Harm Reduction ⫸CASE STUDIES - It could happen to YOU!⫷

[LillyF40]

Thanks for sharing Lilly. I'm glad to hear you're on maintenance now and are in control. It's the greatest feeling ever to abstain for a long period of time and know you're better off for doing so. Did you ever have any complications from subcutaneous injections?

Hi Captain Heroin..Sorry it took so long to get back to you..Yes, it is the best feeling in the world not to have to be a slave to a drug anymore. I know a lot of people think methadone is another drug, but hey, for me, it was methadone or certain death. At least with methadone, I only think about it when I go in on Fridays, and in fact I have forgotton to take my dose on a few occastions. I guess I am pretty lucky about complications because I have had a few abcesses drained, but thankfully no long term harm was done except for scaring which I can live with. Most of my friends wern't that lucky..I acually have a friend who takes a needle and drains her own abcesses, I can't understand why she just won't go to the ER, because of this flesh eating diease and wound botsulism, but all I can do is hope that nothing bad happens to her. To me methadone isn't liquid handcuffs, I have traveled all over the US and all I have to do is ask for extra take homes, and I carry a letter to the airport and I have never been given any trouble. My husband and I want to go to the Cabo in a year or two, and I have to find out about the laws there, but hey, I would rather be on methadone and have to go to Florida instead of killing myself with dope. I just hope by my sharing that even one person will decide not to fix ever..My God, I never knew the nightmare started that one day that I decided to stick out my arm and say "I want to do it this way" The agony after the extasy... Non of us ever think we will get hooked, but Hell, I was an opiate addict long before I ever slammed..I am one of the strange ones, I went straight from dihydrocodeine to heroin. I have never even seen a diladud, or an 80mg oxy..Of course being 54 years old, there wasn't a lot of stuff like today. I never even took a vicodin until I had dental work done in 1995. that is what started my relapse 10 5/500 vicodins from the dentist, then Kaiser, then the inernet and less than 6 months later I was off and running...I don't know what would happen if I ever got off of methadone, I imagine it would be like all of the rest of the times. This time for the first time in my addiction, I have no desire and it even sickens me to think of black tar, the smell, the pain and the destruction..But I truly believe I can't live a normal happy life without opiates, and I only say this because I have tried over and over again..12 steps, just quitting, and I always had an empty feeling, even when I had years cllean, I craved heroin.. I am sorry I went on and on, I just felt like I had to say some of these things so people know what it is like. A lot of religious people used to tell me NA is a cult and I was going to go to Hell because of it, and my answer is and still is, I have already been to Hell and I am back, I am no longer afraid. I do have to be honest however, if someone said "Hey you want a red" I probably wouldn't be able to say no.. I am no angel...... Haven't had a red since 1982.....Thanks for listening!!!!

LillyF40%)

 

[LillyF40]

!!!

That's some CRAZY stuff. I can't believe someone would even consider shooting heroin into their neck.

Wow.

Thanks, DJSim. That made my day.

I have to agree, even though I am a hope to die IV user, that is one of the places I could never bring myself to shoot dope in my neck. So I guess I do have a few veins, but I was always way too chicken..A girl I knew shot speed in her neck and blew her brain out, tha scared the shit out of me, if speed can do that, heroin can too.. I will probably be one of those patients in a hospital after surgery with an IV in my neck...

LillyF40

 

[LillyF40]

^^
i'm not sure how it works but in terms of length it goes oral>snorting>iv

Thats true, and I don't know why either, but its like when you have surgery..Years ago, you would get a shot of demoral or morphine in your butt for the pain. No rush, but the painkilling action lasted much longer, same with swallowing a tablet or capsule. I don't believe a person becomes addicted any sooner by IV'ing it..You are either an addict or you are not. I have read many stories here where people have IV'ed and don't care for it. I didn't used to believe that, but I am teachable today. I used to think unless a person was an IV drug user they wern't really addicts, how wrong I was.. I used to laugh at coke heads, but I have seen more lives destroyed by coke than by heroin. and at a much faster rate...

LillyF40%)

Forgot to say, today, the hospital doesn't give shots like they used to after surgery, you push this button and it goes into your IV

 

[LillyF40]

I am sorry, I am just very fascinated with this thread. What is so great, or supposedly great, about SHOOTING UNISOMS??? WTF Insomniac?

I don't know about Unisoms, and I never shot up anything but heroin, but years ago, I used to use promethazine with my dihydrocodeine, it really put a kick into it. It was marketed as Synalgos DC. It was very popular in the 1970's but as soon as the FDA decided to take out the promethazine, no one took it anymore. I think you can still get it, but its just like taking codeine..The promethazine did really work great People on Medicaide couldn't get the capsules so their doctors would write them 2 prescriptions, codeine and then promethazine....I think Synalgos DC was replaced by vicodin....BTW, I have taken benydryl for allergies, and I know that unisom is the same med, but I have never seen those blue gel caps. Do they still sell them? I just don't understand why anyone whould want to slam those, but we are all different..

LillyF40

 

[djsim]

Do they still sell them? I just don't understand why anyone whould want to slam those, but we are all different..

LillyF40

Yeh, they sell them in Australia (Unisom is doxylamine in the USA IIRC) but only very rarely b/c we pharmacists know that anyone wanting them is going to IV them. On times where I have thought the person asking for them could not possibly be IVing them they have asked for a 2nd box for their wife/husband etc (which BTW is a classic excuse used by people up to no good).
As I said in the other post people slam them because they are an affordable option (~$1 each) for potentiating heroin. And once you get accustomed to potentiating every single time, it's tough to go back (especially when heroin is so expensive). So yeh, that's kind of why any time someone finds a place that will sell it, they ask for a 2nd box. We've had people come in asking for it who I have served all the way across town so obviously this guy drives around looking for them just like Sudafed runners do. It all started with shooting temazepam gels as I said in the other post

 

[LillyF40]

Yeh, they sell them in Australia (Unisom is doxylamine in the USA IIRC) but only very rarely b/c we pharmacists know that anyone wanting them is going to IV them. On times where I have thought the person asking for them could not possibly be IVing them they have asked for a 2nd box for their wife/husband etc (which BTW is a classic excuse used by people up to no good).
As I said in the other post people slam them because they are an affordable option (~$1 each) for potentiating heroin. And once you get accustomed to potentiating every single time, it's tough to go back (especially when heroin is so expensive). So yeh, that's kind of why any time someone finds a place that will sell it, they ask for a 2nd box. We've had people come in asking for it who I have served all the way across town so obviously this guy drives around looking for them just like Sudafed runners do. It all started with shooting temazepam gels as I said in the other post

You just taught me something I had no idea of..I thought all of the OTC sleep aids were made with benedryl I just looked it up and on Wikipedia, and I had no idea that only the gel caps are made with benedryl in the US....I never even heard of doxylamine before today..I have been prescribed Temazepam for sleep for over 10 years, and I have never heard of gel caps, do they have them in the US? I know I am naiive about shooting anything except heroin, but wouldn't it be dangerous to try and shoot up a gel substance? I know my husband shot reds in the 1960's and he had terrible abbsses and he still has huge knots on his arms. He said that seconal would get real thick real fast.. I didn't think anything would surprise me anymore, but shooting Unisom shocks the shit out of me

LillyF40

BTW, my cousin is a pharmacist and some of the stories he used to tell me would crack me up. My cousin is a great guy, he used to give addicts needles when it was still very illegal because he said he would rather give them needles than have anyone get Hep or AIDS...His liecense was suspended a few years back, and even though I never asked him why, I think it was because he truly cares about people and he got caught helping someone..I know he doesn't regret helping anyone and I bet he would do it again.. He was able to return to work again on a very limited basis...Our Government would rather have addicts get sick and die instead of doing the right thing, and that makes me sick

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Our Government would rather have addicts get sick and die instead of doing the right thing, and that makes me sick

Not just addicts, but normal people too.

The war on drug has killed countless innocent civilians (potential witnesses, children, family members of those who had a hit on them, etc) and police - both of whom don't necessarily have to be using drugs.

I could go on and on about how the government makes money off of killing people prematurely, but I won't.

 

[djsim]

Not just addicts, but normal people too.

The war on drug has killed countless innocent civilians (potential witnesses, children, family members of those who had a hit on them, etc) and police - both of whom don't necessarily have to be using drugs. .

Amen.

We're getting off topic here though....

Here's a real-life link to a guy losing his hand to a demerol shot here at BL

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Amen.

We're getting off topic here though....

Here's a real-life link to a guy losing his hand to a demerol shot here at BL

I thought that was a rather tragic story.

The pictures are rather intense as well.

 

[bpayne]

This one sounds like they helped her death along with the adrenaline and atropine, she goes straight from defibrilation to trachachardya? damn

 

[Grumpy_Eel]

Urgghh, those fucking Unisoms... I have no idea how any pharmacist can sell the gel caps in good conscience, knowing that 95% of the time they are used for IV by heroin users.



Yeh, I agree... sounds like an urban myth. I can't imagine anyone being that stupid/desperate.

Ive not seen most of the crazy shit in this thread, but i have seen that before. My friend got half an oxy, went straight to his car, and were sitting there like "wasnt he just bitchin about not having water?" and he comes back like 5 minutes later pissed off because it didnt work with saliva.

 

[Samboy Chip]

If I may be so bold....

I daresay this man could have been a likely candidate for having trashed his veins, which led to much more distressing complications...
__________________________________________________________________
Tears as Romell Broom's executioners fail to find vein

By staff writers

NEWS.com.au
September 16, 2009 09:14am
Romell Broom
Romell Broom's execution has been put off for a week / AP

* Executioners unable to find vein
* Try for two hours before giving up
* Killer now faces death next week instead

EXECUTIONERS spent more than two hours trying to find a vein in which to inject a lethal dose to a convicted US killer before giving up.

Romell Broom was sentenced to death in an Ohio jail for the rape and murder of 14-year-old girl Tryna Middleton in Cleveland in 1984.

The state of Ohio reintroduced the death penalty in 1999, and Broom today became the first inmate since that date to have his execution stayed by the governor.

Another attempt to take Broom’s life will be made in a week.

Onlookers claim Broom appeared to be sobbing after one of many attempts by the execution team to access his veins.

At one stage, he even tried to help them himself.

After more than two hours of injections, Broom’s lawyer wrote to the Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice to ask for a reprieve for his client, saying any further attempts to kill Broom “would be cruel and unusual punishment”.

Ohio’s execution laws have statutory requirements that lethal injections were to be “quick and painless”.

Some of Middleton's family members present to witness the execution were emotional afterward, prison spokeswoman Julie Walburn said.

"They were looking for closure and obviously they did not get that," she said.

It was not the first time Ohio has had difficulty executing a condemned man.

In May 2006, Joseph Clark sat up to tell his executioners the drugs intended to render him unconscious were not working.

The state subsequently added a step to its execution protocol where the warden tries to rouse the condemned prisoner after an initial dose of sedatives is administered before the injection of lethal drugs.

Ms Walburn said Broom's veins had appeared to be accessible in a medical evaluation.

 

[djsim]

If I may be so bold....

I daresay this man could have been a likely candidate for having trashed his veins, which led to much more distressing complications...
__________________________________________________________________
Tears as Romell Broom's executioners fail to find vein

...

EXECUTIONERS spent more than two hours trying to find a vein in which to inject a lethal dose to a convicted US killer before giving up.

Romell Broom was sentenced to death in an Ohio jail for the rape and murder of 14-year-old girl Tryna Middleton in Cleveland in 1984.

How awful. I bet he hadn't heard pleading and crying like he was giving out since he raped and murdered a 14 year old girl 8)
I'm no right-wing Texan zealot, but in this case I only feel bad that the executioners didn't try for another few hrs.

 

[djsim]

Fungal endophthalmitis in intravenous drug users injecting buprenorphine contaminated with oral Candida species
Craig A Aboltins,* John R Daffy, Penny Allen
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/182_08_180405/letters_180405-2.pdf

TO THE EDITOR: Within the last 12 months, four injecting drug users (IDUs) who had been injecting buprenorphine presented to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital with endogenous fungal endophthalmitis (EFE) involving Candida species. All four patients admitted that they had diverted or obtained diverted sublingual buprenorphine from the oral cavity after it was dispensed. They had dissolved the remaining drug in water and injected it intravenously. We present an illustrative case.

A 28-year-old woman presented with a 4-week history of left eye pain and erythema. She had a 10-year history of intravenous drug use. Over the previous 6 months, she had been regularly injecting buprenorphine that was prescribed to a friend. The friend had been removing the partially dissolved buprenorphine from his mouth before giving it to our patient. On examination, the patient could only detect hand movement with her left eye. Fundoscopy showed vitritis with a "snow ball appearance" consistent with EFE. Treatment involved vitrectomy, intravitreal amphotericin and oral fluconazole. Candida albicans was cultured from vitreal specimens. Her visual acuity had improved to 1/60 at the time of discharge. Intravenous drug use is known to be a risk factor for EFE. Candida species are the usual causative organisms, but Aspergillus species have also been reported.1 In the 1980s, there were many reports of candida endophthalmitis in injecting drug users associated with the use of brown (or Iranian) heroin. The brown heroin required an acidic substance, often lemon juice, as a solvent. Lemon juice was shown to be the source of the candida.[2] However, over the past 10 years, the heroin available in Australia has been water soluble, and sterile or tap water is usually used to dissolve the heroin before injection. None of the cases we report in this letter involved lemon juice to dissolve heroin or buprenorphine before injection.

Buprenorphine has been available in Australia since 2001 for the treatment of opiate addiction. It is usually dispensed daily by pharmacies in a crushed tablet form. Pharmacists are required to watch patients place and dissolve the medication under the tongue before they leave the pharmacy.

Contamination of injected buprenorphine with orally derived Candida species presents a recently recognised cause of fungal endophthalmitis in injecting drug users.[3] Doctors, pharmacists and drug users need to be aware of the risk of this sight-threatening complication.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

How awful. I bet he hadn't heard pleading and crying like he was giving out since he raped and murdered a 14 year old girl 8)
I'm no right-wing Texan zealot, but in this case I only feel bad that the executioners didn't try for another few hrs.

Indeed; I would have tried for at least a full 24 hours - until there was blood pouring out everywhere really. Honestly, I probably would have tried over and over again with a 27 gauge or larger until part or all of his vein was collapsed.

People who rape and murder women do not deserve to even get an injection - they should just be killed just like their victim was.

I don't always think "eye for an eye" does much justice in life - but it does for people who have absolute remorse for something like raping and murdering a child or woman.

 

[garuda]

Why? Because when the govt has to foot the bill (for hepatitis and HIV etc etc caused by sharing needles) they realise it is infinitely cheaper to give the needles away in order to prevent the expensive shit happening further down the road.

I could just as easily see drug addicts becoming an even more hated and marginalized minority, if the government has to pay for rehab or subs for life do you think they will allow easy access to RX opiates? I think we're dealing with a cultural issue here, not an economic one.

 

[aussie101]

This is swims first post and he is excited to post on such an open forum It reminds swim of NA a little on first try

Thank you for this thread. Swim currently is on bupe and has been on it for about 2 years, although sometimes keeps his bupe and gets on instead. Swim is on suboxone so can get week long takeaways and can attend uni without needing to attend the ridiculous hours offered by the clinic. At swims clinic one has the option of takeaway suboxone or attending daily to get subutex. The past week swim has been getting subutex as doctor wrote on script wrong thing so has been shooting it up with his gf several times per day (dose = 24mg). It is so easy to divert from the clinic, although sometimes it has to be put on the tongue then taken out a few seconds later. Swim is always worrying about the build up of materials also contained in the subutex, as he crushes it up and filters it using cotton and cold water (proper filters are not available at the local fit exchange unfortunately).

As a result of reading through this discussion and thinking about future problems with lungs, infections, losing sight/veins etc, Swim is not so happy about having subutex the past week and wants to go back on suboxone asap as swim does not shoot up the suboxone (it smells like lemon tang and looks to seedy to shoot up) aside from once or twice due to curiosity. Swim has shot up a number of pills before and boiled up oxycontin a number of times, although not lately. Again, this post has helped swim to realize he is asking for trouble to continue shooting up pills. Swim is also worried about a large amount of mates that shoot up their bupe and have done so for years and years. What must these mates lungs look like Swim will tell them about this site and thread

Once again thanks to the thread starter

 

[aussie101]

No, needle exchanges are pretty much everywhere... I walked in and got a box of 3mL barrels and a box of 23G tips (for steroid use) today for free. And swabs and a container. And condoms.... all free. Only micron filters cost $... $1.50 for small ones, and $3.50 for bigger ones (big ones filter more apparently?).
It's the safe injecting rooms that never caught on here, although IIRC Sydney has one which will inject pills for you (BYO pills of course).
Yep, USA is ass-backwards... you'd think after decades of losing the war on drugs they'd learn 8) If the US-health system was like the Aussie one (every citizen covered via tax) you can get your ass there's be needle exchanges! Why? Because when the govt has to foot the bill (for hepatitis and HIV etc etc caused by sharing needles) they realise it is infinitely cheaper to give the needles away in order to prevent the expensive shit happening further down the road.

Ya needle exchanges in St Leonards and in the city. Injecting room in Kings Cross that helped me inject oxys before remarkably! They cant physically shoot it but do everything else for u which was a laugh. Free syringes have saved many people from shitty diseases and screwed veins. They even deliver here in Sydney lol!

I dont understand the US health system. What is wrong with some of the ideas in a socialist democracy. Dont the people that are so scared of the word socialism realize that many of the ideas are already used in their country. I found it so amusing to hear republicans describe Obama as a socialist in a last ditch attempt to discredit him. If only they would embrace something different and just include health care in taxes like they do here, they could help so many people that need the help so badly... And then they could avoid situations such as those in the pictures on this thread...
Still not as scary (although close for me) as places like Singapore where the addicts r too scared to seek medical help for abscess', out of fear of being dobbed in to the police, until it is too late like in earlier posts on here

The only answer, for an educated person (too few of them around USA - and world for that matter), is the legalization and taxation of so called illicit substances, or at least a number of them. The thing I hate most about the USA is their war on drugs and how they boss around other countries into not allowing legalization and taxation (or face reduced economic relations with the US)

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Swim is also worried about a large amount of mates that shoot up their bupe and have done so for years and years. What must these mates lungs look like Swim will tell them about this site and thread

Once again thanks to the thread starter

1) Don't use SWIM.
2) Well, if by bupe you mean Ritalin or Oxy Contin, then yes oh my those poor lungs they must be clogged with talc. But talc isn't an ingredient in Subutex nor Suboxone.
3) Suboxone can be just as easily IV'd as Subutex. Please get the take home version of Suboxone so if you do shoot it, it hasn't been in your mouth possibly. If you have to put the pill in your mouth, let it dissolve and don't try to IV it.

 

[aussie101]

1) Don't use SWIM.
2) Well, if by bupe you mean Ritalin or Oxy Contin, then yes oh my those poor lungs they must be clogged with talc. But talc isn't an ingredient in Subutex nor Suboxone.
3) Suboxone can be just as easily IV'd as Subutex. Please get the take home version of Suboxone so if you do shoot it, it hasn't been in your mouth possibly. If you have to put the pill in your mouth, let it dissolve and don't try to IV it.

In what cases is swim used? My apologies i just saw ppl using it and thought it was necessary when talking about illegal things.

I read that cornstarch accumulates in the lungs similarly to talc which was my concern. Also the ability of microorganisms to grow if someone misses a shot. I am aware that suboxone is just as easily iv'd as subutex because i have done it. It is just not desirable as it smells like lemon tang and gives a strange feeling in some ppl, like myself.

Ya i prefer getting the take home version as i dont have to attend every damn day to get dosed. I have recently turned over a new leaf and prefer not to inject anything because of complications that arise (for example the poor guy nomo in another thread who lost his fingers) if you make a mistake. I have come to realize that to shoot any drug is not natural and is really quite seedy and bad for the brain and body.

I hope that people that divert their doses from their mouth will take your advice and not attempt to shoot it up, although i know a large amount of people that will continue to do it regardless, addiction makes ppl do strange and silly things, especially if a needle fixation is involved.

Thanks for the advice mate...

A 28-year-old woman presented with a 4-week history of left eye pain and erythema. She had a 10-year history of intravenous drug use. Over the previous 6 months, she had been regularly injecting buprenorphine that was prescribed to a friend. The friend had been removing the partially dissolved buprenorphine from his mouth before giving it to our patient. On examination, the patient could only detect hand movement with her left eye. Fundoscopy showed vitritis with a "snow ball appearance" consistent with EFE. Treatment involved vitrectomy, intravitreal amphotericin and oral fluconazole. Candida albicans was cultured from vitreal specimens. Her visual acuity had improved to 1/60 at the time of discharge. Intravenous drug use is known to be a risk factor for EFE. Candida species are the usual causative organisms, but Aspergillus species have also been reported.1 In the 1980s, there were many reports of candida endophthalmitis in injecting drug users associated with the use of brown (or Iranian) heroin. The brown heroin required an acidic substance, often lemon juice, as a solvent. Lemon juice was shown to be the source of the candida.[2] However, over the past 10 years, the heroin available in Australia has been water soluble, and sterile or tap water is usually used to dissolve the heroin before injection. None of the cases we report in this letter involved lemon juice to dissolve heroin or buprenorphine before injection.

Buprenorphine has been available in Australia since 2001 for the treatment of opiate addiction. It is usually dispensed daily by pharmacies in a crushed tablet form. Pharmacists are required to watch patients place and dissolve the medication under the tongue before they leave the pharmacy.

Contamination of injected buprenorphine with orally derived Candida species presents a recently recognised cause of fungal endophthalmitis in injecting drug users.[3] Doctors, pharmacists and drug users need to be aware of the risk of this sight-threatening complication.

Wow there are so many unforseen consequences of injecting shit form ones mouth that i am sure most people are unaware of. A girl working at the clinic asked me the other day about a study she was doing about addiction treatments. I referred her to this site and said that increased access to technology is crucial to get the information out to people about what can happen. Graphic evidence and examples like this could be extremely helpful...

All in all, the high doesn't last as long. When you shoot up heroin, you are high in a matter of 10 seconds or less. From that very second, you're going to be peaking, and then about an hour or two later, you'll be done peaking. By the third, maybe fourth hour - you're done being high.

When I used to snort heroin, it would take about 15 minutes to onset, then by the first hour I would be peaking, and it the peak would last at least 3 to 4 hours. Then, the high would linger on for another 2 to 4 hours (depending on dosage, etc). So, 5 to 8 hours (insuffulated) typically beats the 2 to 4 hour duration of IV.

2 to 4 hours!?? Thats the shortest high from gear i have ever heard of! Either the gear u get must be pretty weak, or r ur shots really small? The white shit i'm used to getting over here has me nice and smashed for at least six to eight hours after a shot iv. I usually spend a 100 bucks to get on. Generally i feel pretty comfortable until i go to sleep. But i guess the gear in australia is pretty strong compared to other places in the world that get that dark shit...