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Heroin Heroin overdose caused me a damaged heart?

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anonamiss

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Apr 28, 2012
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I've only been using heroin lightly for about a month or two, and only snorting. I get a fine off-white powder in a stamp bag (from New York), which is rumored to be of very high quality.

A few weeks ago, I snorted too much too fast, and I think I overdosed. I was fighting to stay conscious, and had to consciously breathe, felt mentally confused, but worst of all, I had an absolutely excruciating pain in my chest. It lasted about 45 minutes. The pain was specifically around my heart and felt like cramping or stabbing. It eventually subsided but it was very scary.

I do have high blood pressure lately (the past week or two), prehypertension, but this may be entirely due to my lifestyle (diet and exercise habits as it's the winter months.) My heart 'cramps' often, but I am still capable of exercise and am young so I am not entirely concerned with anything life threatening, such as a stroke or a heart attack.

I plan to better my heart in the coming weeks with an improved diet and more exercise, but I am wondering- has a heroin overdose ever been linked to later causing complications after the dose is survived? I had no medical attention when it happened and again, my chest was my major concern, not my breathing, for whatever reason.. Is it possible that the overdose could have damaged my heart? I am using today and the pain almost worsens slightly when I am on the drug.
 
Jackeh said:
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publicatio...diction/what-are-long-term-effects-heroin-use

According to that, it can cause heart lining and valve infections. I don't know whether this is due to an overdose, the ROA, or adulterants in the product.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've also come across that piece of information and am confused with the same part of that. I thought that it could only caused heart lining and valve infections if you were using needles and shooting up. I only snort, so I thought that wasn't possible, but I'm not entirely sure.
 
If you sniff it and it's absorbed into the blood then that could be why it will still infect the heart, but I haven't heard of heart infection from heroin itself before. Hopefully someone else knows a little more about it.
 
smokemctoke420 said:
could it be anxiety of thinking/knowing your OD'ing?
Click to expand...

Well, at the time, I'm sure I was freaking out. I was paranoid and scared, although I don't remember it well. But the pain was real, and it was excruciating. I just don't know if my lingering heart pain could possible be related to me 'over dosing' a few weeks ago.
 
You should really go get tested by a qualified physician-so you don't have to guess what might be wrong.

It may be anxiety, or It may not be. Get yourself checked out.
 
I'm a cardiac nurse, work in cardiac surgery. The bacteria that causes endocarditis (which destroys your heart valves) and pericarditis (inflammation of the epicardium), in my experience, comes from IV drug use. Most people are extremely careless about how (un)clean their shot is, which introduces the pathogen right into the vein, and then the heart. The bacteria needs a wet, human-like environment to survive, like the inside of a used needle with some body fluid. I would be very surprised to hear of an infection starting from your method of ingestion, because I don't think it could live in the powder. I would agree more with the anxiety aspect, and the fear of od-ing.. Many drugs can cause a ”bad trip”... Also could be an exacerbation of an existing condition, but bacterial infection unlikely w/o IV injections. My2pennies.
 
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What you experienced sounds like angina.
If what you experienced was truly of cardiac origin, and it was angina, chances are that you have a pre-existing heart condition. Symptoms could have been coincidental, or CNS/respiratory depression could have led to ischemia (lack of oxygen to the heart), or you could have experienced some anxiety/panic attack.

WHO KNOWS. But Angina alone would be reason enough to go talk to your GP, and have a cardiac work-up done to see what's going on. You admitted you already have pre/hypertension. There's no telling if you already have a pre-existing condition.
 
^ That's true. No one ever has their heart checked out until something goes wrong with it.

I'm going to close this because no one can tell you besides a cardiologist whether you have sustained damage to your heart. These speculation threads are clearly against the rules.

It's possible for an opiate OD to cause damage to your heart, no one can tell you whether that's your case though.

PM me with any questions.
 
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