Our dear reader ‘ewelthorpe’, who loves to give me a hard time, posted a comment on my last post which went as follows…

Yeah, why not have goals of licking ebola and plague out of someone’s bloody ass? I mean – get a grip! And HIV aside, you must have contracted or spread at least a few viral or bacterial agents while doing your load goal making. Like warts/HPV, hepatitis C, syphillis. Crabs! Now fess up – the butcher’s bill, as it were. What else did you give and get while loading these folks up?

His melodrama is incredible, but nonetheless this post answers his questions – thing is, he’s not going to like what he hears – but then again, he never does…

For starters – a little education… Hepatitis C is something that is nearly always passed in blood-to-blood contact – so it’s an issue primarily for IV drug users, not barebackers (unless they’re slamming crystal). Yes, if my dick were bleeding at the same time some guy’s ass were bleeding it would be possible for me to get Hep C, but the chances of that are close to nill.

When I was younger I was avid about having so-called “safe sex”. I even had two safe sex posters on the wall in my dorm room (grad school), across from my bed… So I think it bears mentioning that during my safe sex phase I was constantly getting crabs and even managed to get Hepatitis B! I remember a time when I was feeling a little down (not too bad) and I remember the whites of my eyes being a little yellow. A friend commented about it, but I didn’t feel all that bad, so I didn’t go to see a doctor. Years later I got vaccinated for Hep A and B and I remember one of the shots making my shoulder really sore. After the vaccination they checked to see if the vaccines worked and realized I had had Hep B previously, my body fought it off, and I was now permanently immune.

A few years after that I had a friend who nearly died of Hep B – they almost didn’t find a liver soon enough, and even after the liver transplant he still has issues… So yeah, I was lucky, but the fact of the matter is “safe sex” isn’t safe – it’s just safer… My most serious STD came from safe sex – and it was an STD that could have killed me.

[BTW, if you get crabs, trim your pubic hair really short and wash all your clothes and bedding in really hot water. You don’t need the combs and nasty liquids if you just trim your pubes. I had to keep my pubes trimmed to avoid crabs – did that for quite a while (made my dick look bigger too…)]

I think it was around 2002 I had an outbreak of genital warts. I wasn’t hooking up much at the time and it’s hard to say when I actually got the warts since they can lie dormant for months or years. Something like 40% of gay men have them and (like most STDs) they can be contracted when you’re using a condom. [BTW, if you have warts treat them early with freezing or lasers. You do not want to have them spread and go through the pain of getting rid of them from inside your ass… I know a few guys who’ve had to do it and it’s extremely painful.]

Otherwise, I’ve gotten a total of two STDs over the past few years (been 100% bareback since the fall of 2004, and about 50/50 before that)… Gonorrhea in 2001 from barebacking at a bathhouse in LA (Flex), and chlamydia early last year.

As far as passing things on to others… My bf had to take two pills in 2001 since he had sucked my dick before I realized I had gonorrhea – but it was just preventative – he didn’t have any sign of it. The chlamydia was more serious in that I had no idea I had it (which is pretty typical) and don’t know how many guys I fucked before I found out. I contacted 2 or 3 of my regular fuck buddies and they got tested and all came back clean.

‘Ewelthorpe’ isn’t going to like this, but all in all I’d say I had a worse time with STDs when I was having safe sex. I mean Hep B is serious and I was getting crabs constantly… What little I’ve gotten barebacking either got caught quickly or was so mild there were no symptoms and didn’t get passed onto other guys – even if I fucked them multiple times… Your milage may vary (I expect it to since statistically safe sex reduces STD infections), but that’s been my experience…

Personally I don’t think that’s a horrible STD history for 18 years of sex… Especially since I’ve sometimes barebacked guys who take anonymous loads – if I’m going to get stuff it’s more likely to be from them than anyone else, but yet I really don’t get all that many STDs – years pass between infections…

That said – get yourself vaccinated for Hep A, Hep B and HPV – even if you have “safe sex” and think you’re low risk. It’s just silly to catch something potentially serious and/or painful that you could avoid with a simple vaccination… And if you think you have something – go to a clinic and get treated.