Aiden has had hepatitis C twice; he was cured with a course of treatment the first time around in 2012. He’s 23 years old, HIV negative and has never injected drugs. David Stuart, chems advisor at Dean Street sexual health and wellbeing centre, sat down for a chat with him about the virus.Â
Hep C is arguably the most stigmatized of all diseases, often associated with street homeless injecting heroin users, hardcore slammers, or guys into heavy fisting sessions. As a virus, it’s often compared to HIV, but the way it can be acquired can be very different.
Hi Aiden*, just for the record, you’ve kindly given me permission to ask you a whole lot of personal, and perhaps intrusive questions. Ta for that.
Yep! Go on.
So, hep C, and twice; do you consider yourself unlucky?
I do actually. I mean, it’s a really horrible disease; not because of the symptoms, I didn’t really have any. It’s the medicines that are horrible; they really fucked up my life for about six months. I was tired and depressed, had sudden mood swings. I used up all of my sick days in those six months because of it.
There might be some that argue that it wasn’t bad luck, but perhaps ignorance or stupidity that resulted in two infections.
Oh. Well yeah. I would say the first time was ignorance, I just didn’t know much about it. I mean no-one talks about it. You see a lot about HIV, and I feel like I know a lot about HIV. Like how to be safe. And I’ve had PEP twice for a couple of mistakes I’ve made. But I just didn’t know anything about hep C then.
And the second time?
Well I guess the second time was different, yeah, I should have known to be safer, and I’d learnt probably everything about how to avoid hep C. But I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s stupidity. I’ve got friends who are HIV positive, and they knew they should have worn condoms; but I wouldn’t say they were stupid for catching it. You know, it’s complicated. Sex is complicated.
How so?
I dunno, dating’s kind of hard, no-one really does it anyway. And you go out drinking, end up at a sauna or some guy’s house, and before you know it, you’re a bit high from a bump of meph or shot of G. And then you’re just doing it (sex). You don’t have time to think of everything. And there’s so much to think about these days. You just get on with it without thinking. But yeah, I know I’m a bit stupid, I shouldn’t be doing all that stuff.
You’re allowed to enjoy sex you know, without feeling guilty or stupid. And I wish it wasn’t so complicated for you. Knowing how to have a consistently fulfilling sex and romantic life is kind of a skill set that a lot of us just don’t have. Our health advisors in clinic try to help with that skill set.
Yep.
Do you know how you caught hep C this time?
I know from the last time, that you can get obsessed with figuring out ‘who’. Or being angry they didn’t tell you. But I get that now; stigma is so bad, it’s the one thing you can’t talk about during sex or online. I could have caught it from sharing a douching thing at this guy’s house – there were a few people there – or maybe from sharing straws, or longer sessions with guys. Like I said, there’ve been condom mistakes (and there’s no PEP for hep C). So actually, no. I don’t know.
So you’re on treatment again? I hope you tolerate it better this time.
Actually, no, I’m not doing the treatment yet. It was so horrible the last time that I’ve decided to wait; there’s supposed to be some new medicines available soon that cure you faster, like in 4 weeks, and with less side effects.
I’m not sure how soon they’ll be available; they’re currently only available to those with late stage liver disease, which only happens when you’ve been infected for a number of years.
Yeah I know; but since I have no symptoms now, I’d rather wait. I don’t wanna go through that treatment again.
So that means you’re infectious? How will that impact your sex life?
Well, big time. It’s not nice knowing you’ve got a disease, especially one that’s so stigmatised. But you know I’m with [my boyfriend] now and he’s cool, he’s a grown-up.
Yeah, he’s a good guy. Can I ask; are you having awesome sex?
Yep. I know some guys can’t figure sex with a hep C positive guy, but that’s just ignorant. And a bit fucked up. Yes, we have awesome sex.
I’m glad. You’re gorgeous Aiden, ta for speaking with me.
*Aiden’s name has been changed to protect anonymity.
• You can read more about hep C here: www.gmfa.org.uk/hepatitis-c. If you would like support with substance related issues than more info can be found on Dean Street’s website: http://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/services/hiv-sexual-health/clinics/56-dean-street/chemsex-support.Â
• On World Hepatitis Day, 28th July, a new hepatitis C site will go live designed to provide access to credible third party information and local services: http://hepc.co.uk
