In Relation To Getting Pep Drugs For Hiv Prevention

[Thailand1977]

Hi the thread was closed and i didnt make it to a hospital due to being mortally drunk last night and sleeping all day.

Can someone recommend a doctor i can see on a Sunday as both the centres at RED Cross and Christian hospital appear to be closed on a Sunday.

[whatchamacallit]

Go to Bumrungrad Hospital or Bangkok hospital - more info here from this forum:

Go first thing in the morning. Good luck.

[Scott]

I believe they can start you on the regular medications given for the treatment of HIV as a preventative measure. You need to see a doctor at one of the larger, reputable hospitals. They should be able to assist you or refer you to someone who can.

[Thailand1977]

Maybe a silly question but do i ask to see a normal GP if there is such a thing, as for this kind of thing in England i wouldn't go to a hospital.

As i know these hospitals are huge.

Would one of the many doctors clinics along Sukhumvit be able to issue a prescription.

Irony is i've been here a month and lived like a monk, one night mortally drunk and i end up with blood on my john thomas from a street hooker.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Thailand1977

[jrtmedic]

In England you would go to a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic or a Sexually Transmitted Infections clinic.

Details here --- http://www.nhs.uk/Li...nSTIclinic.aspx Most of these clinics are located within NHS hospitals although may in some areas be located within community based NHS premises alongside other community health services.

You may of course choose to consult your GP but such a course of action is very likely going to result in your being sent to the local Gum clinic.

Here in Thailand it is extremly unlikely that you would be able to obtain PEP medication outside a major hospital or the Red Cross facility.

If you see a Doctor here in Thailand s/he is likely to be much more polite than me.

So I will tell you !

Getting "mortally" drunk is a very bad idea -- you should avoid alcohol until such time as you are found to be fit. Alcohol is associted with many/most STI's because being "drunk" leads to risk taking and unsafe sex.

Edited January 26, 2013 by jrtmedic

[whatchamacallit]

Maybe a silly question but do i ask to see a normal GP if there is such a thing, as for this kind of thing in England i wouldn't go to a hospital.

As i know these hospitals are huge.

Would one of the many doctors clinics along Sukhumvit be able to issue a prescription.

Irony is i've been here a month and lived like a monk, one night mortally drunk and i end up with blood on my john thomas from a street hooker.

If you are indeed very concern that you may be exposed to the HIV virus, it is a very serious matter. Go to see a specialist who is an expert on this not to some generic doctor in some generic clinic! I have posted a link above regarding Bumrungrad and Bangkok hospitals with the names of the doctors (who deals with hiv) listed. Another option is the Red Cross, but they are closed today. Dr. Consultation at Bumrungrad is about 700 baht - if he prescribed medication, you can get these meds at the hospital (usually anywhere from 20 to 50 percent more expensive than what you would have paid at the red cross), or go and get it at the Red Cross on Monday. But remember the 72 hrs window after possible exposure... So act soon, time is running out!! If I were you, call Bumrungrad now and ask for appointment for today to see the specialist (see dr names listed on the above tread), if he prescribed meds just buy it at the hospital and be done with it. Your 72 hr window is quickly closing,

[Sheryl]

As above, you need to see a specialist in HIV, names of some are in the pinned thread.

It may already be too late to start PEP. Also, doctors are often reluctant to prescribe it when the exposure was due to high risk behavior (as opposed to accidental occupational exposure etc. which is what it is usually sued for). The main concern being drug resistance. PEP should be a once in a lifetime thing not a back up plan; they worry that someone who used prior judgement once may do so again etc. Not saying you shouldn't try, but just to explain why the doc might refuse.

[Thailand1977]

I went to the Bangkok Christian Hospital, the specialist wasn't there so the doctor i saw called him explained the situation and they prescribed the drug Truvada, 30 tablets one to be taken at bed time, though i've taken the first one as soon as i got it which was 31 hours after sex. It was 80bht per tablet.

It seemed to be agreed that a women having her period during sex, thus exposing me to lots of blood is reason enough.

I didn't get an HIV test as i've not been sleeping around since the last time i had a test, though i will have one in 1 month and then 3 months. With it being only 31 hours after sex the doctor seemed to believe it was too short a time frame to tell either way.

If nothing else its taught me to knock drinking on the head, as im from the 1 is too many 10 is not enough school of drinking ... and after a skin full my common sense is clearly lacking.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Thailand1977

[Sheryl]

Yes, 31 hours is too soon. (But in time for PEP).

Get an antigen test in 3 months, or if you prefer and don't mind paying a bit more, a VL test in 3 weeks.

[Thailand1977]

Yes, 31 hours is too soon. (But in time for PEP).

Get an antigen test in 3 months, or if you prefer and don't mind paying a bit more, a VL test in 3 weeks.

Im back in England tomorrow so i'll go speak and see what they can do ... i think its a case of get whatever your given on the NHS though, maybe i'll look for private if this gives peace of mind quicker.

[mommysboy]

Yes, 31 hours is too soon. (But in time for PEP).

Get an antigen test in 3 months, or if you prefer and don't mind paying a bit more, a VL test in 3 weeks.

Im back in England tomorrow so i'll go speak and see what they can do ... i think its a case of get whatever your given on the NHS though, maybe i'll look for private if this gives peace of mind quicker.

2 things that might bring peace of mind:

1. You can only get HIV from someone who is infected and most bargirls aren't.

2. It is not easily acquired at all even if you sleep with someone who is infected.

Anecdotally, I have not known anyone in Thailand who has acquired HIV through hetero sex despite hearing stories that would make the devil himself cringe. Just my experience.

[jrtmedic]

Anecdotes are dangerous as is repeating them !

Extract follows - from http://www.avert.org...nd-aids-hiv.htm

"There are very few developing countries in the world where public policy has been effective in preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS on a national scale, but Thailand is an exception. In the 1990s, a massive programme that began to control HIV reduced visits to commercial sex workers by half, raised condom usage, decreased the prevalence of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) dramatically, and achieved substantial reductions in new HIV infections.¹

Thailand, though, is also a reminder that success can be relative. The country's well funded, politically supported and comprehensive prevention programmes have saved millions of lives, reducing the number of new HIV infections from 143,000 in 1991 to 19,000 in 2003.² Nonetheless, over half a million people in Thailand are living with HIV, and in 2009 28,000 people died from AIDS.³

Unless past efforts are sustained and new sources of infection are addressed, the striking achievements made in controlling the epidemic could now be put at risk. Factors such as an increase in risky sexual behaviour among young people and a rising number of STI cases⁴ have led to concerns that Thailand could face a resurgence of HIV and AIDS in coming years"

Edited January 28, 2013 by Sheryl
civility

[Sheryl]

Yes, 31 hours is too soon. (But in time for PEP).

Get an antigen test in 3 months, or if you prefer and don't mind paying a bit more, a VL test in 3 weeks.

Im back in England tomorrow so i'll go speak and see what they can do ... i think its a case of get whatever your given on the NHS though, maybe i'll look for private if this gives peace of mind quicker.

2 things that might bring peace of mind:

1. You can only get HIV from someone who is infected and most bargirls aren't.

2. It is not easily acquired at all even if you sleep with someone who is infected.

Anecdotally, I have not known anyone in Thailand who has acquired HIV through hetero sex

Uncfortunately, I do. As Moderator of this forum I am often the one TV members turn to when they find out they have newly acquired HIV. Naturally this is not something people publically advertise but I can assure you, it not only happens, it has happened to other members of this forum

Most of the men in SE Asia with HIV acquired it through heterosexual sex. While it is true that the odds are against acquiring it through any one single exposure are small that is small comfort if one happens to be on the losing end of those odds.

Were the OP to take the advice to not worry about it and later find he contacted HIV, there would be no going back. He has opted not to take that rest but rather to avail of PEP.

[mommysboy]

That's my experience and I won't be talked out of what I honestly have lived through.

But the 2 main points are true.

1. You can only get HIV from someone who is infected and most bargirls aren't.

2. It is not easily acquired at all even if you sleep with someone who is infected.

[mommysboy]

And I wasn't aware that I had advised OP not to get tested !!!

Realistic posting offered as comfort. Rather than scaremongering.

[Sheryl]

#1 is true, of course. One can only get HIV from someone who is themselves HIV+, be it a bar girl or other.

#2 is not exactly. . It is perfectly easy to get infected, none of the people who are infected had a hard time becoming so. Odds are against it on a single exposure but risk is cumulative. And even if there is only 1 exposure ever and the odds are 1 in 1,000, that is of no comfort if you happen to the the 1 and not the other 999, and someone will be. (actual odds vary enormously depending on a host of factors you have no way of knowing, e.g.. the infected person's viral load).

No one said you had discouraged testing (which in any case is not the theme of the thread. It's about PEP. Which the OP has already decided on)

[endure]

Yes, 31 hours is too soon. (But in time for PEP).

Get an antigen test in 3 months, or if you prefer and don't mind paying a bit more, a VL test in 3 weeks.

Im back in England tomorrow so i'll go speak and see what they can do ... i think its a case of get whatever your given on the NHS though, maybe i'll look for private if this gives peace of mind quicker.

GUM clinics in the UK are walk-in. They're usually closed at the weekend. I don't think there'd be any benefit to going private as you'd have to go to a GP first to get a referral whereas you can just go to a GUM clinic whenever they're open.

[Sheryl]

Could also go to a Marie Stopes Clinic (private noin-profit) if you are in London

http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/Mens_services/Sexually_transmitted_infections_%28STIs%29.aspx

[endure]

If he sticks his postcode in here it will tell him where his nearest GUM clinic is:

http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Sexual-health-information-and-support/LocationSearch/734