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Harm Reduction Injection Complications FAQ and Mega Thread

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I been using the same needle for at least a week now.Hard gettin new ones when u need a script to get them.

My needles very dull, no numbers at all, mustve been used at least 60-75+ times just sticking myself and missing a lot. Its also harder to suck in the dope since the plunger tends to get stuck in the barrel for some reason...

O well, atleast im high right?

If you're in Pennsylvania, they just changed the laws.

You should go to a Syringe Exchange Program.

If I didn't have a brand new needle every time, I wouldn't IV at all. That's just me.


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Oh god damn it...

My experienced friend was injecting me today (heroin), and the oh-so-wonderful fact that brand new insulin syringes tend to have way too much friction between the plunger and barrel made him accidentily miss about a third of my shot. :(

It's a somewhat large sore lump, although the size has actually shrunk very much since right after it happened.

So I should probably use an anti-bacterial wipe on it daily, eh? And apply heat and pressure. Of course I used a brand new needle and we're not at all breaking any "rules" of injecting safety.
 
Oh god damn it...

My experienced friend was injecting me today (heroin), and the oh-so-wonderful fact that brand new insulin syringes tend to have way too much friction between the plunger and barrel made him accidentily miss about a third of my shot. :(

It's a somewhat large sore lump, although the size has actually shrunk very much since right after it happened.

So I should probably use an anti-bacterial wipe on it daily, eh? And apply heat and pressure. Of course I used a brand new needle and we're not at all breaking any "rules" of injecting safety.

I would use the heat compress once per day, and maybe take some NSAIDS to reduce inflammation. I don't think there's a need to use a wipe unless the wound is open which hopefully should be long since closed by now.
 
I would use the heat compress once per day, and maybe take some NSAIDS to reduce inflammation. I don't think there's a need to use a wipe unless the wound is open which hopefully should be long since closed by now.

Yeah thats what I figured just going by things I hear thrown around haha. Thanks for the tips!

It was really unsettling to see and feel, before it registered in my brain what happened. Nothing like not being able to explain the big patchy 5000 times bigger than a mosquito bite area around the bloody pole-hole, ahaha!
 
By the way, just yesterday I had a friend give me a shot in the same vein on the opposite arm. The injection itself was successful, but she was high on H and while pushing down the plunger she was slightly pulling the needle out without realizing. I saw this and pointed it out, she corrected herself. I got a much stronger and longer lasting histamine reaction from that injection, and now the site is somewhat sore with no visible problems with the injection site. It's mostly a dull pain that is only noticeable when I bend my arm a certain way, or actually agitate the area with my finger or something (not violently or anything haha, just inspecting it).

Anything wrong? Did the "reinsertion" create some scar tissue, or possibly let some of the solution into the surrounding area?

Hey Nearjat,

Is there any chance your shot had any glucose or dextrose powder cut into it? You only need a tiny amount of sugary substance to leak out of the vein into the surrounding tissues of your arm to cause irritation and pain that can last days.
 
Hey Nearjat,

Is there any chance your shot had any glucose or dextrose powder cut into it? You only need a tiny amount of sugary substance to leak out of the vein into the surrounding tissues of your arm to cause irritation and pain that can last days.

*shutters*

What son of a bitch with cunt flaps for an ass hole would put glucose in heroin?

I know I'd be furious (like this: :X, :!).

I didn't know that having missed something sugary would cause pain and irritation for days...but that sounds god fucking awful.

Thank you for adding your experience and harm reduction advice, it'll certainly help someone, or at least GIVE SOMEONE THE IDEA TO NOT USE GLUCOSE OR BLEACHED SUGAR, ETC AS A CUTTING AGENT.

Once again, thank you. I hope this helps someone for real.
 
Surely sugar under the skin would create an ideal breeding ground for microorganisms, would it not? I'd imagine that'd be quite dangerous. Is lactose (milk sugar) which is commonly used a good cutting agent (not that I'd ever consider cutting my drugs)?
 
IV newb questions

wats up everybody out there in bluelightville! so im a newbie at IV dope and i really have only been ale to register with a inside of the elbow shot... im afraid i may have overused my left arm due to being righthanded. lol so i switched to my right. i did my last shot in my left arm two days ago and im thinking i may have an abcess???sp* about three inches up my arm from the shot is really sore and tender to the touch... i dont kno what an absess feels like and i was wondering if this is what it is??? or if not what does that feel like so ill kno for future reference? also if anyone knows a good spot for shooting in your legs? im looking for a big vein like inside my elbowpit.. thanks for reading. and please NO PREACHING ABOUT THE DANGERS OF IV DRUG USE i did my homework and i know how to do it clean. :|
 
i was lucky enough to avoid an abcess, and it may be that you just bruised the vein or hit a muscle accidentally. but it could also be an abcess...and theres a whole great big shooting thread with plenty of veins to hit if you search for it. i'd recommend upper arm first, then hand, and so on. its better to shoot closer to the heart, and a good bit safer.

but maybe this is a sign to quit while you're ahead?
 
word thnx dogg but if anyone know wat an abcess feels/looks like please inform this newb
 
When I had an abscess,it was like a huge zit/or boil,the area was very hot to the touch and leaked puss.the irony is,I shoot Opiate pills everyday,and never had a complication,the 2 abscesses I've had were from USP grade injectable Diazepam from vials marked IV/IM/SC.
 
-> IV Complications Mega Thread

I have never had an abscess, but I can help you determine what's going on.

Are you experiencing pain? How much? Inflammation? What color is it? Approximately how big is the affected area?

Is it growing or shrinking in size, and is it getting better or worse?

A sore and tender area indicates you have injected too many times in a certain area of one vein without circulating sites. There's a lot of things this might be, and an abscess is one of them.
 
soreness doesnt necessitate an abscess, still
from what i heard theyre pimple/boil type things. def. no invisible

with injection issues, almost if not all the big problems you can get are VERY visible. i.e. not JUST soreness. that's par for the course no matter how much cap'n heroin rubs in his supposedly "magically perfect self-iv techniques" :\
 
I noticed my injection sites were quite sore after my first few times. It doesn't sound like an abscess had formed. Watch the area carefully for any of the symptoms mentioned by the fellow members above.
 
I hit my artery full on with meth about 24 hours ago. Need some smart people's help!

I KNOW THIS IS LONG AS FUCK BUT PLEASE IF U ARE ANYBODY WHO KNOWS ABOUT ARTERIES AND IV'N ONE THAN PLEASEEEE READ AND HELP A BROTHER OUT
.

I ask of whoever readen this to listen too all these details and facts and i ask that u put urself in my position. Drug history: im 19 ive fucked with drugs my whole life pretty much but never ever full on been addicted to nothin bud herb(i was on coke for like 4 months straight pretty much every day when i was 16) I got outta prison about 2 months ago and since then ive fucked with crystal 2 times (smoked both times) and iv'd for my first time 2 weeks ago with coke, so keep in mind im very enexperienced with needles and veins... very.

This is different from most of the artery shots ive read which is why im makin this and askin for u experts to really try to think about the facts im about to tell u and not just say GO TO THE EM. if thats all u gotta say than thats whats up. All i ask is that u really take every detail im about to tell u and think if it were u what would u honestly do. OK so my homie comes up on a grip of crystal yesterday and he gives me a half gram for nothin. all i gotta do is answer his calls and tell him bus times from my computer when im home. so im down for that we are kicken it smokin bowls. it is about 4 PM on day 1. we smoke a few bowls and i been wanten to try slammin dope cuz i never done it before and i had a brand new rig from 2 weeks back in my room so i say imma slam this shit and so he helps me out a lil bit and i get it eventually after like 3 trys i get a nice fuckin hit, but a lil bit went out of the vein cuz there was a small bump but it was gone in a minute so it wasnt no thang.

im liken it alot its alot different more clean id say than smokin and snorting it, besides the fact ur sticken a needle thru ur skin. so he bounces and i just kick it at my pad for the night. i was planning on sleepin that night but i was way to hungry and i wasnt about to fall asleep anytime soon i realised cuz of the skante, so i think i could spend 5 hours tossin and turnin and sweatin and starvin (no food in house) or i can slam and cure all of it and have a good time. so at 3 AM i start makin a shot and i think i wput to much water in there, like 90 cc's and like a quarter of a quarter of a gram, same as my first one. so i tie up.... way to tight i find out later... and start tryn to hit my biggest vein in my arm about an inch above the elbow on the top part of the fore arm. i hit the coke here last time but not the crystal. i think i know what im doin but i got no fuckin idea in reality, im pokin away and diggen and shit. i dint give a fuck that i was diggen so much, i was lookin at it as a one time thing so why learn to get good just fuckin handle it... im an idiot. well ill make this alot simpler than it really was, i end up in like a 80` angle and it aint goin thru than all of a sudden i feel a POP and a shit loada blood rushes in outta nowhere. it didnt hurt at all just kinda shocked me. so i end up in an 80 degree angle with needle balls deep in my vein, or so i think. i see all the blood and like a fuckin idiot i was thinkin jackpotttt.

so i guess i forgot to take the belt off, and this belt is tight as fuck too which is why i dont think i coulda hit the vein i was tryn to, i put to much pressure and went thru it alll the waythru and out the bottom where im pretty sure the artery was chillen. but listen to this fact i didnt feel no pain goin in, no stinging when i was shootin, and 0 swellin in my hand and fingers.

what i think and fuckin hope happened was i just over pushed the needle thru the surface vain, cuz that vain was bulgen out, and arteries are deep, i think i might of gone thru the artery and maybe hit a nerve so i jolted back into the other vein and didnt shoot in my artery. (i thought everything was going as planned at the time) i do notice tho that my arm hands and fingers are feelin tingly tho when i take off the belt and they start feelin numb randomly. by this time its like 3 30-4 00 and than this is way weird too like 2 or 3 minutes after my shot, i start feelin intenseeeeeee hunger. i was sufferin for 10 minutes for real. and than i start talkin to the a homegirl on the phone and that takes my mind off my arm and my hunger, not all teh way tho i was still feelin it for a minute.

anyways were on teh phone and i do notice that my injection spot is swollen and red but its closed and shit, not open, and not that swollen. its a lil bruised from teh needle but other than that it dont hurt that much. thats when i realise my vain was gone that i was tryn to hit, which went all the way down to my hand.. it was just gone. I think about thsi now and why would that vein be gone if i hit the artery, which makes me think of my theory again. SOOO.. so far we got an artery struck for sure, random numbness and tingling in arms and fingers, very little to no pain at all with everything, and a lil swelling in injection spot, but i was thinkin at the time it was just bruised.

so i get off the phone with her around 5'sh and that vain was trippen me out how it dissapeared so i think it collapsed or somethin wrong happened which might explain the weird tingling and numbness so i start researchin any info i could get that might be usefull. This is when i realise that i probably hit an artery. i had the blood rush, the randon numbness, the shock when i enterd the artery, and the tingling. BUT i dont have no swelling, no pain in arm, and no pain when i shot up, and i dont recall resistance either i think it went in pretty smooth but it aint for sure so fuck it.

i spend a couple hours lookin up everything i can on iv'n and artery. i read about how the fingertips will turn a diff color if u let the blood stay in there and it will turn to gangreen and ill lose limbs and fingers. i learn that if u raise ur hand elevated and rub the injection point to get the toxins spread out so i start doin both those like every 2 minutes... i find out that this is some serious shit according to alot of people and this is when i start getting scared.

at 8 i go take my blood pressure cuz they said high bp is a symptom and its at like 220/something. so i know somethings really up. i go do some serious ass research now. now its fuckin no joke lol. so im thinkin its a clogged artery at this point, so i came up with an idea that if i flex hard enough maybe the blood will get thru, cuz i dont think there was none goin thru, my arm and hand and fingers would get all dark randomly and change colors until i got my arm elevated. i keep flexin and rubbing to elevating.... i do them for like 10 or so minutes and i see that my hand vain is comin back. i also go get something to eat andwhile im eating im doin the flexing and elevating if i feel theres bad circulation. by the time im done, i can now feel a pulse in the artery i hit (very faint) and my hand vein is back to regular, or way close to it.

so at this time i go back on the computer and i stay on there for like 10 hours straight twaked the fuck out rubbin my arm and keepin it elevated every couple of minutes. i learn pretty much all tehres to know about arteries being iv'd, and about half the people said dont trip and the other half pissin there pants sayin get the fuck to the EM. 2 reasons i aint go to EM yet if anyones wonderin.. the first is i aint for sure what it is yet and i dont want to have to waste the money and shit if theres a grip of people sayin it heals by itself (saw someone payed 5 g's) and i know its a chance they will get amputated if i wait tho. the second is i aint tryn to go to my grandparents to tell em "hey i know i just got outta prison 2 months ago and i know u guys said i could stay with u if i get my act together and i know i got a cool job right now, but i just shot up some meth, and can u take me to the EM?" i aint tryn to do that till i fuckin really believe theres no other way.

so with my mini therapy to my arm its gettin better actually. i can actually make out the vain that went hiding and the swellin went down, and the only thing changin colors now are my finger tips, but still thats all bad.. so after about 10 hours of getin every piece of info i could i go get a bump for me cuz im starten to burn out and that bump made me stop stressin on my arm and shit for the moment. i go do other shit for like 2 hours and than randomly i notice the numbness which brings me right back into it. i wasnt raisen my hand to much but i was rubbin and flexin durin those 2 hours and it was helpin i think.

well i go back on the computer now its like 11 or so and i start tryn to get more info. and a poste on this site sayin shit dont happen till 12 hours than after 12 hours i gathered from a few diff sites the conclusion that once u fall asleep and let all ur blood fester in the fingertips, thats when the tissue starts dieing, so im not sleepin tonight and i gonna have my answer of what imma do tomorrow morning, and i really need some experts and experienced peoples help i really am sad about this whole situation its such a huge life-changing-for-the-worse thing to come from something so small and fucking stupid. i dont wanna be looked at as that was down ass white boy who pulled a junky move and lost his fingers. its fuckin all bad. so as of 3 20 AM my fingers are still fuckin with me and have been as ive been typen this, and i can see my artery is pretty pumped up down by my wrist, and it wasnt there earlier so some bloods comin thru my artery (ya i no theres 2 arterys per arm, it is the right one). i dont no if thats cuz theres blood trapped in the forearm tho. i gonna add pics of my injection spot on here. all my injection spot looks like is irritated skin like 1 inch in diameter its not even noticably swollen but it is still a little bigger and tighter than id like. in the long run my symptoms have been getting better since i iv'd 24 hours ago, but still the fingers scare the fuck outta me. when i forget about them for like 5 minutes they get dark and i can feel alot of blood pressure in my hand. if i go to sleep idfk what theyd even be in the mornin, and i dont really wanna no cuz i aint about to find out.

if u guys no ANYTHING to help me out cuz i really am stressin out over this, please let me no. i appreciate u all takin the time to read this and pls i no u guys like to flame people for bein ignorant with needles, dont even waste ur breath pls, its just gonna fuck with my head and i aint tryn to stress out on explainin myself to anybody i did what i did and im aware of how fuckin stupid it was. and i know i shoulddd go to the EM. im gonna go tomorrow if my fingers dont get better so u dont gotta say that either. just please give me some info that might shed some light on this gay ass situation. thank you. here are some pics of my injection spot 24 hours later. And the pics kinda make it look more red than it really is. AIGHT TY PEACE

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ya i been on one all day just searchin for info, ive seen that one already but good lookin
 
no joke bro, don't mess with your life like this. EM! Its not 1992 anymore, I doubt you'll get in trouble. That arm looks too fucked up, and you dont want an amputation over saving a few bucks. Tell a loved one take out a loan do what ever is necessary.

Goodluck
 
u serious u think it looks that fucked up? its just a red irritation barely an inch. its jsut that i dont fuckin see my fingers gettin any better so i am gonna try to go asap, im tryn to think what else could i say besides i was shootin meth lol cuz its my livin situation im worried abotu bro theyd kick me out if they knew
 
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