Sexual health concerns gone wild

[hypnoboypt]

I am a very anxious person - I have both a therapist and a shrink, and I am now thinking of seeing someone who may be specialized in sexual health.

What spurred this on is that, yesterday, when I was having some fun by myself, I invited this guy. You might think I invited someone I didn't know, off of Grindr or Sniffies, but no! I mention this because it is somewhat related to my question, not because I want to judge someone who would meet someone and have a bit of quick fun. But this was someone who I know for quite a few time, now, actually, most probably over a year, even. He has been very nice to me, and he presents himself as a Dom. He has been very respecting of me, and he has even bought some stuff from me.

I can't say if I was really attracted to him, but his respect, the way he treated me? Very attractive. So I called him, and I guess he had been waiting to do something with me, because I had been avoiding it. I got a bit horny, of course, and we did the most basic stuff. To put it in perspective, the most "invasive" stuff he did was fingering me with one finger (no condom) and then he plugged me (with a condom, because I asked). After that, it was really just simulation while clothed.

That was when I started getting very, very anxious. Like, panic attack sort of anxious. And as soon as he noticed it and I asked to stop, he stopped... which is something I can't say has always happened. Either way, I start REALLY panicking about STDs. And here's the thing, I am someone who takes PrEP. I didn't take it yesterday, but logically I know that I wasn't running a big risk with what I intended to do. I believe I have stopped having the mindset of "being clean", because no one's dirty over an STD, but I remain with a level of anxiety and fear around catching one that, as you can see, paralyzes me.

So, my question is: how do you deal with this? How do you deal with sexual health in general? Do you also feel incredibly anxious about catching an STD? I really don't even know where this fear started manifesting - I feel like I have always had it. The experience above has been my experience with almost... all sex, especially after my first time, which is the time I asked for the other person to stop and they didn't... And because I thought they had been especially rough with me and were trying to provoke me, I ended up doing PEP and a whole set of antibiotics because I almost spun out in college.

tl;dr: I am mortified of catching an STD, to an irrational amount. How do you cope with sexual health and what tips could you share?

 

[LPSG Simon]

If you only missed one day of prep the day before, the chances are that you are sill totally fine. Prep stays in the body and it actually takes a few missed doses in a row before the efficacy goes down. Especially because you ALSO used a condom.

I'd really say you dont have anything to worry about at all here.

The best way to combat anxiety like this is with information and facts. You may want to talk to your prep provider and ask for a referral to a sexual health counsellor who can make time to sit down and talk beyond what you might be there for an appointment for regarding physical needs.

The more you know about these things, the better you'll feel.

 

[BlackBearCognac]

Aside from HIV and Herpes, almost all STDs are treatable.

There's no cure for Herpes but it's more or less just a nuisance.

Which boils down to HIV. If you don't want to do the PreP pills, then look into getting the new injection that you only need to do every other month.

Other than that, get regularly tested and educate yourself on the STDs.

Finally, be sure to set boundaries with your sexual partners. If you say stop or they play too rough then that's sexual assault.

Communication is super important. It's okay to be up front about what exactly you want to do, what you won't do, and your expectations for sexual safety.