Sexual Health, Sexual Safety & Stigma

[SamanthaKnoxx 102]

I have always been extremely passionate about sexual health. 
 

When I was 15 a friend of mine was bullied for having herpes - which she contracted when she was sexually assaulted by a 19 y/o. 
 

I bore witness to the cruelty of others, the stigma around sexual health & was also victim of both. 
 

People whispered that I had herpes because we had sleepovers - they knew nothing about transmission, treatment, etc 

Then in my first year in the industry, I started to do porn as well as strip. 
Two strippers started up a lovely little rumour that I had HIV from doing porn - these two individuals were offering extras, going home with clients & couldn’t tell me the last time they were tested - they also thought you could contract HIV from sharing a joint. 
 
Another example of peoples lack of understanding of sexual health. 
 

When I was 17/18 and in first year uni, I contracted Chalmydia 2x. 
First Sem from a man who went home on winter break and fucked his ex without protection & came back and fucked me. 

He had symptoms - I did not. 
The next semester I had unprotected sex with a lover who said he had been tested the week before - he got a call the next day from the clinic. 
 

Both times I was given 4x pills of Azithromycin and was good to go after a week. 
With a reccomendation to retest after 4weeks 

At that point in my life I had had sex with at least 50 people - mostly unprotected because I was young, naive, foolish and on birth control. 
 

I am now 25, I have been in the industry since I was 19, I have had sex with hundreds of men, women and GNC folks at this point in my life. 
 

Last year I was dx with “Stage 0” cervical cancer - which means that the cervical biopsy I had indicated the abnormal cell growth was high grade and 50% likely to become cancerous. 
This was most likely cause from exposure to HPV from unprotected sex with one of my colleagues in the industry , one of my lovers or one of the clients who has jumped through the hoops & paid for the privilege to film with me in that capacity. 
Most clinics won’t test for HPV and it’s so common the WHO reccomendation is that everyone receives the updated vaccine - Gardisil9

 

I has received Gardisil when I was 12 & This last year received the 3 doses of Gardisil9.

The updated version covers 5 strains of cervical cancer causing HPV and 4 strains of oral-pharangeal causing HPV. 
 

in the last few years the window for detection of HIV has gone down from 6 months to 3. 
 

And at the same time the leading result of HPV exposure is of oral-pharangeal cancer - this is a result of unsafe oral & a lack of education around how STIs can be transmitted. 
 

We all have seen how limited the gen publics understanding of transmission of disease is with the last few years of covid. 
 

sexual health is no different. 
and as the world evolves , so must we - if we want to continue to be kinky slutty ppl. 
 

With that being said: 

I had my first ever personal experience with an STI as a SWer. 
 

I tested Jan 10- results received Jan 16. blood, urine, throat/rectal swab, all neg 

 

Jan 31 - results for blood Feb 2 neg

Feb 03 urine/rectal positive for chlamydia , Feb 07 throat swab pos for chlamydia. 
 

I was treated Feb 03 with the classic 4x Azithromycin and give. The clear to be sexually actively again after Feb 10. 
 

i contacted my clients and collegues for the last several weeks including from before Jan 10 and informed everyone of my positive test. 
I cancelled all of my apts , posted to Twitter and IG and have been informing new inquiries of this experience. 
 

I know this will deter some because of deeply rooted ignorance around sex, sexual health and SW. 

 

But I am grateful I am able to do my part to combat stigma. 
 

I despise language such as “clean” or “d/d free” - stigma literally kills. 
 

if you know anything about the HIV/AIDS crisis you know it was called GRID initially aka Gay Related Immuno Deficiency- and until it started affecting cis women we just let the gays die. We lost an entire generation of queer people to what is now a disease that’s easier to live with than cancer - yet still is highly stigmatized because of its association with sex & gay sex specifically. 
 

also to be clear - I should not have to be - I am not HIV +. 
My panels continue to be neg. 
 

One thing I did learn today though after a call with the health unit is that if you retest before 4 weeks it’s possible you will trigger a false positive test because the tests detect dead cells as well. 
 

My next test date is Feb 13. the. Feb 28 & first week of March. 
 

So let’s talk about sexual health! 
Let’s talk about BV, Yeast infections(esp after antibiotics) , UTIs, interstitial cystitis, urine tests, throat rectal and vaginal swabs etcetceetc

 

let’s have some honest conversations and dispel some of the stigma & fear. 
 

sti’s are a part of the risk of being sexually active - we have to take our health and our responsibility to ourselves and others sexual health seriously! 
 

A huge shift for me since receiving this news is going to be requiring clients to provide me test results for BBJ or paying a premium rate for the risk I am taking. 
 

Hopefully this encourages clients to get tested more often as well - I know far too many who have expressed that they don’t go because they know the providers they see do. 
 

Do yourself a favour and go get tested! I know many of my colleagues who only go 1x a month due to accessibility/time/etc. 

We can all be supporting one another in being safe and slutty 

[Orpheo12 70]

Thank you for educating us.

[Cheeky.char 438]

Very important post! Thank you, Sam!

[Allie Zeon 2905]

Samantha, you are a star! It's within you girl 

Please take care of yourself

 

[xoCaptivatinggCleo 748]

Another HUGE one is herpes, and its terrifying how easy you can contract it. I don't feel like its anything to be ashamed of, but its important to know the risks, and what it means if you do catch something like herpes or HIV because while they are manageable they are not curable.  They don't test for herpes in routine STI/STD checks either, you need to specifically ask for it, and a lot of people don't know that. Transmission rates without breakouts are low, but not 100% risk free, people who have asymptotic shedding can transmit herpes to your mouth via **** - and lets face it, the more sexually active you are - or the more clients you see the higher the risks become! You can also still contract it genitally from having sex with condoms. I follow a lot of forums on Reddit about sexual health, sex workers, and STI/STDS and some of the stories are so sad. Regular check ups are SO important... not just when you're suspicious of something - and its important to ask questions and talk about it! Even if someone gives you a recent blood test for something there is a risk its not showed up in their blood yet, or they lie about being with someone from the time they were tested to when they see you ! 

For me, I get BV so easily ! Just changing condoms can trigger it for me, or having a bath which is the worst hahah I love a good bubble bath... and normally my BV comes with a big ol UTI but I find since taking cranberry everyday and vit C (and no more baths 😞 ) I don't get them as much

[Orpheo12 70]

3 hours ago, xoCaptivatinggCleo said:

Another HUGE one is herpes, and its terrifying how easy you can contract it. I don't feel like its anything to be ashamed of, but its important to know the risks, and what it means if you do catch something like herpes or HIV because while they are manageable they are not curable.  They don't test for herpes in routine STI/STD checks either, you need to specifically ask for it, and a lot of people don't know that. Transmission rates without breakouts are low, but not 100% risk free, people who have asymptotic shedding can transmit herpes to your mouth via **** - and lets face it, the more sexually active you are - or the more clients you see the higher the risks become! You can also still contract it genitally from having sex with condoms. I follow a lot of forums on Reddit about sexual health, sex workers, and STI/STDS and some of the stories are so sad. Regular check ups are SO important... not just when you're suspicious of something - and its important to ask questions and talk about it! Even if someone gives you a recent blood test for something there is a risk its not showed up in their blood yet, or they lie about being with someone from the time they were tested to when they see you ! 

For me, I get BV so easily ! Just changing condoms can trigger it for me, or having a bath which is the worst hahah I love a good bubble bath... and normally my BV comes with a big ol UTI but I find since taking cranberry everyday and vit C (and no more baths 😞 ) I don't get them as much

TY for the discussion. I did not know STI/STD screening did not include Herpes routinely. But I question putting it in the same sentence with HIV. Herpes is very contagious when in outbreak but is not deadly apart from raising the risk of cervical cancer. Is there a vaccine against it readily-available?

HIV is treatable but potentially deadly, and far harder to transmit.

I have to lookup the meaning of BV. Sorry it troubles you so much.

[SamanthaKnoxx 102]

On 4/10/2023 at 3:19 PM, clearbluesky15 said:

This makes sense, regular testing is important for everyone.

What language would you recommend to communicate the results of the tests? Something like "negative STI results?"

This exactly. 
when you receive the results they say neg or pos - not dirty or clean! 
 

we say HIV+ or Neg. Not hiv dirty ir clean. 
 

theres nothing about having any other kind of infection that makes ppl use language like dirty. We say they are sick! 
 

so why is it different for sexual health? Stigma perhaps?

[SamanthaKnoxx 102]

2 hours ago, Orpheo12 said:

TY for the discussion. I did not know STI/STD screening did not include Herpes routinely. But I question putting it in the same sentence with HIV. Herpes is very contagious when in outbreak but is not deadly apart from raising the risk of cervical cancer. Is there a vaccine against it readily-available?

HIV is treatable but potentially deadly, and far harder to transmit.

I have to lookup the meaning of BV. Sorry it troubles you so much.

I deal with candida/yeast more than BV. 
 

herpes is a life long infection 

so is HIV 

both can be treated with medications to prevent outbreaks (hsv) and detectability and transmision (hiv) also HiV is not deadly. AIDS is deadly. 
HIV develops into AIdS when the entire immune system is destroyed.
 

HIV treatment with antiretrovirals means your HIV wont develop into AIdS ans can become “undetectable” meaning such a low viral load your tests show a false negative test result  

 

theyre also working on a vaccine to prevent HIV with mrna technology 

 

Herpes there is no vaccine - there is for HPV human papilloma virus which causes warts, cervical and oral pharyngeal and anal cancer its called Gardisil & Gardisil9  

 

there is PrEp for HiV which reduces transmission risk after contact by 90% if youve been on the meds for at least 3 weeks 

 

and post exposure meds

What Is PEP? PEP, or post-exposure prophylaxis, is a short course of HIV medicines taken very soon after a possible exposure to HIV to prevent the virus from taking hold in your body. You must start it within 72 hours (3 days) after a possible exposure to HIV, or it won't work.

https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/hiv-prevention/using-hiv-medication-to-reduce-risk/post-exposure-prophylaxis
 

 

if you are interested in PrEp you can check out this site GoFreddie for reduced cost if the meds in Canada which are about $300/month ish without 

 

it can be hard on your kidneys so you should have kidney labs ran first to make sure theyre functioning well before you take the meds - and reassess at 3 months

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