Mpox

Hello, I'm really sorry if this is not the place to post this, but I don't have anyone to talk to about this and I need to get this off my chest.

On Saturday night, a guy I was talking to on Tinder invited me to go to the bar with him and his friends. I went and got really drunk. Afterward, someone suggested going to a hotel, and we all agreed. I got in a car with the guy that invited me and one of his friends and we went to a hotel. There we saw two strangers, and they were having trouble getting a room I think. I don't remember much because I was still really drunk but at the end, all five of us ended up in the same room, even though they gave us two keys. Suddenly everyone starts taking off their clothes and I went into a bit of a shock. I'd only ever had sex twice and both times it had been with a boyfriend. So they tell me to just go to the other room. I grab my stuff and go, followed by the guy that invited me from Tinder. We just stay in bed with our clothes and don't do anything. Some time (maybe half an hour?) later his friend also comes in, saying he got scared once the other guys took out some poppers. We just stay in bed and sleep it off. His friend at one point puts his hand in my pants and touches me down there for a couple of seconds, and we all kiss. After, I wanted to leave so I went outside to get my ID from the reception and the friend comes with me. He kisses me, takes down my pants and starts to give me a blowjob, but I got scared so I told him to stop after a few seconds. Then we all get our IDs and leave.

The possibility of having got monkeypox is eating me alive right now. I'm kicking myself for having got so careless and getting so drunk. I feel disgusting and dirty. This was my first ever time getting close to casual sex, I don't even really go out to parties or drinking much. I can't believe out of all the times I choose to do something so stupid it's in the middle of a new pandemic.

I'm mostly worried about giving it to my mom, who I live with. Thankfully she's 56, so she must have gotten a chickenpox vaccine when little. But being older, I also don't know how dangerous this virus is for someone like her. I don't know what to tell her because everyone knows it as a "gay disease", and I don't want to confirm her beliefs about what being gay will mean to me (she has never been accepting of it). I also can't get a vaccine because my country has none in stock, and apparently, we've ordered them too late and they will arrive who knows when. There are 55 confirmed cases of monkeypox, all of them in my city.
 
@Chezam - is there any way you can talk to a Gay health professional where you live? For some empathy and some practical medical help.

You're only human. We all do things that may seem stupid afterwards.

Hopefully you can get some help and advice from a Professional Health worker.

Monkeypox is not just a gay disease. It has entered and affected the gay community first that's all. There is no doubt that it will also affect non-gay people as well.
 
Hello, I'm really sorry if this is not the place to post this, but I don't have anyone to talk to about this and I need to get this off my chest.

On Saturday night, a guy I was talking to on Tinder invited me to go to the bar with him and his friends. I went and got really drunk. Afterward, someone suggested going to a hotel, and we all agreed. I got in a car with the guy that invited me and one of his friends and we went to a hotel. There we saw two strangers, and they were having trouble getting a room I think. I don't remember much because I was still really drunk but at the end, all five of us ended up in the same room, even though they gave us two keys. Suddenly everyone starts taking off their clothes and I went into a bit of a shock. I'd only ever had sex twice and both times it had been with a boyfriend. So they tell me to just go to the other room. I grab my stuff and go, followed by the guy that invited me from Tinder. We just stay in bed with our clothes and don't do anything. Some time (maybe half an hour?) later his friend also comes in, saying he got scared once the other guys took out some poppers. We just stay in bed and sleep it off. His friend at one point puts his hand in my pants and touches me down there for a couple of seconds, and we all kiss. After, I wanted to leave so I went outside to get my ID from the reception and the friend comes with me. He kisses me, takes down my pants and starts to give me a blowjob, but I got scared so I told him to stop after a few seconds. Then we all get our IDs and leave.

The possibility of having got monkeypox is eating me alive right now. I'm kicking myself for having got so careless and getting so drunk. I feel disgusting and dirty. This was my first ever time getting close to casual sex, I don't even really go out to parties or drinking much. I can't believe out of all the times I choose to do something so stupid it's in the middle of a new pandemic.

I'm mostly worried about giving it to my mom, who I live with. Thankfully she's 56, so she must have gotten a chickenpox vaccine when little. But being older, I also don't know how dangerous this virus is for someone like her. I don't know what to tell her because everyone knows it as a "gay disease", and I don't want to confirm her beliefs about what being gay will mean to me (she has never been accepting of it). I also can't get a vaccine because my country has none in stock, and apparently, we've ordered them too late and they will arrive who knows when. There are 55 confirmed cases of monkeypox, all of them in my city.
You mean a small pox vaccine? Look, everyone screws up. Just be on the lookout for a rash. At least you actually care about it. I’m still seeing guys still having orgies in my area and San Francisco is having that massive kink festival. Don’t look at the videos on Twitter. This is going to be a huge superspreader. I don’t know what people are thinking. I’m officially off sex until I get vaccinated and even after that I’m waiting to see if this thing finally settles down or not. Someone said there’s a 14 day window after the second injection before you should even consider sexual activity. Not sure how true that is. I know people who got the first shot and went right out and hooked up.
 
London People - I've managed to book my Monkeypox vaccine for today at 11:45am via this website: https://www.zesty.co.uk/practices/cnwl-mpx-vaccination

I believe new slots are released daily. I managed to bag a slot by refreshing the browser repeatedly and a slot became availble. The location of the centre is just off Tottenham Court Road, towards Warren Street tube.

Hopefully this helps.

Did you get a confirmation text/email? Prettyyy sure I booked mine but now worried since I didn't get anything back.
 
London People - I've managed to book my Monkeypox vaccine for today at 11:45am via this website: https://www.zesty.co.uk/practices/cnwl-mpx-vaccination

I believe new slots are released daily. I managed to bag a slot by refreshing the browser repeatedly and a slot became availble. The location of the centre is just off Tottenham Court Road, towards Warren Street tube.

Hopefully this helps.
Thank you so much for this! Just booked an appointment for this afternoon.
 
London People - I've managed to book my Monkeypox vaccine for today at 11:45am via this website: https://www.zesty.co.uk/practices/cnwl-mpx-vaccination

I believe new slots are released daily. I managed to bag a slot by refreshing the browser repeatedly and a slot became availble. The location of the centre is just off Tottenham Court Road, towards Warren Street tube.

Hopefully this helps.

I went here on Sunday and it was super easy. No queue.
 
The discourse around this, not only on social media (which is horrifying) but among friends/family has been so troubling. Not only do I keep hearing that it's, "basically an STI that you'd only get at a bathhouse" (!?!?!) but the idea that anyone who doesn't have sex with men doesn't need to take precautions... it's just frustrating. Even friends of mine who took COVID super seriously are largely brushing it off. They don't seem to get that avoiding early precautions is exactly how this is going to turn into a much bigger problem for all of us.
 
Okay this was so smooth, was in and out in 20 minutes and all the staff was so lovely. Honestly thank god for the NHS and the gays taking this into their own hands and being responsible, the room was filled with a sense of community coming together to do the right thing.
 
Do we have any data on how long protection from the vaccine actually lasts, particularly as they seem to be only giving out one doses at the moment? Do we know if it vanes as rapidly as the Covid-19 vaccination?
 
The discourse around this, not only on social media (which is horrifying) but among friends/family has been so troubling. Not only do I keep hearing that it's, "basically an STI that you'd only get at a bathhouse" (!?!?!) but the idea that anyone who doesn't have sex with men doesn't need to take precautions... it's just frustrating. Even friends of mine who took COVID super seriously are largely brushing it off. They don't seem to get that avoiding early precautions is exactly how this is going to turn into a much bigger problem for all of us.
I sort of mentioned it casually to an older family member a couple of weeks back and they literally said "oh it's only a gay disease." I of course got incredibly fired up by that and tried to tell them why that was a terrible thing to say. But I must admit I myself am still quite uninformed about it, but after visiting this thread, I'll be getting my vaccine later this week.
 
Do we have any data on how long protection from the vaccine actually lasts, particularly as they seem to be only giving out one doses at the moment? Do we know if it vanes as rapidly as the Covid-19 vaccination?
To briefly answer this based on the responses I received upon getting my vaccine: 1) One dose should be effective for about two years, without a second dose, 2) With two doses, it should remain effective for about 10 years, and 3) From my understanding having done some reading, this isn't the kind of virus that changes as dramatically as something like SARS-CoV-2, so you can stress a little less about waning, though I'm sure there is some waning over time. (Much like people who had a smallpox vaccine when they were a kid would be less protected in their 50s and 60s, etc.)
 
I sort of mentioned it casually to an older family member a couple of weeks back and they literally said "oh it's only a gay disease." I of course got incredibly fired up by that and tried to tell them why that was a terrible thing to say. But I must admit I myself am still quite uninformed about it, but after visiting this thread, I'll be getting my vaccine later this week.

To be fair to you, it's not like our health agencies have been doing much of anything to accurately inform the masses. It's basically being swept under the rug, at least where I am. I'm having to actively search out any decent information I come across because it certainly isn't being covered properly in the media here.
 
To briefly answer this based on the responses I received upon getting my vaccine: 1) One dose should be effective for about two years, without a second dose, 2) With two doses, it should remain effective for about 10 years, and 3) From my understanding having done some reading, this isn't the kind of virus that changes as dramatically as something like SARS-CoV-2, so you can stress a little less about waning, though I'm sure there is some waning over time. (Much like people who had a smallpox vaccine when they were a kid would be less protected in their 50s and 60s, etc.)
Thank you, that's super helpful.
 
To be fair to you, it's not like our health agencies have been doing much of anything to accurately inform the masses. It's basically being swept under the rug, at least where I am. I'm having to actively search out any decent information I come across because it certainly isn't being covered properly in the media here.

Do you know if anywhere is doing second doses yet btw? I went and got my first at Metro Hall and my roommate is due for his second but they turned him away because they said they haven't started doing them yet.

I'm super concerned about what's going to happen when vaccine doses just start plummeting to zero because, again, this isn't being taken seriously. There should be a serious push from governments to manufacture more doses as quickly as possible - similar to the Covid vaccine push last year. But no it's a ~gay disease~.
 
Do we have any data on how long protection from the vaccine actually lasts, particularly as they seem to be only giving out one doses at the moment? Do we know if it vanes as rapidly as the Covid-19 vaccination?
I ask the man who administered my vaccination today this very question. He said this first dose gives you about 40% protection, so if you were to get monkey pox after being vaccinated, it wouldn’t be as intense on your body and you could cope with the symptoms etc. But he added they need people to get at least to 80%+ protection and said they MIGHT be inviting people to get their booster shot for monkey pox within the next 6 months.
 
Do you know if anywhere is doing second doses yet btw? I went and got my first at Metro Hall and my roommate is due for his second but they turned him away because they said they haven't started doing them yet.

I'm super concerned about what's going to happen when vaccine doses just start plummeting to zero because, again, this isn't being taken seriously. There should be a serious push from governments to manufacture more doses as quickly as possible - similar to the Covid vaccine push last year. But no it's a ~gay disease~.

I got mine at the same spot and they didn't give me any info on second doses, they basically told me to keep checking for information... and I haven't seen any updates since. It's incredibly frustrating that I have friends who I know are using the apps for hook-ups and haven't gotten their first dose because they just 'aren't worried about it' because they aren't hearing much about it.
 

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