Day 340: World AIDS Day

Hey all, I thought today of all days was an appropriate time for me to check in with everyone. Today is World AIDS Day, and I just wanted to take a minute and talk about what this day means to me. As a man who has taken the step to take PrEP, I feel this day is a terrific reminder about why I take my Truvada every day, and why I feel it is such an important tool in our arsenal to fight HIV/AIDS. So many lives have been lost to the epidemic, PrEP is a great step to ensure I will not become one of those numbers.

As a partner in a Serodiscordant Relationship, the reality of HIV is present to me in my everyday life. World AIDS day reminds us how far we have come due to Antiretroviral medications, but is also a reminder of how far we still have to go with no cure those living with HIV, are doing so everyday of their life.

The other way I think about World AIDS Day is as an artist. It amazes me how many performers, artists, and bright artistic minds were lost to AIDS. An entire generation of mentors, and inspiration to future generations wiped out. As an actor and director I mourn the progress in theatre and art as a whole that was stalled by AIDS. It was with this thought in mind that my partner decided to try something new for this years World AIDS Day. We wanted to create a visual spectacle on Art Hill in St. Louis, right in front of our art museum. He decided to go big and we were going to make an attempt at the world record for the most candles light in one place at one time. We had 13,000 candles and bags for the luminaries, we had almost 4000 pounds of sand to hold those bags down and we had an amazing crew of volunteers to help us spell out the word AIDS in candles. The letters were 100 feet tall and it was 200 feet across. When we showed up at 12:30 this morning, we got things started, and so did mother nature. For the next four hours, our crew battled freezing rain and sleet and temperatures of 20 degrees, but we got the letters outlined, only to find out that the weather was not going to let up, and we couldn't get the candles lit. It was a devastating blow, but in a way seemed somewhat appropriate. what better way to honor that lost art, than with an incomplete art installment. It seemed symbolic of the struggle that we face as humanity with this disease, we are making progress, but we've still got a long way to go. But with tools like PrEP, we can and will put an end to HIV/AIDS.

Thank you all for taking the time and reading this. As far as my life with PrEP is going, I am feeling great almost a year into this journey. As always I would love to hear from you all if you have comments or questions.

Day 102: Party Drug?!?!?

HI everyone, it’s been a pretty busy week here for me, and I thought this as good of a time as any to check in with you all. As I write this, we are currently making our dissent into Atlanta, Georgia. Aaron and I were selected to be part of a photo shoot for the CDC in regards to compliance with HIV medications. While this is not directly addressing PrEP, adherence to medication is a vital part of my prevention life. Both my adherence to PrEP and my partner’s compliance with his Anti-retroviral regimen are important factors in my ability to remaining HIV negative. So I’m very excited to lend my voice and my face to this campaign. I also got a new job with a promotion company, which is very exciting and welcome news in my world.

Another important part of this past week was an event I went to that addressed Missouri’s HIV criminalization laws. It seems absurd to me that technically, in spite of any safety measures we might take, by his being with me, my partner is in Missouri a criminal for exposing me to HIV. These laws are clearly antiquated and really do need to be addressed. It’s not just Missouri that has laws like this criminalizing and basically forcing people with HIV into an abstinent life, there are more than half of the states in this country that have laws like that. DUMB.

Speaking of DUMB, I am brought to my final and perhaps most pressing topic of discussion. There was an article in today’s USA Today that talks about the debate that exists about PrEP. Now the fact that there is still a debate about whether PrEP is an effective tool in preventing new HIV infections is asinine in my opinion. Now the debate about whether PrEP is an effective prevention tool for EVERYONE, that seems to be more appropriate. No, I don’t think PrEP is right for everybody. But there was one comment in this article that really blew me away. Michael Weinstein, the head of AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation) made the comment “If something comes along that’s better than condoms, I’m all for it, but Truvada is not that. Let’s be honest: It’s a party drug.” So, there are SO MANY issues I take with this, especially as someone who takes Truvada as PrEP.

First of all, I have no idea what kinds of parties Mr. Weinstein is going to, but Truvada resembles nothing to any other party drugs I know about. In fact, it takes a few days for the Truvada to build up in your system. It’s not something you can just pop and go. In fact Truvada as PrEP helps promote a healthy lifestyle. It requires an HIV test every three months in order to obtain the prescription. But even more than attacking the drug, he just alienated anyone who takes Truvada and shames them for wanting to stay safe while having an intimate physical relationship. Yes, there are still risks related with unprotected sex, even while on PrEP, any other STDs are not prevented by PrEP and that is something to consider. HOWEVER, if condom only prevention were an effective tool, we wouldn’t still be getting new infections. But we are, and the people who are choosing to take Truvada are doing so because we want an extra layer of protection. We are not the ignorant party boys that Mr. Weinstein makes us out to be, but people who are taking their health into their own hands, if we are smart enough to assess the risk of HIV we are smart enough to asses the risk of other STDs as well, and if we determine there is a risk, I’m sure just as taking Truvada supplements our prevention regimen in the case of HIV, a condom will help supplement our protection regimen from those. But I think we deserve a little more credit.

That’s all I have for you right now. As always please share this with anyone who might appreciate it and any questions or comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading and have a GREAT day.

Day 80: No News is Good News, but so is Good News

Hey everyone, thanks for once again visiting "Let's Talk About PrEP." It has been 80 days now since I began taking Truvada as PrEP, almost 3 months. Last week I had my three month check in with my doctor. You see, when you take Truvada, there is a limit of 3 months to each prescription. Each new prescription is dependent upon a negative HIV test.

So I went in and visited my doctor and she decided that in addition to the HIV test she wanted to take a look at y liver enzymes, to make sure nothing is being effected by the medication. While I was talking to her, my doctor mentioned that she was surprised how few of her patients were on PrEP, and how she wanted to get more people on it. I talked to her about this blog as well as some other resources for those who were thinking about the sue of PrEP. The more the word gets out, the more people will be able to be protected. One thing we spoke about that might be a deterrent for some people is the commitment to take a pill every day. That leads me to one of the exciting pieces of news that came out last week that researchers are getting close to the development of an injection that could replace the daily pill. and this injection you would only have to get once every 3 months. I know for me this would be preferable to trying to remember a pill every day, and it might encourage more people to consider PrEP.

Anyway back to the doctor's visit. I have to say that this was by far the calmest I have ever been when getting an HIV test, because I knew I was if anything OVER protected. And this is the first time I haven't waited anxiously by the phone for a call. I knew if something abnormal came up I would get a call, but no news came my way, and I was okay with that. No news in this case is very good news.

Then there was another announcement that came out that a study that has been going for two years has found that no undetectable partner, gay or straight has transmitted HIV to their partner. Exciting news. and important in understanding HIV transmission and the laws that correspond to it. You can read more about this study here.

Alright, that's all I have for now, as always, thanks for visiting. Any feedback is always appreciated, and if you have any questions I would be happy to field them. Make sure to keep spreading that word about PrEP to anyone who might benefit from it. An easy conversation starter... "Let's Talk about PrEP."

Day 57 Checking in

Welcome back everyone. It's been a while since I've last posted so I thought I'd check in with you all. I'm doing great as far as my PrEP experience is going. There have been zero side effects to report and I just cannot express how much more at ease life seems to be without that ever present fear of infection hovering over my life. I have my first post-PrEP HIV test coming up here in a few weeks, but i feel it will be the least stressful test I have ever had.

I'm excited also to say that I am now a published writer. I have an essay about Let's Talk About PrEP in this month's A & U Magazine! You can check it out at aumag.com. It's a short little essay but it's great to continue to get the word out about PrEP. Word of mouth is going to be one of the biggest ways to get people informed about the opportunity that is available.

One last thing, I received a message from a friend of mine from college, Ellen, who wrote me, "Hi Phil! I've been loving your PrEP blogs and I was catching up on them today and wanted to pass on some info that some of your readers might appreciate. Having worked in a hospital/clinic setting as a social worker I've helped a number of families access the prescription assistance programs available through the various pharmaceutical companies and have run into issues at times based on where a patient is going for care. Not all clinics are willing to assist their patients in the prescription assistance programs because the medication is almost always sent to the clinic (as yours is). Not all clinics are willing to have the meds sent to them to distribute. This can be a big barrier for folks who are trying to use these programs." This once again makes me so grateful to have the great care that I am receiving. I really do encourage anyone looking into PrEP to do some research in finding out if your clinic is willing to work with you to get medicated.  If they are not willing to work with you, it might be time to make a switch. This is great feedback Ellen, thanks. 

Well that's all I really have for right now. As always, I welcome any feedback, questions, or comments. Is there anything you are curious about that I might be able to shed some light on? Is there information that you think other readers would be interested in hearing? Please let me know. I want this blog to be an open forum for everyone. Thanks again for reading!

Day 21: Why PrEP

Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting Let’s Talk About PrEP. This is day 21 of my experience taking Truvada as PrEP and so far, things are going really well. No side effects to talk about and life seems to be business as usual. So I want to take this opportunity to talk about why I decided to start using PrEP. Now I said in my first post that there would be sometimes I would be discussing my sex life in this blog, and that I would warn you if that were coming, so… WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! Here it comes, if you happen to be a parental figure in my life, or if you view me as that big or little brother, or if the idea of my sex life makes you uncomfortable, thanks for reading and you probably want to stop reading after this paragraph. Now this is not to say this is going to turn into a pornographic blog by any means, so I don’t want to scare anybody off, but what parent really wants to read anything about their son’s sex life?

Ok now that that little bit is out of the way, back to the question at hand. Why PrEP? Why would a healthy, young man decide to take a pretty substantial medication every single day? It ended up being a decision I made after considering several factors. The most prominent factor in my choice was intimacy. For the past two and a half years I have been in a serodiscordant relationship. When we started dating, my partner was very up-front about his status. But he was amazing and I was determined not to allow something like HIV status to be a defining factor in our relationship. We decided it just meant we needed to be very careful and vigilant when it came to sex. But fact of the matter is when being safe is always in the back of your mind there is a certain level of intimacy that was eventually missing. I am versatile, I enjoy being the top and bottom, but my boyfriend hated wearing a condom, so I ended up primarily as the top in our relationship when we actually had sex. But the fear of transmission always stood in the way of a healthy sex life, even with a condom the fear of it breaking and the lack of intimacy made me question the traditional message of “the only way to protect yourself is a condom.”

I know it may ruffle a few feathers when I say; there is a certain level of closeness with bareback sex that, for me, could not be achieved when wearing a condom. With a partner who is undetectable, the probability of transmission is already pretty low. But when you add in the 99% protection rate of Truvada, the likelihood of HIV transmission basically becomes negligible. Now, all of the guides recommend using condoms while still being on Truvada. But I feel that by taking PrEP in combination with my partner’s undetectable status I am doing my part to be safe, while still allowing us to truly enjoy our sex life without condoms.

The other thing that PrEP does is allows me to have control in my protection. There are some medical professionals who look at my situation and even with the idea of bareback sex; they might say taking Truvada is an unnecessary precaution. However being on PrEP insures that I am in control of protection, I trust my partner and trust that he will be compliant with his treatment but this allows me to feel like I am not strictly dependant on his compliance to be protected.

Another great thing that Truvada gives me is peace of mind. Every three months when I would go in to get an HIV test (since I was in a “high risk situation”) both of us were nervous wrecks. There was still that fear in the back of both of our minds that something had gone wrong despite precautions we had taken. The addition of PrEP to our regimen really does give us peace of mind, which makes our sex lives a lot better.

PrEP might not be right for you. You might not be the kind of person who is able to or wants to take a pill every day. Maybe you are not in a situation where you are at risk of contracting HIV. Maybe you use condoms EVERY SINGLE TIME you have a sexual encounter. But for me Truvada allows me somethings I would not have otherwise.

Thanks once again for reading. I would love any feedback you might have for me. Tell me of your own PrEP experiences. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. And as always feel free to share this with anyone else you think would find this useful or interesting.

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.