Preparing for Party and Play

If you plan to have a session of PnP, there are things you can do to prepare.  Preparing in advance can make your session safer, more enjoyable and reduce the stress of your recovery and comedown.

Prepare your body

• Rest up: If you have a big weekend planned, it’s best to go in well-rested, take some down time beforehand.
• Eat: It’s best to eat a starchy or heavy meal before we start partying but some us might choose to avoid this if we’re bottoming. If you are not going to eat right before you start your party, make sure you eat well in the days beforehand. Consider taking a multivitamin as well.
• Hydrate: Drink plenty of water in the days beforehand and when you are partying remember to sip and not skull water.
• Shave/Wax: If you are going to shave or wax your body hair, make sure you do it a day before you start partying, so any skin tears have time to heal.

What you will need

• Equipment: You will need your supplies, but you will also need your equipment. If you’re injecting/blasting meth, cocaine, ketamine or opiates get more fits (needles and syringes), swabs and sterile water and filters than you think you will need from your local NSP . If you are smoking, swallowing, snorting or shafting make sure you have the right equipment for that too.
• Meds: If you plan to party over a few days and nights and you are taking any regular medication, make sure you have those meds on hand. You might be taking PrEP, HIV treatment, hormones or another medication.
• Lube: Sometimes we party for a long time, make sure you have plenty of water-based lube.
• Condoms: There’s lots of different ways to prevent HIV, but condoms are your best bet for most other STIs: stock up on condoms.
• Phone charger: If leaving home, you want to make sure that you can keep your phone charged so that you can get back home safely when you need to. Take your charger.
• Hydration supplements: Staying hydrated is important, take some Hydrolyte or another hydration supplement, remember to sip water throughout.
• Mouth hygiene: Our mouths can get dry when we party and our oral health can suffer, some of us take toothbrushes and toothpaste while others prefer to use mouth wash or mouth sprays. Our lips can dry out; small cuts and sores present some risks for BBVs and STIs if you are giving head or sharing a pipe.

Where and who?  

• Think about where you are going to party, is it at your house, is it at a sauna or are you going to jump online to find partners? Have a plan of where you will go and who you will party with, there’s more ideas on how you can plan for your safety on the caring for each other and casual partners

Your recovery

Expect and prepare for a crash or comedown after taking drugs, not getting much or any sleep and exerting yourself physically, this is totally normal. This sometimes happens days after you have stopped partying. You can prepare for this.

• Take time: It is best to set aside time for your recovery, when you can. Some people try and use only when they know that they can take some days off and some down time to recover.
• Mood: Know that you might experience some low moods or some agitation.
• Eat, drink and sleep: Eat well, stay hydrated and get some sleep.
• Exercise: Practicing some gentle exercise can help with mood
• Check in: If you were partying with friends check in with them and see how they are doing, supporting each other is key.

There are some tips about how you can handle a comedown here. We don’t recommend taking more drugs to soothe your comedown, this just delays the crash.