Party Drugs, PrEP, and Building Muscle: Where the Risks Overlap
Introduction
This post is about party drugs, PrEP, building muscle, how they overlap, and the real risks you should know about.
I spent most of my life "straight-laced" with short hair, "proper appearance" for each setting, and abiding by the principles my mother taught me. She raised me well which led to my success in the military and many other areas. I am bringing this up, because by the time I was an adult on my own I was itching for an opportunity to let loose, blow off some steam, and just have fun. I found more fun and drugs than I needed when I decided to be open about liking gay men and was working at a gay bar.
While it was a blast being paid to be half-naked in the night life, here are some of the lessons I learned as a gay male on PrEP, using party drugs, and building muscle. As always, I want to start with the fact that I am not a doctor, this is for informational purposes, and talk to a doctor before you change your routine. These are some lessons I learned when I began looking to answer the following questions:
Can the party drugs interfere with my PrEP?
Would the party drugs plus the supplements I was taking to build muscle put me at risk?
What should I be looking out for?
These three questions cover the overlap between PrEP, recreational drug use, and building muscle that many gay men are navigating today. Let's dive into it:
Party Drugs & PrEP
What happens when you mix party drugs and PrEP?
In most cases recreational drugs won't directly interfere with your PrEP. Alcohol, cocaine, poppers, and ketamine won't block PrEP from being effective in your body. This is great news! However, this good news doesn't mean you have no risks.
The risks that can come from party drug usage are:
Hydration - When in party mode most aren't thinking to properly hydrate. This impacts your kidney stress. This can compound the work your kidneys already are having to do to keep you safe with processing your PrEP.
Consistency & Recovery - One of the biggest risks is that party drugs make it easier to miss doses. Let's be real, some of you guys find it hard to not miss a dose when you are sober let alone when you are introducing other drugs and disrupting the sleep schedule. PrEP only works when it is taken consistently. Missing occasional doses risks your health.
Stacking - If you’re just on PrEP, you don’t have to worry about dangerous interactions with ketamine, MDMA, or cocaine. However, if you’re ever switched to HIV treatment that includes boosters like ritonavir or cobicistat, that’s a different situation. This is why clear communication with your provider matters. If you are on PrEP and HIV treatment they can boost the side effects of the drugs to dangerous levels.
Also, mixing poppers with Viagra or Cialis can make your blood pressure too low. I used to hear this warning and brush it off until I ended up in a situation where my blood pressure got too low for a different reason. I stood up after a nice dinner ready to head back to my house and then found myself on the floor with my husband and a few waiter panicking because there was a big dude on the floor and I was too big to do anything with. Seemed the solution was to wait until I came back to.
Party drugs don't your PrEP directly, but they do increase you health risks through dehydration, missed doses, and stacking other medications. These same themes of hydration, consistency, and stacking are what will continue as we go into the overlaps with building muscle.
Building Muscle & PrEP
Just like party drugs, the risks are less about your PrEP failing and more about stressing the same systems your medication depend on while wasting time building muscle slower than you could. The main risks are:
Hydration - If you routinely go out and party, outside of putting unneeded stress on your kidneys being dehydrated, you are making it harder to change your body. When you are dehydrated your muscles can not train as hard, they get fatigued faster, and recover slower. Also your joints will be stiffer amplifying the pain you're likely already experiencing if you are over 28!
Consistency & Recovery - On top of increasing the odds you forget to take your PrEP, there is a likelihood you're growing slower since muscles are built while you sleep. This means your party that you likely are just getting ready to leave for at 10pm is not helping you grow. I also haven't seen many people who partied hard the night before be great at getting to the gym the next day. One night off every now and then will not destroy your results. However, most people routinely going out are plateaued around their results from what I have seen.
Stacking - Performance supplements like protein, creatine, and caffeine/pre-workout don't block PrEP either. You can increase kidney stress if you take them with insufficient water or take more than directed. Creatine will make it appear as if your kidneys are failing naturally, and you should expect that. Here is a post that explains why.
Enhancement - Just like PrEP, steroids, SARMs, and even TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) add extra strain to the liver and kidneys. When stacked together, the risk for organ issues increases over time.
Just as you saw with party drugs, hydration, consistency, and stacking show up again here with building muscle while on PrEP.
Pulling It Together
The point isn't that PrEP is unsafe with party drugs or building muscle. The issue is that lifestyle choices when they overlap like lack of proper hydration, inconsistency, and the stacking substances overlap in ways that increase the stress on your body.
Again, i'm not a doctor. check with them before changing your routine or mixing medication with supplements and recreational drugs.
Bottom line is, you can stay on PrEP, build the body you want, and still enjoy your nightlife. The key is it will make it more risky for your health and less likely you hit your goal.
Want to Learn More?
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