How does PREP work?

[lj1987]

Hi all, got a question... how exactly does prep work? More specifically, in the event of a bleeding ass, does truvada still work? 

[Johnny84]

well think of it like star trek your blood cells are the star ships HIV is the enemy lets say the Klingons truvada are the ships Shields 

or like superman bullets are HIV truvada is your power 

when you take truvada HIV bounces of the blood cells and as HIV can't live without a host the HIV virus will die inside you 

[lj1987]

Sorry not a huge fan of Star Trek? Suppose if someone cuts my hole with vigorous fucking, then I got bred by a known poz guy, does it affect the effectiveness of truvada

[TattPig]

PrEP prevents the virus from replicating itself. It doesn't matter how the virus gets into your system; if you've been taking PrEP as prescribed, HIV has no way to multiply. It simply dies. 

Search online for PrEP; there are lots of good resources from experts (CDC, WhatIsPrEP.org, etc.).

 

[Ranger Rick]

1 hour ago, lj1987 said:

Sorry not a huge fan of Star Trek? Suppose if someone cuts my hole with vigorous fucking, then I got bred by a known poz guy, does it affect the effectiveness of truvada

Then think of Truvada as wrapping your blood cells in millions of tiny condoms. 

[barecub85]

Truvada doesn't so much prevent HIV from *entering* cells so much as it prevents it from multiplying once it gets there. 

In simple terms - in order for HIV to infect you, it has to get into your T cells, hijack the cell's DNA, and tell it to start making new copies of the virus. Eventually the cell dies and releases a whole bunch of new viruses out into your body to find other cells to infect, starting the cycle over again.

Every drug we use to fight HIV works by interrupting this life cycle at some point. Some drugs prevent HIV from getting into the cell in the first place. Many prevent it from hijacking the cell's DNA. Others prevent it from being able to manufacture new copies of itself. 

Truvada is a combination of two drugs that both prevent the DNA hijacking step. These drugs were considered the best choice for PrEP because of a combination of being relatively lower in side effects and only needing one dose a day. Also, there are fewer strains of HIV circulating that are resistant to these drugs.

So when you're on PrEP, taking it daily as instructed, and you get bred with a viral load of cum, the virus tries to take over your cells but can't, because they are already saturated with drugs that prevent the DNA hijacking step from happening.

This is different from using Truvada for NPEP (the post-exposure HIV prevention meds) because in that case, you don't have any HIV drugs onboard when you take the poz load. Because of that, you need a drug that will interrupt the life cycle of the virus in another place, to give your body a chance to contain the infection. Usually this is a drug that prevents the virus from entering new cells (Isentress or Tivicay are the most common choices). That is why you have to start NPEP within 72 hours of getting bred, because after that the infection has likely spread too far for the drugs to contain it.

 

[Guest GoodExercise]

How does PrEP work?  Step One: Develop a drug to treat HIV and exploit it for profit.  Step Two: Lobby the FDA to approve (and the CDC to recommend) a drug meant to treat HIV as a drug to prevent HIV.  Thus, as the need for one decreases in high-paying countries, the need for the other will increase.  Step Three: Convince LGBTQ advocacy groups that PrEP is a good thing because we all should swallow our pride and medicate the gay away.  Step Four: Lobby insurers and others (like the National Health Service in the U.K.) to pay for PrEP.  Step Five.  Cash the checks.

[Ranger Rick]

Thank you for the detailed and we'll stated explanation barecub85

[plutonium239]

https://men.prepfacts.org/the-basics/

[jockhrychest]

@Barecub85 - That was a great explanation of the protection the PrEP drugs provide. One of the biggest (intended) side effects of PrEP is peace of mind - not having to worry every time we get tested. I honestly don't think that it is meant to "medicate the gay away" as much as prevent the spread of infection, and ability for the virus to develop resistance.

For those who doubt the efficacy of the medications, consider the fact that just 20 years ago, HIV was a death sentence.  Now, people with HIV live normal lives for the most part, especially if the are on medications.  My own doctor told me that he'd rather have HIV than something like diabetes. If you think about it, we put a lot of trust in drugs. Look at blood pressure meds, NSAIDS and statins. Many of us don't participate in the activities that are healthy for us - moderating diet, exercising, and limiting smoking, drinking, etc - so we take medications to improve our outcomes.  We all know what safe sex is, but how many actually do it? Someone (with a brain and compassion) realized that it is an unrealistic expectation for everyone to practice safe sex so I view taking PrEP is as a new means to practice safe sex. Of course "they" (if you are conspiracy theorist) benefit from marketing anti-viral medications, but if their greed actually benefits mankind, and allows us to have fun without fear of HIV, what is the harm? IT should be said that these drugs limit HIV transmission only. You can still get other STIs, so be prepared for that.

At the end of the day, we are all responsible for ourselves. After being stealthed on one occasion, I knew what I needed to do to protect my health. 

Sorry for the rant.