Heroin Help: IV'd dope reaction

[moonshield06]

HELP: IV'd Heroin Problem

Hey all. Just about 30m ago I shot up some dope into a well known spot for me. I've shot here before as it usually registers really well for me.

About 5 seconds after I pushed the plunger all the way down, I felt this shooting heat rush through my arm. From the injection site all the way down to my finger tips. My heart started pounding because I immediately started freaking out, and the mental state I was in made my heart rush due to fear. I've never had this happen to me before.

Anyway, now I'm seeing some swelling, and some rash like bumps appearing on my arm. It doesn't hurt. My hand just feels a little tingly making a tightly closed fist. I feel fine besides that. My arm feels a little warm, but other than that and the little bit of tinglyness in my hand, I feel ok.

What is happening here? The swelling doesnt appear to be getting any worse. My arm feels kinda weird to the touch. I've read up that I most likely hit an artery, but the blood didn't seem brightly red, and it didn't rush into the barrel when I checked to see if I registered or not. This is a well known spot like I said, and I've shot here before...is it possible I could of hit an artery that ran next to this vein and didn't know it? I have a cold wet wash cloth on my arm right now, idk if that'll do me any good. I did shoot with an older syringe, but I always rinse them out after every use. I also make sure I clean my spoon with dial soap and water before each use and dry it very well. I like to stay as clean as possible. I did use q-tip cotton.

Any help would be great. The injection site doesn't hurt, but touching my arm feels a little stingy and like I said, my hand feels tingly when closing it but it's not extreme. Should I seek medical help you think? Like I said I feel fine right now. Lost whatever high I could get but oh well.


Edit: Update: The tingly feeling in my hand is starting to lessen. The swelling isn't increasing so I'm going to just keep an eye on my symptoms. If they get worse, I will take a trip over to the ER and own up to what I did.

 

[itsok]

Maybe u hit a nerve?

 

[amapola]

The sensation and symptoms quickly spreading distally (towards your extremities) does sound like an artery hit. The other option would be missing the vein (no high), injecting subcutaneously and putting pressure on a nerve as itsok mentioned. However although tingling and numbness would be expected from this, actually swelling of the fingers would not. Of course that swelling could be due to a histamine release or general reaction to a missed shot.

Really can't say for certain and if you wait until you start seeing damage to your fingers before going to the hospital it will be too late. If it was an artery hit the shot is clogging up all the fine capillaries in your hand and prevent oxygenated blood from reaching the cells there. Although you want to minimize swelling I think a hot compress will be a better idea at first to help as much crap as possible absorb. An aspirin to thin the blood maybe as well.

Remember it's your hand and you're going to be the one living with your decision about seeking medical treatment. Good luck!

edit:
In case you haven't read it yet as I noticed you said you reuse needles.
Injection; IV Complications and Information MEGATHREAD and FAQ II - show me the blood

From that thread...

 

[moonshield06]

Amapola.

Thank you for the reply, and for offering your advice. I'm happy to say the tingling has gone away and my arm no longer feels sensitive to the touch. The swelling has also gone done. I do appreciate your concerns believe me. If I noticed it wasn't subsiding, and the symptoms I mentioned weren't ceasing, I would of definitely taken the trip to the ER.

Looking at the area now, the bumps I reported are no longer visible. My hand is feeling normal again(in comparison to my other one ). I think it was definitely an artery hit like you said, although I guess the nerve thing makes sense too. I'll think twice before I do that again. Now that I think about it, I was pretty deep into my arm, but I went in at a very slight angle so I thought nothing of it. The injection site is not painful to the touch or swollen. What really threw me for a loop was that most people stated these are symptoms of an artery hit. Yet, I didn't have any resistance or noticeable pressure when injecting. My blood also appeared to be the same as it is when I am in a vein. I didn't notice any brighter coloration, and no bubbles of any kind. Maybe I didn't wait long enough though. As soon as blood came into the syringe, I pushed er down. I didn't get high at all, but I know it wasn't a miss because I've missed before. Usually all that happens for me is a lump forms right at the injection site as I am injecting, and a sharp pinching feeling as I am injecting. That wasn't the case here. This was smooth, and then bam -- a rush of heat shot through my arm, I felt a little funny and because of that I started to panic and my heart started pounding. Overall, definitely not something I want to experience again.

If anything comes up, I will report back to this thread and take a trip down to the ER. No worries. Thank you for the reply!

Edit: My hand isn't swollen. I mistyped in my post, and I was referring to my arm around the injection area, which in my case was the creak of the elbow. It looked kinda like hives do. Fortunately though, these are now gone and my arm looks perfectly normal. It no longer is sensitive to the touch. The injection site isn't sore or obviously painful. My hand is no longer tingly. I did take 2 aspirin once I read your post just to be sure. What I am thinking is that I got extremely lucky here. Next time I'll be more careful. I don't ever want to experience this again.

 

[x719]

have you ever IV'd cocaine? Sounds like a very small IV coke high with maybe a mix of some nasty cut or who knows what and a bad histamine reaction because of some what of a mix? who knows man.. thats the problem with street drugs sometimes though..

 

[DeLee]

Just try a smaller dose on another IV site and do the register and stuff and then injcet, maybe inject a bit slower than you would normally.

 

[amapola]

Hey OP,

I read that your fingers weren't swelling and in that case it sounds like a straight up partial missed shot (slipped out after registering and beginning the push) which also put some pressure on a nerve. The swelling and hives around the injection spot is pretty normal with a miss like that and treatment would be warmth and gentle massage (an antihistamine wouldn't hurt as well). A bolus of the shot might be initially palpable but should dissipate within an hour or so.

All this is a little late now but you'll still want to monitor for signs of infection and/or an abscess. I think this is pretty much settle so I'll close it now but if there are any complications you want to update then I'll open it again.

Good luck.