STI Myths Busted The Naked Truth About STI Testing & Safer Sex

Get real answers to burning questions about STI safety in the swinging lifestyle. Ed and Phoebe break down common myths, honest risks, and practical tips for safer sex at parties, events, and orgies.

• Why standard STI tests and "full panels" don't cover everything
• The dangers of a false sense of security with recent test results
• Real talk about latency periods, symptom-free infections, and what that means for your risk
• Best practices for condoms, washing up, and safe sex protocols during orgies
• The truth about Truvada, antibiotics, and when you should (or shouldn't) rely on medication for STI prevention
• Get the facts, reassess your own risk, and make smarter choices in your lifestyle adventures.

00:00 Intro... and Teaser
04:08 False Security in Relationship Testing
06:52 Standard STD Testing Overview
10:45 Blood Test for Antibodies
14:36 Premature Clean Test Results
16:22 STI Testing: False Security Concerns
22:11 Fake Test Result Concerns
24:48 Asymptomatic STI Myth Busting
28:32 Soft Swap Orgy Dynamics
31:12 Discussing Truvada's Role in STI Prevention
33:00 "Prebiotics Superior to Probiotics"
37:33 Interactive Sessions & Support Invitation
39:39 "Testing and Expanding Offer"

Transcript

2:40

[Unknown] We blow the doors off STI, and it's live.[Ed] We blow the doors off STI, testing myths, and answer all of your burning questions about[Ed] STIs and the swinging lifestyle.[Ed] Stick around, find out how we handle safer sex at events, on dates, and in orgies.[Phoebe] Well Phoebe, yes, my love.[Ed] We've had a number of people ask us about this specific topic.[Ed] I think it was a couple episodes ago, someone said, hey, have you guys ever done an episode[Ed] on STIs?[Unknown] And of course, we have, doing all the time, so to speak, we've done several in the past.[Ed] And we will link to those in this episode, doing the whole linky thing.[Ed] We got a comment, though, on one of our YouTube videos that was pretty specific.[Ed] And I'm going to read the questions, but we're not going to answer them till the very end.[Ed] So you're going to want to stick around, because these are some interesting questions.[Ed] Here's the first one.[Ed] How do you handle safe sex in an orgie question?[Ed] Are you constantly swapping out condoms per person?[Ed] Do you keep one on and hop from person to person?[Unknown] Do you have penetrative sex or only with your partner?[Ed] Do you take truvada and just deal with all the other STIs if they pop up?[Ed] See what I mean?[Ed] Like, there's some...[Phoebe] Those are good questions.[Ed] There's some good questions in there, very rapid fire.[Phoebe] Some of my lifestyle friends, I just can see their faces with some of these questions[Phoebe] and, like, keeping the condom on and hopping from person to person.[Unknown] One of my good friends, I could just see her going, yes, they may actually be watching[Unknown] right now.[Unknown] No way.[Unknown] So let's get into it.[Ed] Let's talk about myth number one.[Ed] All right.[Unknown] Getting tested means you're safe, right?[Phoebe] It is a false sense of security, because your test can either give you a false positive[Phoebe] or a false negative, and what did you get tested for, because not everybody gets tested[Phoebe] for the same things.[Ed] Yes.[Ed] No two tests are exactly the same, so to speak.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] Male order ones are going to be different than what your, you know, doctor orders, and you...[Phoebe] We are going to talk about the HIV test, which is not in the standard panel that's coming[Phoebe] up a little bit later.[Phoebe] So let's talk about this false sense of security that a lot of people fall into.[Phoebe] We fell into that false sense of security before we started to really dive into that based[Phoebe] on our risk level and how that started to change over time.[Unknown] Right.[Phoebe] So did you want to talk about the lifestyle vacation chat that we were in, where people[Phoebe] were posting?[Ed] Yeah.[Unknown] I'll talk to that, speak to that a little bit, and I'll also say that my first experience[Ed] with getting tested was actually when you and I met.[Ed] Oh, yeah.[Ed] And I'd had a long-term marriage for like 14 years, been totally monogamous, and you had[Ed] been in several long-term relationships, but you were also kind of a...[Ed] I was having sex like three times a week, it's different people.[Ed] Phoebe was home in it, so...[Phoebe] I was home in it.[Phoebe] So you were concerned, and so I tested, and I remember we waited.[Phoebe] There was a waiting period that we had gone through because you're raising children at[Phoebe] the time, and your risk assessment was different at the time, because you needed to care for[Phoebe] them, you needed to be around.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] And I think too, it was a good kind of like clean slate for both of us starting a new relationship[Unknown] and knowing what was on the table, so to speak, what was on the, you know, maybe the[Ed] Petri dish, and going from there.[Ed] So when we were going to Hito, the chat channel was blowing up about everybody going and[Ed] getting tested before the event.[Ed] And we kind of scratched our head a lot, reading some of the messages, because they were[Ed] falling into this myth of this false sense of security.[Ed] We've all been tested, or we'll all have our tests, and our cards, and our little, you[Ed] know, test result sheet, and we'll bring those to Hito to prove that we are safe to play[Unknown] with.[Unknown] Right.[Phoebe] Did we see anybody whip out their test?[Ed] Not a damn person, not a single person, that whole week, ever flashed their badge, so[Ed] to speak.[Phoebe] Not at the pool, not at the dinner table, not at the dance floor, not even in your private[Phoebe] room, right?[Phoebe] Like, I get that it's not going to be at the pool on the dance floor during dinner, right?[Ed] Elaminate.[Ed] I mean, it was tuck them into your suit, and you just pull them out.[Phoebe] But even in the room, when we had people back to the room, post it on the door.[Phoebe] No one.[Phoebe] Like, I get it, it kills the mood, you know, like, oh, sorry, you can't enter.[Unknown] I know, I know we're all hot and heavy right now, but the final question, final question,[Phoebe] show me your test.[Unknown] Right.[Phoebe] Like, nobody does that, nobody does that.[Ed] Show me your papers, your papers are out of compliance.[Unknown] All right, let me get into myth number two, getting a full panel test covers everything.[Ed] I mean, it's in the name, right?[Ed] It's his full panel test.[Ed] Well, not necessarily.[Ed] This is a little bit of kind of a misleading term.[Ed] When they say a full panel test, it can be anywhere between eight and 10 tests, if, and[Ed] they vary what they're testing.[Ed] So we'll get into that.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] It depends on your insurance, your provider, where you live, what entity you're getting[Phoebe] your test from, all of that.[Unknown] Right.[Phoebe] So a lot of people, well, go ahead with what, what, this, the standard tests, and then[Phoebe] I'll talk about HIV.[Ed] So the standard test, if you, if you walk into a planned parenthood or at least this is[Ed] typical, if you typically go in and ask for a full panel test, this is what you will get.[Ed] You will get HIV one and two antibody tests, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hep A,[Ed] B, and hep C, hepatitis for those of you who are not hit to the hep.[Ed] And that doesn't cover a lot of things.[Ed] It covers the big ones.[Ed] It covers the ones that are sometimes treatable with an antibiotic.[Ed] Some of these aren't treatable with anything.[Ed] So what does it leave out?[Ed] Well, the most common one.[Phoebe] Well, actually, I don't think they, the, the HIV, they, oh, sorry, hep, hep C, H, S, I'm[Phoebe] getting my, my, your head, yeah, I'm getting my acronyms on messed up.[Unknown] Yeah.[Unknown] So the HSV, the HSV test is not one that's common in the panel.[Unknown] Correct.[Phoebe] And there's reasons for that.[Ed] Right.[Ed] So for those who do not know what HSV is, that is herpesimplex virus.[Ed] And there's two versions of this, there's HSV one, which is cold source, that like some[Ed] have a guest that there's like 90% of the population actually has HSV one.[Ed] It's very, very common and it lies dormant in most people.[Ed] Right.[Ed] HSV two, very close cousins, is genital herpes.[Unknown] All right.[Ed] We need your help so that your community, the very one you love and have so much fun with[Ed] can also find our show.[Ed] Here's a really easy way to do that.[Ed] If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, hit that follow button and leave us[Unknown] a rating.[Ed] If you're watching on YouTube, subscribe and turn on notifications.[Ed] We can't emphasize enough how much this helps the Swinger community and it truly is up[Ed] to you to make that happen.[Ed] It makes a massive difference in whether new listeners can even find us.[Ed] And here's the thing, when someone searches Swinger Podcast, the algorithm doesn't care[Ed] how good our content is or how long we've been around.[Ed] It only cares about ratings and reviews.[Ed] We'd appreciate it and your community will really appreciate it.[Ed] Thanks for listening.[Unknown] Right.[Phoebe] But I did just read recently and it got very technical and I'm not going to bore you[Unknown] with the details because it did make my brain crunch a little bit.[Phoebe] There is a little bit of a crossover.[Phoebe] So you can have HSV two orally, I believe, and HSV one down below or one or the other[Phoebe] or something.[Phoebe] Yes.[Phoebe] It's the...[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] So, we've even seen stories about, and this is not related to swinging, but birds getting[Ed] herpes on their eyes.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] So, it can spread around a little bit.[Ed] Yes.[Phoebe] But...[Ed] Oh, yeah.[Ed] My cat had that.[Ed] The cat had herpes in the eyes.[Unknown] Yeah.[Ed] So, the trick with HSV is one, most people have it, so they don't bother testing for it[Ed] because it's...[Unknown] You've probably got it.[Ed] The other part of it is there's a lot of false positives with it, so they can unduly[Ed] alert you for having it when you may or may not have it.[Ed] Right.[Ed] So, it's not very common to get in test.[Ed] Oh, if you want to get tested for HSV, you have to ask for it specifically or find a[Ed] test panel that has it.[Phoebe] And it's a really unique test.[Phoebe] It's not the DNA test is actually preferred.[Phoebe] It's going to be more or pretty close to being accurate, but you have to have an active[Unknown] breakout also.[Ed] Once again, if you're asymptomatic, you wouldn't know to even test for it.[Unknown] Yeah.[Phoebe] Now, the blood test can identify antibodies, but it signifies a prior infection.[Phoebe] So there's this whole latency period, and you don't know where you are with the infection[Phoebe] and la, la, la, la, so it's...[Phoebe] God, it's pluses and minuses.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] So it's not that accurate.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] The blood test, or I believe it's the blood test, test for two different, I believe these[Phoebe] are the antibodies.[Guest] Okay.[Phoebe] Forgive me once more, because it was a lot of details, and I was crunching at the last[Phoebe] minute here.[Phoebe] But we will put these notes in down below later.[Phoebe] There's an IGM, and there's an IGG.[Phoebe] So these, this, the IGM produces very quickly after an infection.[Unknown] So this is the antibody that starts to kick off.[Phoebe] The IGG takes a while, like 12 to 16 weeks.[Phoebe] So which one are you testing for, you're testing for both, what if you miss one, there's[Phoebe] your time period, latency thing, and you have to have that specific test in order to[Phoebe] identify it, the HSV1 and the HSV2, you can't just have one, they do different things.[Unknown] The most common test is an immunosay, and there's also a Western blood test, it's best,[Unknown] but not always available.[Phoebe] And then the IGG can have false negatives and false positives.[Phoebe] So like, it gets very complicated, it's, it's not, it's just not a common test, because[Phoebe] it's challenging to test people for it, because so many people have it, and there's all these[Phoebe] latency periods and active periods and dormant periods, it's just, it's a hot mess is what[Phoebe] it is.[Ed] Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a hot mess.[Ed] So they just don't, they just don't bother.[Ed] So there are some panels of tests that do include HSV, so you're, you're paying for something[Ed] that may or may not help you, because if you're outside of this latency window, it may[Ed] not show up properly.[Ed] Right.[Ed] And if it's a mail-in test, you're probably not getting a blood test, although I guess[Ed] they could prick your finger and do it that way.[Ed] So the other two tests that are not typically given, but you can start to get them, especially[Ed] if there's some online testing groups that do it, and that is throat swabbing.[Ed] So not only do you have to worry about getting STIs in your genitals and whole body, but[Ed] you can also get them and contract them and pass them on through your throat.[Phoebe] And HSVs.[Phoebe] Correct.[Ed] This is gonorrhea and chlamydia.[Ed] So there are tests now that do throat swabs for those two specific STIs.[Unknown] It's rare, but it can happen.[Ed] And one of the things that we have seen is typically swingers do not use condoms for blow[Ed] jobs.[Ed] No.[Ed] So if you had chlamydia or you were going down on someone who had chlamydia, which is[Ed] a very common STI, it's quite possible that you could get throat chlamydia, and then[Ed] you would have it and you'd pass it on to other people, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.[Unknown] So there you go.[Phoebe] Yay.[Ed] Yay.[Unknown] Miss number three, if you test negative, you're safe, same as positive, because positive,[Phoebe] you would, it's going to freak you out, but you may not actually be positive.[Guest] Right.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] So this, the negative, if you're testing negative, and you think you're safe, it really[Phoebe] comes down to these latency windows, which brings us back to that heatau conversation in[Unknown] the chat, where some people were, you know, they're sharing their fun times, right?[Phoebe] And so they went to an orgy party, a house party the weekend before they're going to leave[Phoebe] for heatau.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] They go on Monday to go get their tests, and they're like, God, I test results back[Phoebe] on Wednesday.[Phoebe] Yay.[Unknown] I'm clean.[Phoebe] I'm like, you haven't even waited for the window period yet, nothing's even the antibodies[Phoebe] and haven't even had a chance to like, right, activate yet.[Phoebe] So there's no fucking way that you were, quote, clean.[Unknown] So let me read some of these latency periods, all right, Climidia, 7 to 21 days, gonorrhea,[Phoebe] 1 to 14 days.[Phoebe] Okay.[Ed] So the gonorrhea may have shown up, could be, unless you're the 14 day one, right, genital[Phoebe] herpes 2 to 21 days, HIV, 2 to 4 weeks, trachomoniasis, 5 to 28 days.[Phoebe] Now you're going into a medium latency period, that was a short staff, right?[Phoebe] That's the, that's the quick, quick results.[Phoebe] The medium latency period is hepatitis B 8 to 22 weeks, hepatitis C 2 to 26 weeks, syphilis,[Phoebe] some strains can be three weeks, but for others, it could take years, years, years for them[Unknown] to appear.[Phoebe] Even latency, STI's HPV could take one month to 10 years.[Guest] So here's why we sail on Virgin, it's adults only, no kids screaming at breakfast, no family[Unknown] buffet lines, just champagne at noon, late night pool parties, and people who actually[Guest] want to be there.[Guest] So if I think boutique hotel that happens to float, tattoo parlors, drag brunch, restaurants[Guest] you'd actually pay for on land, plus when you're looking to connect with other couples[Guest] who know how to have fun, let's just say Virgin attracts a very specific type of adventurous.[Unknown] No wonder bread cruisers here, just your people.[Ed] Yeah, and this really hits the heart of what we talk about when we talk about this false[Ed] sense of security with STI testing, and that's because of these latency windows, you're[Ed] all convinced that you're good because your test rate came back negative, but they haven't[Ed] shown up yet, they couldn't be tested for it because they're not going to show up in[Ed] a test for like six months.[Ed] So you're at Hito, you have the infection, you're running around doing everything because[Ed] you're convinced that you're all good and you're not.[Ed] You could have something and you could be passing it around, which is why we prefer to[Unknown] play with condoms because better safe than sorry.[Phoebe] Yeah, it takes care of a lot of the STIs.[Phoebe] And depending on how you play, if you're washing up in between, it also depends on how you[Phoebe] wash up and what you're using to wash up.[Phoebe] And whether you're doing oral or not, whether you're playing with multiple partners or not[Phoebe] in one setting, so those all factor into your risks.[Unknown] Right.[Unknown] We did just read on the HPV that that latency period, playing into that 10 year window,[Phoebe] they were starting to do some studies on women who are paramedicosal and interesting.[Phoebe] That hormone change kind of kicking off, reactivating or activating the HPV that's been dormant[Phoebe] for years.[Guest] Wow.[Phoebe] Remember how I thought I had gotten it from some early swinging partners?[Phoebe] Who knows if that's really true?[Phoebe] I could have gotten it when I was a teenager because they didn't have that type of the[Phoebe] vaccine.[Phoebe] When you were dating frequently, when I was hoeing around.[Phoebe] And it was just dormant until my body started going through hormonal changes.[Unknown] And then it just said, activate.[Ed] Wonder STI activate, yeah, that's horrifying.[Phoebe] Well, the good thing is your body can resolve that and, you know, it is still dormant, but[Ed] it HPV, you can shed it after a period of time.[Ed] I don't recommend testing that out, but we have talked to medical professionals and yes,[Ed] you do shed it eventually.[Ed] So what this boils down to, myth number three, really boils down to is you are only as safe[Ed] as your last partner.[Ed] Yep.[Ed] And if you had a partner yesterday or at the orgy at noon, you use your clock starts over.[Unknown] Yep.[Unknown] So now you got to wait six more months to figure out if that actually resulted in any kind[Ed] of lingering gifts.[Phoebe] So really what you want to do is test.[Phoebe] If you think that if you have some concerns or you're just being, you know, abundantly[Phoebe] cautious, test, wait three months, it's a nice safe number because it targets most of[Phoebe] the latency, STIs, yeah, most of them are, well, 22 weeks.[Phoebe] So then retest again.[Ed] Yes, exactly.[Ed] So periodic testing, it's a good policy to just kind of see where you are.[Ed] You go in for an annual checkup.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] Absolutely.[Ed] See how everything's working.[Ed] You should get a periodic checkup to see how your sexual health is going to.[Phoebe] I would say the STI testing is really for yourself.[Ed] Yes.[Ed] And your primary partner and your primary partner.[Ed] Yeah, absolutely.[Unknown] Because like we said early on, nobody checks.[Phoebe] No, we even early asks.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] Getting tested all the time makes you safer.[Phoebe] We kind of covered that a little bit, basically.[Phoebe] Having sex with one person exposes you to an STI multiple partners, multiple risks.[Phoebe] And it's really up to you on your risk level and comfort.[Ed] Yes.[Ed] And Kenneth Ken, I see your comment absolutely.[Ed] That's exactly what we're talking about here, which is, you know, it's an inherently[Ed] risky behavior you're having sex with multiple partners.[Ed] And there are a number of sexual behaviors that kind of increase your risk, which is[Ed] one of the reasons why we prefer to play with condoms because it does lower our risk.[Ed] It doesn't eliminate the risk, but it reduces it.[Phoebe] I even read today that pubic care somehow lowers your risk.[Phoebe] It's actually in here.[Phoebe] I know.[Phoebe] If I can find it quickly, I'll read it to you guys at the end, but it was interesting.[Ed] That's a big twist on it.[Phoebe] That pubic care is coming back.[Phoebe] If you haven't had it lasered off like me, I'm screwed.[Phoebe] Sometimes.[Unknown] It's all gone.[Ed] Now we're on myth five.[Phoebe] Now we're five.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] Myth five.[Ed] If someone shows me their test results, they're safe.[Ed] And the answer to this is not necessarily.[Ed] And not for the reasons that we talked about before, these are some new reasons.[Ed] Let me get into these.[Unknown] Okay.[Unknown] Truth.[Ed] So you are going into that situation, assuming that this person is being honest and truthful[Ed] and that those were actual legitimate test results.[Ed] So a few years back when there were hundreds of thousands of people dying all the time,[Ed] people were getting fake COVID tests in order to accomplish whatever thing they were trying[Ed] to do.[Unknown] I don't get it.[Ed] But there are companies or places online that will give you STI panel test results print[Unknown] out that look like you are clear.[Unknown] Yeah.[Unknown] Yes.[Ed] It's fucking evil.[Phoebe] Yes.[Unknown] Yes.[Phoebe] So if they're checking at the door and you don't want to spend the money, not that, anyway,[Unknown] for all the reasons earlier, you could get a fake one and get yourself in.[Unknown] I know.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] The other thing is you're having a conversation with someone.[Ed] They could claim that they were tested.[Ed] The question of course comes down to when was it that they got tested.[Unknown] They hit that kind of window and this is the real kicker and this is the one that we've[Ed] experienced personally and that is infidelity.[Unknown] Oh yeah.[Ed] So we'd had a couple that we were pursuing and they were pursuing us and it was fun and[Unknown] we were having a good time and years later, years later, we find out that he had actually[Ed] been cheating on her and they didn't disclose that.[Ed] They both knew.[Phoebe] They both knew.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Unknown] And even sold us on the fact that they were very selective and picky about who they slept[Unknown] with.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] And we're like, Oh, okay.[Unknown] Well, they must be, you know, pretty safe.[Phoebe] They're risk-level, pretty low.[Unknown] Right.[Ed] Totally lied.[Ed] Totally lied.[Ed] They had just kind of hidden that little choice nugget that he had been stepping out of[Ed] the relationship and who knows how many people he'd slept with, who knows if they were[Ed] being tested, who we didn't know any of that.[Unknown] And of course, after the fact, we go, wow, totally clueless.[Ed] Yeah, that piss me out.[Ed] Had no way to know.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Ed] Yeah.[Unknown] It was just rude.[Ed] And then the window period, but we've already, we've beaten that window period to death.[Ed] We said five, but we've got a bonus myth for you.[Ed] And this is one that came up when you, if you just do a quick search about myths about[Ed] sexually transmitted diseases or sexually transmitted infections, this one comes up all the[Ed] time.[Unknown] And it is, if you don't have symptoms, you should be okay.[Unknown] And that is a big fat, negative.[Ed] There are so many STIs that do not display symptoms.[Ed] We talked early about HSV.[Ed] If there's a latent period where they don't even, they can't even test for it for six months,[Ed] you don't know.[Ed] And as you were talking about HPV lies dormant for like 10 years.[Ed] So there's no out, outward symptoms of a lot of these.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] So some, some of the STIs will have this, this shedding cycle, which makes them more[Phoebe] contagious at that period of time.[Unknown] So you know, you can kiss someone with HSV and, you know, probably not get herpes if they[Phoebe] don't have an active outbreak.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] So there are these things, but you know, here you are trying to keep track of this massive[Phoebe] list in your head, oh, committee, did it, did it, did it, did it, seven to twelve days[Phoebe] it?[Phoebe] No, you're, you're drinking, you're having a good time.[Phoebe] You're trying to socialize and you just want to get your freak on.[Phoebe] You're not really thinking about all that.[Phoebe] That's, but if you are, it's ruining the moment.[Phoebe] And so this is why people don't really do the, yeah, the disclosure.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] Yeah, absolutely.[Phoebe] Ah.[Ed] All right.[Ed] This is the point where everybody's been waiting, you've been hanging on for this.[Phoebe] Is this orgy time?[Ed] It is officially orgy time.[Ed] So we get to answer all those questions about that that are orgy time.[Ed] We like orgy.[Phoebe] If you haven't, haven't tell them can, can people see me dancing?[Phoebe] Probably not.[Phoebe] I'm probably not even on the camera.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] If you talk and dance at the same time.[Phoebe] Okay.[Phoebe] Talking, talking, talking, dancing, dancing, dancing.[Ed] All right.[Ed] I'll put you on.[Phoebe] There you go.[Phoebe] What?[Ed] I have to do it a third time now.[Phoebe] Okay.[Ed] Good.[Ed] All right.[Ed] All right.[Ed] So how do you handle safe sex in an orgy?[Ed] This is kind of the overarching question.[Ed] Are you constantly swapping out condoms per person?[Ed] Absolutely.[Unknown] Yes.[Ed] Every time you go to a new partner, you take the old condom off.[Ed] You put a new one on and preferably, you'll wash up in between.[Ed] So you wash your hands, you wash your genitals, wash your face.[Ed] You wash your face.[Unknown] You probably did some, you know, basic things with the, and then, and the, you got to scrub,[Ed] scrub the whiskers.[Ed] Scrub, scrub, scrub.[Ed] Now, okay.[Phoebe] So if pubic hair cuts down on, does facial hair, should I grow, should I grow a big handlebar[Ed] mustache so that I can, you know, give mustache ads?[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] Let's see if I can find that.[Phoebe] You keep talking.[Ed] All right.[Ed] Phoebe's, Phoebe's doing live research while we go.[Unknown] Uh-huh.[Ed] Do you keep one on and hop from person to person?[Ed] I have to answer this.[Ed] Absolutely not.[Ed] That's basically the, the same thing as, in a sense, passing whatever the first person[Ed] has to the second to the third to the fourth, you are safer because you're wearing[Ed] the condom, but all of your partners are basically swapping fluids.[Ed] So no, don't, don't, don't do that.[Unknown] That's not good.[Ed] Do you not have penetrative sex with other people or in, and just with your partner?[Ed] That is one way to do it in an orgy situation where everybody's soft swap, except for you[Unknown] and your partner, um, that's, there's so many different ways to have orgies and to, to[Ed] do kind of group sex or even partner sex, um, swapping.[Ed] So yeah, you could do it that way.[Phoebe] Oh, okay.[Phoebe] So before we finish the, the, the, all those, I have to say, you know, I'm going to[Phoebe] have it, the pubic care removal may be associated with an increased risk of acquiring[Phoebe] genital HSV infections.[Phoebe] The data isn't great, but the hypothesis is that the pubic care removal leads to micro[Phoebe] trauma of the skin.[Unknown] So if you're plucking or shaving right before that aspect of it, yes, it can actually[Phoebe] increase the risk of acquiring the infection if exposed.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] It really has to do more with grooming and hygiene before an event, which is a good[Ed] topic to, to kind of bring up, um, and then I have one, uh, two things that I want to add[Ed] to this.[Ed] So I have to remember those.[Ed] Um, so if you're flossing your teeth, you're also cutting your gums and you're exposing[Ed] yourself to many, any, orally transmitted infections, um, and potentially if you're[Ed] going down on someone, you are, have bleeding gums, so to speak, and you could be transmitting[Ed] something to someone.[Ed] So yeah, anytime you cut yourself and you, you bleed a little bit from shaving or scraping[Ed] or flossing, you are increasing your chance of an infection or passing an infection.[Ed] So just, just be aware that that can happen.[Ed] So mouthwash helps a little bit with that because you kind of kill things, but I don't think[Ed] that that's even foolproof, depending on your, your gum health.[Phoebe] But then it kills all your microbiota in your vulva area.[Phoebe] Two, which I don't like.[Phoebe] So people.[Unknown] Oh, with mouthwash.[Unknown] Yeah.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] So people with mouthwash cannot go down on me.[Phoebe] Right.[Unknown] I'd rather have the additional bacteria.[Ed] Yeah.[Phoebe] There is that without another partner.[Unknown] So I did want to bring up a D point one, uh, for this question, which is do you have penetrative[Ed] sex with just your partner?[Ed] So in the past, when we've been in orgy situations, a lot of times I will not use a condom[Ed] with you.[Unknown] But I will wash up.[Ed] Yes.[Ed] So I'm using condoms with all my other partners, but when I get back with you, uh, I don't[Ed] need a condom.[Ed] Right.[Ed] We're already, we've passed everything that we have back and forth already.[Unknown] So there you go.[Ed] The last one here, and this is one that's come up a lot more frequently, and it has[Ed] to do with truvada.[Ed] And do you take truvada and just deal with all the other STIs as they pop up?[Unknown] So people who do not know it is a truvada is a two part, um, prophylactic system.[Unknown] One, it helps fight the infection.[Ed] It's an antiviral in your body, but two, it works as kind of like a prophylactic to prevent[Ed] infection.[Ed] So it kind of does two things for, for the price of one.[Ed] We've read kind of mixed results with that, and you absolutely want to talk to your doctor[Ed] about this and everything in this topic, because we're not medical professionals.[Ed] We're podcasters and orgy participants, and that does not make us medical professionals.[Ed] So with these kind of preventative drugs that you can take, they, they do have their, they[Ed] do tend to be very effective.[Unknown] So the efficacy is very high on them, but there's some concern about long term use.[Unknown] And what it can do to your body, because you are constantly flooding your system with[Ed] these drugs, I'm not a big fan of taking things on a pretty regular basis, like even ibuprofen.[Ed] They tell you don't take it regularly, because it starts to mess with all kinds of stuff[Ed] in your system.[Ed] So introducing something like this may not be the best idea as your only line of defense.[Unknown] It may not be the thing that you want to take like 24, 7, 365.[Phoebe] Well, and I think, I think it acts like an antibiotic, honestly.[Phoebe] Two certain degrees from, from what I understand, and you know, maybe I'm wrong.[Unknown] And if I'm wrong, someone please put that in the comments, but that just destroys all[Phoebe] your microbiome and your intestinal track.[Phoebe] And now you've just killed off everything.[Phoebe] Now you got to rebuild all that.[Phoebe] So, and no pro, not probiotics are, are, are better than, than prebiotics are better than[Phoebe] probiotics.[Phoebe] Probiotics do not seed the bacteria in your intestines, absolutely do not.[Phoebe] So if you've taken that and you go, I'll just have some yogurt the next day, that's not[Unknown] going to do shit.[Phoebe] So, yeah, I, you know, maybe if you go to a cruise once a year or a keto or a desire once[Phoebe] a year, you don't want to worry about any of that.[Unknown] And you just want to just take that medicine and just go at it.[Phoebe] Go at it.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] Then, you know, might not be a bad plan.[Phoebe] But on a regular basis, I don't know, I, I, I personally wouldn't.[Ed] Yeah, yeah.[Ed] I do know people who will use a viral suppressant for HSV to, to prevent outbreaks.[Ed] And I know that that's pretty common for people who are HSV positive.[Ed] So, you know, to prevent herpes kind of shedding.[Ed] Right.[Unknown] Right.[Ed] But yeah.[Ed] And Ken's commenting in here too about condoms prep for HIV, which is usually 100% effective[Ed] if Doxycycline PEP and back for bacterial STIs, but like Doxycycline as an example, is[Ed] an antibiotic.[Ed] Oh, yeah.[Phoebe] That's maybe the one I'm thinking of.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] And, and that works, does work for bacteria, but taking antibiotics is really bad for your[Ed] gut health.[Ed] Oh, horrible.[Ed] Especially on a regular basis.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] So, this is absolutely something you should talk to your doctor, your medical professional,[Ed] be honest with them, tell them that you're in a risky lifestyle and you like to engage[Ed] in orgies and good sex and that you're going to be hitting Jamaica and the pool parties[Ed] and all the rambunctious things that go on.[Unknown] Yeah.[Unknown] Yeah.[Phoebe] There are also, it's, it's a, it's a good, it could be a good solution for people that[Phoebe] like to play bear back, to reduce some of the, you know, impact of the STI if they're[Phoebe] right on that.[Phoebe] But most, most people, you're not going to find, you kind of have to find your tribe that[Phoebe] does that.[Phoebe] It's usually a select group that tends to do that together.[Phoebe] Right.[Phoebe] It's not going to be your, you're, it's not random hookup.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] It's not, you're not going to find it really a desire or, you know, or any, on a cruise.[Phoebe] I mean, you might, but you really have to select, you have to interview those people.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] And, you know, and if that's your play style, you probably get your own set of protocols[Ed] for it.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] Something like a prep or a pep might actually be a good, a good precautionary thing.[Ed] Maybe you're introducing a new partner into the group.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Ed] Yeah.[Phoebe] It makes prep and pep for a little while and kind of sorts things out.[Unknown] Yeah.[Phoebe] Come on of vacation with us, you guys.[Phoebe] We're going on a virgin cruise, two of them.[Phoebe] One is in Alaska.[Phoebe] I think that's around July.[Phoebe] Yeah.[Phoebe] And then we're going to Mexico, because I don't have to fly to Florida.[Phoebe] Hello.[Phoebe] I just leave from LA.[Phoebe] I take a $60 plane trip down for a plane.[Phoebe] It's probably an hour from the ground to the, like, if airtime is like 40 minutes, that's[Phoebe] such a no-brainer for me.[Phoebe] I'm like, yes, sign me up.[Phoebe] I'll go to Mexico.[Phoebe] So we're going to do that.[Phoebe] And it's a five day cruise.[Phoebe] It's not a three day one, which even makes it better.[Unknown] Right.[Ed] A couple extra days.[Ed] Yes.[Ed] A couple extra days.[Unknown] Yes.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] So check out our website.[Ed] Yes.[Ed] We have vacation.net.[Ed] If you're interested in these trips that we're going to be on, but we have other ones too.[Ed] So if you can't make it in April or July, we've got lots of other trips that are scheduled.[Ed] It's a great company that we're going through with that, spicy vacations.[Ed] And if you book it through our website, we use support our channel as well.[Ed] It doesn't add anything to the cost.[Ed] They kind of give us a piece of it out of their pocket.[Ed] So we appreciate it.[Ed] We appreciate the support.[Ed] And if you go in April or July, you can hang out with us and have a conversation.[Ed] We can talk about SDIs.[Ed] Oh, my God.[Ed] I'll bring my dental dim.[Ed] We can poke ice cubes with it or something.[Ed] I don't know.[Ed] If you want to send us a question, when we're not in the live sessions, you can email us[Ed] using our website.[Ed] We have a form there.[Ed] You can sign up for our newsletter so you can get all of our updates as we send them[Ed] out.[Ed] Latest episodes, new vacation plans, fun stuff that's going on in our lives.[Ed] Absolutely check out our Patreon where we've got bonus content and behind the scenes stuff.[Ed] So we talk about things that we don't talk about here.[Ed] So last week we did a Patreon episode where we talked about our legal battle that we're[Ed] going on.[Ed] It's a bit of a sore subject for us.[Ed] We're right in the pocket book because it's expensive to have lawyers.[Ed] And it's a pain because of, well, you have to check out Patreon to hear all of the details[Ed] about it.[Unknown] We may do an episode about it, but I got to get figured out first.[Unknown] And last but not least, if you like this show, TeleFriend, and bring them along, tell them[Unknown] all about Swinger University and they'll get something out of it, too.[Unknown] Hopefully.[Unknown] Yeah.[Ed] So there you go.[Ed] I think that's our show for today and we appreciate you guys signing in.[Ed] 13 whole people.[Unknown] Woo-hoo.[Phoebe] That's awesome.[Unknown] Thanks everyone.[Ed] We appreciate it.[Unknown] It'll pick up a little more as we, you know, keep having these on a regular basis.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] Yeah.[Ed] We started to advertise them.[Ed] We wanted to get our sea legs first and try it a few times and make mistakes in the privacy[Ed] of our, you know, small, one or two Z people, but we're figuring it out.[Ed] So we're going to open it up to more people and we'll have more stuff go out.[Unknown] Okay.[Phoebe] Thank you, everyone.[Ed] All right.[Unknown] Well, until next time, one last thing before you go.[Ed] If this episode helped you in any way, the single best thing you can do to support the[Ed] show is leaving a rating and review.[Ed] It takes 60 seconds and helps new people find us when they're searching for relationship[Unknown] education.[Ed] And we've made it easy.[Ed] Visit SwingerUniversity.com forward slash review.[Unknown] All the instructions are there.[Ed] Thank you for being part of this community.[Ed] We'll see you again soon.