Pleasure and Protect

Condoms are still the most effective barrier against all infections you can catch through sex, (known as sexually transmitted infections or STIs), and condoms also prevent pregnancy.

Condom use is your choice. But condoms not only reduce the risk of getting HIV but will also protect you from other sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

If you do not want to use condoms, there are options, so please contact your local sexual health clinic to talk about PrEP and PEP, but remember that these medications are ONLY effective against HIV, and not other STIs.

You can prevent passing on HIV to your partner by being on effective medical treatment.

You need to take medication given to you by a healthcare professional, and wait until you have an ‘undetectable viral load’.

This means no HIV can be seen in your blood. You can then safely have sex without a condom.

This should happen within 3 to 6 months of starting treatment, but everyone is different, and your medical team will guide you.

This is referred to as U=U or Undetectable = Untransmissible.

Using condoms if you don’t know the HIV status of your partner is the best way to prevent yourself from getting HIV, but condoms don’t always work. Sometimes you may prefer not to use condoms, or you might have already had sex and worry you have been exposed. 

If you have had unprotected sex or a condom has broken and this has happened in the last 72 hours, you can access a medication called PEP or PEPSE.

If you believe that a partner may be living with HIV or if you are unsure you can take a medication called PrEP or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.

Learn more here.

You can take medication to reduce your chance of getting HIV through sex.

You take this before and after you have sex. It is called Pre- Exposure Prophylaxis shortened to ‘PrEP’.

PrEP is free on the NHS.

(‘Prophylaxis’ is another word you might hear that means prevention).

PrEP is available for free on the NHS. You can get it from your GP, or from Sexual Health Clinics.

It is safe to take and most people don’t experience side effects.

Another option if you are HIV negative and you think you have already been at risk in the last 3 days, is Post-Exposure Prevention, shortened to PEP. (Prophylaxis is another word you might hear to which also means prevention)

This is a short course of HIV medicines taken very soon after a possible exposure to HIV to prevent the virus from taking hold in your body. You MUST start it within 72 hours (3 days) after a possible exposure to HIV, or it won’t work.

PrEP is a medication that can be taken by people who are not living with HIV. It can effectively stop HIV from replicating in your system if at any point you are exposed to HIV.

PrEP can be taken in different ways either 1 tablet taken daily (recommended for women) or taken when needed (on demand).

For “on-demand” PrEP use 2 tablets are taken 24 hours before sex, 1 tablet 24 hours after sex and then another 2 tablets taken 24 hours after that. (This type of PrEP use is not recommended for women as women must take PrEP daily for 7 days for it to be effective.)

PrEP side effects are very often minimal with few people experiencing nausea, headaches and some tiredness. Very occasionally PrEP can cause some kidney function issues.

PrEP is available on the NHS in the UK and can be accessed through your local Sexual health service which in Bristol is UNITY sexual health.

Everyone who is starting PrEP should undertake a screening by the Sexual Health Team so that they can be sure that they have a negative HIV test before starting treatment and to have urine sample taken to check kidney health.

For more information talk to UNITY either through the main sexual health clinic or by asking for advice when you come to a Common Ambition Bristol drop in Clinic.

For the HIV negative partner, PEP is a pill you take to stop you getting HIV, after you have sex.

PEP is available free on the NHS.

You can get PEP from your GP, Sexual Health clinics and A&E departments at weekends if needed. It is free on the NHS.

AGAIN, you MUST start it within 72 hours (3 days) after the time you had sex, or it won’t work. For example, if you had sex at 9pm on Wednesday night, you need to start taking it before 9pm on Saturday the same week.

Most people don’t experience side effects and PEP and PrEP are both very safe.

Follow the below links for more about PrEP and PEP.

https://prepster.info/qmoc-street-talk/
https://prepster.info/dateprep/

Treatment for HIV is called Anti-RetroViral medicine, shortened to ARV. These are medications that work by stopping the virus reproducing in the body.

The treatment aims to reduce your viral load (the amount of HIV in your blood) to “Undetectable” so that your health is protected, and the virus can not damage your immune system.

This also means you can’t pass HIV on through sex.

U=U (Undetectable = Untransmissible)

In the UK knowing your HIV status will mean you can prevent HIV being passed on to your baby. If you have HIV and are not on treatment, the risk of passing on HIV to your baby is abut 30%. This means if 100 women who have HIV have a baby, without being on treatment or taking any precautions about 30 of their babies will get HIV from them.

If they are all on treatment, this risk drops to less than 1%, so of those 100 women, only 1 of those babies would get it, or possibly even no babies at all.
In the UK the advice is usually not to breastfeed if you have HIV, as you can also pass on HIV through breastmilk.

If you have a positive HIV status and you are taking effective medical treatment you can become pregnant naturally, and give birth to a baby, without passing on HIV to your child. You should get tested and follow the advice of your healthcare team.
Every pregnant woman in the UK is offered an HIV test early on in their pregnancy. These tests are free of charge on the NHS.

If you have a positive HIV status you can take treatment to stop you from passing HIV on to your partner, which will prevent it being passed on to your baby. You should get tested, and speak to your healthcare team before you try to have a baby in order to do this as safely as possible.

HIV treatment is free to anyone living in the UK via the NHS.

Free treatment for HIV and sexual health services is not affected by age, gender, or immigration status.

You do not need to be registered with a GP and you do not need any official documents.

Your HIV status and treatment can also be kept completely confidential.

Treatment as Prevention (or TasP) is a term used to describe ways of preventing HIV being passed on to the rest of the population.

Antiretroviral TREATMENT is used by someone who is HIV positive to PREVENT the risk of passing HIV on to other people who are HIV negative. This is again, the same as U=U we saw above, Undetectable = Untransmissible

Lube is a great addition to the bedroom, it can be used by anyone, to add to the fun and pleasure of sex. You don’t have to wait until you’re dry before you use it.

Lube can increase sensations and pleasure in many ways, it helps when you’re dry yes, but it also can help things to taste, feel and look good. It can also help prevent condoms from breaking.

Lube can come in different flavours and can cause differing sensations. Think, cherry, strawberry, mint, tingle, chill, warm. Slip and slide and enjoy the ride!

Important: Not all lotions, potions and wet things can be used as lube. For example, oil in the bedroom can be great but it can cause condoms to break, it can also affect the body part it’s put on leading to dryness and it can disturb the PH balance of the vagina. This applies to massage oil, olive oil, virgin coconut oil and hair oil as well as other things like vaseline.

The temptation to use tasty foods as lube is one that has presented itself to many, but comes with the same pitfalls as oils.

Always be mindful of what you’re putting inside yours or your partner’s bodies. Authentic lubes are always safer and better to use for peace of mind, and let’s be honest for pleasure.

YES! That is the short and honest answer here. Having a positive diagnosis should not stop you from having a wonderful, pleasurable, enjoyable and active sex life. You deserve exactly the same levels of pleasure as any other person on the planet.

Remember, if you have HIV you are still at risk of getting the same other STI’s as anyone else, like chlamydia and gonnorrhoea. Like anyone else, be sexually responsible when you are sexually active, remember to use condoms to protect yourself and your partners, and test for STIs regularly.

Consent is key in any sexual activity. Everyone involved should be consenting at all times.
Nobody should feel uncomfortable or that they don’t want to continue and as soon as that happens sexual activity should STOP.

Remember you CAN SAY NO and stop consenting AT ANY POINT.

Sexual activity can include but isn’t limited to Kissing, touching, Oral sex, Vaginal sex, Anal sex, including insertive sex with a penis or any other type of object including a finger, sex toy etc.

Pay attention to verbal and non-verbal cues. Communicate with your partner, be sure that they actively consent and do not continue a sexual encounter without active consent.