What is it REALLY like to be positive?

[thick]

being poz today is a minimal inconvenience save the cost and procurment of the medications. The side effects are much less noticeable than the earlier retro-viral drugs. But you are still polluting your body with very strong chemicals......as ive said here before I take my meds maybe every other OR every third day and I still remain undetectable. When I was serio analyzed the docs said I had an old strain (I was confirmed HIV poz in 1998), so maybe my strain is very receptive to the meds and I can go longer periods between dosings. Im not sure. I would rather be negative, but Im not. Thats life

[starlads]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to our question, both publically and privately. From all the comments we received we feel that we are making the informed decision, at the moment, to not deliberately chase the bug. This does not mean that we will give up barebacking! Instead, we'll just carry one as we are and hope we stay lucky. Obviously, there is still a chance that we will still test positive just by sero-sorting, but I guess it's all about the intention, right? Thanks again, everyone!

[HungLatinDom]

Serosorting won't work. For sure. You are safer with undetect guys, and hoping none of them is lying to you.

[totalasspig]

I do currently have great health insurance, and I did do alot of research since having to take meds. There are four meds I take each day, and there is a co-pay assistance program with each of them - my total out of pocket cost is $5 US Dollars per month. For Health Insurance in the US, I pay $221 a month and my employer takes care of the rest of the coverage - and that's not related because I a POZ - Insurance as we know is expensive here in USA. Not getting into politics here, but no matter who is at the top, it will never been like Canada or the UK as for as Health Insurance in the USA. My Advice is to anyone in the USA is to call the drug maker directly and speak to a Nurse there - everyone that I spoke to said "We have a co-pay assistance program" and I was able to get on it. In Regards to who RawTop said Yes the patents will expire and those medicines will become much more affordable once they do expire.

[TonyRedux]

Serosorting won't work. For sure. You are safer with undetect guys, and hoping none of them is lying to you.

agreed, on all counts. in the absence of on-demand PCR tests, there's no such thing as "serosorting", only "seroguessing".

[HungLatinDom]

BTW, there are some really dumb people out there, so make sure they understand what you are asking.

Once, a guy told me he was undetectable. It turns that he was not on meds and he had a measurable, not too high VL, however, he told me no one could tell only from seeing him that hew was poz. Epic facepalm.

[Guest MightyMouth]

Wow, I'm glad people opened up about the financial cost of being poz. With good health insurance it's manageable but get a bad plan and you can be screwed to the wall. In my opinion it's almost better to have no insurance than to have bad insurance. I actually found myself off of meds for a period because my insurance changed and I couldn't get on any of the patient assistance plans because I did have insurance but it was insurance that I couldn't afford to use. A lot of states are starting to initiate wait lists for ADAP which creates an additional barrier to treatment - which again you can't qualify for if you have insurance. Another important consideration is where you live. If it's a larger city they're probably equipped to deal with HIV. Smaller towns and conservative areas not as much. You get a lot of negative attitude to push back against and a great deal of incompetence. You have to learn to be your own case manager and advocate for your self.

[TonyRedux]

BTW, there are some really dumb people out there, so make sure they understand what you are asking.

Once, a guy told me he was undetectable. It turns that he was not on meds and he had a measurable, not too high VL, however, he told me no one could tell only from seeing him that hew was poz. Epic facepalm.

[HungLatinDom]

LOL, Tony, I definitely have to meet you next time I'm in NYC. Even if only for a beer.

[TonyRedux]

LOL, Tony, I definitely have to meet you next time I'm in NYC. Even if only for a beer.

holler bro!

[AlwaysOpen]

Been poz since 1987, and am undetectable thanks to 2 drugs I take once a day. I am a blue collar laborer and have no health issues, and get fucked whenever I can find a top.However- maybe everywhere but especially here in Ft Lauderdale- I can be online all day long on BBRT, Asspig and A4A. All my profiles are honest, and I mark poz in each of them. I don't know if it is my age (55), my status of poz, or the fact I am a bottom, but I can go days without a hit from the hook up sites. And some of the hits I do get are from guys on the fringe- the morbidly obese, or the ones who want me blindfolded and waiting- never sure if it is so I cannot see them or so they don't have to see me.

Oh, and the meds have me totally undetectable- last test was less than 20 copies of the virus ; which ranks as undetectable. But the meds also have, over the years , fucked with my GI tract and I have some days I eat Rx strength Immodium 3 or 4 times during the day to control the water shits, and any play is out of the question for 3 or 4 days afterwards until things recenter and calm back down.

[Tucsonmale]

Guys the real issue is getting pozzed or staying neg. If you getting pozzed, why worried about insurance, why go on medications to suppress being pozzed. Just ride it out. Being poz has so many ramnifactions to it. Every guy will react different. You will most likely die from failure of an organ related to being poz or the poz medication your taking. The medication is most powerful and ruins your body.

If your a beautiful guy, stay neg and enjoy sex, but be very selected in who you let cum inside you. Just a few years of being poz will have a great affect on your body and also how you feel on a daily basis.

Just make the choice as to how you want the rest of your life to be. It your choice and no ones elses.

[barefootbob]

Been poz since 1987, and am undetectable thanks to 2 drugs I take once a day. I am a blue collar laborer and have no health issues, and get fucked whenever I can find a top.However- maybe everywhere but especially here in Ft Lauderdale- I can be online all day long on BBRT, Asspig and A4A. All my profiles are honest, and I mark poz in each of them. I don't know if it is my age (55), my status of poz, or the fact I am a bottom, but I can go days without a hit from the hook up sites. And some of the hits I do get are from guys on the fringe- the morbidly obese, or the ones who want me blindfolded and waiting- never sure if it is so I cannot see them or so they don't have to see me.

Oh, and the meds have me totally undetectable- last test was less than 20 copies of the virus ; which ranks as undetectable. But the meds also have, over the years , fucked with my GI tract and I have some days I eat Rx strength Immodium 3 or 4 times during the day to control the water shits, and any play is out of the question for 3 or 4 days afterwards until things recenter and calm back down.

I know where you are coming from, I'm 55 and neg butt it is damn near impossible to find tops that want to fuck mostly because I live in a college town with pleanty of available young studs. for now I "need" to stay neg because of the nature of my job, being in an at-will state one can be fired for ANY reason. if it does happen, then I'll deal with it

[Pig Bottom]

Negatives: Costs involved in getting medications, many areas have plans to help low income people get free or low cost meds, but for some you have to get rid of any assets. There are doctor bills and lab blood work bills too.

There is still a stigma attached to it. Employers won't hire you, or they will discriminate against you. When I was younger I had a manager who would not give me more than 30 hours a week so that I couldn't qualify for benefits, I didn't even have HIV.

The meds can change how you look. You can have facial wasting or wasting in other parts of your body such as your butt. Or you can develop Buffalo Hump and look scary.

People are still dying from it, few and far between, but they still die.

The Positive: is that you don't have to worry about getting HIV.

[Inception]

Everyone has talked about the cost of drugs, but here is another issue: What if you don't live in a big urban centre with a large gay community where beinf HIV positive is very common. I live only about 45 minutes outside of Vancouver, and even just being out as gay is something that can still put you at risk from bigots. Add in the hysterical reaction most uneducated straight people have to HIV and your life can be even more difficult. The image most people have of HIV is people dying in Africa, or Tom Hanks wasting away in Philidelphia.

Even if you are in a large urban gay centre, there are many many many gay guys who will no longer be interested in you sexually. The bug chasers who think that being poz opens some magic door to all kinds of crazy sex are quite deluded. My idea of great sex isn't doing it with guys so messed up emotionally that they have turned to drugs and become addicted wrecks - which at least in Vancouver seems to make up a lot of the poz "scene."