Comment by daniel957 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by daniel957 | Hacker News Reader

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Logistics-wise, it’s easier to get someone to come into the doctors for blood work every 3 months for testing (as required for prep) than once a month for a shot.

However, from reading the article, I do think there’s a convenience factor at play related to the struggles of taking pills daily.

Note though, the article mentioned a trial of _women_ where truvada and one-shot prevention effectiveness were compared and the one-shot was deemed 89% more effective.

A quick search explains _why_ this might be the case for women. Basically, it takes more truvada to get rid of the disease in vaginal and cervical tissue than it takes for rectal tissue.

Source: https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/why-do-women-need-highe...

Also, doctors have been recommending a different drug, Descovy, for prep instead of Truvada. This isn’t due to effectiveness but side effects I believe. I guess if one experienced side effects though, they would be less likely to continue taking the medicine.

I'm not sure about this one but subcutaneous and intramuscular injectables are pretty easy to self-administer. I self-inject once a week myself.

https://www.poz.com/drug/cabenuva seems to suggest it is intramuscular (administered in the buttocks, which is not hard to do by oneself) but requires a healthcare provider. Not sure why, there might be storage requirements and such.

I think people would rather prefer to take a pill than give themselves an injection. It doesn’t matter if it’s “easy” or not. There’s the “ick” or “ahhh needle” or “breaking skin” factor at play.

Even if you self-inject and find it easy, I’m sure you’re not saying it’s easier and less of a hassle than taking a pill lmao.

Depo-Provera (monthly injected contraceptive) is used by over 2 million women in the US.

Ok... and 10.6 million use birth control pills according to the CDC.

Also, just because something appears convenient doesn’t mean that it actually is.

Have you looked up how many women use one of those invasive contraceptive implants?

Technically, a woman only has to get a new implant once every 4 years+. But have you not read the horror stories about the implants becoming dislodged and causing internal bleeding and severe damage?

You seem to be implying that IUDs are much less popular than the pill. That is not the case. They are just behind the pill in popularity.

Also, people on PrEP already need to do regular bloodwork, so needles and appointments are already involved every few months. Doing an appointment every 2 months instead of every 3 and not needing to take a daily pill as well is a huge win in level of effort.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db327-h.pdf

“You seem to be implying that IUDs are much less popular than the pill. That is not the case. They are just behind the pill in popularity.”

Your first sentence makes no sense. You say that I’m implying that pills are more popular yet you confirm that indeed they are.

Unless, you’re saying that I was implying that they’re _heavily_ more popular, which is also not what I implied.

You’re completely missing the point. I’m gay and on prep myself for several years.

The grandfather post mentioned that 2 million people are doing an injection as if that implies that many people prefer that over pills.

I could write more and explain more but I’m tired of talking to so many morons for today.

I'm not quite sure what your point is. Mine was that millions of people choose from a variety of treatment options and that there's no clear evidence that a pill is vastly preferred to an injection or even some more invasive delivery method. I think my link about birth control usage just shows that the more options, the better. Presumably we'll cover the at-risk population better if there are more good options.

I think this is a wonderful thing and that we should spread the word when these new treatments are available so that more people know they have options if they like the sound of occasional injections but don't like daily pills or vice versa.

It is in fact much easier and less of a hassle (for me) than taking a pill everyday, which is what I used to do before I switched to injectables.

Injectables seemed scary right until the moment when I started taking them, after which they became a normal part of my life.

In what way is it easier besides you saying that it’s easier? You have a hard time swallowing pills I guess? Or do you remember to take injections more because they stand out more in your mind than pills do?

EDIT: Not sure why this is getting downvoted. Since when on HN is it acceptable for someone to say “I think this way so it must be a fact” without providing an explanation? Even when it comes to subjectivity, there’s an expectation that people share why they believe in their opinion, right?

I swear I dislike this site and the people who use it more and more every week.

I'm pretty sure that "easier" is a subjective determination. But no, I don't have a hard time swallowing pills. It's just that doing something once a week is easier than having to remember to do something everyday. The injections are also more effective for me, as they are here. And finally there's an aesthetic aspect to plunging a needle into one's muscle that I appreciate.

Yes, it’s subjective to some extent, hence why I asked in what way is it easier beside you just saying that it is? I left out “to you” but I thought the HN community was a bit smarter than that. Even if you had said “it’s easier to me. Full stop,” I still would have written the same reply...

All you said was “it’s easier” in your original point. You obviously felt the need to clarify yourself in your most recent comment. So clearly your first comment was lacking information. There was no reason to downvote me just because you felt my original comment made you look stupid.

FWIW, even though “easy” is subjective, there’s still a consensus to be considered. For example, finding piercing your skin with a needle to be an asthetically-pleasing act does not fit that consensus...

Something that _does_ fit the consensus is that taking a pill every day is a hassle.

Stop being facetious just to prove a point.

I did not downvote you, for the record. I thought your questions were useful and I hope I answered them to the best of my ability.

This pandemic has been hard on all of us. Take care.

? I’m not sure what the pandemic has to do with this.

I looked at your comment history and you say “in fact” without supporting your opinions _often_ to the point that I laughed.

Also, you edited your original comment which probably led to the downvotes.

I’m assuming you must also correlate the pandemic with your immaturity then.

It’s disgusting that I’m being downvoted when the main point in my great-great-grandfather post was explaining about the effectiveness of the trial mentioned in the article. Not whether some random Internet weirdo prefers to inject themself...

He edited his comment to say “(for me)” after I had replied.

Also, if you click damnyou@‘s comment history, you’ll clearly see that he loves using the phrase “in fact” without supporting his assumptions. I didn’t deserve to be downvoted.

My pronouns are they/them, thank you.

I edited my comment within a couple minutes of posting it. Sorry about the confusion.

You didn’t edit your comment minutes afterwards. It was at least 1 hour afterwards.

And sorry if you actually do prefer those gender terms. But honestly, it sounds like you’re just making shit up. I’m assuming you’re just a young white kid. I’ve met many of you in the tech industry who act like that. “Oh, I said something stupid and fucked up, let me pretend to be ‘woke’”. People like you exhaust me.

Wrong on every count, bucko. Not young, not white, no making it up.

Disgusting piece of shit. You deserve to die.

This pandemic really has been hard on all of us. Take care.

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