How To Be Successful On PrEP? HIV Prevention | The Check Up | Jake Mossop

Hey everyone, welcome to this week’s check-up! And I have a special guest! Hey everyone I’m Adam. Who happens to also be a nurse. Yes, I have a masters of science of nursing, in administration. So very similar to Jakey. Yes Yes, We're talking about "How To Be Successful on PrEP" We’ve found that there is so much information out there on PrEP. But we just wanted to put a different spin on it.

To let people know who are on PrEP or who might be taking it in future, how they can be the most successful on this medication. We want you to know that if you take PrEP, that it’s so important for you to be taking it every single day. Every day.

You cannot miss one dose of it. As you take it you build up medication in your blood stream. And if you miss a day, miss two days. Is that the medication, active ingredient plummets, and you’re increasing your risk of exposure, and sero-converting if you are exposed.

Ya, and sero-converting means going from HIV Neg to HIV Pos. And so if you’re someone who, you know, misses taking your daily vitamin or you just don’t think that you’re organized enough to do something which is daily, then this is probably not the best option for you. So another way for you to be successful on PrEP, is to….

Surprise surprise….still use condoms!!! It’s very shocking, but dick does not naturally taste like cherry! But one thing to keep in mind with that, with PrEP and truvada. IS that it’s only a preventative measure for HIV. It doesn’t take any other STIs into the equation. So you can still get syphillis, herpes Gonorrhoea, chlamydia, genital warts, HPV. The list is endless. That's so important because I think a huge misconception There are still other STIs out there. And believe it or not, PrEP isn’t 100% effective. It’s only between about like 90-99%.

So adding condoms to the mix, is just going to increase your success. You have to follow up with your doctor every three months. They’ll be getting repeat blood work on you, so they’ll be doing HIV test, and they’ll want to make sure that you’re not experiencing any side effects that aren’t showing, so looking at your kidneys, your liver. And they could also be testing you for other STIs at that time. And you’ll need a prescription refill.

Ya, they should only be giving you about 90 pills every time you get a prescription. So, its just a perfect way for you to go back, check in, see your doctor, talk about whats going on. Super super important. Go back to the basics. Which is essentially just having conversations with sexual partners. Ya, PrEP should not be replacing a conversation.

Having the conversation is going to help you make the best informed decision about how you’re going to choose how to have sex. And so asking people what their status is and when they were last checked. Ya, I think that is so important, because you know if it was a month ago versus two years ago, it’s going to dictate, you know, how you choose to engage with this person sexually. Conversations are going to be awkward, but we think it is really important that you’re still having them. Ya, so figure out the best way for you to have that conversation and make sure that you take your pill ever single day Use condoms please, go see your doctor every three months while on PrEP And have convesation Yes, and that's it, that's how you can be successful Alright well thanks for watching everyone Make sure to subscirbe to my YouTube channel for other videos like this Leave a comment, let us know if you've come across any other information or if you have any other questions And give this video a thumbs up Share it with your friends and tune in next week for another episode of The Check Up - BYE!.