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Member Since: 11/2005

Bug Chasers, Men Who Want to Be HIV+

News Type: Other — Seeded on Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:09 AM EDT
Read ArticleArticle Source: Rolling Stone
health, internet, medicine, virus, aids, hiv, bug, gay-men
Seeded by Kyle Rove

Straight from the article:

When asked whether he is prepared to live with HIV after that "erotic" moment, Carlos dismisses living with HIV as a minor annoyance. Like most bug chasers, he has the impression that the virus just isn't such a big deal anymore: "It's like living with diabetes. You take a few pills and get on with your life."

Comments:

Kyle Rove

This was a pretty shocking article for me, as a medical student, as it really shows what kind of mentalities my peers and I will be facing in the coming years.

To address Carlos in the article: while there may be drug cocktails available to treat HIV and prevent full-blown AIDS, there are many caveats:

  1. These drugs are VERY expensive.
  2. These are not just a few pills, but are often referred to as "fistfuls" of pills taken daily.
  3. These drugs can be toxic alone and should not be taken with illegal street drugs or alcohol.
  4. The side effects of these anti-viral drugs can include peripheral neuropathy (damage to peripheral nerves), abdominal discomfort or pain, diarrhea, fatigue, gas, headache, nausea, skin rash, vomiting, mouth tingling. Just to name a few.

There will always be people that are willing to put themselves in harms way, just to end up in the ER or under our long-term care (eg, people who do not practice safe sex, people who refuse to wear helmets when riding bicycles, scooters, or motorcycles, etc).

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#1 - Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:20 AM EDT
KyleN

I've read some crazy stuff but this was pretty far up the list of crazy.

It's also depressing to think of my tax money going to support some of these people in their last few years of life. Other forms of committing suicide don't involve so much pain, suffering, and expense.

What I couldn't tell from the article is just how prevalent this fetish is, the websites said 48,000 users but if they are like most internet forums most of those are voyeurs and don't intend to do it.

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#2 - Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:50 PM EDT
Andrew Harden

I've read that article before, when was it written?

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#3 - Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:04 PM EDT
Kyle Rove

I just checked, and it says January 30, 2003. I didn't notice it was old when I came across it. Sorry about that!

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#3.1 - Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:28 PM EDT
Andrew Harden

Not a problem, I only asked because I remembered reading it in RS, I still probably have the issue somewhere.

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#3.2 - Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:30 PM EDT