Crystal and HIV

Sex! Sex!! Sex!!! and Speed!

The man you’ve been fantasizing about since you were a budding baby fag has just walked into the erotic temple of choice: your bedroom, the curtained backroom of a bar’s once-a-week lights out party, that open-all-weekend sex club, the conveniently out of town bathhouse.

This sex god looks like the kind of man you want to give you the ass pounding of your life and, from what you can see, he carries the right tools to make this possibility a reality. As an added bonus, you’ve got the favors and are willing to share. You’ve obviously done your best to lure him in because he saunters right up to you and starts to peel out of his jeans or his briefs or to drop the towel. You can see that he’s ready and you know that you’re more than ready. As you reach for it, the conversation begins:

Man of your Dreams:

“Let’s make this really hot.”

You:

“You need a line?”

Man of your Dreams:

“No, I slam and I only fuck bareback.”

That little light bulb in your head blinks on and you tell yourself: “He must be on PrEP, otherwise he wouldn’t want to fuck me raw.” Or, if you’re negative, “He must be undetectable or negative otherwise he wouldn’t fuck me raw.” Or “Tops don’t get HIV.”

Or “If he pulls out before he cums, it’ll be okay.” Or “With all the risks I’ve taken, I must be immune.
Or, possibly, you’re high enough that the light bulb blinks on and then off again so fast that you don’t have to think about any of this.

And it’s on.

For HIV positive guys who use crystal, the demanding lifestyle of the user can lead to a lapse in taking HIV medications. It’s a drag to get lectured by your doctor, so let us kindly plant the seed: not sticking to your meds isn’t good for you in terms of viral load and replication. Once you’ve made the decision to take HIV meds, taking them as they’re prescribed is basic to taking care of yourself.

Using crystal, even occasionally, can cause weight loss and vitamin depletion. Sleep is essential to maintaining the immune system and with crystal you can stay awake for days. You can do the math there, right? Give your body and brain a break once in a while; catnaps here and there are better than no sleep at all. Poor nutrition and lack of sleep aside, all by itself crystal causes a drop in CD4 cells. We’re not just laying that on you to scare you!

Research suggests that crystal takes a major toll on people who are have weakened immune systems. Some of the research links increased dopamine, one of the brain chemicals we flood ourselves with when we use, to increased HIV replication while other research shows that HIV-related dementia might be accelerated in poz folks who use meth.

Crystal Meth

Sex! Sex!! Sex!!! and Speed!

Man of your Dreams:

You:

Man of your Dreams:

And it’s on.

Crystal and HIV