arm is red and swollen after shooting suboxone

[ribbingsw10]

hey guys im new here so if im posting in the wrong area just let me know. but after taking sub strips the right way for a long time i got the brilliant idea to start IVing them. Oh yeah im such a freakin genius. i would always filter it and didnt have any complications for like 2 weeks, but i think i ended up letting my iv hygiene slip (always used new syringes) and now my right forearm is red and swollen slightly with a lump at the injection site, and i cant bend it hardly at all without considerable pain. It came on slow and yesterday is when i really started to notice it and became worried. I was a lil shy about visiting a ER for it, i don't want something like this on my medical record. I just went to the doctors on Thursday because when i woke up my tonsils were really swollen. So today I called her to see what i should do, i just told her i think i have cellulitis (ive been doing some pretty deep research) and i described the symptoms and she agreed and phoned me in a script of doxycycline 100mg twice a day for 7 days. Which made me really happy because i don't have to deal with the embarrassment of a ER doctor or her seeing the track mark. So what do you guys think? sorry about the paragraph. Even though I didn't bite the bullet and go to the ER do you think I'll be okay? I tried to deal with this the best way i could, and if worse came to worse i was going to bite the bullet and go to the ER or her office on monday. any advice would be highly appreciated.

 

[mostly-human]

It's a tough call man, I typically avoid ER at all costs too; except when I'm pretty well taken there because I'm no longer capable of 'life'. BUT - you know what they say 'Do as I say, not as I do'. I've read some fucking horror stories about IV suboxone that started out a LOT like yours. So.. I think you know that you're gambling.


So the real question is, are you willing to gamble your limb? If not, go to ER..

 

[ribbingsw10]

It's a tough call man, I typically avoid ER at all costs too; except when I'm pretty well taken there because I'm no longer capable of 'life'. BUT - you know what they say 'Do as I say, not as I do'. I've read some fucking horror stories about IV suboxone that started out a LOT like yours. So.. I think you know that you're gambling.


So the real question is, are you willing to gamble your limb? If not, go to ER..

the horror stories you've heard, where they on any antibiotics? I'm on doxycycline 100mg 2 times a day, which is what they prescribe for advanced stage cellulitis and mines still minor. I'm also a pretty healthy person with a pretty strong immune system. I think if i went to the ER, i think they're only going to IV antibiotics of the same strength. I read a story of a girl who pretty much went through the same thing is me with the same treatment who went to her doctor and it went away good. If ya can remember anything about the stories you heard let me know like some specifics?

 

[Jabberwocky]

hit the ER, man. they will give you antibiotic to kill the swelling.

same thing happened to me when shooting my hand and the fucking thing BLEW UP and I could NOT MOVE IT! even for the next 3 days after going to the ER I could hardly move the fucking thing. I took the antibiotics for about a week and everything was back to norm.

you missed a vein, man. it happens. you wont die or lose an arm but def. get what you need before it swells to the point where it becomes dangerous. I waited about 10hrs before I couldnt take it anymore and smartened the fuck up and hit the ER; they told me it was a common thing when it comes to those of us who use pins.

 

[manboychef]

I had phlebitis,,,its an infection in your vein and blood. Go to the ER. No one dies from embarrassment.

There is more to this. You are on maintenance yeah? The goal of maintenance is to get your life in order without the needless struggle of constantly sourcing money and drugs. Injecting these is a step in the wrong direction my friend. You are going to need to reevaluate what you want out of recovery if you continue to do so....I had that moment too. I was injecting my subutex. I was giving in to my addict mind and doing shots of coke. It is a progression. Misusing your medication is the first step in the progression. I would check your motives and maybe start doing some work on yourself so you do not progress further into your addict state. If you are an addict that is trying to stop, you are always walking away from the old mentality towards a newer mentality. The old mentality got you hooked on opiates. A new mentality, whatever that may be is up to you. It can be religious or spiritual, it can be hardworking and industrious, it can be just to love life. Mine is communing with nature through gardening. Taking the steps to grow the garden is amazing....it is my therapy.

 

[namnoc16]

You've received some great advice here man and I would consider going to the er but if you don't keep a warm compress on it and take your antibiotics!