Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello Everyone, now that transexxualism and SRS is thankfully behind me its time to have some fun!

I am still 4-6 weeks out from engaging in sexual intercourse but that has not stopped me from preparing for it.  I was not aware that should include keeping myself safe from STD's.

Until of late I had no idea you could prevent HIV.  Recently read transgender women have a higher rate of HIV.  Not sure if they categorized us into pre and postoperative women.

Are there other diseases that can be prevented in transsexual women such as HPV?  Yes, I know use condoms.  But that might not always work out.

Below is a Q/A I had with my endocrinologist on Friday regarding the subject of HIV.

Q: 'One of my friends is worried I might get myself in trouble.  She is concerned about hiv and mentioned there might be a drug to prevent it?  I think she recommended I start taking it.  Not sure what she meant.  Are there drugs that prevent hiv? Have not done anything risky yet.
Thank you,'

A: 'What she says is true. PrEP is Pre-exposure prophylaxis, which is 97% effective in preventing HIV transmission. It must be taken daily, but I HIGHLY recommend it to all patients who may be at risk for contracting HIV. Please let me know if you'd like me to write you a prescription, and I will do so. Stay safe while you're having fun, ok?!!!'

Any input is very much appreciated by me and very sure our community.
Thank you,
Anne

It's a crazy-expensive drug, but it's supposed to be effective; I would still use condoms though, if I wasn't sure about my partner's status.

Crazy expensive and not entirely kind to your body either. You're already taking HRT which your liver has to metabolise using cytochrome P450.

Now you are adding in another drug - ok it may not be unsafe, but you are still adding to the load. Besides - if you forget even once, its efficacy will be greatly reduced, AND 97% sounds good until you realise that means that 3 times in 100 its not going to work and you end up with apotentially fatal disease.

USE CONDOMS! - Better still don't have sex with people whose status you aren't sure of.

I believe those statistics are based on trans women who a) are in sex work and b) engage in anal sex regularly. (No judgment from me on either front; I believe people are entitled to do what they need to do to be happy and/or survive.) I would expect that the transmission rate of HIV for a post-op trans woman with a limited number of partners would be roughly similar to that of a cis woman in the same situation, which is to say, not high unless you skip the condoms regularly with partners who haven't been tested. I can't give medical advice, but I'd definitely research thoroughly before committing to the prophylactic drugs; I know people who've taken them and it's a pretty miserable experience.

Step 1 is to get *yourself* tested. People with penises can contract HPV - in fact, they're the vector by which people with vaginas usually catch it - so a pre-op trans woman can't assume she doesn't have it. Odds are your tests will come back clean, but it's good to know your starting point.

Step 2 is the obvious, to follow all safe-sex recommendations for cis women. Always use a condom, and always assume you can catch something unless you've seen recent test results on your partner. Don't double up on condoms, make sure you use condom-safe lube (and lots of it, to prevent micro-tears), don't have unprotected oral or anal sex, oh, and remember to pee before and after sex to prevent UTIs. :)

In my opinion condoms are the best solution. The remaining risk is very very low. For me it is more complicated to explain why I do not give oral sex without condom. Many men still want it without.

Be sure that everything is healed well. I needed half an year to heal 98%. After one year there have been still some changes. And maybe you should dilate before having sex. I am still tight which is great for my boy friend but I have some toys ready if he is not very "hard" on a day.

As someone who can get wet enough to have sex without lube, 1 tip for using a condom I have is use lube.

I've always found that I could have sex/masturbate without lube, but condoms always dry me out to the point that it could rip and it hurts.

I was advised that after SRS and it heals fully the chances of contracting SDI is limited if you do not have anal sex. The new vagina is a close end structure without access to blood and other secreting organs, unlike cis females who vagina extends into the reproductive organs. Nonetheless, I was advised to use condoms until sure of the partner.

Quote from: warlockmaker on August 02, 2015, 10:06:23 PM
I was advised that after SRS and it heals fully the chances of contracting SDI is limited if you do not have anal sex. The new vagina is a close end structure without access to blood and other secreting organs, unlike cis females who vagina extends into the reproductive organs. Nonetheless, I was advised to use condoms until sure of the partner.

My surgeon told me the same thing.

Of course condoms are always a good idea - there can be tiny tears where the virus can enter.

I've heard speculation that the high HIV incidence may have more to do with how much of our community is involved in the sex trade compared to the population in general, since sex workers have many times the risk of HIV.

Condoms all the way unless you're absolutely sure of your partner's provenance.  The drug may prevent HIV, but it's not preventing the other nasty things that can be conveyed during unprotected sex.  If you're at risk for contracting HIV, you're at risk for contracting all sorts of diseases.  PrEP isn't going to help a whole lot in that department.

No reason whatsoever that using condoms "might not always work out."  It's literally the simplest and cheapest thing you can do to maintain good sexual health.  Make it work until you're in a long-term relationship with a trusted partner.

As an aside (and no judgment intended), I was under the impression that this drug was intended primarily as a last-line defense tool for the segment of the gay community which regularly engages in unprotected sex with virtually random partners on a regular basis regardless of obvious health dangers involved and which consequently leads to the relatively high incidence of HIV in that particular population.  If you think you might need it, you may want to take a step back and evaluate whether your sexual behavior could be taken down a notch or two in terms of risk.