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Heroin Injection site looking weird

Pagey

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
9,428
Location
The Valley of Ashes
Hey,
I've been IV'ing #3 heroin for about a month, 6 weeks tops, using ascorbic acid. I taught myself after extensive research on here, never had any problems as far as I can tell. I tried not to IV too often but last week I had a bit of a binge and was injecting speedballs on a daily/twice a day basis. I was injecting near the crook of my elbow at first but I was having trouble registering with the veins there so I started doing it in my wrist instead (being careful with the arteries and such). I never noticed any problem while I was doing it or straight after, it always went fine, but in the past few days (I've been detoxing and haven't taken any hard drugs since last week-end) I've noticed the injection site in my wrist has been looking kinda strange - where the ones near my elbow are barely visible, this one is very red, quite swollen, and hurts when I touch it. This definitely didn't start straight after the last injection - it was always a bit more red but the swelling and pain have only been here for the past 2 or 3 days.
I'm not that keen on going to see a doctor about this for obvious reasons...it doesn't look like it's anything too dramatic or urgent so I figured I'd ask on here first, and if the prognosis is bad I'll definitely get medical attention.
All answers will be appreciated, thanks.
 
Hey the wrists are a very delicate place to inject. It sounds like some may have leaked out and it's now formed into an abscess. I'd use a hot compress and see how that goes. Since you've already had it for a few days I would suggest waiting another 24 hours and there is no improvement you'll need to get to a doc for antibiotics.
 
You havn't injected since the weekend, but today you noticed it's red and painful. So it's evidently getting worse instead of better right?
Please get it checked today. I know you don't want the hospital hassle. Pagey you gotta see a doctor because things can turn ugly fast.
They will most likely put you on some antibiotics. Don't put this off. I don't want to see you sick with an infection. <3
 
If it's getting worse than I would go see a doctor Pagey, but in general, the wrist area is a lot more sensitive and requires more time to heal than the upper arm as it is closer to the extremities. The veins are small and delicate down there so it's not hard to blow them out or just damage them in general.

The fact that you are noticing this so long after injecting troubles me. Nobody here is going to be able to tell you for sure if you have an infection so it really might just be worth it to get it checked out. Better safe than sorry.
 
Yeah it sounds like you missed a little bit. Coca in your shot will make it impossible to tell when you miss, due to its topical anesthetic properties.
 
Thanks a lot guys. As I mentioned, this is all very new to me so I wanted to be sure I wasn't getting worried over nothing before going through the hassle of being looked at like the scum of the earth at the hospital aha. I'll go tomorrow. Thanks again :)
 
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