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Misc Strange back pain immediately following injecting a drug

C

cstm

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 18, 2013
Messages
16
Location
Boring mid-west where drugs are a life's neseccity
Hi all! I am having the second episode of incredibly strange back pain immediately following an injection. The pain is difficult to describe and I've never experienced anything like it. It's like spasms in the thoracic region that are kind of like shocks of pain so intense I can't breath. If I bend over at the waist and lean on something to take the weight off it gets a bit better. When I lay down it takes a bit for it to calm down but when it does I have no pain at all. That is as long as I don't move.

I am not a habitual user of the needle. I shot my pain pills for maybe 2 months a little over 2 years ago. My Dr. found out so no more pain pills and no more needle. After that I have occasionally picked one up when I got a hold of something. I started using meth about 2 months ago and have used with the needle for maybe a month but not everyday. My reason for telling you all this is to demonstrate that I am not an experienced injector and actually seem to be getting worse at it as I am now afraid of missing the vein after a few missed shots of meth.

It wasn't the same drug used on both occasions so it's not that. What's really odd is the first time the pain started within minutes of completing the injection. This time the spasms started BEFORE I even injected any drug, though I had made several attempts to find a vein and register. Last time (which was last Nov.) I went to the ER as the pain grew in intensity. I did not tell them I had just injected and they had no idea as I show no scars or signs of this behavior due to the sporadic use. My blood pressure was very low, heart rate high and I began shivering uncontrollably about 30-45 minutes after I arrived. I kind of thought it might be cotton fever but the said I was in septic shock. I was hospitalized for 6 days and they eventually found an infection in my kidneys. The back pain got better after just a couple of days (I DID NOT tell them and lose my lovely Morphine 4mg every 1-2 hours via the IV in my NECK!! ) Anyway, I was never fully convinced with their diagnosis. It sometimes seems that Dr. NEED to have a diagnosis for everything and in an absence of one I find they might jump to conclusions or just grasp at straws. So this time when it started I pulled the needle out and did not continue. As the pain got worse a friend brought me some Baclofen 10mg of which I took 3 and Lorazepam 1mg. I crushed up 3 and snorted maybe 1 1/2 because I was so desperate to stop the pain. It seemed to work but upon standing the pain returns. This morning after a long restful night I helped myself to a celebratory shot. And the pain returned full force to rain on my parade!

My biggest addiction by far is information so I am accomplished at Goggling something until I've beaten that horse to a slow bloody death. I have been unable to find anything anywhere with an accurate description of my experience which is making me insane. Oh and the whole deadly infection from drug injection thing is somewhat disturbing as well. When I was given home antibiotics after release from the hospital with the first episode which I did not take as drug addicts seem to have little interest in pills that do NOTHING for them. Except make them healthy. BORING!! I started taking them last night to be on the safe side. I do not want to go to the hospital because of testing positive for meth and because of the whole fear of missed shots thing I have, oh just a few needle punctures here and there. They might just feel a bit judgmental about me and I'm not ready to have the label of IV DRUG USER stamped on my chart, forehead and anywhere else they fancy like my ass.

I do apologize for my lengthy post but due to the unusually circumstances and my failure to find anything fitting during all my searching, I wanted to make sure that I gave as much info as possible in hopes of an answer. Thank you very much for your time and attention as well as any info you might have. No scrap is too small or insignificant for me and will be much appriciated as I run happily back to Goggle with a fresh horse to massacre!

Blessings to all!!
 
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Hey, i think your post is well written.

I agree that Doctors need to diagnose something just to get you out of the insurance game.

This is complete speculation, but is it possible that your bag of meth is cut with amino acids?
 
As an ex doctor i cant stress enough how bad that is for your health
 
Crashing,

Thank you for your reply and compliment. The first time it happend I had yet to even try meth and was shooting a clonapin (stupid but I was romantizing the rush and never did it again) so it can't be anything to do with the substance. Location of vein was different as well. This seems to point to some sort of infection or something like it but there are no other symtoms and I throughly researched every iv related infection I could find.

And yes I know it's bad for me but if I am neglectful of my health at least I am well written. Thank you for your concern Mr. Used To Be Dr.
 
All we can do is speculate here, we're not doctors. You can either seek medical treatment or cease IV use and see if the symptoms resolve.

It would help if you could include where and how you injected and any efforts you took to be as sterile as possible. All I can think is maybe you damaged a nerve if it's not the meth. Need more info.

I'll leave this open for now but please understand we're not doctors and this is not a substitute for medical treatment.
 
rhun said:
I'll leave this open for now but please understand we're not doctors and this is not a substitute for medical treatment.
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This, and if there's ever any IV complication I've learned your best bet is to just go to the hospital, even if you were just there. I once had symptoms that sound quite similar to yours, but I started getting paralysis, which was when I decided to go to the hospital. Because my family was there I refused to admitting drug use, especially intravenous drug use, so the doctors exhausted all these tests, even putting me through a spinal tap (because they thought it could be meningitis), they were finally about to release me when they decided to do one more round of tests for some more blood born pathogens, and it showed positive for MRSA. Basically what had happened was that the weekend before I had been shooting up cocaine and amphetamine tablets, all with the same needle, so either the tablets or the cocaine were dirty, and because I had been a lazy bastard, I kept reintroducing the pathogen to my body by using the same needle over and over again.

So the moral of the story is that you never know what might start off as just seeming like cotton fever, could end up killing you if you don't get it checked out.
 
Yes I realize that I should not be doing this. Anyone who has the smarts God gave a lemon can figure that one out. That is not what this post is about but I thank you for your sincere advice and concern. And since the cops seem to be watching my dealer who is also a close friend, my neighbor and I have decided this is the perfect time to quit by reason we don't really have a choice. We could get somewhere else but I don't trust the stuff from anyone else so there you go.

As for going to the hospital, I probably would if I didn't know from the last episode that the back pain will resolve in a few days and since I deal with back pain from a car accident on a daily bases, I can deal with it. As for the off change the Drs were right and I did have an infection, well I have the very medication they prescribed for it and am taking it. With no other symptoms presenting I feel comfortable in taking a wait and see approach.

I know you are not drs (for the most part with benifit of doubt given Mr. Used To Be) and I am not asking for nor expecting a diagnosis. I simply wondered if there was anyone who could shed so light on it. I am not asking do you think I'm sick but rather have you ever heard of anything like this. I am seeking knowledge that I don't know, not preaching that which I do already know. Having said that I am grateful for your time and input.
 
I'm no doctor but I've spent countless hours on BL and other similar forums, and from what I've seen, oftentimes complaints of strange lower back pain turns out to be kidney pain. Most ppl have little reason to ever feel kidney pain so it gets perceived as back pain. Don't use the "wait and see" approach if you think it's kidney pain, get to a doctor promptly (especially considering your recent history of kidney infection) - I hear being on dialysis for the rest of your life sucks something fierce.

I think your decision to quit is a wise one. If I were you, I would look into vitamins and supplements that support kidney function, and make sure to drink copious amounts of fluids, especially things like cranberry juice or lemonade.


Hope this helps and best of luck to you. Stay safe.
 
Cheezy said:
Why is eceryone here so rude maybe you should all stop abusing
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What?

Yeah, sounds pretty similar to cotton fever honestly. I wouldn't worry much, worry is the root of displeasure. What i do know is that medical science understands merely a fraction of what actually happens in our bodies, so I wouldn't put too much faith in doctor visits to be honest. Just try to be as healthy as possible in your circumstance and look for the change.
 
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I agree Crashing. It's getting better and still no other symptoms. And it can't be kidney infection as the pain is in the thoracic (middle) and kidney pain is in the lumbar (lower) and flanks. The only thing that really bothers me is it's got to be something with the second occurrence and it makes me insane not to be able to know all there is to know about whatever I want to know!!
 
The pain has resolved and since I'm quitting I guess it doesn't matter unless it presents again under different circumstances. Thank you for your suggestion though. I did read up on septic arthritis though but it didn't fit. I realize some things aren't always textbook cases regarding symptoms so I will keep a close eye on myself.
 
My blood pressure was very low, heart rate high and I began shivering uncontrollably about 30-45 minutes after I arrived. I kind of thought it might be cotton fever but the said I was in septic shock. I was hospitalized for 6 days and they eventually found an infection.
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I spent a month in the hospital with Sepsis with Septic Shock. I had a lung infection that got in my organs and blood. I was on life support and dialysis for ten days. Septic Shock is fatal 50% of the time because your blood pressure is so low and your heart rate is so high. Its only caused from a blood infection, take the antibiotic's they give you or you will die.
 
I know what happened: After you injected meth you were left with too few dopamine in the substantia nigra, so technically, you need Levodopa to support your meth shots.
 
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