Co-authored by: Jamie Felzer
Sex marathons…what does that sound like to you? Lots of sex, with multiple partners, for an extended period of time? Bingo! Come on down and collect a prize!!!
Why sex marathons can be dangerous
Sex marathons are where people have sex for a prolonged period of time, and often do so with multiple partners where they may seldom use protection. Clearly this could cause some potential dangers. All these dangers CAN be prevented (by using condoms, lubrication, and strict hygiene). What makes these activities even more dangerous is the addition of crystal meth to help participants stay up for these long sex marathons and the prescription drug, Viagra to make sure they can perform sexually during these marathons. Put those two ingredients together and you have a powerfully volatile cocktail.
A collection of studies have been conducted with both hetero- and homosexual males involving the combination of these substances. It was shown that those who generally used Meth were more likely to have sex, have sex with multiple partners and also more frequently not use protection. Particularly worrisome was the finding that homosexual men who used Meth and were HIV positive were the least likely to use condoms and were also the most depressed. members of this population often had 10 or more sex partners, thus quickly promoting the spread of STDs including HIV (if protection is not used).
Protection is VITAL in combating the spread of HIV
Taken together, these studies reveal that the consumption of Viagra is highly associated with insertive sexual behaviors. This means that heterosexual men on Viagra more often partake in anal sex and homosexual men on Viagra more often partake in insertive sexual behaviors rather than receptive sexual behaviors. All insertive sexual behaviors have a high chance of causing the transmission of STDs because of the high amount of blood flow and low amount of protective tissues that reside in that area of the body.
Remember the ways of contracting HIV: Anal sex, vaginal sex, IVs and any other form of infectious blood mixing, and mother to child transmission.
Those who used a cocktail of Viagra, Meth and poppers (a form of Nitrates) increased the risk of contracting HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B over 100%!! While these drugs can sometimes be used without major complications, the concoction of them together creates a dangerous mix that puts everyone involved at a higher risk of contracting blood-borne diseases. So, participate in sex marathons at your own risk but no matter what know your status and be sure to use protection! Regardless of what the studies show, you can beat statistics by using caution during sex.
Citations:
Fisher, Dennis G; Reynolds, Grace L; Napper, Lucy E. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. Issue: Volume 23(1), February 2010, p 53–56.
Fisher, D. G., Malow, R., Rosenberg, R., Reynolds, G. L., Farrell, N., & Jaffe, A. (2006). Recreational Viagra use and sexual risk among drug abusing men. American Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2, 107-114.
2 responses to “Meth + Viagra = HIV and STDs?? Sex marathons and their danger”
So do these studies do anything to control for the obvious likelihood that drug users are bigger risk takers in general? That is, the drugs might not be changing the risks, its just that riskier people take the drugs.
Great question Brandon. To be perfectly honest, that distinction is difficult to make without following people before, and after, drug use starts. What these studies do show however is that people who combine both drugs engage in riskier behavior, and are more likely to then be infected.
So the short answer is no, but they take into account use of individual drugs versus combinations. So all groups should be riskier than the normal population as you pointed out.