Heroin Friend having leg pain, injected H a few times in leg and injects estrogen, very desperate

[drmichaelimperioli]

Hi so my friend is a recovering H addict who recently switched to methadone, but still uses ket, coke, etc. Anyways, she's been experiencing awful nerve pain in her leg (so bad that some friends had to carry her to the hospital about 6 months ago, where they gave her a ton of heavy IV antibiotics and pain meds for a week and she could hardly stand up for days, but eventually these meds seemed to work). At the time, she also couldn't eat anything without throwing up (even before the antibiotics). Anyways, it's happening again around the same place that she last injected, although she's really only injected maybe two times awhile ago (usually snorts) and injects estrogen in her legs as well, but always clean needles. The pain is starting up again and she's terrified and doctors have done nothing to help, so she's at her apartment and afraid that this is going to kill her. She feels like they don't believe her because they've tested her for so many things and they thought it seemed like an infection during her last major hospital stay, when they gave her antibiotics, but this keeps coming back. She's 23 and has been using a cane for a few days now. She walks a LOT (maybe 10 miles per day, but some people run that much without issue) so wondering if it's just muscle strain, but seems like more than that. This part of her leg is swollen, but she doesn't feel any major lumps. They've checked for blood clots. Idk she's been a heavy drug user for years and so far no one's had a clue, so just wondering if anyone here has any experience with this. She feels like her leg muscles are rotting away. Let me know if any of you guys have any ideas as to what this could be or what she should ask about when she goes to the hospital tomorrow.

 

[drmichaelimperioli]

Also I should add, she eats well (besides that period where she was throwing up all the time, wondering if that could be related because the vomiting began when this first began), takes vitamins, sleeps normally, and like I said, walks constantly. So we're completely clueless. Don't even know if there are specialists or anything for this sort of thing. She was thinking lupus for awhile, but honestly, this started for the 1st time when she relapsed on H, but now she's just on methadone and it's back again.

 

[bingey]

We're not doctors , I doubt anyone can really have a clue about what is going on with your friends leg.

 

[drmichaelimperioli]

We're not doctors , I doubt anyone can really have a clue about what is going on with your friends leg.

I know, just wondering if anyone's been through something similar since she's seen a bunch of docs with no luck. And pretty sure it's drug related so wanted to give it a shot here.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

She needs to see a neurologist in office.

Hospital doctors only goal is to get you out of the hospital without dying. Addressing pain and disease is not what they do. They just make sire you won't die within the next few hours and if you pass that test they kick up you out

 

[drmichaelimperioli]

She needs to see a neurologist in office.

Hospital doctors only goal is to get you out of the hospital without dying. Addressing pain and disease is not what they do. They just make sire you won't die within the next few hours and if you pass that test they kick up you out

Haven't considered a neurologist, thanks! And yeah they've kept her for awhile before, run all kinds of tests, and the most they've seen is a minor heart irregularity. But she hasn't tried a neurologist yet.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Haven't considered a neurologist, thanks! And yeah they've kept her for awhile before, run all kinds of tests, and the most they've seen is a minor heart irregularity. But she hasn't tried a neurologist yet.

A primary care doctor won't have the expertise or give a shit either. It needs be a specialist that has their own in office private practice.

Those are the doctors that actually try to figure out and help. (Some of them don't and just want you and and out and billed, and if you get that vibe just move to the next one)

Say that they shoot estrogen into there but don't mention anything about drug abuse or they will treat you like garbage.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Primary doctors are sometimes the first step, at least in the US, but different everywhere. She needs to check her insurance or her local medical system to see if a referral is required to see a neurologist.

With my insurance I had to get a referral from primary doctor just to see a damn regular psychiatrist, while I was in the middle of a crisis :mad finger:

 

[nataljalola]

Sorry to bump an old thread. The fact you specify nerve pain and a leg injection site for estradiol (indicating IM injection) makes me think it could possibly be, possibly temporary, nerve damage to the sciatic or femoral nerve which run down the leg where you administer estradiol injections. It's possible that the nerve was either nicked or the oil pinched the nerve causing the pain, as both EV and EC oil take a bit to absorb and can move around after injecting. I've both nicked a nerve with my needle and pinched it with how the estradiol pooled in my leg when doing injections, and they both cause pretty bad pain that lingers for days. The swelling could also be from bruising the muscle where the injection took place which is fairly common when injecting estradiol in the leg because the difference between nailing the injection and painfully missing can be millimeters. If it's a definite Issue it should definitely be checked out for nerve damage, muscle bruising, or infection, 100%, but it may help anxiety a bit knowing I have messed up my legs for a few days into a week from messing up my injections.