Question about IV heroin mistake. Please help, I can't find any posts on this issue.

[Seriousquestions84]

Could you please help me with an answer to this: I injected H just minutes ago and when I drew back, it seemed normal (I.e. Blood in syringe, no bubbles), but after I had finished, a few inches above the injection site my veins started popping out and a bubble formed on my arm near those veins. Also, around where the bubble formed seems to be inflamed and is red. I don't usually use IV and am concerned if this is serious and if I should get immediate medical attention. Please, tell me if I should go to an ER, or if there is anything I can do or take to mitigate the issue at home. It probably sounds stupid, but I'm very scared and live quite far from an ER. I would really appreciate any help, or advice, on this matter.

 

[DeeDeeDrug]

It sounds like you might have blown the vein. If you did, your load may be just sitting there and could cause an abscess. When you spiked, did it hurt more than the average needle poke?

 

[Seriousquestions84]

No, that's why I thought I was in the vein. I even drew back multiple times to make sure I wasn't drawing air. The swelling seems to have gone down now but the vein is still popping out, which makes me concerned because I'm not very vascular normally. Is this something that necessitates immediate medical attention. I really appreciate the response also. I've looked through many threads, and did a few advance searches, but still found no information about this happening to someone.

 

[DeeDeeDrug]

If the swelling is going down, you might have blown it and now your body is absorbing the load. You might have just jerked it off too fast and didn't give your vein enough time to take the full load. Just keep an eye on it and massage it to help it absorb. As long as you filtered your mix and used clean water and needle, you should be ok.

 

[SS373dOH]

Was it black tar, or east coast powder heroin? What kind of filter did you use? Did you add heat to your shot?


- SS373dOH Soul

 

[Seriousquestions84]

East coast, no heat and cutip (one whole end for filter)

 

[Seriousquestions84]

Thanks DeeDeeDrug

 

[SS373dOH]

Has it subsided yet? Also you should invest in a micron filter, 'cause q-tips, cigarette filters, and other cotton filters, don't filter thoroughly enough, can have their own contaminates/impurities, and can potentially cause "cotton fever". It's better to be safe, than sorry.

If your arm doesn't get better after 24 hours, that's when I would suggest seeking medical attention.



- SS373dOH Soul

 

[Elthea]

Also, alternate ice and heat. It'll help absorption and swelling. I've done that before with meth and had no need for the ER. Leg veins are often larger, just never ever in the calf--blood clot issues. I've found some good, big thigh veins that have lasted for ages. And they're a no show, pants cover any oughtohs! Just always be clean. Sterilize with bleach your area, your spoon, get decent filters, wash your skin with antibacterial soap and clean again with alcohol, which will also bring up the vein better, Wash your hands. If you're going to reuse your rig, rinse it with bleach, then water so that any little bits of leftover blood, esp. around the rubber, won't grow bacteria. Peroxide is not a substitute. Good luck. Consider quitting. It gets old fast if you're not vascular, that hunting veins thing. Some you're sure of don't even have the decency to bleed when you pull out.

 

[Crack'r]

I've had an injection in the hospital that caused a large lump under the skin. I told the nurse and they weren't very concerned and put pressure on it and I believe a compression wrap after pressing with fingers a few minutes.

Not sure what exactly happened but pressure helped it get absorbed and go away fairly quickly.

As above, I would watch it for 24 hours and see what happens. You may get a bruise if blood was the cause and shouldn't be a concern as it will go away. But redness, swelling, itching, etc are what I would watch for. But if it progressively gets better you should be fine.

An ER won't be able to undue what happen and will only be able to work with symptoms. Like draining an abscess or giving antibiotics if it looks infected. Your body will heal so as long as it keeps getting better you should be ok.

 

[OpiateFien]

Sounds like you either blew the vein or poked out the backside as others said as long as your setup was clean you will be fine. Did you get hives down the backside shot?

 

[crzydiamond]

And just an additional thought. It's not a great idea to "pull back and register multiple times to make sure you're in the vein". All that does is increase your chances of pushing too far through when you resume pushing plunger, or pulling out of vein when you pull back to check. When you're working with veins, which are not huge, your best bet is as little back and forth movement as possible. So hous draw back, register, push slowly. Now if you experience stinging or swelling or some other red flag then of course check. But otherwise one check is sufficient, maybe 2 if you're really not sure on the first.


On topic, could be a histamine reaction. Could be some very small leakage due to all the pushing/pulling, could be a blown vein, could be all sorts of things. But for future reference anytime you have red area that is hot to touch you should go to ER. Otherwise as everyone said, the ER can only treat symptoms.