Thursday, December 4, 2008

Ok. This entry won't be pleasant for some, so if you're feeling squeemish today, feel free to skip this entry. This entry will also be very sexually graphic, so if you're at work - skip it and come back to it later if you're interested.
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Ok. So I've had IBS for 3 or 4 years now. IBS = Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Basically what this means is that I often had severe bouts of diarrhea, with the occasional constipation thrown in. I was not tested for this, but told that I had it, by a rather annoying doctor whom I never saw again. When I asked another doctor about this; one that I actually trusted, he agreed that there really wasn't a test and that all my symptoms demonstrated that I probably had IBS. I began taking medication to treat the symptoms, which I finally have (mostly) under control.

Ok? Still with me? Things are looking better now.

Only there's this type of bug (actually there is more than one) that would cause these symptoms which gay men are prone to getting which would cause my syptoms. For those clueless morons who aren't in the know - I'm gay. And the gay men that tend to get these bugs the most are those that engage in rimming. That's guys that tongue their partner's assholes. Now I know that probably freaks some people out, but it's really not that bad as long as you're partner is clean - and it's not soley a gay thing either, as lots of straight couples do this as well. It's a common sexual activity. It's also possible to get these bugs from infected people without rimming; sometimes without having sex at all - and not everyone knows they have these things.

Here are some demonstrations:

Ok. Now we're clear what rimming is. And I can tell you I love this activity. I've been with 70 men. And I've rimmed or been rimmed about probably 60 of them, if not, more. I was always told that it was a low risk activity for transmitting HIV, and that it was probably a safe activity. Only there are these bugs that I didn't know about that I may have, that may have screwed me over big time. And I'm not alone. I have a friend that I know, who has the same symptoms I do, who is an avid rimmer. And I'm not sure he even knows about these things either. I mean...I know I read somewhere, some kind of vague warning about parasites - but it wasn't clear what it meant or what the symptoms were...so I was thinking when I finally read this stuff that I was just stupid, but I've now read than most men who become infected had also been in the dark about this, which makes me feel less stupid. lol

Oh some of the bugs that can be transmitted this way include Giardia, Shigella, Amebiasis & Cryptosporidium. These things are often nasty, painful, and dangerous.

Now the thing is, even if I have one or more of these bugs, it's kind of hard to test for. And if I did have them, it's usually treated I think by a series of antibiotics, but after they're gone, you can catch them again the next day - there's no cure or vaccine for this thing. And then there are some that can't be treated. And since I can't imagine sex without rimming, I'm thinking I'd probably catch it again fairly quickly (as apparently, people aren't getting tested for this and not getting the info they should be), so the questions I have for my doctor are...can this thing hurt me more than it already has? I mean...my symptoms are pretty much under control now, so should I do nothing? And probably having had this type of infection for several years, has the damage been done? And what about my friend? He (like so many of us) doesn't have health insurance. And why wasn't I told about these things before? And not in some vague kind of way. Why, as a gay man with these symptoms, wasn't I asked questions about my behavior and given information? Reading about these things is terrifying. This is the kind of thing I should have been told about in a High School sex ed class. This is the kind of thing that makes me not want to have sex at all, ever again.

Of course I might be jumping to conclusions. But it's hard not to. But that's what's on my mind.

   posted by Bald Jason at 11:40 AM
   [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [2 Comments]