Are there other bottoms that like bare but not wanting pozzed?

[seaguy]

I like bareback sex and know that there are risks involved so when I do bareback I try and do what I can to reduce the risk if possible. Because if I ever do get pozzed I would prefer to hold it off until as late into my life as possible, since I would rather not have to deal with the medical issues that being HIV+ entails. I think some of the younger guys on here who are gung ho about getting pozzed don't really think about all the issues they may face. Just the other day I heard on the news that HIV+ patients have a higher risk of not getting a cancer diagnosis caught early, and catching cancer early is important. They just think you take a pill daily and everything is fine. I honestly don't understand why someone wants HIV, but I am believe in live and let live.

[NLbear]

I agree with seaguy. I try to limit the risks as well, but you never know. It only takes one hit to attract HIV and your life can change dramatically. Especially in Europe. In the US you can get on the PrEP program. In Europe you cannot because it hasn't been approved yet. Some EU nitwits state the program hasn't proved itself yet or hasn't proven to be safe to use (but maybe Beartbandit can elaborate on that, being closer to information available on this). Even it were approved in the EU it is not sure your insurance company would cover it. And in NL you can change insurance company only once a year, in December for the following year. I doubt it would be covered by the basic insurance you can buy, but it would probably be in the extended insurance, which makes it expensive for people on low incomes (which would be me being out of a job at the moment with no prospect of getting one).

[bearbandit]

I can only attempt to explain for the UK: the body that controls drugs takes little notice of what other nations have found so we regularly get medications approves a year or two after they've been approved in the USA. As an example dolutegravir has been available in the USA for some months now, yet it's not expected to be available in the UK until next year. I've little experience, really only hearsay, of how the private sector handles drugs (except that they're always at full price - a rich bitch has got to make her money somehow). Citizenship of the UK automatically means you're entitled to National Health Service treatment in any of the four countries. In Scotland and Wales, prescription drugs are free, I don't know about Northern Ireland, and in England there's a charge of about £8 or so per item which can be heavy on the pocket if, like me, you have a double figure on the items on your prescription list. For that reason there's an option to buy a "season ticket" costing about £100 to cover a year's fees. When I last lived in England, my local clinic was giving the season tickets out free.

Depending on the hospital you use, you can get medications for "off label" use which implies that you could with a lot of screaming and shouting get truvada prescribed. My late partner was prescribed interferon off label as an immune booster. I even learned how to do sub-cutaneous injections to save a nurse from having to visit. Getting medication off label isn't easy but it is possible. With truvada, it would be useful to have a positive partner, with a viral load above 1,000, who is repulsed by condoms to bring along to appointments.

There are eight test centres in the UK (I think all in England) where it might be easier to get fitted into the PROUD study as a latecomer. But I'm afraid that the more common response is going to be to make sure your partner's viral load is undetectable (TasP - treatment as protection). But then the thought comes a lack of faith in TasP could justify off label prescription of truvada. Shit, but the health service is in a mess all over the UK!

[Guest beezee]

I can only attempt to explain for the UK: the body that controls drugs takes little notice of what other nations have found so we regularly get medications approves a USA for some months now, yet it's not expected to be available in the UK until next year.

The difference is usually due to who pays for the drug. In the case of dolutegravir the Europeans approved it just a few months after the US. The difference is, in the US the regulatory agency is responsible for verifying the drug works and is safe. They don't care what it costs. The drugs get paid for (or not) by insurance companies who all individually decide what's covered.

Outside the US it's the taxpayer who funds drugs so it's only fair that there's a process where someone decides if the drug works so much better (in terms of health gained) to justify the extra cost (£6000/year for dolutegravir from memory). The six months it took to work this out for England / Scotland seemed pretty quick to me.

PrEP won't be available in publicly funded systems (pretty much everywhere outside the US) until someone shows in the same way that it's cost effective. You or me saying that it's cost effective isn't good enough :-(.

[fskn]

The difference is, in the US the regulatory agency is responsible for verifying the drug works and is safe. They don't care what it costs. The drugs get paid for (or not) by insurance companies who all individually decide what's covered.

While it's true that drugs receive regulatory approval in the US on the basis of safety and efficacy, not cost, US insurers in cannot, in practice, pick-and-choose which FDA-approved drugs to cover.

They can offer little or no coverage for all prescription drugs, charge more for brand-name drugs, or publish a formulary listing covered drugs for by medical condition.

Otherwise, they have to write categorical exceptions into their insurance contracts. For example, all US insurance contracts exempt experimental (not-yet-approved) drugs, and virtually all exempt any drugs and services for gender reassignment. Categorical exceptions usually name a medical condition, not a drug or class of drugs.

Historically, in the US context, where patients had to switch insurance plans frequently (due to job changes, family status changes, or lack of access to funds), strict economics favored discouraging use of preventive drugs or services, on the assumption that the cost of treating a disease would fall to some future insurer. This is why the US has, among developed countries, very low vaccination rates.

Edited July 6, 2014 by fskn
Typos/clarity

[omver]

I love getting bred but I also don't want to be poz. I know the risks and know it could happen. I limit who I have sex with (2-3 guys atm) to the best I can, but some times I just get a bit piggy and let loos (like 2-3 times a year and it's mostly BJ's). Hopping to by the end of the year to get on prep (no doctor or health insurance atm), but if by then I happen to get tested and it comes back poz then I'll just have to start a new chapter in life and live with my choices (which means no more sex with my best friend who is amazing in bed).

So yeah, that's how I feel about it. Don't want it but if it does happen it happens.

[dbnyuc]

I'm diabetic and don't need another lifelong medication - but I love taking loads. I use every reasonable method of reducing my risk, from serosorting to PrEP to monogamy. I accept the risks and try to fuck smart. I assume that my partners have the best intentions but are still error-prone humans, and when I prepare for the worst I don't resent them for it.

...Well, most of them are human. >:-)

[Chubottom]

I love the feeling of BB but since I have CFS since more than 20 years, I certainly don't want another debilitating chronic illness, so I use condoms until I find my man for a monogamous relationship to do BB. (hopefully I find him soon because I'm really becoming frustrated...)

[wood]

While it's true that drugs receive regulatory approval in the US on the basis of safety and efficacy, not cost, US insurers in cannot, in practice, pick-and-choose which FDA-approved drugs to cover.

They can offer little or no coverage for all prescription drugs, charge more for brand-name drugs, or publish a formulary listing covered drugs for by medical condition.

Otherwise, they have to write categorical exceptions into their insurance contracts. For example, all US insurance contracts exempt experimental (not-yet-approved) drugs, and virtually all exempt any drugs and services for gender reassignment. Categorical exceptions usually name a medical condition, not a drug or class of drugs.

Historically, in the US context, where patients had to switch insurance plans frequently (due to job changes, family status changes, or lack of access to funds), strict economics favored discouraging use of preventive drugs or services, on the assumption that the cost of treating a disease would fall to some future insurer. This is why the US has, among developed countries, very low vaccination rates.

In a real twist of irony, both medicare, and prison healthcare plans will cover gender reassignment surgery.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/ban-lifted-on-medicare-coverage-for-sex-change-surgery/2014/05/30/28bcd122-e818-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html

[wood]

I love getting bred but I also don't want to be poz. I know the risks and know it could happen. I limit who I have sex with (2-3 guys atm) to the best I can, but some times I just get a bit piggy and let loos (like 2-3 times a year and it's mostly BJ's). Hopping to by the end of the year to get on prep (no doctor or health insurance atm), but if by then I happen to get tested and it comes back poz then I'll just have to start a new chapter in life and live with my choices (which means no more sex with my best friend who is amazing in bed).

So yeah, that's how I feel about it. Don't want it but if it does happen it happens.

You are in the US. There is ZERO reason for you not to be on PrEP if you are having condomless sex.

[omver]

You are in the US. There is ZERO reason for you not to be on PrEP if you are having condomless sex.

You do not know my circumstances right now as to why I am not on PrEP. Please do not say I have zero reasons. One reason is I can't afford it. I have no insurance. AT ALL. State or otherwise I just can't afford it.

Also, I just recently started looking into going on PrEP. Getting on it isn't over night. When I go get tested in the coming 1-3 weeks I will ask who tests me about it and any programs there may be in WI for PrEP.

[wood]

You do not know my circumstances right now as to why I am not on PrEP. Please do not say I have zero reasons. One reason is I can't afford it. I have no insurance. AT ALL. State or otherwise I just can't afford it.

Also, I just recently started looking into going on PrEP. Getting on it isn't over night. When I go get tested in the coming 1-3 weeks I will ask who tests me about it and any programs there may be in WI for PrEP.

I say that because I do outreach for PrEP and there are enough programs out there that almost everyone can get it a very low cost. I have a friend who has no income and gets it for free. So its very possible.

[curiouspuppy429]

How do you get it and what are thesie effects?

[wood]

How do you get it and what are thesie effects?

any doctor, and most have little to no side effects. The PrEP forum has alot more info.

http://www.prepwatch.org/

[Guest Seattlebottom]

I wanted to go bareback but I didn't want to become poz so I asked my doctor and got on Prep.  The great thing about King County in Seattle is that it's free here.  If you have insurance most will cover all but a few hundred dollars and then the county pays the rest.  If you have no insurance than the program pays the entire cost.  It's unfortunate that more places aren't going this direction.  See if you can't find programs in your area.