"I bet there’s a significant overlap between PrEP users and people getting their third booster"
Oh I'm sure there is, in the gay community there's a lot of deference to the medical system. There's a general sensibility of 'science is correct' (whatever that abstraction means) and animosity towards people who are seen as anti-science (like conservative people or religious people). So gay men in general see the medical system as their great benefactors. When you go on any number of the various social apps for gay men, it's quite common to see on someone's profile what vaccinations they've had (covid, covid boosters, monkeypox vax, hepatitis vax, and I've also seen HPV listed), in addition to PrEP status. Add to that when people were last tested for the various STIs. And going one step further there's now 'DoxyPrEP' where very sexually active guys are using doxycycline pre-emptively during bouts of high sexual activity to prevent bacterial STIs.
Just did a search on Twitter for DoxyPrEP and many posts just like this show up.
"It’s that time again!! Quarterly labs & STI screens for HIV PrEP. Also spoke with my provider to ask about taking Doxycycline daily for PrEP against gonorrhea and chlamydia. She wrote me a RX and I’ll start it next week! 🥰"
It's also interesting to do a Twitter search for #PrEP #sideeffects, you get posts like this:
"4th day on #PrEP and some initial #sideeffects make me question if this treatment is for me..."
"The side of PrEP they don't tell you about: randomly being sick with no apparent trigger. 5 months into a 3 year course, it's definitely less frequent now but so irritating. #PrEP #sideeffects #medtwitter"
"Start PrEP 2 days ago, ears ringing constantly, thought I had inner ear infection, LOL. Thank god the ringing stopped today, day 3. LOL :) #PrEP #Truvada #BluePill #SideEffects #GetTested #NoSTDsInForever #YayMe"
"I started #PrEP. My dr advised against the #generic (b/c #sideeffects). It costs $2335/ month. Insurance pays all but $350. I have a “coupon” from the drug manufacturer that covers the rest. This says something about the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industries, right?"
"I accidentally forgot to take my PrEP yesterday. I took it today finally... we’ll see how tonight’s nightmares will be 😕 #Prep #truvada #sideeffects #medication #nightmares"
"MOSAIC Consortium @MOSAICproj Dec 31, 2019
"We found that 6 out of 10 current #PrEP users had experienced #sideeffects when they first started using oral PrEP. When asked what drove them to keep using it, users referred to a deep-seated desire to protect themselves and stay healthy: http://bit.ly/2r5jJ9b"
"Outrage Magazine @outragemag Feb 21
#LGBTQIA men who may use #HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis #PrEP prefer long-acting injections over pills, but rank #sideeffects and costs as the most important issues."
Have to laugh - sardonically - at Mr. Fazal’s “health 101” comment. I’m no fan of insurance companies and their practice of micromanaging healthcare from afar; but, in the broad sense there’s no doubt they have more information about risky lifestyles than he or I or anyone reading this. Risk assessment is their entire business.
That’s actually an extremely important point. I worked as a student actuary for a year (not my thing) and they are VERY on top of things because of the financial motivation. It’s not inconceivable that they understand the risks inherent in taking toxic chemotherapy indefinitely.
Of course, as you have shown in your work, taking PrEP is itself a lifestyle risk, so maybe that insurance company is onto something after all!
Again, that’s a great point.
Many if not most of the PrEP users I know also use crystal meth.
Interesting. Is it that common?
"I bet there’s a significant overlap between PrEP users and people getting their third booster"
Oh I'm sure there is, in the gay community there's a lot of deference to the medical system. There's a general sensibility of 'science is correct' (whatever that abstraction means) and animosity towards people who are seen as anti-science (like conservative people or religious people). So gay men in general see the medical system as their great benefactors. When you go on any number of the various social apps for gay men, it's quite common to see on someone's profile what vaccinations they've had (covid, covid boosters, monkeypox vax, hepatitis vax, and I've also seen HPV listed), in addition to PrEP status. Add to that when people were last tested for the various STIs. And going one step further there's now 'DoxyPrEP' where very sexually active guys are using doxycycline pre-emptively during bouts of high sexual activity to prevent bacterial STIs.
Just did a search on Twitter for DoxyPrEP and many posts just like this show up.
"It’s that time again!! Quarterly labs & STI screens for HIV PrEP. Also spoke with my provider to ask about taking Doxycycline daily for PrEP against gonorrhea and chlamydia. She wrote me a RX and I’ll start it next week! 🥰"
It's also interesting to do a Twitter search for #PrEP #sideeffects, you get posts like this:
"4th day on #PrEP and some initial #sideeffects make me question if this treatment is for me..."
"The side of PrEP they don't tell you about: randomly being sick with no apparent trigger. 5 months into a 3 year course, it's definitely less frequent now but so irritating. #PrEP #sideeffects #medtwitter"
"Start PrEP 2 days ago, ears ringing constantly, thought I had inner ear infection, LOL. Thank god the ringing stopped today, day 3. LOL :) #PrEP #Truvada #BluePill #SideEffects #GetTested #NoSTDsInForever #YayMe"
"I started #PrEP. My dr advised against the #generic (b/c #sideeffects). It costs $2335/ month. Insurance pays all but $350. I have a “coupon” from the drug manufacturer that covers the rest. This says something about the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industries, right?"
"I accidentally forgot to take my PrEP yesterday. I took it today finally... we’ll see how tonight’s nightmares will be 😕 #Prep #truvada #sideeffects #medication #nightmares"
"MOSAIC Consortium @MOSAICproj Dec 31, 2019
"We found that 6 out of 10 current #PrEP users had experienced #sideeffects when they first started using oral PrEP. When asked what drove them to keep using it, users referred to a deep-seated desire to protect themselves and stay healthy: http://bit.ly/2r5jJ9b"
"Outrage Magazine @outragemag Feb 21
#LGBTQIA men who may use #HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis #PrEP prefer long-acting injections over pills, but rank #sideeffects and costs as the most important issues."
Thank you for this. I posted about DoxyPrEP just now. It had flown under my radar until you mentioned it so THANK YOU!
Have to laugh - sardonically - at Mr. Fazal’s “health 101” comment. I’m no fan of insurance companies and their practice of micromanaging healthcare from afar; but, in the broad sense there’s no doubt they have more information about risky lifestyles than he or I or anyone reading this. Risk assessment is their entire business.
That’s actually an extremely important point. I worked as a student actuary for a year (not my thing) and they are VERY on top of things because of the financial motivation. It’s not inconceivable that they understand the risks inherent in taking toxic chemotherapy indefinitely.