STI information for HIV positive guys

STI information for HIV positive guys

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can affect your health. But there are things you can do to protect your health. Some people use the term “sexually transmitted disease” rather than “sexually transmitted infection” – each term means the same thing.

The bare essentials about STIs

Be practical but not paranoid about STIs and your health. Speak with your doctor about making STI testing a regular part of your health care. Information on STIs is available from many sources – some sources are listed at the end of this guide.

The most common STIs include:

• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhea
• Syphilis
• Parasites in the gut or stomach
• Genital herpes
• Warts on the ass hole, inside the ass or on the cock (caused by the human papilloma virus, known as HPV)
• Hepatitis A, B and C.

Most STIs can be treated and cured with common antibiotic medications.

Genital herpes is different. Herpes sores and blisters can be treated with medication. But the viruses that cause herpes stay in your body. These viruses can cause flare-ups of herpes blisters and sores from time-to-time.

Hepatitis C and warts caused by HPV are also different.

Special information for HIV positive guys

HIV positive guys don’t get chlamydia or gonorrhea any easier than HIV negative guys. And the treatment for chlamydia and gonorrhea – antibiotic pills – is the same whether you have HIV or not. But HIV positive guys (compared to guys without HIV) may:

• Have to take three times the normal dose of antibiotics to cure early stage syphilis.
• Have more frequent or severe outbreaks of genital herpes.
• Suffer more significant damage to the liver when they are infected with the virus that causes hepatitis C disease. And it can be harder to treat hepatitis C disease in people who have HIV.
• Be more likely to get anal cancer from HPV.

If you have an STI that has not been cured it is easier for you to pass HIV to your partner during unprotected sex. This is true even if all your symptoms are gone. Just because your symptoms are gone it doesn’t mean the STI is cured.