Experience on Pep (UK)
I wanted to share my experience on pep for those who are starting and have read a million and one awful stories online about side effects and effectiveness etc
For a bit of context, I had unprotected unplanned sex with a person who’s HIV status was unknown. I have really bad health anxiety, so that alone made me want to start PEP on the off chance he may have been positive.
I googled PEP and read all the stories on this forum and instantly panicked. The side effects I read about scared me to death, but I knew I would rather be unwell for 28 days than live with HIV for the rest of my life.
I took the pill within 50 hours of the encounter, and for the first 5 days I was an anxious mess. I was constantly scanning my body for side effects or googling what I should feel like on day 1 or day 3.
Once I got to around the day 5/6 mark, I slowly stopped reading online about PEP and just took the tablets everyday at the same time. It almost become a routine and I had forgotten the reason I was taking them.
I had absolutely no side effects other than a bit of diarrhoea here and there, but I also have IBS so it definitely wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I may have had other side effects such as mild nausea and fatigue, but again they were so mild and unnoticeable that I didn’t bat an eyelid!
I just wanted to share my experience for those who are in a similar boat, and to reassure people that the side effects you read about are not guranteed! If I can survive, you guys can too!