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Author Topic: Praises to the "Am I" forum!  (Read 5392 times)

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Offline le_liseur

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Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« on: August 12, 2011, 04:39:43 am »
I've been reading a few of the threads in the "Am I infected?" forum, and I just wanted to say I really appreciate all the hard work the administrators put in it, because it makes me feel sooooo sane! I was just curious tho...

Some of the questions asked in there really freak me out! Are those people really serious, or, actually, really... real?

And how do you keep your cool to some of those persistant and annoying people? Some have been posting their worryness and inexplicable fears for more than a year!

Anyway, please never shut it down, because as much as it can also help people with real questions and real risks, it's also a great load of fun to read. I admit it.  ;D

(Should I be ashamed of myself?! lol  :-\ )

Offline spacebarsux

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2011, 07:35:33 am »
It is hugely entertaining, I gotta admit  ;D.

However, you gotta admit the hypochondriac fools on the "Am I" forums must think we're complete boneheads for having landed ourselves in a position where we need to spend a much longer time on the "Living With HIV" forum, know what I mean ?  ;)
Infected-  2005 or early 2006; Diagnosed- Jan 28th, 2011; Feb '11- CD4 754 @34%, VL- 39K; July '11- CD4 907@26%,  VL-81K; Feb '12- CD4 713 @31%, VL- 41K, Nov '12- CD4- 827@31%

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2011, 08:29:00 am »
Recently an inquiry about whether "chewing gum" would have increased the likelihood of becoming infected while giving a blowjob struck me as...pretty "special." (The flavor of the gum was not specificed).

And in case you were wondering, no, it wouldm't increase risk but it does make it harder to blow bubbles at the same time. Just sayin'...

« Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 08:48:41 am by Andy Velez »
Andy Velez

Offline Ann

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2011, 10:35:37 am »

And how do you keep your cool to some of those persistant and annoying people?


Sometimes I give them a Time Out. Sometimes I write a  really scathing, sarcastic reply and then delete it before writing something a bit more diplomatic (this practice can be very cathartic). Once in a while I write something scathing and post it - at times a slap in the face is what a hysterical person needs to snap out of it. And sometimes I just have to walk away and respond to them at a later time.

What really keeps me going in that forum is the occasional person who does get it, who learns and moves on. Also, back when people could PM without having to post three times first, I used to get thank-you notes from people who read the forums and had their questions answered without ever having to post. I suspect there are still many people who read and learn and don't feel the need to post, we just have no way of hearing from them now.

And of course there's the (somewhat) rare person who actually has had a very real risk and just needs a little bit of support during their testing window. Most of them, thankfully, test negative and move on. A handful over the years have joined us in Living.

But anyway, some of you newer members should have seen it years ago (when we had different forum software) when we didn't have as many rules governing that forum. They used to be able to answer each other, for example, and good lord it was chaos. We spent more time refuting incorrect answers than anything, so I suppose you can see why we clamped down. It was for our own sanity as much as it was to ensure only correct information was being disseminated. Whew!
« Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 10:37:31 am by Ann »
Condoms are a girl's best friend

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"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Jeff G

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2011, 10:59:29 am »
it wouldm't increase risk but it does make it harder to blow bubbles at the same time.


Leave Micheal Jacksons chimpanzee out of this OK  ;)
« Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 11:01:45 am by jg1962 »
HIV 101 - Basics
HIV 101
You can read more about Transmission and Risks here:
HIV Transmission and Risks
You can read more about Testing here:
HIV Testing
You can read more about Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) here:
HIV TasP
You can read more about HIV prevention here:
HIV prevention
You can read more about PEP and PrEP here
PEP and PrEP

Offline phildinftlaudy

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2011, 12:26:44 pm »
Leave Micheal Jacksons chimpanzee out of this OK  ;)
Would that be a risk?  ;)
September 13, 2008 - diagnosed +
Labs:
Date    CD4    %   VL     Date  CD4  %   VL
10/08  636    35  510   9/09 473  38 2900  12/4/09 Atripla
12/09  540    30    60   
12/10  740    41  <48   
8/11    667    36  <20  
03/12  1,041  42  <20
05/12  1,241  47  <20
08/12   780    37  <20
11/12   549    35  <20
02/12  1,102  42  <20
11/12   549    35  <20

Offline le_liseur

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2011, 02:37:49 pm »
I'm glad to see the rules work pretty well (just see the mayhem that happens when someone else tries to post something in there!)

I have to say I did learn some valuable things from other people's questions, and I've also learned some ways to answer questions to people who ask me what are the risks of doing this or that with me, or with their parnets. I remember one of you, Ann or Andy or Rodney, saying that HIV exposed outside of the body ends up like an astronaut in space, without his helmet! Nice comparison he he

What I don't understand is why some questions are so recurrent, even tho you can find the simple answers on the lesson pages, or just by looking a few thread away to someone else's same, exact situation!

But then again, I guess the fear and phobia is griping too many to make them understand their case are not different from someone else's case. Nobody is special enough to be different when it comes to real risks and expositions. :)

(And yes, the chewing gum was quite something! It's pretty funny, but at the same time, kinda sad that this can be seriously thought as a risk factor... !!)

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2011, 02:59:55 pm »
Once the fair takes hold readers are more likely to seize on anything that feeds their worst fears rather than getting the information that tells them they didn't have a risk.

So it does make a difference, at least to some, to have someone writing in response as if having a one to one conversation. That's when some get it and move on. And others just continue on with what ifs and all that which gets Ann and me to dusting off our baseball bats sometimes or hitting the gong as on the long ago Gong Show. (Remember that one, you oldies?)

Andy Velez

Offline Ann

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2011, 03:45:17 pm »
or hitting the gong as on the long ago Gong Show. (Remember that one, you oldies?)

Yes; and some members there would be the "Unknown Comic".
« Last Edit: August 13, 2011, 08:16:41 am by Ann »
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2011, 10:33:34 pm »
When I mentioned THE GONG SHOW to my younger brother his reply was that it should be reconstituted for Congress.
Andy Velez

Offline wolfter

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2011, 09:56:14 am »
When I mentioned THE GONG SHOW to my younger brother his reply was that it should be reconstituted for Congress.

I mentioned this to my younger brother also and he reminded me that he had to quit once he got his CDL.  He must have thought I said the Bong Show..
Being honest is not wronging others, continuing the dishonesty is.

Offline klassykitty

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2011, 05:04:16 pm »
I've never read the Am I forum, now I just have to check it out.

How to handle stress like a dog:
If you can't eat it or play with it.....
then pee on it and walk away

Diagnosed 01-20-2011
01-23  CD4 32    VL 125,400
02-18        76     VL 189
03-14  no cd4 test done   VL-52
04-14   69  VL-UNDECTABLE  YEA!!
05-26   50  whoopsy  
06-27   71        %-7
08-15   64 WTF %-9 
10-16  80         %7  
2012  CD4  %Thing   VL-UD
01-18  87    7
04-18  93    8  
07-16  151  8         
10-18  83    9    VL-70
2013   CD4   %thing       VL-UD
01-28  121     9
04-24  148    11   
07-25  157    11   
10-22  185    13
2014   CD-4  %thing   VL-UD
02-07 201 YEA!!!!!!  12
06-03  205      12

Offline hope_for_a_cure

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2011, 05:12:10 pm »
I just found out that I am neutral.  Neither neg or poz... just somewhere in between.  So I cant post in the Am I, Newly, Living, just here in the off topic.  I am not a repugnican or a democrack either....

Edited to add: But I did just polish my teeth with pearl drops tooth polish !!
« Last Edit: August 13, 2011, 05:14:05 pm by hope_for_a_cure »

Offline le_liseur

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2011, 01:47:21 am »
I've never read the Am I forum, now I just have to check it out.



Someone now is wondering if he was ever at risk because he swam in a lake with some guy who had a cut on his foot or what not... These people are special, reallly.

To the admins : can you get HIV by talking and thinking really, really hard about impossible ways to get infected? I'm wondering, because I had such talk with a sex worker recently, and I developped all the symptoms two days later. I am now impossibly worried on how risky and dangerously I acted, and I will never repeat it again. I promise YOU.

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2011, 02:00:17 am »
I suspect that some folks come here and say the things they do because they want to be shamed and punished and judged for their behaviour.

Happy to oblige :)
"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline spacebarsux

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #15 on: August 17, 2011, 09:15:27 am »
Someone now is wondering if he was ever at risk because he swam in a lake with some guy who had a cut on his foot or what not... These people are special, reallly.

A few years ago, I read about this guy who was convinced that the virus had mutated (due to cocktail therapy) in a fashion that made transmission through mosquito bites a real possibility.  Stunningly original.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2011, 09:17:48 am by spacebarsux »
Infected-  2005 or early 2006; Diagnosed- Jan 28th, 2011; Feb '11- CD4 754 @34%, VL- 39K; July '11- CD4 907@26%,  VL-81K; Feb '12- CD4 713 @31%, VL- 41K, Nov '12- CD4- 827@31%

Offline Ann

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #16 on: August 17, 2011, 09:46:27 am »
I suspect that some folks come here and say the things they do because they want to be shamed and punished and judged for their behaviour.

Happy to oblige :)

Thank goodness for my trusty Time Out TruncheonTM. It keeps me sane. That and a hefty swig or two of Highland Poacher.
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #17 on: August 17, 2011, 09:56:52 am »
Weve got a winner now that is afraid of something sharp that poked the back of his/her chair.
"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline AlanBama

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Re: Praises to the "Am I" forum!
« Reply #18 on: August 17, 2011, 11:22:19 am »
My hat is off (and has been for years) to all you 'saints' who deal with these folks on a daily basis.   I commend your efforts.   I won't try to mention names, because I would surely leave someone out.   You know who you are....

LOVE   :-*

Alan  <=who has enough trouble remaining sane in the "Living With" forum, let alone the "Am I Infected?"
"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

 


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