Is it just me? or.........

[racingmind]

Is it just me or are a lot of positive guys out there not really concerned with becoming reinfected?  All these personal ads I see have guys advertising that they are positive and want to bareback with other positive guys...

I talked to someone who advertised this online and he told me that it was REALLY difficult to get reinfected and that since I was positive I shouldn't have to worry about it anymore.....WTF?

Am I being naive here?  Everything I have read warns against barebacking, even when both parties are positive.

Are people just unconcerned about getting reinfected?  Sure it would be great to say goodbye to the condom forever, but it doesn't seem to be the right thing to do (yet so many positive people choose to ignore the possibility of reinfection....)

What do you all think?    Is it tough to get reinfected?

BTW--- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks,
Dxx

[manchesteruk]

From what i've read re-infection is rare but i'd also rather avoid Syphilis, Hep B + C amongst others if I can!

[Tucsonwoody]

Hey Dxx

From what I have read, the risk of reinfection is not that high but does happen.  For me, like Manchester said the issue would be adding an STD on top of HIV/AIDS which is enough to deal with.

This link goes to a pretty lengthy Q&A on The Body website that may have more answers for you about the risks of reinfection.

http://bbs.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/SafeSex/Current/Q180386.html

Kevin

[wtgr]

If you are positive and having unsafe sex you risk contracting HIV that may have developed some immunity to the meds.

A case in point. A close friend is HIV+ and had the virus well in hand with the meds regime of Viramune and Combivir. In a very short time after having an unsafe sex orgy (about which I warned him) his viral load sky rocketed, and he had to change meds to some protease inhibitors.

He is damned lucky he didn't get HepC with too.

[poet]

Dxx,  you are getting solid replies about hiv reinfection.  What your post brought me back to is gay sex in general in NYC.  Fire trap bathhouses.  Piers near collapse.  Allowing strangers into your apartment.  Drinking/doing drugs along with sex.  Bare backing would seem to be yet another aspect of sex in the rough.  Win

[bravebuddharich]

I think barebacking is so much more complex than most people understand. It is a psychological need to be in control, and has strong aspects of a very natural denial that makes enormous sense. It is also interesting that barebackers, by and large, are less judgmental of others, since they are looking more for the sex not necessarily the perfect mate. It's the worrying about other STD's and health problems that makes having to put up with condoms and the judgmental attitudes of so many gay men worth putting up with.

[aupointillimite]

See, I think a lot of it is people just wanting to feel "carefree" again... I wouldn't ever do it... but I can understand it.  It's kind of "well, I caught the worst one, I can deal with any of its lesser cousins."     

Of course, I'd be more worried about catching a whopping case of syphilis than being re-infected... but I think in any group of people, you'll find those who love playing chicken more than anything else.

If they're doing it with other poz guys, I can't really have any sort of problem with it... they know the risks more than anyone else, and they're big boys... let them make that decision.