Prep questions

[Ken2809]

Hi all,

I'm an older guy who just had a breakup of a lomgterm relationship and am thinking of going on prep so that I can finally fuck like I want: I.e. bare. Can you guys who are on prep share your stories with me? It would be very helpful and I’d be very grateful.  Anything about side effects, STI’s, are you happy to be on prep? How has it improved your sex life?  Anything else you would like to share would be very helpful. Thx in advance. 

[BootmanLA]

56 minutes ago, Ken2809 said:

Hi all,

I'm an older guy who just had a breakup of a lomgterm relationship and am thinking of going on prep so that I can finally fuck like I want: I.e. bare. Can you guys who are on prep share your stories with me? It would be very helpful and I’d be very grateful.  Anything about side effects, STI’s, are you happy to be on prep? How has it improved your sex life?  Anything else you would like to share would be very helpful. Thx in advance. 

I'm sure you'll get a number of responses that are more based on personal experience than mine could be (as I am on HIV treatment, not PrEP), but I would throw out a few things for you to consider.

1. PrEP doesn't do anything, as you probably know, to prevent any STI with the exception of HIV. In fact, if you're moving from condom-using sex to bare sex with PrEP, and especially if you're going to be expanding the universe of your sexual partners, the likelihood of getting an STI along the way go up considerably. That said, it's hard to say just how much, because it largely depends on what the STI picture is where you live - or where you visit, if you travel and have sex while traveling.

2. It used to be easy to cover the side effects of PrEP because until not long ago, there was essentially only one form of PrEP - the one we know by the brand name Truvada. While not everyone experienced side effects at all, those who did typically had a limited range of issues (though there were always odd cases where a particular person's body reacted differently than anyone else's). Descovy introduced a new wrinkle, because although its ingredients and Truvada's were almost identical, one of the two active ingredients was a slightly different compound - one that had fewer side effects in some areas but at least one that was more common. There's now injectable versions of PrEP as well, but they're newer and less is known about them. And Truvada's formulation is now available in many places as a generic drug, too.

3. I would imagine that virtually everyone who's on PrEP will report that it's very much a net positive - the sex is more pleasurable, you can relax about worries like condoms breaking, and so forth. The drawback for the longest time was cost - until most insurance companies began to cover it, it was expensive. There are people who complain about having to take a pill daily (or having to plan ahead and take PrEP before and after sex, which is even more complex).

But those are just what I expect the responses to address - I'm sure others will have considerably more detail to add, particularly about how various PrEP options affected their bodies.

[DallasPozzible]

PrEP has been a godsend for me. From ‘85 until I started PrEP (about 2016?), I was a condom nazi. But I remember many times catching guys pulling off the condom or saying “the condom broke.” I’ve had no side effects from either Truvada or Descovey. I did get one dose of chlamydia. However, my doc has added DoxyPEP to my regimen (doxycycline to take after sex) which greatly reduces risk of getting an STI. I HIGHLY recommend getting on both PrEP and PEP.

[hntnhole]

The only (smallish) issue I've experienced with Descovy, is occasional looseness of the bowels.  I eat really healthy (or as healthy as I know how - u-no-hoo) - so it's not that big a deal for me.  

[GuelphGuy72]

The first couple of weeks my stomach was off.  Since then I have had no noticeable issues.  I am very happy to be on PrEP.  It has allowed me to play bareback with minimal worry.