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Injection; IV Complications and Information MEGATHREAD and FAQ II - show me the blood

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PureLife said:
My symptoms include:
( Onset is within about 30 seconds)

*Tingling sensation in testicles, then spreading to the rest of the body.
*I get generalized hives, and itching ( insides of my arms, my neck and my entire back and stomach
*generalized erythema (redness)
*swelling in my throat ( swelling more and more over time until assisted breathing is needed)
*tightness in my chest
*rapid heart beat ( when the ambulance squad came it was at around 140bpm
*dizziness
*confusion
* as mentioned with the tingling, also a warm sensation throughout the body
*difficulty swallowing.
* anxiety, impending fear of that i was dying.


This is more than enough symptoms anaphylactic shock than one needs to get a diagnoses, but I will consult a doctor this week and get a professional diagnoses.
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Wow, thanks for clarifying as I didn't know about anaphylactic shock!

I knew particles could seriously disrupt many aspects of your CV system but the more I hear things like this the more I realize that I am grossly underestimating the number and magnitude of risks.

I wish you well
 
My breathing returns to normal after about 45min, but I still have congestion ( its weird, I feel like I have bronchitis after, so much fluid in my chest area) and and the hives and itching dissipate after 25min.
 
PureLife said:
My breathing returns to normal after about 45min, but I still have congestion ( its weird, I feel like I have bronchitis after, so much fluid in my chest area) and and the hives and itching dissipate after 25min.
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By any chance were you able to obtain your blood pressure?

I probably can't help much, mostly trying to educate myself but was just looking at this:

wiki said:
Anaphylactic shock
Anaphylactic shock is anaphylaxis associated with systemic vasodilation which results in low blood pressure.
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Hey just an update, that hard knot under my skin is now slowly shrinking. It's been about a week since it appeared and it is noticeably smaller now. I still don't know if it was some type of abscess or another complication but it was a scary experience nonetheless. Lesson of my story: rotate iv sites and don't miss shots.
 
needle broke off into my arm, very worried.

So about 48 hours ago, I was IVing some heroin and the tip of a 30 gauge 1cc, regular tip needle broke off into the upper inside crook of my elbow. I immediately got medical attention, spent the night at the hospital, and got it worked on a little bit but they were unsuccesful at getting the broken needle out due to it being too deep. Since the surgeons were only set to do minor evasive surgery and nothing too deep or major, it wasn't reachable. Within first entering my arm the needle moved up about 3-5 inches and then stopped. At first they thought it may be partially in my blood stream sticking halfway out of a vein, and slowly moving, but they eventually found that it was just stuck in a bunch of muscle tissue in my bicep and it wasn't a big threat to moving around at the moment. Which I was very lucky for.

At first it was not much of a pain, I could hardly feel it except for basic minor soreness do to prior IVing in the day. And my arm is only sore now due to the surgery I believe. The needle was only used one time prior, about 20 minutes earlier and then recapped and set down. Before that it was brand new. So hopefully it's relatively clean and I can avoid any major infections.

I was sent home from the hospital with antibiotics to help prevent infection, so hopefully that helps a lot. Now, I know that the worst that can happen is the needle entering a vein and making it's way to my heart and killing me, but that doesn't seem very likely right now because I heard once a foreign object is settled inside a human, scar tissue will quickly form making it hard to move around. I also understand I can form an infection and have to get an amputation if it's not removed but I pray that doesn't happen.

Right now I'm just waiting to see and hear from the doctors to see if I should go in for major surgery (and $1,000s of dollars) and get it removed. OR if it is not as major of a threat as I'm thinking and that I will probably be okay if I keep an eye on it and make sure no infection forms. What would most likely be my best option?

Also, has any other similiar situation happened to anyone else before? What happened? Thanks for reading and I hope to gain some insight. :)
 
i would suggest to get it removed.. just my first instinct. i wouldn't want a needle stuck in my arm for the rest of my life.
This is a major reason to only use syringes/needles once and then get rid of it and use a new one.
I had a friend who was high on crack once and he wanted to come down easier so i gave him some dope (wayy back in the day aka few years ago lol) he had one syringe (and i had no more on me because i only use them ONCE so they dissapear faster) and the needle broke off because he had used it a few times before and he was trying to put the needle back into the syringe (a regular insulin syringe without a removable needle) and stick it into his arm.. he was trying so hard to shoot it up with a broken rig.. when i saw him doing this i told him if the needle gets into his blood stream and hits his heart he will die. he didn't care. so i took it from him (taking drugs from someone on crack isn't a fun thing to do) he was pissed at me but i went and bought more rigs and he could finally shoot it up.. i wonder to this day if i saved his life by taking it from him.. sorry for the rambling but this topic just brought up this memory.. good luck with this. :\
 
Did the doctors ask you what happened? Also, how did YOU end up getting poked when you were IVing someone else?
 
I will most likely end up getting it removed just to be on the safe side, I'm still very worried. And I wasn't shooting someone else up, I was just IVing myself, I don't know if I said a confusing statement or what but that's what was going on.
 
The doctors know the whole situation, a lot of people think just because you're a drug addict a doctor will not treat you or some bull like that, but they treated me with their best care as far as I know. Now them making little remarks and stuff is a whole other story.
 
newbie22 said:
Did the doctors ask you what happened? Also, how did YOU end up getting poked when you were IVing someone else?
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i don't think he said he was IVing someone else?? <- questions marks cuz im confused now.. :|

EDIT:
PhantomPt2 said:
And I wasn't shooting someone else up, I was just IVing myself, I don't know if I said a confusing statement or what but that's what was going on.
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ok not confused anymore :)
 
i'm really glad you went to the ER right away. this has the potential to be very, very serious. listen to your docs and do what they say. take all of the antibiotics they Rx'd. if you have any symptoms of infection like increased pain, heat, redness esp streaks of red, fever, get back to the hospital asap.
best of luck to you, pls post updates on what's happening.
-izzy
 
PhantomPt2 said:
What would most likely be my best option?
Click to expand...

waiting until the doctors come back with the results is the best option. they're the ones who are there with you and who are taking care of you. it would be irresponsible of us to tell you "oh you'll be fine, it won't get infected. don't worry about the surgery."

best of luck with it, let us know the results.

merged into IV complications thread
 
Ahh just thinking about a needle breaking off in your arm makes me queasy. Your post made me cringe, Hope you're ok, I'd get it removed, but hey, some WW2 vets go 60 years before finding out the have bullet/grenade fragments in their hip or leg or whatever so you might be ok if you don't, who know.
 
Please help!!

Hello

SWIM injected heroin into his right arm in the elbow. This was done on the ulnar side, near the ulnar nerve and artery. Being an inexperienced user, he was not coordinated enough to aspirate, and was undeservedly confident in his ability to feel when he was in the vein.

He missed the vein upon injection, and injected a small amount, stopping after experiencing relatively severe pain. Thinking nothing of it, he proceeded to iject successfully into a site lower down on the arm.

The pain in his elbow was relatively bad, however when he woke up the next morning it was very severe. My guess is that he hit a nerve, however the site is slightly swollen, and very slightly red in appearance. The most concerning factor is the extreme pain, and the uncomfortable feeling of needing to try and stretch the arm, with no matter how much it is stretched it still feels like it needs to be stretched more. He has no feelings of fever, headache, or fatigue, however there are complications, like edema, that may be relatively symptomless as far as I know, which is not very far.

My question is this: How would he know if he hit an artery, and what are the potential complications from doing so? How would he know if he hit the nerve, and what are the potential complications from doing so? At what point in time should he go to the ER, considering he is unemployed and has no health insurance, and the ER is an absolute last resort only to be used in case of possibilty of amputation or death.
 
Here's a harsh reality -- don't worry about him, he's not you. These days you have to put your own self first and foremost.
 
Thats retarted... I really need to know the answer. I though SWIM is what we are supposed to say... maybe thats another forum. Please dont be a smart ass about a serious situation.
 
Go to the hospital man! What else do you expect people here to say? No one here is a doctor, and nobody is going to be able to give magic advice over the Internet. Your best bet is to get it looked at by professionals. Seriously dude, it's not worth losing a limb over!
 
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