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Heroin Curious reaction after IVing Heroin

M

ManBhindTheCurtain

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
6
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Hello Bluelight members!

This is my first post so I hope I've understood all the rules and expectations correctly. I've had a strange reaction immediately following my last three IV injections of Heroin. I've been injecting near my wrist right below the base of my thumb. Within a second or so of finishing my injection I will feel a slightly painful/itching sensation I would bet most IV users would recognize as a slight miss. Within a minute the area will become red and a bit irritated.

The strange thing about all of this is that the reaction does not happen at the site of the injection. The reaction will occur in my inner elbow on the same arm. It's appears exactly like it would had I had a partial miss injecting in my inner elbow. I haven't used the inner elbow for injection in maybe a year because I can never register in the area anymore. So there have not been any recent attempts to inject in the area.

Has anyone ever experienced this before? It's as if my veins are leaking! It's like the heroin is traveling up my arm and then leaking out halfway up my arm. Does anyone know what might cause this?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Bro Im pretty positive thats a sign that your injecting in an artery. It will cause a painful tingling sensation as well as swelling. Ive heard of a similiar reaction from someone shooting in that EXACT location (close to wrist, between thumb and finger) and was told it was because of artery injection.
Now Ive also experienced a painful tingling and extreme swelling before and ended up going to the hospital and was told it was because of some bacteria or something, any germs that go right into your bloodstream will cause swelling and the like. So my guess is either your arm or needle or cotton wasnt steralized or you were shooting in an artery. shooting in an artery has lighter colored blood and it also kinda burns, and release blood in spurts. it's dangerous so be careful.
 
Sounds almost like histamine release...if you IV'd into an artery you'd really know,and fuckin quick.

I used to get this from IV morphine, I would get little rash like hives on the vein I shot into but highere then the injection sight...Say I hit the crook of my arm, I would get this reaction on my bicep
 
Thanks for your replies! I'm thinking it must have been a histamine reaction as stated by Ontarioguy. I've witnessed an accidental intraarterial injection and that shit looked painful and scary. This wasn't painful at all. I also got the rush and everything. Maybe the tar around here right now has more unreacted morphine than normal. Anyway, thanks for the insight.
 
This is a common symptom of IV heroin use that my friends and I experience now and then. I'm pretty positive it's a histamine response, hence the similarities to hives. You' d described it perfectly: redness with raised bumps that are pale in color relative to the aforementioned reddened surrounding tissue. Seems like a characteristic histamine inflammation.

My theory is that it is the result of the shot entering a vein (definitely not an artery, trust me you'd know if you hit one of those) that is small in diameter. The pressure of the incoming fluid heroin solution is entering at a rate that is high enough that it can't all go through the vein due to the small diameter of the blood vessel. This in turn causes some of the fluid to either diffuse into the surrounding tissue in lieu of traveling further up the vein into the blood supply, or possibly to leak into the surrounding tissue via a hole poked into the wall of the vein. I think the first explanation, the solution being forced to diffuse into the surrounding tissue through the walls of the vein due to the volume of the blood vessel being insufficient to hold all of the shot. This inflames the tissue where the liquid has diffused.

I'm not a medical student/nurse/doctor, so take that with a grain of salt/with the caveat that it is a theory only. But in my experience and that of my friends we have found it to be a temporary thing only, and using a vein with greater diameter (generally speaking will be closer to the heart, like you mentioned further up your arm as opposed to near the wrist) will prevent it from happening.

Hope that helps!
 
Yeah I agree with Deinonychus - histamine release, not artery shot. When I injected into an artery it was like intense pain from injecting just 1-2 units, then my entire arm swelled up HUGE, especially my hand (perhaps since arterial blood is flowing towards your hand). That is not the same as what you described at all: localized irritation, redness itching and discomfort in a location towards the heart (direction of venous blood flow) from the injection site. What you describe happened to me many times, especially with certain batches of dope and damaged veins. I suggest trying a different vein (*ideally one that is not small and delicate) and injecting slowly. If this is happening in a particular spot it might be that it is near a vein valve or scarred/damaged part of the vein.
 
RoboRobot said:
Bro Im pretty positive thats a sign that your injecting in an artery. It will cause a painful tingling sensation as well as swelling. Ive heard of a similiar reaction from someone shooting in that EXACT location (close to wrist, between thumb and finger) and was told it was because of artery injection.
Now Ive also experienced a painful tingling and extreme swelling before and ended up going to the hospital and was told it was because of some bacteria or something, any germs that go right into your bloodstream will cause swelling and the like. So my guess is either your arm or needle or cotton wasnt steralized or you were shooting in an artery. shooting in an artery has lighter colored blood and it also kinda burns, and release blood in spurts. it's dangerous so be careful.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? If he was injecting in an artery don't you think the results would be more than an "itchy sensation?" Jesus christ some people.

YOu need to educate your self if you think the worst part of shooting into an artery will be an itch.
 
This, as most have said sounds like a histamine reaction caused by a little solution leaking out. This tend to happen with the small, fragile veIns especially arOund the wrist. I too have been hitting in those veins and experience exactly what you describe. Maybe try spending some time (with your tourney on) having a look/feel for some bigger veins further up your arm. Check out a vein map. A lot of good veins aren't visible but you'll be able to feel them. It'll be a lot better for your circulation in the long run as I have found out you can only use those little veins 2-3 times max before they give in and dissapear. EDIT; For HR purposes I feel the need to mention, as obvious as it may seem, never inject where you feel a pulse. Stay safe!
 
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