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Developed Cellulitis on Arm after IVing H - Need Advice!

G

ghostworld

Greenlighter
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
5
Location
east bay, ca
Hello, unfortunately I fear I've developed a cellulitis abscess on the surface of the crook of my arm after IVing heroin (tar). Here's what happened:
I was high and being pretty careless the second time around I got high that night, and managed to get some heroin trapped in my skin (i was shooting above a sterile abscess [side note: I have the world's tiniest veins and its an impossible task to find veins that arent already scarred up]) and it got somehow...lodged..? up sort of above/around the top of the sterile abscess in my skin somehow.. it stayed in my skin for a couple days, and then I thought it'd be a brilliant idea to poke it with a clean needle (I'm completely 100% sterile with my equipment, this wasnt a result of poor hygiene) to see if there was any fluid that might come out. that's when this thing got infected. it's about ~5cm across, the outer edge is red and inflamed and scabbed and crusty, and the inner part is a lighter brown ring (from the h) and in the center is a hole leaking clear pus. it doesn't look AWFUL, but i'm scared it'll turn into some requiem for a dream shit.

so my questions are -
I can't see a needle exchange's wound care clinic until thursday, and I believe this got infected two days ago. is it possible that this would get a lot worse before then? should I just go ahead and call a clinic? I haven't got any insurance (except medi-cal for those in california that could help answer)

is there anything i can do at home to take care of this or prevent it from getting any worse for the next few days?

what sort of antibiotic do they prescribe for this sort of thing and how much is the dosage?
 
Get it looked at by a doctor ASAP! That stuff can turn bad very fucking quickly and ive seen it happen with other people. Get it treated ASAP so it does the least amount of damage.
 
Yeah at this point you need to bite the bullet and get some medical treatment. At this point i doubt a little neosporin and warm towels will do much.
 
hey man, i definitely can't give any medical advice (i utilize very unhygienic injection practices).

what I CAN say is that it was real smart to make an appointment at your NE. But that's a few days away, man, and if its a bad wound from injecting its gonna either progress VERY fucking rapidly. In this case go to the ER asap.

another scenario (which i do all the time) is panic the fuck out and the anxiety makes me perceive my wound to be much worse than it is.

It sounds like an abscess but I'm just some dude reading words on an Internet forum.

You sound like you are pretty responsible and thats somethin' that needs to recognized when you're wrapped up in the shit. Keep it up by keeping a sharp, realistic eye on that wound and if in doubt, go to the ER.

I'm in Philly and I have a PA Access card (welfare health care thing), I'm assuming that medi-cal is california's version of state funded assistance and they must be more similar than different. The ER is covered here in PA its gotta be covered for you in cali

i missed a lot of shots and can say that putting my arm up to the water of a real hot shower felt real good and seemed to help (especially if you have one of those pulse shower massagers). Conversely, cold water always seems to make swelling go down.

Once again, this ain't comin' from a dude that has any medical proficiency, just what I experienced. I'm certain more experienced and schooled folks on here can provide more insight than my one-sided perspective can provide. If you are in doubt, park your fuckin' ass in one of those plastic ER chairs and wait a coupla hours for a doctor. At the least you would be killin' the doubt/fear by having it looked at
 
ER... now. Forget waiting for Thursday, if you actually have Cellulitis, it will get worse. Symptoms will be red streaks going up your arm, fever, chills, swelling. Once the infection has reached the lymph nodes in your armpit, you are within days of running the possible risk of dying. In mild cases, likely what yours is, you can expect to have the abscess drained and prescribed trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (antibiotics). Depending on the severity, you may be asked to return within 48-72hrs for a check-up. In my case, I let the cellulitis go unchecked to the point where it had spread to the lymph nodes in my armpit. I could not move my arm, and suffered all of the aforementioned symptoms on a severe level. I had to return a total of 3 times for follow-ups (all of which were absolutely necessary) where I received additional scripts for more antibiotics (totaling over 3.5 weeks work and 3 different kinds). Upon the first follow-up I had to receive additional antibiotics via intramuscular injections. In all, after an entire week I was finally able to return to work.

A needle clinic, as far as I know, will not be able to help you anyway. Nor will any minute-clinic, etc. Even if I am wrong about the needle clinic, and I know I am right about minute and stand-alone clinics, you can not wait until Thursday. Waiting is not an option. I am paying $25 per month for my ER visit and 3 follow-ups. Do you think I wanted a fat ER bill and immediate prescription fees? No, not at all, however, Cellulitis is very, very serious.

So, to reiterate - Go to the ER now.
 
Reading this thread makes me fucking sick about the lack of free medical care in the US. In just about every other western nation in the world, all you would have to do is call "911" (or "000" in Australia) and you'd get a free ride in an ambulance to a hospital that would treat your condition for free. It's absolutely fucked up that people have to delay receiving urgent health care because they don't have enough $ in their pocket.

Is this insane state of affairs going to change or are all the nut-jobs who think free medical care is 'bad idea' still holding the cards?
 
<Please do not attack other members in TDS. Please read the TDS Guidelines.>

ghostworld- don't sweat the hospital bills. just get that nasty bacteria shit out of yer arm. or just give em a name with an -olio, ending in -nez, and refuse to speak english. if thats what it takes.
illegals don't have to pay for the care they genuinely need, and *still get* here.
that's right, I said it.

but if yer gonna be honest about it, the hospital will bill you, but they'll call it good if you're hard up and still give 'em some money.
I've even'd up $2k hospital bills, for a couple bills instead. that's just by being honest and nice.
 
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I know medicaid in PA (state run medical coverage) covers er visits, so id think CA would to. but regardless, I hope you went and aren't dead now or something..give an update if possible
 
*=Regulator=* said:
Reading this thread makes me fucking sick about the lack of free medical care in the US. In just about every other western nation in the world, all you would have to do is call "911" (or "000" in Australia) and you'd get a free ride in an ambulance to a hospital that would treat your condition for free. It's absolutely fucked up that people have to delay receiving urgent health care because they don't have enough $ in their pocket.

Is this insane state of affairs going to change or are all the nut-jobs who think free medical care is 'bad idea' still holding the cards?
Click to expand...

Yeah I was going to comment on this. I would hate to have that money in the back of my mind if I was in serious trouble.

I don't know how anyone can be against universal health care. Australia isn't perfect, but you can often visit a gp for free, emergency at a public hospital is often free (unless you need surgery), if you are poor you are charged next to nothing for vital drugs on the PBS.
 
<Removed disrespectful remarks>
this thread is about treating a potential abscess, not making pithy comments about politics. if y'all really wanna debate on this, PM me. just stop with it here.
 
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After a particularly rough dayhike I developed a pretty bad blister. It got infeted, and within 3 days my right foot had blown up like a fucking balloon (cellulitis.) Could not fit into a shoe even after taking out laces and insole. Cellulitis can lead to blood born infection which spreads to your heart and can be fatal if not treated with antibiotics.

For the cellulitis in my foot they gave me the anti-biotic Clindamycin HCL 300mg 4xDaily. Also they gave me two very very painful shots in the ass, not sure what it was.

So yeah. Get that Cellulitis treated. And if they don't know about your heroin problem, you will get some nice percocets, hehe.

BTW, I first went to the ER, where they gave me some anti-biotics and painkillers, and then followed up with my PC who gave me the current, more powerful anti-biotic I take and MORE pain killers.

SIDE NOTE: My PC Doc had to do X-Rays to make sure there wasn't any bone issues, so that's even MORE money if you have no health insurance.

However, I do have Insurance, so I don't know if any of that is any option for you. An ER visit is fucking expensive.
 
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Ixchellian said:
goddamn it, another one.
<sigh>

If y'all wanna hold each others dicks and kumbaya about your personal utopian delusions, do it somewhere else in the dedicated political forums.

this thread is about treating a potential abscess, not making pithy comments about politics. if y'all really wanna debate on this, PM me. just stop with it here.
Click to expand...

Utopian delusions.8) please.

A good portion of the western world has universal health care. And on the whole it works pretty well. What is wrong with the poorest people in society been able to receive free or affordable healthcare? In fact, everyone in society can have it. Those with money have the option of private health insurance if they want the very best doctors, access to the very best of treatment, and private rooms in hospitals.

I need to go the doctor today. Because I am a student, I can go get in free to see a GP. I am also getting an xray done which is also for free. Further, if I need medication, there is a good chance that it will be heavily subsidised. ie. common anti depressants and valium are under $5 for a month script. I imagine they are alot dearer in the US. BTW, the doctors in Australia are highly paid with GPs getting at least $150,000 a year, with specialists getting huge sums of money.

In case you didn't know, Australia is not a communist or a socialist country. We are pretty similiar to the US, we are a capitalist democracy. we just believe that affordable health care is a right for all citizens, not just the wealthy. I think you would be hard pressed to find even many conservative voters who are against it here.
 
what did I tell y'all? debate me about it by PM, or in another forum.
just not here.

look, healthcare isnt "free" or affordable here. but if you walk into any ER with a cellulitis here, they don't bill you first or turn you away if yeh can't afford it. and they won't send goons to break yer kneecaps if yeh can't pay afterwards. if you honestly need acute, immediate care here in any State, yer gonna be triaged ahead of everyone else, and yer gonna get the best possible care. and it doesn't matter if it's drug-related or not.

embarrassing or expensive as it is, any kind of wound or abscess turning south of cheese is seriously life-threatening. septicemia can develop frighteningly fast.

save your life first, then worry about everything else after.
 
^
The problem is, the cost is making the OP worry about other stuff first (i.e. the $) before saving their life.

No one is saying a hospital won't treat this person if they show up at the ER. The problem is that he/she is so worried about what it might end up costing in $ that they are actually willing to let a life threatening condition go untreated. That is a direct result of the lack of universal health care.

I find it hard to see how anyone could honestly believe in a system where people delay treatment that may save their life because they don't have enough cash.

Whatever the case, that's the reality for the OP - I would just reiterate; it's better to worry about having to scrape together the cash for a huge hospital bill than to lose an arm or worse.
 
You wanna talk about denial of care?
While living in Deutschland (4yrs), my wife at the time was in excruciating pain from what we later learned was a gallbladder about to pop.
We were in München at the time, and couldn't get to a US military medical facility immediately. So we went to the Klinikum Großhadern. Once they saw it was a gall-bladder-removal issue but wasn't *immediately* life-threatening..... she was presented with a bill for almost €5,000, with about 1/3 required up front.
Because we couldn't, guess what? "Sorry, come back when you have the money, or with an insurance receipt/etc". It had nothing to do with us being Americans. Any German would've had to do the same thing.

Sure I was pissed, but I didn't go into a public forum with bunches of Germans and slander their system because I didn't like it. It may work in other places, but ain't gonna here 'bub.

*=Regulator=* said:
I find it hard to see how anyone could honestly believe in a system where people delay treatment that may save their life because they don't have enough cash.
Click to expand...

That's their, and our, problem.... not yours.
All it takes is a little education to learn that it's quite easy to pay off hospital bills for a fraction of the original cost, or get it written off completely.

What would you rather do; pay a few $100 for a $1000 one-time E-room visit.... or pay many $1000s annually in taxes to cover everyone else.... even if you're completely healthy?
Or does that make an honest citizen too greedy? 8)

it's better to worry about having to scrape together the cash for a huge hospital bill than to lose an arm or worse.
Click to expand...

I don't care who you are.... that's just funny. :\
 
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