The Truth About Tina - a 4-step process

[info via the mothership - lifelube - image via tweaker.org]

1. If you don't use, don't start

Crystal meth (tina) is highly addictive and drug dependency can develop quickly, even if you think you can control your use.

Despite popular perception, most gay/bi men do NOT use crystal.

In Chicago, 90% of gay/bi men do not use crystal.

You can have a great, satisfying sex life without crystal. Most gay/bi men do.

Using crystal regularly can lead to tooth decay, undesirable weight loss, paranoia, brain damage, memory loss, and impotence. It impairs sexual choices and greatly increases your risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV or other STDs.

Seek help to reduce or stop crystal use.

Get tested for HIV and/or STDs every three months.

2. If you do use, seek help to reduce or stop using.

See the Resources Section for local services to help you stop or reduce your use, or receive other important health services.

3. If stopping isn't an option, act consistently to reduce your sexual risk and protect your general well-being as described below.

Before you get high:

Plan for sexual safety. Decide how and with whom you want to have sex. Make a commitment to disclose/ask about HIV/STD status and use condoms once you're high. If you have difficulty following through on these plans once you are high, know there is help available.

Counseling and drugs that can prevent HIV infection after unsafe sex (non-occupational post-exposure prophylaxis) are available in Chicago.

For bottoms, insert a female condom before getting high or leaving your house for sex.

Pack plenty of condoms and lube. Put them where you will see them once you're high.

While you are high:

Eat, drink extra water or Gatorade, and sleep. Ensure and Power Bars are good sources of nutrition if you don't feel like eating.

You CAN play safely and use condoms -- even while you're high.

Prolonged crystal sex leads to excessive friction and can cause condoms to dry out more quickly or break. Change condoms every hour and with each sex partner.

Use more water-based lubricant than usual. Too much lube is almost enough.

Crystal use in combination with other drugs such as Viagra, poppers, and Ecstasy can cause serious and even life threatening health problems.

"Booty bumping" (keistering) is NOT a safer way to do crystal. It can seriously damage your bowels or anus. This makes anal sex very painful and increases your chance of getting HIV and/or another STD like syphilis.

If you're using crystal and you don't take these precautions consistently, your chances of staying HIV negative are slim, especially if you inject.

Injecting Crystal:

If you don't inject, don't start. Reject offers from sex partners to inject you or to show you how. Injecting greatly increases your chances of HIV, STDs, hepatitis C, abscesses, other soft tissue infections, and social/sexual rejection.

Injecting crystal puts you at greater risk for acquiring, or transmitting, HIV.

Use a new, sterile syringe every time you inject or divide drugs. You can acquire sterile syringes at the needle exchange or at pharmacies without a prescription.

Do not share syringes, cookers, or other paraphernalia with other users or sex partners.

If sterile needles are not available, soaking needles in bleach can kill HIV (3 step method followed by thorough water rinsing). Bleach is not proven effective against hepatitis B or C.

HIV-positive men and crystal use:

Research shows that using crystal meth often leads to higher viral loads, faster HIV progression, worsened immune function, and increased neurological damage.

Using crystal does NOT increase T-cells or boost your immune system. These are myths. In fact, crystal can trash your immune system whether you have HIV or not.

Your chances of successfully managing your HIV get better the sooner you stop using crystal.

Crystal can have bad interactions with many HIV medications.

While you're high, you may forget to take your meds or follow food and water guidelines. This can make your meds less effective and increase your viral load. Kidney stones are also common.

Be honest with your doctor about your drug use. If you are uncomfortable talking to your doctor or feel it is difficult to be honest with him/her, get a new doctor. Talk about whether taking HIV medications while you're still using is right for you.

Crystal use is not the answer to feelings of shame, anger, fear, loneliness, or depression. While crystal may provide temporary relief, these feelings will resume and intensify when the high is gone.

Gaining peer support from other HIV-positive people and service organizations can help ease anxieties that frequently affect people living with HIV/AIDS.

4.The good news is - you (and the ones you love) CAN recover.

Public Health - Seattle & King County has just released a wonderful new crystal relapse prevention booklet for gay men. It was produced in collaboration with a local, self-organizing group of gay men in Seattle recovery called Strength Over Speed. They sponsor peer-facilitated recovery support groups and were willing to share their names, faces, and stories to help destigmatize crystal recovery and reach out to other men who may be struggling to get off or stay off speed. We thank them for sharing this great resource!

Also from the public health department in Seattle and King County, "When Your Partner Has a Drug or Alcohol Problem" offers insight and advice on how to support your partner, yourself, and your relationship through this difficult time.