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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Opioids Does IV drug use negatively effect lung capacity and cardio / endurance?

OpiateKiller

OpiateKiller

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Feb 14, 2019
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I’m curious if anyone knows of any definite link between IVing drugs and lung damage. I’ve been IVing heroin (east coast powder) and my methadone script and it seems my lung capacity and endurance has greatly gone down in the past month or so...

I mean after 2 sets in the gym I’m gasping for air which I am not accustomed to.

Does injecting drugs somehow impact the lungs and ones ability to breathe ?
 
Im not a doctor, but Im pretty sure that IVing Heroin doesn't improve your general health anyway. 😉👍
Good thing that you are exercising that is always a good thing. Keep it up!
 
When was the last time you exercised or did cardio?

There is undoubtedly pulmonary damage done from intravenous drug use, especially from the insoluble fillers, and methadone is probably worse for the pulmonary system than heroin (depending upon cuts.)

But, I'd be more concerned if there were other accompanying symptoms at times other than during intense exercise.
 
Could be something else, or it could be the methadone, you really shouldn't be IVing that. Do you even get a rush? (Genuinely curious)

Injecting insoluble particles does harm the lungs as far as I know, because some of them get trapped in the small blood vessels and in the alveoli and the body struggles to get rid of them if you're a chronic IV user (probably leading to chronic inflammation and a bunch of lung problems). That's one of the reasons why everybody should be using micron filters and avoid injecting pills as much as possible.
 
4meSM said:
Could be something else, or it could be the methadone, you really shouldn't be IVing that. Do you even get a rush? (Genuinely curious)
Click to expand...

Do you get a rush from IVing methadone? I only did it once but from that and what I've heard from others, no not really.

OpiateKiller said:
I’m curious if anyone knows of any definite link between IVing drugs and lung damage. I’ve been IVing heroin (east coast powder) and my methadone script and it seems my lung capacity and endurance has greatly gone down in the past month or so...

I mean after 2 sets in the gym I’m gasping for air which I am not accustomed to.

Does injecting drugs somehow impact the lungs and ones ability to breathe ?
Click to expand...

In and of itself injecting drugs shouldn't harm your lungs. Problem is that in practice there's probably shit in what you're injecting that isn't caught by filtering. Particles that will then instead be caught by your lungs.

So in the long run it wouldn't surprise me if IV drug use is somewhat harmful to your lungs.

One big question to me though is if it's more harmful than smoking drugs. I kinda doubt that it is.
 
I felt that shooting meth negatively effected my lung capacity and contributed to an ongoing cough.

I did an academic literature search about it and found several papers. Most refer to the fillers and binders doing the damage rather than the drug itself.
 
Deru said:
When was the last time you exercised or did cardio?

There is undoubtedly pulmonary damage done from intravenous drug use, especially from the insoluble fillers, and methadone is probably worse for the pulmonary system than heroin (depending upon cuts.)

But, I'd be more concerned if there were other accompanying symptoms at times other than during intense exercise.
Click to expand...

My cardio exercise definitely is way down, I hadn’t been to the gym in a month but even at work I noticed I was unable to work as fast and was constantly out of breathe. I really am gonna stop the methadone iv pure stupidity it’s just been such a difficult thing to stop for whatever reason
 
Excellent point @tweakerguy , the whole cardiopulmonary system is completely interdependent. I can unfortunately attest to that fact.
 
OpiateKiller said:
Can you guys Elaborate on how a heart issue could double as shortness or breathe or poor endurance issues?
Click to expand...

The pulmonary system facilities the exchange of gases from the body, the cardiovascular system then delivers the oxygenated blood to every cell in your body and returns the deoxygenated blood back to the lungs. Both systems need to be working simultaneously to provide oxygen to every cell in your body, if your heart is temporarily incapable of properly supplying the appropriate amount of oxygenated blood, it will have similar effects.

Do you ever have symptoms at any other time of the day besides during intense exercise or any other symptoms during exercise besides shortness of breath?
 
Iv'ing is such a broad topic. Unless you are IV'ing a solution specific to IV, along with using the most sanitary needle / techniques....whatever you are doing can cause literally anything.

If you are IVing street drugs, and methadone, I would not discount it is ripping a hole through your body man. Lungs and heart.

Iits not good to be pumping all these drugs and hitting the gym either. My brother was doing the same shit (minus IV'ing his dose) and broke his back on the squat rack. He is stil paying for it today and after 3 surgeries in, he will most likely need to be on methadone for the rest of his life. You should probably stay away from the weights until you are back in a proper cycle. You don't actually make the best decisions while in this state. It hides pain very well too.

Methadone does something to your lungs as well. Or just your body in general. At least higher doses for sure 1000%. I cycled (or well rode a bike everywhere I went for nearly most of my life) and wasn't until I got onto methadone I noticed my breathing was much different now. I blamed it on the fact I was simply doing more drugs and smoking more cigarettes. But there is certainly a correlation to higher dose methadone and lungs. You simply wind out faster. So it could be muscle related too, and know there are studies with high dose methadone and heart issues. And given your heart is the thing pumping the blood all around, if this isn't working right, everything can have issues because of it.

There are no top athletes on methadone, I am pretty sure :) Its a very strong drug and you have to take it easy when on that stuff.

Like I said in all my posts to you before, please stop IV'ing. Go to the doctor and get a full blood work up, get everything checked out. You don't want to hurt yourself and it is only inevitable that you will.

As you get older your heart and lungs become very valuable. You only get 1 heart and 1 set of lungs. Drink your dose like everyone else, and ditch the street dope. Get some good pain pills (eat them) and go herschel walker style (1000 push ups a day).
 
Deru said:
The pulmonary system facilities the exchange of gases from the body, the cardiovascular system then delivers the oxygenated blood to every cell in your body and returns the deoxygenated blood back to the lungs. Both systems need to be working simultaneously to provide oxygen to every cell in your body, if your heart is temporarily incapable of properly supplying the appropriate amount of oxygenated blood, it will have similar effects.

Do you ever have symptoms at any other time of the day besides during intense exercise or any other symptoms during exercise besides shortness of breath?
Click to expand...

Not really that I know of? I mean the only main issue right now I’ve noticed is just more difficulty breathing and it is happening throughout the entire day. I’ll try and see if I notice anything else but I think I’m OK elsewhere
 
If it's happening at other times throughout the day, then I'd maybe recommend a visit with a doctor at that point just to be safe. It's one thing for the cardiopulmonary system to not be able to efficiently oxygenate during intense exercise, another thing entirely if it's happening at other times throughout the day where it didn't happen prior and your activity levels have been consistent throughout.
 
TheInvisibleStoner said:
Methadone does something to your lungs as well. Or just your body in general. At least higher doses for sure 1000%. I cycled (or well rode a bike everywhere I went for nearly most of my life) and wasn't until I got onto methadone I noticed my breathing was much different now.
Click to expand...

Don't know about the lungs but methadone can cause QT interval prolongation which can lead to dangerous arrhythmias such as torsades de pointes. So it's somewhat cardiotoxic, specially at high doses, but IIRC IV methadone can cause this even at normal doses.
It's definitely something to be aware of...
 

A systematic review of the cardiotoxicity of methadone - PMC

Methadone is one of the most popular synthetic opioids in the world with some favorable properties making it useful both in the treatment of moderate to severe pain and for opioid addiction. Increased use of methadone has resulted in an increased ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

In order to reduce the debate of suitable methadone dosing, low-dose, intermediate-dose, and high dose of methadone have been defined as doses < 50 mg/day, 50-100 mg/ day, and > 100 mg/day, respectively

OpiateKiller. Once you get stable, you will find bringing your dose down will be easy. In the meantime, just take it easy with the weights man. good luck.
 
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