LotusExige
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2014
- Messages
- 65
Well it seems that after a few years I finally fucked up and got an artery instead of a vein. The veins in the crooks of my elbows are pretty shot from when my technique sucked so I try them very rarely. Tonight I figured I'd move down my forearm a bit to try to hit a lower part of the vein. Hell after a few pokes bingo, I got pay dirt. While the flash was fairly thin it really didn't look that different than any new/good spot I usually hit. Definitely not thick/slow/dark but didn't really look much different. I was surprised that it registered as well as it did as it's been a while since I get that good of a register.
As I started to push down is started stinging a it. I stopped and registered again and was still getting a good register so I figured maybe I'd let the needle slip and that was why it stung. So I went down again and got about 50cc in (the shot was about 16mg) before I realized that no, something else is wrong. I stopped and pulled out but nearly instantly my arm started to swell, little white bumps everywhere and my hand started to swell. While it was painful it wasn't anything like what I've read about hitting an artery with heroin. I ran to the freezer and grabbed a few ice packs and filled a big baggie with a ton of ice cubes. Using all that I wrapped up my arm from elbow to my hands with the ice packs and ace bandages to add a little pressure too.
It's now a few hours later and while my hand is still swollen a bit and it's tight/uncomfortable to bend my arm at the elbow there don't seem to be any other big effects. Certainly nothing that makes me think I need to bite the bullet and rush to the ER. It seems to be getting better by the minute so I'll give it say 12 hours and decide if I need to go or not. While the ramifications would suck I clearly don't want to lose any body parts!
I'm posting this for a few reasons. First what symptoms should I watch for to know I need to take action? I assume if it gets worse in any way or doesn't continue to get better. Other than more pain and swelling is there anything to look for that could be hidden that I wouldn't see/feel? Second I just wanted to share the story since I've read so many horror stories about heroin in an artery - so far it doesn't seem hydromorphone/dilaudid is nearly as bad. That doesn't surprise me as for the last few weeks I've been doing heroin instead as I hadn't gotten my prescription filled yet. Now that I have a month's supply I went back to good old dilaudid as other than the short nod the rush is far better. Seems I got lucky that I did this with hydromorphone rather than heroin. Finally am I right that it makes sense that dilaudid would be less severe than hitting an artery with heroin? Or did it just affect me differently as it effects everyone differently.
Clearly I'll take a break from using that arm (left in this case) which is sort of a bummer as it has by far the easier to hit locations. May have to just plug a small amount for the next few days just to keep withdrawal away.
I welcome any thoughts or input on the situation - most importantly what to look for and how to know to go to the ER or not. Keeping it iced for now and will most likely switch to heat here soon.
~L
As I started to push down is started stinging a it. I stopped and registered again and was still getting a good register so I figured maybe I'd let the needle slip and that was why it stung. So I went down again and got about 50cc in (the shot was about 16mg) before I realized that no, something else is wrong. I stopped and pulled out but nearly instantly my arm started to swell, little white bumps everywhere and my hand started to swell. While it was painful it wasn't anything like what I've read about hitting an artery with heroin. I ran to the freezer and grabbed a few ice packs and filled a big baggie with a ton of ice cubes. Using all that I wrapped up my arm from elbow to my hands with the ice packs and ace bandages to add a little pressure too.
It's now a few hours later and while my hand is still swollen a bit and it's tight/uncomfortable to bend my arm at the elbow there don't seem to be any other big effects. Certainly nothing that makes me think I need to bite the bullet and rush to the ER. It seems to be getting better by the minute so I'll give it say 12 hours and decide if I need to go or not. While the ramifications would suck I clearly don't want to lose any body parts!
I'm posting this for a few reasons. First what symptoms should I watch for to know I need to take action? I assume if it gets worse in any way or doesn't continue to get better. Other than more pain and swelling is there anything to look for that could be hidden that I wouldn't see/feel? Second I just wanted to share the story since I've read so many horror stories about heroin in an artery - so far it doesn't seem hydromorphone/dilaudid is nearly as bad. That doesn't surprise me as for the last few weeks I've been doing heroin instead as I hadn't gotten my prescription filled yet. Now that I have a month's supply I went back to good old dilaudid as other than the short nod the rush is far better. Seems I got lucky that I did this with hydromorphone rather than heroin. Finally am I right that it makes sense that dilaudid would be less severe than hitting an artery with heroin? Or did it just affect me differently as it effects everyone differently.
Clearly I'll take a break from using that arm (left in this case) which is sort of a bummer as it has by far the easier to hit locations. May have to just plug a small amount for the next few days just to keep withdrawal away.
I welcome any thoughts or input on the situation - most importantly what to look for and how to know to go to the ER or not. Keeping it iced for now and will most likely switch to heat here soon.
~L