PunchThomas
Greenlighter
I am confused, about a topic an IV drug user really oughtn't be confused about.
Reading various harm reduction forums, the consensus is that an IV drug user accidentally hitting an artery is an incredibly serious problem, one that's likely to result in an emergency room visit. And maybe it is, for most people most of the time. My confusion comes from the fact that my experiences have been totally contradictory to this narrative.
I'll accidentally shoot (heroin) into an artery perhaps once a year, and while it hurts like hell for the next 30 minutes, I've never experienced any swelling afterwards, any tenderness or pain. Once or twice I missed with a shot with meth in it as well, but the result was no different.
Obviously I'm not advocating carelessness, or implying that it doesn't matter. I fully agree that hitting an artery is BAD, and reasonable measures should always be taken to avoid it. But the fact remains that what's an annoyance to me is apparently a serious danger to others.
So my question is, what is happening differently with me, or with other people, to result in such wildly divergent outcomes? Surely I'm not just getting lucky every single time. So what am I missing here?
Reading various harm reduction forums, the consensus is that an IV drug user accidentally hitting an artery is an incredibly serious problem, one that's likely to result in an emergency room visit. And maybe it is, for most people most of the time. My confusion comes from the fact that my experiences have been totally contradictory to this narrative.
I'll accidentally shoot (heroin) into an artery perhaps once a year, and while it hurts like hell for the next 30 minutes, I've never experienced any swelling afterwards, any tenderness or pain. Once or twice I missed with a shot with meth in it as well, but the result was no different.
Obviously I'm not advocating carelessness, or implying that it doesn't matter. I fully agree that hitting an artery is BAD, and reasonable measures should always be taken to avoid it. But the fact remains that what's an annoyance to me is apparently a serious danger to others.
So my question is, what is happening differently with me, or with other people, to result in such wildly divergent outcomes? Surely I'm not just getting lucky every single time. So what am I missing here?
