The gay ill health charities will try anything to get you on PrEP and come up with weird and wacky PrEP regimes which have not been tested in trials but they come up with them anyway and make them seem legitimate. The latest one is “Holiday PrEP” where you take PrEP 7-7-7. Sounds scientific doesn’t it. This regime means you take PrEP daily for 7 days before your holiday, 7 days during and 7 days after. They are selling the crazy idea that you can go on a bareback bonanza on holiday, be carefree and take as many cumloads up you from guys from all over the world with no worries! A bareback fantasy island cum true.
PrEP should never be taken “in the wild” as it’s called, where you simply buy it from notorious Prepsters websites, unsupervised with no HIV/STI tests or testing your kidney and liver functions. If you are a bareback enthusiast you need to get on the PrEP Impact Trial, there are many places available, don’t believe the Prepsters saying they are full, they aren’t. They are only saying that to pressurise the NHS into a roll out for all.
PrEP is not like aspirin or the contraceptive pill. These pills are very strong medication only to be prescribed under strict medical supervision and the idea you should just buy them for a holiday bareback session (or potential mishap when pissed) is a dangerous and crazy idea.
Trials show, to get the PrEP meds into your system and, put bluntly, down in your arse so enough is in it to fight HIV when you are infected, 14 days of daily pills are recommended. Also when you come off PrEP 28 days is the recommended time after your last “risk” ie. when you have taken a cumload inside you. So the 7-7-7 PrEP regime is completely inadequate protection/treatment for HIV prevention.
Secondly if you have taken PrEP only for 7 days and “in the wild” the side effects may not have taken place yet. Many gay men have shown real issues with low kidney function. This is significant as if you are holiday and you are constantly getting pissed you could experience kidney failure and be rushed to hospital. Not only that if you are not on the NHS Trial and informed your insurance provider your insurance will be invalid and it could cost you thousands of Euros. Taking Ibuprofen is also forbidden on PrEP, so when you are pissed with a hangover and survived the night without a trip to the local A&E, you are going to be nursing that hangover. Will you remember to take the pill daily on holiday while enjoying yourself? As PrEP is prescription medication you may not even get through customs without a letter from your doctor.
Our advice is to enjoy your holiday, don’t focus on getting laid, and if that is your aim arm yourself with condoms from the UK and lube sachets on a night out. Don’t get too drunk. Consider that anal sex with strangers in a foreign land may not be a good idea as they may not have the same morals as you. With the rise of drug resistant STIs it may even be a good idea to use condoms for oral sex. This is what the barebackers have created.
Don’t believe the gay ill health sector, they want you to get into barebacking and “Holiday PrEP” is a way to get you barebacking and on PrEP permanently. To take PrEP on holiday for a short period of time has no scientific basis of HIV prevention. This is a crazy and dangerous idea that could lead to you not only being infected with HIV but also create a strain of HIV that is more difficult to treat one which you could pass onto another gay man. What fun a bareback holiday could be!