Vaccines without coming out to doctor?

If you don't feel comfortable honestly discussing your health needs with your doctor you might need to find a new one. A doctor should be a partner that works with you with honesty and understanding, anything less is a risk to your safety.

 

yeah just go to a different doctor. maybe one who works closely with the lgbt community?

 

The only vaccine you want to get that might say "Hey, I'm gay" is the HPV, all the other ones are routine for everyone to have. I always think of my doctor as a service provider and you just tell them what you want done and they do it. She can't say anything to anyone thanks to HIPPA.

I agree with the others though, if you are uncomfortable talking to your doctor about anything, you are going to be really uncomfortable when she starts checking you for other things as you start getting up there in age. :icon_bigg I'd consider seeing someone else.

 

When I got the Hep A and B vaccines, the doctor noted that I traveled a lot and was amenable to giving me the series. The insurance was kind of weird about paying for it. It sort of dangled on the bill, and then they wrote it off or something, because I don't remember having to pay a balance related to the shots.

I have not had the HPV vaccine. They say a large percentage of American adults carry HPV in a dormant state on their skin. As for meningitis, I don't know, and didn't know that it was a problem in NYC.

You should be able to tell the doctor that you're a single man who doesn't know when you might be sexually active and that you want the typical vaccines. For HPV, they might test you before giving it to you, since you're not a school age kid. I think that there's probably an antibody test for that at this point.

 

I know of no doctor who will ask you why you want an immunization. In fact, in some states you can go to any pharmacy and request an immunization from the pharmacist. We want everyone to get immunized because it not only protects you, it protects other people that you might have infected.

I've mentioned this before in other threads: Being gay, lesbian or bisexual does not matter to your healthcare provider. We do not care who you sleep with. What we do care about is what you do when you sleep with them. A straight person having unprotected anal sex is as much at risk as a gay person doing the same thing. In fact, the CDC guidelines don't mention orientation- they say only that certain immunizations are recommended for "men who have sex with men" (MSM).

 

With regards to HPV, wouldn't a straight guy want to avoid giving HPV to his partners?

 

Worth mentioning- the current CDC recommendations are that all pre-teens- male and female- be immunized for HPV.

No, because being gay doesn't transmit STDs. Sex does.

Back in the 1980s, public health publications did use the terms "gay", "homosexual", IV drug abuser, etc. Several of the advocacy groups pointed out that not all men who had sex with men were "gay". Two of the populations that we were having trouble reaching were inmates in correctional facilities (who considered themselves straight) and married men who were having sex with men on the side. So, the terminology was changed to reflect the behavior- ergo "men who have sex with men", "IV drug user", etc.

 

I don't think you asking your doctor for a few vaccines is going to ring the alarms of disturbia within her office...

She's a Doctor... With that being said, she's experienced just about every bizarre, mind-altering, and maybe even traumatizing scenario imaginable in her career.

She has no time or room for prejudice in her profession, and you asking for these vaccinations would, if anything, have her more inclined to respect you as a person for taking precautionary steps to better your health.