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Harm Reduction Black stuff in needle cap

reyn0lds7

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 22, 2011
Messages
4
Location
Flint, MI
So the other day I found an old needle with a bunch of dope in the cap, seeing as though I was sick I shot up the dope immediately.. There was only one problem. The dope looked like it had black stuff in it but upon further inspection I figured it was just because the dope had dried out and turned that color. But after shooting up i looked back at the cap and saw little black specks that looked wierd... this leads me to my question: What could the black shit be? I'm very afraid it may be black mold and I did something terrible to my body. Today I felt like my heart was hurting but then again it could have just been my overactive imagination.

And I realize how stupid this was but I wasnt thinking clearly because i was so sick.


Fuck i'm freaked out right now.
 
Please, never do this again! Firstly needles should never be used more than once, they become blunt super-fast and you will be doing damage to your veins.. secondly (and more importantly) an old needle will be a breeding ground for bugs as it will have a little bit of your blood in it plus the heroin.. we can't tell you what the black stuff is here; could be dried out heroin, old blood or worse. If you start to feel unwell at all please seek medical attention straight away and let them know that you could have introduced an infection into your bloodstream...

..and please, please never do that again! I appreciate how awful it is being dopesick, but septicaemia could be a lot worse...

Good luck, I hope you are okay <3

Going to send this over to OD as they cover most IV complications...

BDD > OD
 
Okay, thanks for moving it to the right place i really appreciate it. And I know how stupid it was.. I can't believe I did that.

I figure if it was black mold I would be experiencing very serious side effects, so that makes me feel a little better. And I get approved for health insurance next week hopefully so I can get a blood test and make sure i'm okay.

But thanks again man.. I can't tell my family because they wouldn't handle it well.. so just the fact that I could post this and get it acknowledged means the world to me.
 
Really not the best of ideas, but I think at this point you hopefully realize how stupid that was. On another note, you might want to be familiar with the S/S of Myocarditis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myocarditis

As already stated, it would be a good idea to go to the ER and have them run cultures to check for an infection.
 
It could have been blood. Old blood turns a very dark colour, and separates from the dope. Or could it have been some ash from heating the dope that came off the spoon or cooker? That happens sometimes too. You'll likely be fine and it is likely that your fear is just playing tricks on you. Read up on the potential risks from IV use and check whether you have any of those symptoms (ones that can't be easily explained otherwise) and pay attention to whether they get worse. If in doubt, go see a doctor, or better yet if there is a needle exchange or anything like that in your area that has nurses or other health care workers, as they would be more familiar with heroin injection issues and more understanding/less judgmental about it.

Personally I have never seen or heard of mold developing in old dope solution, but I don't think it's impossible. Your heart could be hurting because of heroin withdrawal. Did you inject the solution without cooking it, filtering it, or putting it in a new syringe? I'm not sure whether or not injecting mold would seriously harm you, many antibiotics are derived from mold.... but I couldn't find any info online on the subject, I assume it doesn't happen very often.
 
It couldn't have been ash from my spoon because i get h4 so i only have to put in water and filter, and i'm not sure if they have a needle exchange around here in michigan but I could be wrong. And I cooked it (just to be safe since I was suspicious), filtered it and put it in a new syringe.

And rr279, thank you for posting that because now I have some symptoms to look for which makes me feel alot better about my situation (not experiencing any of them) and I would go to the ER but I have no insurance and the hospital is already hounding me for unpaid visits.. But if I start experiencing symptoms I will have no other choice.

Thank you for you're replies, you have no idea how much I appreciate them.
 
There are definitely needle exchanges in Michigan. Here are just a few:
http://www.nasen.org/programs/us/mi/
If none of those is near you, try Googling "needle exchange _____" where "_____" is your city/town.

That definitely helps that you cooked it, filtered it and put it in a new syringe. Personally, I know it's not the best idea but when you're desperate your desperate, and I have done it 1000's of times without getting sick. Not that that means no one will ;-)

My best guess would be that the dark specks were blood.

This thread goes over safe IV technique and explains almost all the potential complications from injecting, such as infections etc:

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/...ant-Blood?highlight=complications+information

Let me know if you need more info :-) I'm pretty sure you'll be ok and are just worried. Just pay attention as to whether you develop symptoms and they worsen (something all IV users should do all the time).
 
It also could have been opium. I once had some H and when I cooked it up it produced some opium settling down on the spoon. I was able to cook the opium up again and had two injections from one dose.
This was pretty cool.

But it's just speculation we are doing here, the stuff in your syringe could have been anything, dried blood, mold, dried H, as the guys over me already said.

I hope it wasn't any bad stuff and you are and will be ok. Go see a doctor man.
Take care of yourself (:
 
So the other day I found an old needle with a bunch of dope in the cap, seeing as though I was sick I shot up the dope immediately.. There was only one problem. The dope looked like it had black stuff in it but upon further inspection I figured it was just because the dope had dried out and turned that color. But after shooting up i looked back at the cap and saw little black specks that looked wierd... this leads me to my question: What could the black shit be? I'm very afraid it may be black mold and I did something terrible to my body. Today I felt like my heart was hurting but then again it could have just been my overactive imagination.

And I realize how stupid this was but I wasnt thinking clearly because i was so sick.

It's mold from the water and/or dried up blood. Sure there could be smack in it, but why would you shoot it, let alone ingest it at all?
 
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It's mold from the water and/or dried up blood. Sure there could be smack in it, but why would you shoot it, let alone ingest it at all?

Desperation from withdrawal sickness. I've done it many of times. It does actually help a little with the WDs and people do all sorts of irrational things when they're going thru WDs and don't have any dope. Also the OP said they only noticed the dark specks after injecting it.
 
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What you should do is get some suboxone and keep it on hand. That way if you're ever truly desperate you won't do anything dumb because suboxone seriously takes the edge off.
 
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