere near scratchy). BTW, my avatar pic was a summer or two ago when a friend convinced me I should shave my chest completely before a gay vacation. Hmmm, perhaps I should update it with a more current picture....

Good for you for being persistent! It shouldn't be so difficult to get on PrEP but it seems from reading other guys' accounts here and elsewhere it's not always as easy as it should be. For goodness sake, you're trying to do something smart for your health. You'd think doctors in general would applaud and support that wholeheartedly. My experience starting PrEP was a lot easier an more straightforward. But then I go to a clinic that primarily serves the gay community and the doctors there all know about PrEP.

I started fucking with guys just before the AIDS crisis and I remember thinking, "Oh thank god I'm gay! I'll never have to mess with condoms (to prevent pregnancy) again." Then all the safe sex messages started and I got scared became a total condom Nazi. Those early years were frightening and left their mark on me. I lost best friends and a boyfriend. That can really affect you. As the years wore on and HIV treatments got better the safe-sex messages wore off and I tentatively started going bare sometimes. Then more often. I also noticed that fewer guys were insisting on condoms for casual hookups. Now that PrEP exists (and that I'm on it) I really avoid condoms. I don't like them in me, or on me. Bare -- as anyone who's ever had sex without a condom knows -- feels better, is more intimate and is uninterrupted by nagging thoughts about why you're putting the damn condom on in the first place.