Heroin Help me here. Was this an abscess in your opinion ?

[Whosajiggawaaa]

So yeah this pic is from the worst period of my active addiction (like 3 months ago maybe a bit more)shows it. It originating from missing badly twice in the same spot, in the same afternoon... The wound got bigger for like a week and a half - kept growing in size of the oozing part and inflammation then finally at 2 weeks it started healing took about 3 and half weeks before it formed a scab and stopped oozing and being sore af. Was very painful... But I was shooting dope non stop and didn't care if it was an abscess or not.

It's left a terrible scar that is very slowly fading and fked the vein up completely.

I just wanna know if I was really lucky here to avoid any health problems or whether it wasn't anything to worry about (i know enough HR to know you probably won't say the latter). I didn't care about HR too much in that state rotating sites etc. But never shared (luckily) and always used a fresh sharp. I'm hoping you guys say it was serious and I was lucky.... Cos I only care about it now that I'm 51 days clean and sober and the scar it left is a bitch....

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

So abscess or not? Sherley someone must have a damn opinion !

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

Yeah that looks like it falls under the definition of an abscess/ lesion. If it is now just a scar, than yes you were lucky as F. Your immune system was able to surmount the infection despite being on a run. I think there would be more emergent replies if you said that pic was from yesterday but it's still a beauty never the less. Not to be a dick but I feel a lot better about the little bump on my hand after this post. Glad you are OK..

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

Thanks. Yeah, it is as I said , a scar that has already started fading.

I gotta keep reminding myself of things like this. I am very lucky. Not just IV stuff stuff. I am a coffin dodger period and I gotta remember that when I feel self pity and such.

Some more confirmations that it was an abscess would be nice though.

 

[roxi2873]

Yes it's an abscess and you got lucky as hell because a blood infection can easily kill you. I hope you actually realize how big of a bullet you lodged and that sooner or later you're gonna lose if you keep playing with fire. I've read about people getting their arm amputated and that still not being enough and they die anyway. Doesn't matter if you don't share and use fresh sticks all it takes is some bacteria on your skin.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

^This

You seem to have a great immune system or else you'd most likely be dead.
If this happens again go to the ER asap

 

[FallenAngel72]

Looks like an abscess to me. You are lucky that infection didn't get into your bloodstream. You could've ended up with sepsis or dead. Hope you stopped doing whatever caused this

 

[crzydiamond]

Yep, looks like an abscess that got worse/ulcerated or whatever they call it

I understand though. When I got clean on this last run I had about 5-6 of them up and down an arm from IV coke that was actually base thus requiring vinegar/citric to IV (long story but my normal dealer always had good powder and then one time it wasn't and was actually base but looked like powder. I had bad veins and the pH killed them. ). I ended up with all the "holes" filled in with these deep scabs that looked like the plug you put in the bathtub.

The detox people were amazed I didn't have any infection. They wanted to send me to ER and I said (truth) the scabs were 3 weeks old, I was pretty sure if it was going to get infected it would've. No redness, no swelling, etc.


It's amazing what we put our body through in the midst of a run. Glad you're doing better

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

yeah nearly 60 days clean. looking at that pic is enought o kill any IV cravings. and after 2 heavy gym sessions i actually feel a lil bit of vein recovery in that area... a lil bit.

scar is fading slowly too. but that pic was a big reminder. cos i did everything right technique and HR wise. Cept one afternoon. 2 lil mistakes and a matter of seconds and that was the result...

 

[SKL]

Technically, that's an ulcer, not an abscess. An abscess is covered by skin, but will be thick, swollen, typically serious IV drug abscesses will be ball shaped. But the skin remains intact above although hot, painful, and swollen.

I had an abscesss that was quite bad (tennis-ball-sized, extremely painful, restricting the movement of my arm, etc.) They do not usually need antibiotics, but need to be drained (professionally!) and wrapped, etc. (I needed no antibiotics, but did need to make a relatively shallow cut with a scalpel, after dousing the thing in providone-iodine solution and setting up a sterile shroud/field, and with a little local anaesthesia; be aware I am professional trained to do this. What I can do, you cannot do, safely, and you are very unlikely to have the proper sterile equipment to do. Even I was extremely unwise to do this at home. If you wind up with one of these, seek medical attention. I do not provide directions to do this because it is unsafe, and it is unsafe to do so without actual training let alone directions. It drained at something close to 300mL of pus over the next few days as I needed to do dressing changes every few hours, with a ~101-102ish fever, it was a really bad experience. It is popular among IVDUs to use a large bore (18-20g) needle to do the draining, this, let alone insulin/tuberculin needles for IVing drugs, is not enough in most cases, if doing so, you would not need to go deep or withdraw any fluid with said needle, but truly, this is a problem that needs more serious surgical intervention as using a needle can still leave abscessed pockets which can then burst inwards, and cause sepsis.)

What you have there is an ulcer, where the bacteria, instead of forming a sort of sac under the skin, have actually begun to eat way at tissue. Ulcers go down, abscesses go up; ulcers are more irregular in shape; abscesses tend to be more round. An abscess can lead to an ulcer, if it "pops," or "magically" goes away (where you can still have bacteria in the system leading to tissue death and infection in the blood and general system; the end result is DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation) a/k/a in the medical community "Death Is Coming," we lost one of our own to, from the description provided, almost this exact thing recently.) Treatment is similar unless it gets quite bad although antibiotics are more likely, but the ulcer, going untreated, is much more dangerous, as it can keep eating away until it hits the bone, while making sepsis almost certain. Just to reiterate, buddy, you were very lucky. If you wind up with one of these, seek medical attention, too, perhaps even faster.


This post or any of my communications do not constitute professional advice nor do they establish a professional relationship of any kind; by this medium I make no claim to any professional credentials; in person consultation is essential for any medical, psychological, substance-related or harm reduction decisions. While peer support an advice can be helpful, any content posted online, regardless of it's source, cannot, by it's very nature, substitute for an in-person relationship with a clinician who has had the opportunity to take your history in the larger context and provide professional advice with all these factors, and others, taken into account.

 

[Agoraphobiaphile]

Wow I am shocked you didn't go to the ER with that. N I have had countless abcesses , misses etc.

I've even had a touch of dry gangrene from hitting my radial artery on my right wrist.

But THAT.. I can't imagine how much it hurt. Actually the pic reminds me of what an abcess looks like after it's drained and they pull the gauze out.

You are indeed lucky.. I understand not wanting to go to the ER I really do but fwiw to any newbies, losing a limb is much worse than being labeled a drug abuser. Losing an arm is like losing a person that you've known your whole life.

Glad to hear you are clean now OP.

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

Yeah it was abit insane but cos I was so high all the time I kept minimising it in my head saying it just like a scraped knee it'll scab over and heel eventually. I kept telling my self this even when it was spreading rapidly and not healing even after 2 weeks and I just used more and more H and oxy to calm me down, kill the pain and forget about it.

Guess I gotta remember this. Whenever I read this post it chills my IV cravings hard so thanks guys. Cos looking back, leaving that untreated for 3 and a half weeks was properly insane. I was just too afraid of losing my oxy script. Which I have now ASKED to be discontinued.

But I did treat it with providone iodine constantly and took a lot of vitamin C and bandaged it (HURT LIKE HEEELL!). Prob helped too that...

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

How it looks today. there is still a scar. but yeah I got fkin lucky hey it seems!

 

[gmlifer]

Unreal!! How's your sobriety going?

 

[MrCream]

At the time, I was around a year clean (I now have over 4 years clean ), I started having severe back pain, and at that time I also had no health insurance, and I knew no matter what was wrong with it that I could not take any type of painkiller. So I kept saying oh it will get better I must have just severely messed up a muscle or something. Well after about 6 months of this just getting worse and worse and worse to the point I had tried everything possible to try and fix it or heal it WITHOUT going to see an actual Dr., because I was flat broke. So it had gotten so bad that at night I could no longer sleep in my bed I had to sleep in a chair because if I laid down flat it felt like my back was breaking in half and it was the worse pain I had ever experienced in my life, I could not leave the house I could not see my friends I could not do anything and finally I found a Dr in my area that was accepting new patients because that was also another problem I had I could not find a Dr that was accepting new patients and any local ER by me was just terrible like I don't know how they stay open.

So I go see the Dr he says well I am not sure whats the problem you will have to have an x-ray and MRI. So the next day I go have the X -ray which was hell because I had to lay down and the MRI, I thought I was going to pass out I was in so much pain I was crying and the MRI lasted for hours because I couldn't lay completely flat and kept twitching in pain. 30 minutes after I leave the medical facility that does x-rays and MRI's in my local city Mr. Dr (like the actual Dr. which I thought was weird it wasn't a nurse) and he said please come back to my office immediately. When I got there he said he was arranging for an ambulance to take me out of town to a Ohio State University Medical Center, because I had a severe infection wrapped around and in my spine disintegrating 4-6 of my vertebra, with large pockets of pus all around.

I was scared shitless and I was just so defeated because I was so proud my family was proud of me staying clean never relapsed once I used dope for 8 months IV. When I was able to get into treatment I jumped at the chance there was over a month wait but after what I would say "just" 8 months of use I was done, just completely done I hated that life style that life style just isn't me. I ended up having to have 3 major back surgeries, where I was told there was a great chance I would end up paralyzed. I was in the hospital for months and even after I was finally able to leave I had to go back to a local hospital everyday for 36 weeks for IV antibiotics..and now here I am over 4 years clean I am not paralyzed but I do not have any reactions in my legs when the doctors tap my needs no reaction at all, I am in constant pain ALL the time which I take no narcotics no opiates no drugs at all for besides Ibuprofen and gabapentin for and truth be told I don't think the gabapentin does anything I can't notice any difference in how my back feels or my pain level once I have taken them.

It sucks 8 months of terrible choices have effected me and disabled me for the rest of my life I am 30, I use to love to Ski, go mountain biking, play basketball, go camping...but at this point in my life I can't do any of those things I love because my spine and vertebra are so permanently messed up if I fall or twist or take a step wrong I will be paralyzed. Now they want to put rods and pin's in my back and I am so terrified I haven't had it done and don't know if I will I am already in so much pain what happens if after the rods and pins things are worse or what happens if in the process of putting those in they paralyze me by accident because those are all possibilities and all possible out comes in my life because I used dope! Take it from me no drug no high no feeling of euphoria is worth what I have gone though and what my family has gone through with me because of my choices! Sorry for the long story but I have had an account here for a few years and since it hurts to walk or do anything I am on the computer a lot and saw this story about your arm and it made me think of what bacterial infection did to my spine because what we believe is something wasn't sterilized (obviously) when I was using and the major artery or vein in my back transferred this infection down to my spine where it sat and slowly over time caused this infection. Good luck with sobriety I will pray for you, it only takes 1 and you could die, it only takes 1 and you could end up right back in that situation and thought process again but that 1 time maybe you won't be as lucky maybe you lose your arm, maybe that doesn't remove all the infection and you go septic ....the doctors later told me they were surprised with the size and how aggressive my infection was that it didn't end up in my heart or brain. Please just don't use, if you ever have the thought to use again immediately call someone wait 10 minutes and think of what could happen if you use even just 1 time... Take care!

 

[SKL]

But I did treat it with providone iodine constantly and took a lot of vitamin C and bandaged it (HURT LIKE HEEELL!). Prob helped too that...

Superficially (and you cannot tell things for definite this way, for anyone who may be reading this later on) looks to be healing well and rather similar to mine. It will improve but will most likely remain scarred for a long time.

Also for other people who will be reading this later on, this is not going to help things; excess providone-iodine is going to kill bacteria but damage the skin (and can cause other issues beside that) and these type of things will quite often need more surgical intervention beyond just bandaging, in order to drain, clean, and possibly remove dead tissue; vitamin C is good all but not really going to be relevant.

Again, bro, you're a lucky motherfucker, at least in this sense

For posterity and the benefit of harm reduction and encouraging safe IV use or better yet, not IV use, for people who've missed it, a Bluelighter actually did lose his arm (yes, this involved shooting pills, but yes, it can happen with dope too.) Please don't go in there just to gawk and post dumb shit nor post in this thread about it, but it will reinforce the fact rather starkly that yes, this does happen. Nota bene the people at the top telling him to "just ride it out" (prior to losing the arm, of course); as well as the poor management of the situation by him and and some questionable medical care → be aggressive in seeking help in these situations, it can save life/limbs.

Not medical advice/no professional relationship (see full explanation above in my prior post)

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

Unreal!! How's your sobriety going?

Hard bro. Hard as fuck. Today anyway been having mad oxy cravings (not h or anything iv just chewed oxy cravings). Prob Cos im exposed to oxy daily cos of having to fetch it and it always lying around my moms house she doesnt have a car and runs out often and sometimes i have no choice to fetch em for her but yesterday i actually took her in so the pharmacist could hand them to her cos it was over 200 ocs i was supposed to collect and that was too much temptation for me and i knew that. But 63 days clean nonetheless. Still on 40 mgs of methadone a day tho maintenance. But is fk all compared to the amount of opiates i was using. Still crave oxy and knowin that i could go to my moms hpuse at any time and nick a few oc 40s without being noticed doesnt help!

 

[gmlifer]

Wow, that's some pretty damn stout will power you have there. I hope you can give yourself a pat on the back. I don't even know you and I'm proud of you. Awesome work!!!

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

Thanks bro. Only hope I can CUNTinue it. cos every day i think of pinchin a few oc40s. but i always reach out to someone on the phone. cept today i have been postin it here instead. i should call my sponsor tho. but i dont feel like it cos i know what hell say. get to a meeting and this bs will pass.

 

[Shaleh]

MRSA, Staph, bacterial, GG, the list goes on and on of what this is/could have turned into.

This is disturbing on so many levels ... 1) that you'd neglect this wound and 2) your addiction would make you neglect this wound.

NOT JUDGING, just curious....

I suggest seeking medical care, seriosiously....we're talking sepsis, blood infection, long term damage, etc.

How're you feeling now?

Please use HR techniques like new needles, rotating injection sites, etc.

The worst issue I have had is edema on my pinky from a missed shot, but as an addict, I'm scared shitless of abcesses and such.


Take care...