Sti's/Std's

flashy · 17-09-2011, 14:33

Just had a conversation with my 40 year old friend, a conversation i have had many times with my mates over the years about sti's.....why is it that people are so naive about how you can/can't catch them?

she messaged me this morning asking me if you can catch an sti/std through giving/receiving oral sex, i told her 'yes you can' and she was gobsmacked, she thought you could only catch one through having unprotected sex, as did my mate 'L' and 2 of my other mates, they are all in their late 30's/early 40's....why oh why didn't they already know this and why oh why haven't they ever been tested for anything?

i bet some people don't even know that condoms aren't 100% safe against sti's during sex either

PLEASE PLEASE peeps, no matter what age you are, if you have slept with someone in the past without using something, go and get yourselves tested, it is a simple test (ladies it's just like a smear test) even people who think they have been safe need to be tested at least once in their lives, don't be as naive as my friends and don't trust anyone who tells you they have been tested...you need proof

and yes, i have been tested

mods please don't move this to the over 18's, i want more people to be aware of things like this that they aren't sure about

jaysay · 17-09-2011, 17:20

Very good post Shaz

flashy · 17-09-2011, 17:29

thanx John, i'm not bothered if no one replies to this thread, if it makes just one person think about or even go for tests then i'll be happy......with certain sti's you never have any symptoms, it can stay in your body for years without you even knowing you have it, it's worth 10 minutes out of your life to just go and get tested

garinda · 17-09-2011, 18:35

I read the thread, and didn't reply because I thought it was good, and didn't see how I could really add to it.

However, my two pennies worth, I totally agree with the idea of safety in this area.

I lost one of of my best friends, and countless other friends to a disease that was sexually tramsmitted.

Anthony was twenty seven, full of life, kind, funny, good hearted...and only had one sexual partner, and was in a longterm relationship.

Be safe.

Not sorry.

flashy · 17-09-2011, 18:37

good lad x

garinda · 17-09-2011, 18:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashy

thanx John, i'm not bothered if no one replies to this thread, if it makes just one person think about or even go for tests then i'll be happy......with certain sti's you never have any symptoms, it can stay in your body for years without you even knowing you have it, it's worth 10 minutes out of your life to just go and get tested

As you said earlier hun, there's really no totally 'safe sex', as far as penetrative intercourse goes.

So even with barrier protection regular check ups, if you are sexually active, are a good idea.

Things can be treated if they're known about.

Things like infertility are much harder to treat, further down the line.

I think the generations who remember the eighties should know the risks, and how to lessen them, but younger people don't seem as clued up, and expect there'll always be a solution 'if' they need it.

This isn't always the case, if things aren't known about early enough.

flashy · 17-09-2011, 19:05

When i went for a general health check (it's called a peace of mind check) at the GUM clinic they asked if i wanted an H.I.V check too, i said yes, like you say Gary, there's no cure for some sti's, needless to say i thankfully don't have H.I.V, i went up on my own, the nurses up at Blackburn are fantastic and there isn't the stigma attached to being tested now like there used to be, i don't care who knows i've been tested, i talk about the tests to make people more aware, people of my age, friends, old friends and new who think they don't have anything probably actually do, no one is invinceable

Margaret Pilkington · 17-09-2011, 19:24

Shaz it is now the older sexually active people who are at risk.......they seem to be making up for lost time and sowing their wild oats.
I have to say I endorse every word you have posted......don't die of ignorance...be responsible, take care of your own sexual health...no-one else can do it for you.

flashy · 17-09-2011, 19:36

I bet at least 95% of Accywebbers have never been checked out, men make me laugh, you produce a condom and the majority of them tell you 'it's ok, i haven't got any diseases' yet they have never been checked in their lives, just to try and get away with not using one........... An old friend of mine that sometimes comes on here will tell you that when we where teenagers i never went on a night out without having condoms in my bag, she used to laugh about me always having them, if she reads this i'm sure it will make her smile

garinda · 17-09-2011, 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Shaz it is now the older sexually active people who are at risk.......they seem to be making up for lost time and sowing their wild oats.
I have to say I endorse every word you have posted......don't die of ignorance...be responsible, take care of your own sexual health...no-one else can do it for you.

I think you have a point.

However I think it's all ages who think their sexual behaviour is now risk free.

Perhaps people aren't as worried, now H.I.V. isn't necessarily the death sentence it once was.

As for younger people, tune into the Jeremy Kyle show any morning, and witness the scores of young people who don't use any protection at all.

Prompting old Jezzer, for the millionth time, to shout

'Put something on the end of it then!'

Margaret Pilkington · 17-09-2011, 20:12

Yes, you are right G, but I think that many of the younger generation, because of the nature of their sexual activity(they have more partners, who in turn have more partners) are actually aware of the dangers, but are lazy(in looking after their sexual health), and do not think that STI/STD will happen to them.
Whereas the older generation, in many cases take risks because they don't know the consequences, or perhaps think the consequences are irrelevant to them......the major danger of having a one night stand when they were younger was the risk of pregnancy.....now they are past that stage,(childbearing) they think they can fling their charms about with abandon........and I think many of them do not consider themselves to be 'at risk'.

garinda · 17-09-2011, 20:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Yes, you are right G, but I think that many of the younger generation, because of the nature of their sexual activity(they have more partners, who in turn have more partners) are actually aware of the dangers, but are lazy(in looking after their sexual health), and do not think that STI/STD will happen to them.
Whereas the older generation, in many cases take risks because they don't know the consequences, or perhaps think the consequences are irrelevant to them......the major danger of having a one night stand when they were younger was the risk of pregnancy.....now they are past that stage,(childbearing) they think they can fling their charms about with abandon........and I think many of them do not consider themselves to be 'at risk'.

I can't believe anyone who lived through the eighties, Don't Die of Ignorance, safe sex leaflets sent to every address in Britain, tea time telly programmes with condoms being rolled on to bananas, wouldn't be aware of the risks.

More likely they see it as an irrelevance, because they don't see themselves as being in a 'high risk group'.

Sex is a bit like that old music hall song.

'I danced with a girl, who danced with a boy, who danced with a girl, who danced with the Prince of Wales'.

'...since 1999 heterosexually acquired HIV has overtaken as the largest exposure category in the UK. Heterosexual sex accounted for 42 percent of HIV diagnoses in 2010 and sex between men accounted for 38.5 percent, compared to 1995 when 31 percent were a result of heterosexual sex.'
United Kingdom Statistics Summary

If there's any risk, minimise it.

Margaret Pilkington · 17-09-2011, 20:50

G, when it comes to things such as this, folk have very short memories.......I am sure that many folk don't remember getting the safe(though I prefer the term 'safer')sex leaflets.....and just because you pop a leaflet through someones letterbox, it does not mean they would read it.

Many of those who received the info would probably have thought 'I'm married, it doesn't apply to me'.....then a few years down the line when that same person was divorced...and maybe out on the razz...do you really think the first thing that would go through their mind, would be the leaflet that popped through their door all those years ago........NO, Neither do I.

People need to be reminded....and reminded often......through messages that cannot be ignored, and do not rely on them to do anything much in the way of reading(although I did like the information about STD/STI's on the back of toilet doors....thought they were very useful).......as I say many people do not see the problem as being a problem because they think they aren't 'at risk'.

flashy · 17-09-2011, 21:09

They say ignorance is bliss.....IT ISN'T....it isn't worth burying your head in the sand where this is concerned, those of you who have never ever used a condom because 'you don't like the feel of them' probably have something and it's people like you who spread these things about without a second thought about other people....GIRLS, if you respect yourselves then make sure the man you are with respects you too and uses something, if he won't then he doesn't give a toss about you and he's a worthless git

sorry to keep going on but this is something i feel so strongly about

garinda · 17-09-2011, 21:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

G, when it comes to things such as this, folk have very short memories.......I am sure that many folk don't remember getting the safe(though I prefer the term 'safer')sex leaflets.....and just because you pop a leaflet through someones letterbox, it does not mean they would read it.

Many of those who received the info would probably have thought 'I'm married, it doesn't apply to me'.....then a few years down the line when that same person was divorced...and maybe out on the razz...do you really think the first thing that would go through their mind, would be the leaflet that popped through their door all those years ago........NO, Neither do I.

People need to be reminded....and reminded often......through messages that cannot be ignored, and do not rely on them to do anything much in the way of reading(although I did like the information about STD/STI's on the back of toilet doors....thought they were very useful).......as I say many people do not see the problem as being a problem because they think they aren't 'at risk'.

Yes and making people aware of the risks in the eighties wasn't helped nationally by people like Andrew Neil, then editor of the Sunday Times, and locally by the then Rev. Logan, using the press to preach that if you weren't a 'sinner', and therefore not in a 'high risk group', then, with God on your side, you were free to do as you wish.

Happy in your ignorance, that there was no risk at all!