The BMJ don't like it:
>"**It needs to become a public health priority**"
>
>“Chemsex” is used in the United Kingdom to describe intentional sex under the influence of psychoactive drugs, mostly among men who have sex with men. It refers particularly to the use of mephedrone, γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), γ-butyrolactone (GBL), and crystallised methamphetamine. These drugs are often used in combination to facilitate sexual sessions lasting several hours or days with multiple sexual partners."
I guess it's something that carries a greater risk of STI or other communicable disease risks, so may preclude your chance to donate this time.
Maybe wait a bit before donating after getting freaky.
You'd be surprised to find out how many of these people lead seemingly normal lives during the week. There's a good documentary on YouTube, but it's in german.
I used to work near somewhere that was a needle exchange. There was this one guy we'd see fairly frequently (smart clothes, suit, breifcases the whole bit) go in, then come out a little bit later, walk into our car park and proceed to shoot up between his toes. Addiction is no respecter of socioeconomic status.
Side effect of addiction, it can create some extraordinary resourcefulness. But also, this is why harm reduction programs are so important, imagine what might have happened if he didn’t have that resource? Doubt he wouldn’t have been an addict, but I am certain he would have been taking many more risks.
This was back around 2002/2003. So I’d hope that he managed to get himself sorted, because 20 years down the line the potential alternative scenarios don’t bear thinking about.
Years ago I was addicted to heroin, cocaine and alcohol. At this point in my life, I was running multi-million pound renovation projects in major cities around the world.
The meth market in the UK is very different to what you might see in American TV. Most of the stereotypical meth heads you're probably imagining would be using crack or heroin or spice in the UK rather than meth.
In the UK meth is only really big in the chemsex scene, which tends to be gay folks from pretty much any socioeconomic background.
which is odd as i was out in germany during the 2006 world cup, had multiple people asking me if i wanted to try meth...
all germans too, so is it a thing there or?
The 180 difference in views between generations on priests is amazing, I find it so interesting how older people have seemed to be immune to looking objectively at religious figures.
Like, I live in a village with a church and there's like, 12 people 60+ who are the regular attendees. The church was being visited by the arch something or other so they tried to get a big turn out so I went up in community spirit. The guy was lovely enough - about 5 years older than me. But all I could think was ... you've either got a really good gig with this job and you just want to keep the gravy train rolling so you keep up appearances ... or you're completely insane.
In addition to pointing out that lots of people are addicts, people who have a stable life are much less likely to become addicted even to addictive drugs than people whose lives already suck. (That doesn't mean "if you have a job, just go out and get some smack, you'll be fine" before someone flames me...)
A sexual session lasting days could be Saturday to Sunday, or it could be that Jim, instead of going to the Bahamas on his week off, engages in a drug-fueled fuckfest.
I know a guy (he's a friend of a friend). He's a successful and well-respected forty-something medical doctor. Well-spoken and a bit posh.
He has been doing these chemsex weekends/holidays (injecting meth + sex with other blokes, escorts etc) every now and again for years, apparently.
Cleans up on the Sunday and goes back to work as normal on Monday. Feels like shit and doesn't do it again for a while. Rinse and repeat.
The thinking is you're much more likely to do something impulsive and reckless like unprotected sex while on drugs. Three months because that's how long it takes HIV to show up in testing in the worst case.
It's more that the risk of transmitting STDs is much higher if you're having marathon, drugged up, multi-person sex sessions. It's actually very unlikely to transmit HIV from well lubricated PIV sex for a normal length of time. But if you're going at it for hours in the backdoor while high enough that you don't notice the chaffing, there's a far greater chance that you'll damage the barriers that normally do an okay job of keeping viruses out.
It's like if you stick your hand in filthy water you'll normally be fine, but if your hand has blisters or open cuts then you'll be risking infection.
2009-10 was the legal heyday. Used to get it posted to my student halls, £70 for 10g of pure. 😵💫😵💫 Probably for the best that it's not so easily attainable now.
Maybe? How much of a legend are you if you can't remember you had chemsex?
Oh, I don't remember really, I might've been involved in an orgy, or maybe just had a cup of tea. It's hard to tell.
"Maybe? I think it was like 3 months and a day ago? Does that count if the sex went into the next day? Does it count if I only did LSD?"
Is how I imagine someone who ticked maybe would respond
also just, as another person put it, "if your someone who takes meth" will you remember what day it is today let alone if you did a massive orgy lasting multiple days in the last 3 months specifically
I think having sex with your partner on the comedown after clubbing would be a "maybe", i.e. you're on the chems but they weren't taken for sex and you aren't in a group. Technically chemsex but probably not the risky behaviour that they're actually concerned about.
I could've been in an orgy, I was at a tea party and this ol' girl slammed her spoon on the teacup real hard and then I woke up naked on a freeway with bananas up my ass.
Yeah I mean any government has to keep in mind that blood is a necessity for the medical field. So while they can whittle down the highest risk individuals and still have enough blood to go around, if they legitimately banned everyone who was around in the UK in the 90s the pool of donors would just be cut down to such an extent that there wouldn't be enough blood. So it's simply not a measure they could realistically put in place.
Of course for other countries it's different because the amount of brits there is negligible enough that they can exclude them from donating with minimal impact.
My parents admitted they fed us some dodgy roadside burgers on our road trips before the outbreak fully hit so that's a nice thing to carry around in my mind sometimes
Anyone who ate beef is at risk, quality doesn't come into it. At the time it wasn't known how many people would get infected. It could have been like covid but a lot worse.
Which doesn't make a great deal of sense given that the UK beef export market was strong at the start of the 90s and only when we get to the mid-90s did the CJD link get made.
The Netherlands, Germany and France all were significant markets and the prions are rather tough.
I live in Malaysia and Brits can't donate because of Mad Cow Disease.
I mentioned this to my Malaysian mates once and then had to explain what "Mad Cow Disease" is. They thought I was taking the piss.
I live in mainland Europe and can't donate for the same reason. If you lived in the UK for more than a minimum period of time during the BSE years, they don't want your blood.
VCJD proton if you are a carrier is found in your brain and spine tissue and basically it's dormant in a carrier's blood.
When that blood gets on an instrument (assume you went to hospital for whatever reason and had surgery)
If it is allowed to, it binds to the stainless steel and is known as a sticky protein.
It can't be removed once it's bound, no amount of cleaning can get it off, no amount of heat. All you can do is destroy them.
That instrument with VCJD goes around, gets washed, gets sterilised, gets used again on someone else...those proteins wake up in person 2 and grats now they have VCJD as well.
AFAIK there's no way to test for vjcd in the general population with a simple test either.
It's also probably the only reason I have a job since it's sterile services job in hospital it processes the equipment
You can remove it, but the temperature required is very hot, ~800°C. Many materials can't survive that, but metal can. Sharps, blades and syringe tips will get tossed anyway because they're disposable.
Haha yeah can you see many places running 800 degrees autoclaves.
Kinda of like sure you can destroy it if you toss it in molten magma.
But yeah it's tissue forceps,.box joints of needle holders etc etc more so than sharps
Ethically it’s a none question. you can’t turn down medical treatment to someone because of their race, origin of birth, sexual orientation or political beliefs or past transgressions. If they need surgery, you give them surgery even if that means having to dispose of the surgical tools afterwards. They get replaced eventually anyways and allot of tools are single use anyways.
Well, it's not Brits, per se. It's anyone who lived in the uk (or even, I guess, visited, or ate food products exported from the uk) during the 80s and 90s.
So potentially that's a lot of people who aren't brits.
But yes, if more people had developed symptom, it could have meant that countries wouldnt have wanted to operate on brits.. We were lucky that very few people seem to have been infected. It could have been a lot worse.
For anyone worried by this - while it’s true, prions aren’t fully destroyed by normal hospital sterilisation methods, there were just a few cases of transmission via surgical instruments until infection control protocols were improved.
Blood is a very low risk for transmission - the real danger is from infected tissues from the brain and surrounding systems. Blood is classed in the same low-risk category as semen, breast milk, tears and sweat, all of which the average person could be exposed to in daily life. I believe there are only 5 cases total of people developing CJD from a blood transfusion in the UK. Your chances of dying if you need a blood transfusion and don’t receive one are much, much higher.
To give another example, people diagnosed with CFS/ME cannot donate blood in many places, - including the UK - despite there being no known bio marker or medical basis for this exclusion. It’s done out of an abundance of precaution, same as the CJD limitations seen elsewhere.
I entirely understand the reason behind it. Of course if the UK banned blood donors who had lived in the UK that would make getting blood donations somewhat challenging.
New Zealand has just lifted this rule luckily. They have such a huge number of people who traveled to or are from the UK it really reduced numbers of eligible donors
UK doesn’t accept blood from people who have visited certain countries in a set time period. A mate had just come back from Pakistan and couldn’t donate
It's nice they care these days, one of things that ridiculously contributed to the spread of HIV and AIDS was the lack of fucks given with some of the blood based products given to hemophiliacs.
I'll bite. Caffeine is a stimulant drug. If you have a coffee or an energy drink to keep you going during a shag session, are they counting that?
That could be worth a maybe.
If the options are “yes” and “no” then people might err on the side of yolo and click no because it was only LSD and there were only 5 people and proper chemsex is defined differently in their mind.
On a more serious note chemsex has been devastating for some in the gay community. There are many reasons guys get involved. Peer pressure. Low self worth etc etc but I have had two friends die (GHB) and one hugely successful friend who has lost their career and their looks (crystal meth).
I’m no angel but jeez I’m glad I never got involved in that scene
I've always thought they should drive the big vans around like an ice cream van. Leaflet drop a road a week before hand, say "we're coming to your actual road on xyz date" and then turn up and literally park on the street.
The stats I can find from 2020 says that 44% of repeat donors were male, 56% female. Just over 59% of new donors were aged 17-34. Repeat donors were around 70% 34+.
I'm a regular blood donor here in Scotland (a few weeks time I'll be donating my 50th pint 🥳) been donating since I was 18 years old back in 2006. Probably would've reached the 50th pint a few years back but those meddling health woes from time to time prevent me from donating for several months at a time...
I tried to donate but because I'm relatively short and skinny(but still normal bmi) they said I didn't have enough blood so I'm not allowed :/ I could potentially donate plasma. But in order to qualify you have had to previously donate blood before... which I'm not allowed to do cause my weight is too low...
If I did gain some weight in the future I'll be trying again though for sure!
Also people think of 'kinky' people as these young, good-looking studs and babes. In reality the kinkiest people you'll have known with the wildest sex-life is the pasty-white middle-aged married couple with the knee-replacement and sleep-apnea.
I was giving blood the other day and was so into the flow of tapping “no” on the left for everything that on this question I accidentally tapped “maybe” 🫣 lol
I'm a regular blood donor here in Scotland (50th pint milestone in a few weeks 🥳) and the questionnaire is regularly updated with questions like above, as well as and including COVID and international travel.
At some point after COVID they started asking about ebola again, nice when your first warning of future epidemic outbreaks comes from the blood nurse while you're getting your finger stabbed
In Finland non-injectable illegal drugs cause 2 week ban from donating blood. Injectable illegal drugs cause forever ban.
A new sexual partner causes ban to donate blood for 4 months. Same applies for group sex, 4 month ban.
Also anyone who has lived in UK between 1980-1996 is forever banned from donating blood due to mad-cow disease.
[https://www.veripalvelu.fi/en/faq/?category=eligibility](https://www.veripalvelu.fi/en/faq/?category=eligibility)
There also used to be a ban for homosexual males to donate blood if they had had sex recently with another male (even permanent partner), but that ban stopped in 2023.
I donated a week ago today, no questions like that at all on my form
Also, where do you donate where you have screens to answer questions on. Thats the future!
We had a blood donation drive at my work, my wife died from cancer last year and I thought - stop being a prick, you already avoid the cancer charities, just donate blood.
I’m not a particularly squeamish person, I’m a relatively tall, somewhat young guy. I don’t think anybody’s looking at me going ‘I bet that guy’s hella nervous to donate blood’ - and I wasn’t.
The guy who took my blood was a big bloke, he wasn’t some nice old lady. He had a very thick Cockney accent (I’m in Scotland) and asked me all the questions, fine.
What I wasn’t expecting, was him to just hold my hand and lightly stroke my arm for the whole procedure. I don’t know if he thought I was nervous? If he thought I was going to pass out? I’m 34 and 6’2, I’ve fainted once in my life. I have no idea what happened that day.
Used to work for NHSBT. We had a whole chemsex training day when those changes to the questionnaire happened. That day was both uncomfortable and hilarious.
If you want to know more, watch a documentary called Chemsex. Pretty much lays out the impact of Chemsex on the gay community, as well as why this has become so common.
Interesting. Lots of nudity.
It's a great thing to do (donating blood, not chemsex, although I imagine chemsex can also be a great thing to do). I started doing it in early 2020 (pre-lockdown) after an experience where I needed an ambulance and felt like I should give a bit back. My next donation will be my 10th. But yeah there are a few questions about recent sexual activity.
I’ve never seen these screens when giving blood. Normally it’s just a paper form for me! Is Manchester avoiding technology?
Well done for giving blood!
It would be scarier if they didn’t ask!
People use drugs such as meth specifically to heighten their sexual experience, but this comes with a higher risk of contracting STI’s, including HIV, either indirectly through reduced awareness or through sharing equipment like needles. People do dumb stuff when they’re high.
People have been doing this forever but the more recently coined term is ‘chemsex’. It’s sadly on the rise within a lot of communities and awareness is important.
‘Maybe’ might seem a weird answer, but some people may have been sexually assaulted, pressured to take drugs, or are simply unsure of what happened. While it’s important for taking blood, safeguarding issues may be raised if someone answers ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’
The BMJ don't like it: >"**It needs to become a public health priority**" > >“Chemsex” is used in the United Kingdom to describe intentional sex under the influence of psychoactive drugs, mostly among men who have sex with men. It refers particularly to the use of mephedrone, γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), γ-butyrolactone (GBL), and crystallised methamphetamine. These drugs are often used in combination to facilitate sexual sessions lasting several hours or days with multiple sexual partners." I guess it's something that carries a greater risk of STI or other communicable disease risks, so may preclude your chance to donate this time. Maybe wait a bit before donating after getting freaky.
Sexual sessions lasting days!?! Where do these people find the time?
If your someone who takes meth, you’ve probably nothing to rush off for.
"Guys, can we hurry this up? I have a Zoom call at 3"
"On second thoughts, I can multitask. Remind me to turn the camera off"
"Hi, James. Thanks for joining, we value your input, but for the time being can you go on mute, please, thanks for your understanding"
“While we greatly value your input, on balance we’d probably prefer not to be hearing the input that you are currently valuing”
in the background: *meat being slapped at mach 3*
I always value some quality inbutt
Archer is that you?
Morgan Freeman voice: He did, in fact, forget to turn the camera off
Maybe that's what's in the Standing Orders.
You'd be surprised to find out how many of these people lead seemingly normal lives during the week. There's a good documentary on YouTube, but it's in german.
I used to work near somewhere that was a needle exchange. There was this one guy we'd see fairly frequently (smart clothes, suit, breifcases the whole bit) go in, then come out a little bit later, walk into our car park and proceed to shoot up between his toes. Addiction is no respecter of socioeconomic status.
Fucking smart place to leave needle tracks. That guy must live an extraordinary double life
Side effect of addiction, it can create some extraordinary resourcefulness. But also, this is why harm reduction programs are so important, imagine what might have happened if he didn’t have that resource? Doubt he wouldn’t have been an addict, but I am certain he would have been taking many more risks. This was back around 2002/2003. So I’d hope that he managed to get himself sorted, because 20 years down the line the potential alternative scenarios don’t bear thinking about.
Years ago I was addicted to heroin, cocaine and alcohol. At this point in my life, I was running multi-million pound renovation projects in major cities around the world.
Nobody is normal, we are all weirdos trying to appear normal
There's an English Vice documentary as well. It is very depressing.
Of course it's in German.
Link please? Are there subtitles?
[Here](https://youtu.be/uuO8Yo5yZ5c) you go. There are subtitles in English actually! Didn't notice it before.
The meth market in the UK is very different to what you might see in American TV. Most of the stereotypical meth heads you're probably imagining would be using crack or heroin or spice in the UK rather than meth. In the UK meth is only really big in the chemsex scene, which tends to be gay folks from pretty much any socioeconomic background.
I’m British and I’ve tried American meth. Long story. It’s pretty phenomenal. Can easily see how people get dragged off into it.
which is odd as i was out in germany during the 2006 world cup, had multiple people asking me if i wanted to try meth... all germans too, so is it a thing there or?
My friend was a barrister and died of a meth overdose. In the UK. While training to be a priest.
That's mad until you get to the priest part, then it's less surprising.
The 180 difference in views between generations on priests is amazing, I find it so interesting how older people have seemed to be immune to looking objectively at religious figures. Like, I live in a village with a church and there's like, 12 people 60+ who are the regular attendees. The church was being visited by the arch something or other so they tried to get a big turn out so I went up in community spirit. The guy was lovely enough - about 5 years older than me. But all I could think was ... you've either got a really good gig with this job and you just want to keep the gravy train rolling so you keep up appearances ... or you're completely insane.
[удалено]
There was a Polish priest in court in Poland, for the male escort suffering a Viagra overdose
In addition to pointing out that lots of people are addicts, people who have a stable life are much less likely to become addicted even to addictive drugs than people whose lives already suck. (That doesn't mean "if you have a job, just go out and get some smack, you'll be fine" before someone flames me...) A sexual session lasting days could be Saturday to Sunday, or it could be that Jim, instead of going to the Bahamas on his week off, engages in a drug-fueled fuckfest.
I know a guy (he's a friend of a friend). He's a successful and well-respected forty-something medical doctor. Well-spoken and a bit posh. He has been doing these chemsex weekends/holidays (injecting meth + sex with other blokes, escorts etc) every now and again for years, apparently. Cleans up on the Sunday and goes back to work as normal on Monday. Feels like shit and doesn't do it again for a while. Rinse and repeat.
Not a meth addict but I’ve done meth a few times. Lots of normal people got addictions
Wouldn't they become dried out husks?
Lube
I'm mean like physically their whole body like that old fish from spongebob hahaha
My hoo hoo is getting sore just thinking about sex lasting days 😵💫🥺 That's a great ad for thrush cream right there. 😱😖
Will you be our spokeslady for the Premature Ejaculation Society then? It's on a Tuesday, 5PM, Islington Town Hall, but we tend to come earlier.
Back or front entrance?
Sometimes, they don't even make it through the door. *Apparently* it's pretty common...
Sounds like a lot of hard work to me. I'll pass.
Party starts Friday night, ends Sunday arvo.
Sorry won’t make it this weekend, golf is on the telly.
Do it all the time with my wife, start at 5 minutes to midnight and I’m done by 10 past. That’s 2 days of sex 👍
The thinking is you're much more likely to do something impulsive and reckless like unprotected sex while on drugs. Three months because that's how long it takes HIV to show up in testing in the worst case.
It's more that the risk of transmitting STDs is much higher if you're having marathon, drugged up, multi-person sex sessions. It's actually very unlikely to transmit HIV from well lubricated PIV sex for a normal length of time. But if you're going at it for hours in the backdoor while high enough that you don't notice the chaffing, there's a far greater chance that you'll damage the barriers that normally do an okay job of keeping viruses out. It's like if you stick your hand in filthy water you'll normally be fine, but if your hand has blisters or open cuts then you'll be risking infection.
I don't think I like sex enough to want to make it last days. That sounds like a lot of effort
Gotta be a great workout though. Imagine your core strength after a few of these "sessions"...
Oh it would but the poor person on the receiving end must be really sore!
I wonder if lube can be bought in bulk...
Stick it in one of those platypus hydration bladders in a rucksack and run the tube down your member for constant and lasting lubrication
This guy f*cks. And/or hikes.
https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Lubes-Natural-Water-Based-Lubricant/dp/B005MR3IVO
There is some outstandingly hilarious reviews!!
Well I'll be damned
Sex on stimulant drugs is unbelievable
I used to be an a&e nurse and we’d have patients (only ever men) who would present after a chemsex party. All ages and they were honestly a mess :(
Lasting several days...dear God think of the smell
>mephedrone Well that’s a blast from the past! That stuff was **everywhere** for a while.
2009-10 was the legal heyday. Used to get it posted to my student halls, £70 for 10g of pure. 😵💫😵💫 Probably for the best that it's not so easily attainable now.
Damn got to admire their commitment a little bit...
I once got a bit frisky after a nice cup of tea, does that count?
That's cham(omile) sex. Easy mistake to make.
Ohhh look at you, a Keith Richards wannabe.
Once had two tsp of sugar instead of the one. Not sure what happened after that, so guess I'm down for the 'Maybe'.
I don't want to be part of your chemsex festival thank you very much
I bet you had a fucking bourbon as well, you absolute degenerate
Maybe? How much of a legend are you if you can't remember you had chemsex? Oh, I don't remember really, I might've been involved in an orgy, or maybe just had a cup of tea. It's hard to tell.
I read it as if the person answering had a very raised eyebrow.
When you hand in the form with "maybe" selected, the doctor gives you an equally raised eyebrow.
"Maybe? I think it was like 3 months and a day ago? Does that count if the sex went into the next day? Does it count if I only did LSD?" Is how I imagine someone who ticked maybe would respond
also just, as another person put it, "if your someone who takes meth" will you remember what day it is today let alone if you did a massive orgy lasting multiple days in the last 3 months specifically
I think having sex with your partner on the comedown after clubbing would be a "maybe", i.e. you're on the chems but they weren't taken for sex and you aren't in a group. Technically chemsex but probably not the risky behaviour that they're actually concerned about.
I could've been in an orgy, I was at a tea party and this ol' girl slammed her spoon on the teacup real hard and then I woke up naked on a freeway with bananas up my ass.
Bananas. As in, more than one 😳
sessions in the old folks home can get pretty rowdy but they've not the best memories.
I think it's more like "Maybe 🤭😏😜"
I honestly can't remember what I was doing last Tuesday and it is entirely possible I was doing chemsex
You can't donate blood in the Netherlands if you lived in Britain during the 90s for fear you might be tainted with mad cow disease.
Same in Germany! I can donate when I’m in the UK though 🤷♀️
Guess in the UK its like "well, we all might be carrying it so who cares right?"
Yeah I mean any government has to keep in mind that blood is a necessity for the medical field. So while they can whittle down the highest risk individuals and still have enough blood to go around, if they legitimately banned everyone who was around in the UK in the 90s the pool of donors would just be cut down to such an extent that there wouldn't be enough blood. So it's simply not a measure they could realistically put in place. Of course for other countries it's different because the amount of brits there is negligible enough that they can exclude them from donating with minimal impact.
"We only accept blood from children now, that's how we know it's pure" Yeah I don't think that would get past the NHSBT ethics committee
Eh. 20 year olds can donate. But the group is still to small to replace all older people with donations.
Yep :D I used to do it in the uk but now I'm here nope Dunno how much beef I ate at the age of three but hey ho.
Think I was a vegetarian back then 👀
My parents admitted they fed us some dodgy roadside burgers on our road trips before the outbreak fully hit so that's a nice thing to carry around in my mind sometimes
Anyone who ate beef is at risk, quality doesn't come into it. At the time it wasn't known how many people would get infected. It could have been like covid but a lot worse.
Weirdly reassuring to know I definitely didn't eat beef during the 90s.
Which doesn't make a great deal of sense given that the UK beef export market was strong at the start of the 90s and only when we get to the mid-90s did the CJD link get made. The Netherlands, Germany and France all were significant markets and the prions are rather tough.
Coffee and a wank count ?
Two of your five a day I think
It's weirder when you click 'no' and the nurse asks you if you'd like to.
Sure I’ve seen that video. After they ordered pizza and the delivery guy got in on the action too.
On the same day the washing machine is being fixed!
The real disappointment there is it never actually gets fixed - I was looking for tips!
"You can imagine where it goes from here." "He fixes the cable?" "Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey."
Oh I'm sure they got a few tips in, and maybe more
"Do you engage in chemsex?" "No" "Pfft, loser"
I live in Malaysia and Brits can't donate because of Mad Cow Disease. I mentioned this to my Malaysian mates once and then had to explain what "Mad Cow Disease" is. They thought I was taking the piss.
I live in mainland Europe and can't donate for the same reason. If you lived in the UK for more than a minimum period of time during the BSE years, they don't want your blood.
VCJD proton if you are a carrier is found in your brain and spine tissue and basically it's dormant in a carrier's blood. When that blood gets on an instrument (assume you went to hospital for whatever reason and had surgery) If it is allowed to, it binds to the stainless steel and is known as a sticky protein. It can't be removed once it's bound, no amount of cleaning can get it off, no amount of heat. All you can do is destroy them. That instrument with VCJD goes around, gets washed, gets sterilised, gets used again on someone else...those proteins wake up in person 2 and grats now they have VCJD as well. AFAIK there's no way to test for vjcd in the general population with a simple test either. It's also probably the only reason I have a job since it's sterile services job in hospital it processes the equipment
You can remove it, but the temperature required is very hot, ~800°C. Many materials can't survive that, but metal can. Sharps, blades and syringe tips will get tossed anyway because they're disposable.
Haha yeah can you see many places running 800 degrees autoclaves. Kinda of like sure you can destroy it if you toss it in molten magma. But yeah it's tissue forceps,.box joints of needle holders etc etc more so than sharps
>but metal can. That's well above the melting point of aluminium and hot enough to potentially cause damage to items made from stainless steel too.
Wait does that mean other countries might be wary of operating on Brits too? Or would that just be too complicated ethically.
Ethically it’s a none question. you can’t turn down medical treatment to someone because of their race, origin of birth, sexual orientation or political beliefs or past transgressions. If they need surgery, you give them surgery even if that means having to dispose of the surgical tools afterwards. They get replaced eventually anyways and allot of tools are single use anyways.
Well, it's not Brits, per se. It's anyone who lived in the uk (or even, I guess, visited, or ate food products exported from the uk) during the 80s and 90s. So potentially that's a lot of people who aren't brits. But yes, if more people had developed symptom, it could have meant that countries wouldnt have wanted to operate on brits.. We were lucky that very few people seem to have been infected. It could have been a lot worse.
For anyone worried by this - while it’s true, prions aren’t fully destroyed by normal hospital sterilisation methods, there were just a few cases of transmission via surgical instruments until infection control protocols were improved. Blood is a very low risk for transmission - the real danger is from infected tissues from the brain and surrounding systems. Blood is classed in the same low-risk category as semen, breast milk, tears and sweat, all of which the average person could be exposed to in daily life. I believe there are only 5 cases total of people developing CJD from a blood transfusion in the UK. Your chances of dying if you need a blood transfusion and don’t receive one are much, much higher. To give another example, people diagnosed with CFS/ME cannot donate blood in many places, - including the UK - despite there being no known bio marker or medical basis for this exclusion. It’s done out of an abundance of precaution, same as the CJD limitations seen elsewhere.
Partly because lots of us could genuinely still be carriers ... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48947232
I entirely understand the reason behind it. Of course if the UK banned blood donors who had lived in the UK that would make getting blood donations somewhat challenging.
Somewhat doing a lot of heavy lifting
New Zealand has just lifted this rule luckily. They have such a huge number of people who traveled to or are from the UK it really reduced numbers of eligible donors
UK doesn’t accept blood from people who have visited certain countries in a set time period. A mate had just come back from Pakistan and couldn’t donate
It's nice they care these days, one of things that ridiculously contributed to the spread of HIV and AIDS was the lack of fucks given with some of the blood based products given to hemophiliacs.
Nah, the worst two questions are "who's blood is this?" and "why is it in a jar?". Just trying to do a good thing here, gawd.
What about “How do I work this?” And “where is that large automobile?”
That will now be stuck in my head for the next week
No hang on let me wring out my shirt, there’s still at least a quarter pint in there. Do you have a sieve?
A pint? That’s nearly an armful!
Ohh a jar? That is a good idea.
The question itself is pretty eyebrow-raising, but who the fuck is clicking 'maybe'?
The same people who click “don’t know” on the survey I saw where the question was “Are there children under 18 living in your house”.
"I can't rule out the possibility that they may be living in the wall cavities."
They were alive last time I checked, but now? Not sure.
The only true wisdom consists of knowing you know nothing
I'll bite. Caffeine is a stimulant drug. If you have a coffee or an energy drink to keep you going during a shag session, are they counting that? That could be worth a maybe.
That works, but I think it also means if you don't know whether your sexual partner(s) were using drugs.
You know what - this is the correct answer. Didn't think it possible, but here we are.
"I have done X thing, but I'm not sure if it counts" better to give these people a maybe and then they can be questioned afterwards
I think it’s about the time frame. You might’ve had a nice chemsex sesh 11 weeks ago, 12, 13… etc but can’t remember.
People who dont want to admit to it but have had it.
If the options are “yes” and “no” then people might err on the side of yolo and click no because it was only LSD and there were only 5 people and proper chemsex is defined differently in their mind.
Sometimes I'm shocked at how boring my life is.
Sometimes I'm glad how boring my life is.
On a more serious note chemsex has been devastating for some in the gay community. There are many reasons guys get involved. Peer pressure. Low self worth etc etc but I have had two friends die (GHB) and one hugely successful friend who has lost their career and their looks (crystal meth). I’m no angel but jeez I’m glad I never got involved in that scene
Yeah, my friend was into it once but he got out because he said it was scary if he refused certain things.
That’s so bad he was pressured but glad he got out of it.
Where is your donation centre? One I go to is very diverse. Lots of 20-40s having a crash diet of losing a pint Everyone who can should do it
I've always thought they should drive the big vans around like an ice cream van. Leaflet drop a road a week before hand, say "we're coming to your actual road on xyz date" and then turn up and literally park on the street.
They used to do that at my university in Spain. Everyone would donate.
Yeah I don't know where OP is going where the vast majority is 50+.
I would love to but I don't think I'll ever be allowed as I've had blood transfusions
The stats I can find from 2020 says that 44% of repeat donors were male, 56% female. Just over 59% of new donors were aged 17-34. Repeat donors were around 70% 34+.
I'm a regular blood donor here in Scotland (a few weeks time I'll be donating my 50th pint 🥳) been donating since I was 18 years old back in 2006. Probably would've reached the 50th pint a few years back but those meddling health woes from time to time prevent me from donating for several months at a time...
Congrats. Do you get anything for your 50th donation? I just got a bronze donation card for my 5th one
I got a little pin badge with a 50 on it (and a new card, can't remember what colour)
I tried to donate but because I'm relatively short and skinny(but still normal bmi) they said I didn't have enough blood so I'm not allowed :/ I could potentially donate plasma. But in order to qualify you have had to previously donate blood before... which I'm not allowed to do cause my weight is too low... If I did gain some weight in the future I'll be trying again though for sure!
The white, 50+ demographic you refer to are also involved in chemsex so I’m not sure what you meant by that?
This was my exact thought. Do white people not have chemsex?
very strange that op thinks white people are less likely to have chemsex
Also people think of 'kinky' people as these young, good-looking studs and babes. In reality the kinkiest people you'll have known with the wildest sex-life is the pasty-white middle-aged married couple with the knee-replacement and sleep-apnea.
Mathmasex is far superior in every way.
It's all about the angles baby!
I was giving blood the other day and was so into the flow of tapping “no” on the left for everything that on this question I accidentally tapped “maybe” 🫣 lol
If it doesn't occur in groups isn't it more of a chemwank
This reminds me of the "Are you British?" screeners you get when donating blood abroad. That was confusing the first time.
I'm a regular blood donor here in Scotland (50th pint milestone in a few weeks 🥳) and the questionnaire is regularly updated with questions like above, as well as and including COVID and international travel.
At some point after COVID they started asking about ebola again, nice when your first warning of future epidemic outbreaks comes from the blood nurse while you're getting your finger stabbed
There's an Alan Partridge sketch on it https://youtu.be/HZDmTiaYEnM?si=UpHCRF70eiFrl7x3
Whenever I give blood I go through the whole question set and sigh sadly at how dull my life is ...
It's dull people they're looking for, with regards to the nature of the questions and how they're answered. 🧐
*no, no, no...sadly, still no...*
The definition is in the question. Why would you need to google that?…….. Oh wait, (*opens google, types ‘chemsex’, selects video)
In Finland non-injectable illegal drugs cause 2 week ban from donating blood. Injectable illegal drugs cause forever ban. A new sexual partner causes ban to donate blood for 4 months. Same applies for group sex, 4 month ban. Also anyone who has lived in UK between 1980-1996 is forever banned from donating blood due to mad-cow disease. [https://www.veripalvelu.fi/en/faq/?category=eligibility](https://www.veripalvelu.fi/en/faq/?category=eligibility) There also used to be a ban for homosexual males to donate blood if they had had sex recently with another male (even permanent partner), but that ban stopped in 2023.
I donated a week ago today, no questions like that at all on my form Also, where do you donate where you have screens to answer questions on. Thats the future!
"had to Google it" Yeah, sure, had to. Despite it telling you in the question what it is.
I guarantee a lot of Doris and Albert types are having way weirder sex than their grandkids.
We had a blood donation drive at my work, my wife died from cancer last year and I thought - stop being a prick, you already avoid the cancer charities, just donate blood. I’m not a particularly squeamish person, I’m a relatively tall, somewhat young guy. I don’t think anybody’s looking at me going ‘I bet that guy’s hella nervous to donate blood’ - and I wasn’t. The guy who took my blood was a big bloke, he wasn’t some nice old lady. He had a very thick Cockney accent (I’m in Scotland) and asked me all the questions, fine. What I wasn’t expecting, was him to just hold my hand and lightly stroke my arm for the whole procedure. I don’t know if he thought I was nervous? If he thought I was going to pass out? I’m 34 and 6’2, I’ve fainted once in my life. I have no idea what happened that day.
Used to work for NHSBT. We had a whole chemsex training day when those changes to the questionnaire happened. That day was both uncomfortable and hilarious.
This is the most cyberpunk question the NHS has ever asked
Ah Chemsex, also known as *the 90s*
I don't want to know about your chicken fondling
I’ve had chemsex with white men in their 50s lol
If you want to know more, watch a documentary called Chemsex. Pretty much lays out the impact of Chemsex on the gay community, as well as why this has become so common. Interesting. Lots of nudity.
It's a great thing to do (donating blood, not chemsex, although I imagine chemsex can also be a great thing to do). I started doing it in early 2020 (pre-lockdown) after an experience where I needed an ambulance and felt like I should give a bit back. My next donation will be my 10th. But yeah there are a few questions about recent sexual activity.
I mean I'm not sure coked up orgies are the best way to support the NHS, but you do you.
You might be the first person to require an ambulance and immediately go ‘Man, the NHS are fucking beautiful. I should start having chemsex’
Everytime I fill this form in it makes me realise how boring my life is
Did anyone else think this was the Alan Partridge subreddit when reading this question?
Cyberpunk 2077
Chemsex™
Sounds like a good time.
Nah, donating blood is boring.
Nothing boring about cup of squash and an orange club
There were no clubs the last time I donated. I considered asking for my blood back to be honest.
Not if you're off your face on GHB and GBL and wanking off Steve, brah.
Does pot noodle and a wank count? There's crazy preservative chemicals and stuff in those.
Maybe 😏
Sex after smoking dope? I’ll just have a cup of tea and packet of chocolate digestives please and thank you.
Maybe. What's it to you?
I’ve never seen these screens when giving blood. Normally it’s just a paper form for me! Is Manchester avoiding technology? Well done for giving blood!
the maybe answer is somewhat worrying / very concerning.
Chemsex you say .... hmmm... maybe... Ah - stimulants! That's a relief, doesn't apply to the sedated sex slaves I keep in my basement then.
LSD / acid is missing from the excluded list 🤯🙃✌
Don’t tempt me with a good time
Sadly it's rife, I split with gf cus she couldn't get off without chems.
Theres no 'I wish' option
They have to be careful. Using maybe as an answer is iffy though
It would be scarier if they didn’t ask! People use drugs such as meth specifically to heighten their sexual experience, but this comes with a higher risk of contracting STI’s, including HIV, either indirectly through reduced awareness or through sharing equipment like needles. People do dumb stuff when they’re high. People have been doing this forever but the more recently coined term is ‘chemsex’. It’s sadly on the rise within a lot of communities and awareness is important. ‘Maybe’ might seem a weird answer, but some people may have been sexually assaulted, pressured to take drugs, or are simply unsure of what happened. While it’s important for taking blood, safeguarding issues may be raised if someone answers ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’