This is a space where people who have been or are currently on PrEP detail their experiences, share insights, and highlight the impact PrEP has had in their lives. This is a profile from a former patient who wishes to remain anonymous.
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I was on PrEP for 6 years. If you’re doing the math, that’s almost the entire time Truvada has been available to HIV-negative people as a tool for HIV prevention (since 2012). When I first began taking it, it was to provide an additional level of protection for myself. Then I began using crystal meth.
Whatever your beliefs about people who use drugs, I hope that you value the lives and well-being of other people. Whether I “chose” to use drugs or I have a diagnosable substance use disorder at no fault of my own, as a person who used drugs I had a fundamental right to access to healthcare that kept me as safe and healthy as possible. PrEP provided this for me.
Crystal methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that lowers inhibitions, drastically increases risk-taking behavior, destabilizes mood, dehydrates your body, prevents sleep, eliminates appetite, and hypersexualizes the user. The common thread with these effects is that they all contribute to HIV risk.
Thank God I was on PrEP before I started using crystal. Thank God my provider continued to prescribe PrEP despite her suspicion of my drug use. Thank God I was willing and able to continue taking the medication. Given the specific behaviors in which I engaged during the 4 years that I used crystal meth I am absolutely certain that I would be living with HIV today were it not for PrEP.
If you’re using drugs and have concerns about your HIV risk, talk to your provider. Be honest about your drug use and your sex life. If you aren’t comfortable talking to your provider, give the Health Department a call. I received supportive, non-judgmental care as a patient in their PrEP program, and their staff continued to support me in my recovery from drug use.
PrEP was the best prevention tool available to me. When everything else in my life was spinning out of control, taking my pill once a day gave me control over my HIV status. It could do the same for you.
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