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help, i did something dumb and need advice (IV pills and abscess)

R

ripsleep

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
Messages
55
Location
Missouri
Had a few pills. This was my first experience with trying to iv pills so I looked around the internet to find a proper way to break them down to iv because the first time with plain water, even after removing the coating, just turned to gel/goo. Eventually, I found a method that worked and all was well and good. Except during one instance, I swore I was in the vein, but apparently not because I have a huge, swollen, painful lump at the injection site. It's only been about 3 days, I've tried warm compresses, but the swelling nor the pain is going away. I think I may have an abscess and am wondering if I should just wait it out or should I try to lance and drain it myself? I tried to drain it using a syringe but was only able to get a little of the substance out. I'd rather not have to go to the hospital, as I was just there less than a month ago for a suicide attempt and if I go back for this they'll surely try to commit me again.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions, please. And you don't need to tell me I was stupid for doing this, I already realize this. I've been clean from iv'ing coke and meth for over a year now just to go and screw up big like this.... Temptation got the best of me unfortunately.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Do they really still "commit" people in the US? Anyway, seems like you should go to the hospital. Don't try to drain it yourself, as that usually just makes it worse since you are introducing more bacteria to the area.
 
Go to the hospital as soon as possible. You will not be able to effectively treat this yourself, and may make it much worse.

Don't worry - it's highly unlikely that they're going to "commit" you for this, unless you start ranting about harming yourself or someone else of course.

Just go seek treatment, sounds like you really need it. The consequences of leaving this as is could be catastrophic..
 
Put your worries aside and go see a doctor asap. You've already made a stupid mistake and regret it, so don't make the next one by not letting the professionals fix you up.
 
Let me put it this way. Would you rather the possibly of being committed for a week, or lose an arm for the rest of your life?
 
I don't know about elsewhere but here in the UK you can only be "committed" against your will if you pose a risk to yourself or others - so if you are no longer suicidal or at risk of self-harm/neglect (IV drug use wouldn't usually count) then you cannot be detained.

Either way, Tommyboy is right - you need to get this checked out by a doctor ASAP, whatever the consequences might be or you are at risk of losing a limb or developing septicaemia (blood poisoning). Please head to the emergency room and don't take the risk. Good luck!

If you are shooting pills please make sure you use a micron filter to prevent fillers/binders from entering your bloodstream and causing a lung disease called pneumoconiosis/talcosis and to help keep things as sterile as possible.
 
Yes, I am actually at the hospital now. I did make the mistake of trying to lance it myself, which in turn did make things worse. I've been here since Friday night (its now Sunday afternoon). They lanced and drained as much as possible then I was admitted to the hospital where I've been receiving around the clock iv antibiotics. They're running blood cultures to check out what type of infection I have. I was totally honest with them that this was my first experience with attempting to iv pills of any sort and that I feel so stupid for trying after being clean from other drugs for so long.

Ironically they're giving me the max dose of iv morphine every 4 hours and 10mg norcos every 6 hrs to help with the pain. Unfortunately it's not helping that much. They also have me on xanax for my anxiety about the whole situation and a nicotine patch to help with my anxiety and cig cravings.

Needless to say but it's good I decided to go to the hospital when I did bc it's infected pretty badly. If the antibiotics don't take care of it within the next 24 hrs or so they're talking surgery.

I've certainly learned my lesson about trying to iv pills - don't do it.
 
wow ripsleep, i hope other people read your tale and realize that getting medical treatment is important. and i will keep my fingers crossed that you don't end up needing surgery!
 
Thank you, I'm certainly hoping I won't need surgery either but the draining has slowed down and it's still hurting like hell even with iv morphine and extra strength norcos... So we'll see. My fingers are crossed too :)
 
When I went in for an abscess in my jaw, I was near death and it was literally the size of my fist. I had been draining it myself by applying pressure and having the discharge come out from my gums (nasty, I know. Imagine how I felt while doing this lol). I finally went in and they drained it with a syringe, put me on IV antibiotics and sent me on my merry way home with another dose of IV antibiotics I was to administer myself at a later date (As they had put in a cannula) as well as oral ones.

Pretty sure no cultures were done to determine the type of infection and no pain medication was administered.

I am in Canada though, so I wasn't paying out of pocket for my treatment so that may have something to do with it.
 
hello op

i've moved your thread to a different forum. you've already got some great advice and i'm glad you've sought help. you may get a few more replies in here.

alasdair
 
I'm glad you're going to give up IV but in case you decide to ever try it again read the micron filtering thread (a link was kindly posted by effie above). In my experience micron filtering pills (doing everything else totally sterile and right (I am qualified to take blood/give injections)) makes the process A LOT safer and if you know what you're doing pretty much mitigates risks. I've missed a vein before and injected a bit of micron filtered solution under the skin, however thanks to it's purity it was just absorbed in a similar fashion to a subcutaneous injection. If I had not filtered an abscess likely would have occurred. Not to mention the possibilities of an embolism occuring even if you do everything correctly without filtering. I would never inject a pill without filtering and know it has no harmful constituents that may get past the filter, no matter how intense my withdrawals may be. Heck even putting a used filter in boiling water for 15 mins and then using it is better than cotton or nothing! (I highly do not condone re-using filters, always buy more than you think you'll require).
 
I'm sure this will sound horrible, considering that I'm sitting in a hospital bed atm, but I'm not giving up IV as ROA. I'm just not going to iv anything that isn't water soluble ever again. But I've been clean from those drugs (meth,coke) for over a year.
 
Hi ripsleep, I'm so glad you sought help and are getting treated now - fingers crossed you won't need surgery, I hope you get better soon! I am very pleased that you were honest with your doctors, I know that isn't always easy but it really is the best policy.

I'm going to leave this here for a little bit then I will move it over to the Other Drugs forum as they have a lot of expertise in this area, and I think it is good to make sure as many people read this as possible so they understand the importance of getting medical help and the risks involved with shooting pills. Does that sound okay to you?

Related reading:
IV complications megathread
Case studies thread

Get well soon <3
 
A quick little update.... I've been informed that somehow through all of this I have Strep in my bloodstream... You know the kind that is normally strep throat... I'm confused and have never heard of this happening before... The only thing I can think of is maybe I had/have strep throat and when I sucked the coating off the pill? Or maybe someone with strep handled the pills before I got them? Anyone else ever hear of having strep in the bloodstream?
 
Strep (streptococcus) is actually a fairly common bloodstream infection. There are several species of Streptococcus bacteria - two of the commonest being S. pyogenes, also known as Group A Strep (which causes Strep throat but also skin/soft tissue infections, septicaemia and scarlet fever amongst other things, and lives on the skin as well as the respiratory tract) and S. pneumoniae (which can cause pneumonia, septicaemia, meningitis, sinusitis and ear infections, and tends to live in the respiratory tract mainly). Group B Strep is another one which can cause septicaemia, more commonly in the very young or the elderly however.

The other common blood stream infection is Staphylococcus, usually S. aureus.

This could easily have been introduced into your bloodstream via your skin, or when you sucked the pill as that will have contaminated it with bacteria. It is also possible to pick up bacteria just from having IV equipment out of sealed packages and sat exposed to the air..

Now the doctors have identified the bug you will definitely be getting the right antibiotic treatment, which is a good thing :)
 
I was just really surprised.... I didn't know you could get a strep blood infection, but it makes sense. I was sick (nausea, sore throat, sinus infection, inner ear pain) which is what made me want the pill in the first place.... Never even occurred to me that I could have strep throat, let alone pass it into my bloodstream by trying to iv a pill.

I was more prepared for them to tell me I have staph even though I was using all clean, brand new equipment. Eh, at least I'm not contagious this way :)

Anywho, the morphine, norco, and xanax are doing their job and I've nodded out like 5 times trying to type this so off to lala land for me.

Thank you all for your replies, advice, support, and understanding.
 
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