Ok, so I admit it, at times I forget that my frat boy, college days are well behind me. I'm not that same boy who would drink Jack Daniels just as easily as water (and did it on a fairly regular basis). But there are nights I still like to go out and have a few drinks and at least reminisce about the glory days at Hugh's Jungle Room (a biker/karaoke bar in Des Moines). Last night was one of those nights. I was out having a drink... or several drinks... and enjoying some local drag. I brought my TRUVADA with me since I have begun to take it at 10:30 at night and want to remain consistent with that choice. At 10:30 I took the medication and carried on with the rest of my night, not thinking too much of it since I read every piece of information that came with my medication, and nowhere in any of the information did I see any warning about interaction with alcohol.
Then this morning hit and so did my hangover! I have had hangovers before, oddly they have become more prevalent as I get older... But I digress, NEVER have I experienced a hangover like this. And I thought I was being good last night, comparatively. What I failed to take into account is that my liver is already working overtime now that I have started taking PrEP, and I just demanded even more of it last night. My body was not pleased with me. While there wasn't really an interaction with the alcohol, there was more to consider every time I said "yes" to a shot that I didn't even think about.
So here I am, in bed still, at 3:45 in the afternoon nursing this awful hangover, and realizing I might need to take it a bit easier. I'm asking a lot of my body already, I don't need to be that much harder on it. Live and learn, and now I know. And in the heroic words of G.I. Joe, "Knowing's half the battle." Thanks for taking the time to read. I've got some more posts on tap, but I though this was also something worth sharing. Feel free to follow me and share this with anyone you think would be interested. Also please feel free to add a comment below. What would you like to see me write about? Have you had similar experiences? Any questions or comments are very welcome.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Day 1- Who are you? And What is PrEP?
Hello everybody and thank you for reading the very first entry in my blog, "Let's Talk About PrEP," a blog chronicling my experiences using Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. Through this blog I plan to cover several topics including: Why I chose to go on PrEP, The process of attaining PrEP, the stigma that goes along with being on PrEP, and my own personal journey as I use PrEP. I also would love for this blog to be a resource for others. I have decided to begin this blog right from the very start of my journey so I can create the most complete picture of the PrEP experience possible.
But this is day one, so let me start with a simple introduction to myself as well as an introduction to PrEP. My name is Phil Gill and I am currently an unemployed theatre person. I graduated in December of 2013 with an M.F.A. in directing. I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my partner and our beagle. I am the HIV negative part of a serodiscordant or magnetic relationship, where one member of the relationship is HIV negative and the other member is HIV positive. It is very important to me that the serodiscordance of our relationship is not the defining factor in our relationship. This is where PrEP, comes in for me.
PrEP is short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. It is a medication that someone who is HIV negative can take to help prevent infection. The only drug that is approved for use as PrEP at this time is TRUVADA (tru-VAH-dah). Now TRUVADA is used with other antiviral medications to treat HIV positive patients, but has also been found to be effective in reducing the risk of getting HIV in men who have sex with men as well as hetrosexual couples where one partner has HIV and the other does not. The medication guide continually states that TRUVADA does not cure HIV infections. For more information about TRUVADA as PrEP go to http://start.truvada.com/individual.
PLEASE NOTE: Nowhere in my introduction to myself does it at all say anything about me being a medical professional. I am not anything close to a medical professional, I've never even played doctor. I am simply a man who has decided to talk about his experience using PrEP in order to get the word out about it, to document my experiences and to potentially help out anyone who might be interested in learning more about PrEP. Odds are if you have medically specific questions, I'll direct you to a website or to your doctor. I might not have your answer, but i will try hard to guide you to someone who does.
Also know that since PrEP is designed to help prevent the spread of a sexually transmitted disease, there may be times my sex life is discussed. If you do not care to know about my sex life, this might not be the blog for you to read. I will try not to be too explicit and I will try to warn you if something like that is contained in a post.
So that's all I have for you right now, but please feel free to leave me feedback, what topics would you like me to discuss? Are you currently on PrEP? How is your experience with it?
Also please share this with anyone you think would be interested in this blog. Thanks for reading.
But this is day one, so let me start with a simple introduction to myself as well as an introduction to PrEP. My name is Phil Gill and I am currently an unemployed theatre person. I graduated in December of 2013 with an M.F.A. in directing. I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my partner and our beagle. I am the HIV negative part of a serodiscordant or magnetic relationship, where one member of the relationship is HIV negative and the other member is HIV positive. It is very important to me that the serodiscordance of our relationship is not the defining factor in our relationship. This is where PrEP, comes in for me.
PrEP is short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. It is a medication that someone who is HIV negative can take to help prevent infection. The only drug that is approved for use as PrEP at this time is TRUVADA (tru-VAH-dah). Now TRUVADA is used with other antiviral medications to treat HIV positive patients, but has also been found to be effective in reducing the risk of getting HIV in men who have sex with men as well as hetrosexual couples where one partner has HIV and the other does not. The medication guide continually states that TRUVADA does not cure HIV infections. For more information about TRUVADA as PrEP go to http://start.truvada.com/individual.
PLEASE NOTE: Nowhere in my introduction to myself does it at all say anything about me being a medical professional. I am not anything close to a medical professional, I've never even played doctor. I am simply a man who has decided to talk about his experience using PrEP in order to get the word out about it, to document my experiences and to potentially help out anyone who might be interested in learning more about PrEP. Odds are if you have medically specific questions, I'll direct you to a website or to your doctor. I might not have your answer, but i will try hard to guide you to someone who does.
Also know that since PrEP is designed to help prevent the spread of a sexually transmitted disease, there may be times my sex life is discussed. If you do not care to know about my sex life, this might not be the blog for you to read. I will try not to be too explicit and I will try to warn you if something like that is contained in a post.
So that's all I have for you right now, but please feel free to leave me feedback, what topics would you like me to discuss? Are you currently on PrEP? How is your experience with it?
Also please share this with anyone you think would be interested in this blog. Thanks for reading.
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