FrostAnNova
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2019
- Messages
- 33
My favorite vein seemingly gave way one day. It was just a routine injection, but something went awry. As soon as I pulled out, a portion of my arm flared up in pain and became flush, despite a perfect hit. This was far from the sting of a missed hit. The burning sensation was strong enough to make me scream.
I put pressure on the site for several minutes before the pain subsided. When I went back in for another hit, I noticed that the vein was inflamed starting about an inch below the injection site, and stretching about 3 inches above it. The surrounding portion of my arm had gone completely numb. My using buddy figured I must have hit a nerve because of the numbness.
I vowed to let the vein heal from the injury before injecting there again, however, after several failed attempts at other sites, I caved and hit the injured vein. I registered and a small, dark spurt of blood shot into the rig, but the plunger wouldn't budge when I tried to push off. I retracted the needle and tested it only to discover it was not clogged at all. Upon further inspection, I noticed that small sliver of very dark blood was infact a very tiny blood clot. I hypothesized that the vein must be clogged, and that the clot must have prevented me from injecting.
The next day, I noticed the vein had sunken in, causing a dimple to appear at the injection site. I examined the 4-inch span of vein for pain and inflammation. No pain, but the vein felt constricted rather than inflamed. I figured it must have collapsed because of my attempt to use the vein when it was still injured.
I showed the vein to my peer support and let her feel it. She noted that the site felt feverish. She said this is a sign of infection and urged me to go to my doctor for some antibiotics. I didn't. Instead, I showed it to my psychiatric nurse practitioner. He said it was just scar tissue, pointing out the cord-like texture my injured vein now had, and instructed me to go back to rehab. Since the cord-like texture was a sudden, drastic change in my vein's compsour, I doubted it was just scar tissue, and was still thinking that the vein was collapsed. However, trusting his word, I continued to neglect seeing a doctor.
After about an other week or so, I checked on the vein only to find a non-uniform lump had formed. I didn't remember missing, and because of the shape of the lump and distance from the injection site, there was no way it could have been a miss. My thoughts were that my vein must have somehow burst from injecting to fast. I imagined the lump was blood that clotted outside the vein, (I don't think it works like that).
I showed the new lump to my NP and he said I just missed, despite noting that the lump was new. I knew in my heart that he was wrong.
I spent days wondering how a lump would just appear three weeks after the injury. There's no way I missed, or the lump would have already been there. Same, I thought, if it had burst. I examined the lump again, taking note of it's shape. I found that it traced a small portion of the injured vein, and curved into a branching vein. Now I'm back to the theory that my vein is clogged with a clot, and the lump must have collected blood and grew overtime.
I've searched for all of my theories— blown, collapsed, blood clot, cancer—and I'm still leaning to the lodged blood clot theory, the cord-like texture listed as a symptom stands out the most. The only thing is, I don't have any of the pain, inflammation, or flushing usually associated with a clogged vein anymore, and I can't find anything about IV meth causing a clotting effect to take place, so it might not be a clotted vein afterall. Maybe this was just a freak phenomenon.
As of right now, the dimple at the injection site has disappeared, and the vein doesn't feel like it's so tight anymore. It's getting the soft texture back to it, but still cord-like at the injection site. The lump has shrunken pretty significantly, and no longer extends along the branching vein. It's still warm to the touch compared to other parts of my skin, but it's definitely looking like it's finally began to heal without medical treatment. Still, I'd like to get in to a doctor if only just to find out what exactly happened so that it could be avoided in the future.
I'd love to hear from others. Has anybody else experienced this type of injury after slamming meth? What theories do you have behind this freak injury? Anyone with professional medical experience know what exactly happened to cause the initial injury? What are some ways I can prevent this from happening again?
I put pressure on the site for several minutes before the pain subsided. When I went back in for another hit, I noticed that the vein was inflamed starting about an inch below the injection site, and stretching about 3 inches above it. The surrounding portion of my arm had gone completely numb. My using buddy figured I must have hit a nerve because of the numbness.
I vowed to let the vein heal from the injury before injecting there again, however, after several failed attempts at other sites, I caved and hit the injured vein. I registered and a small, dark spurt of blood shot into the rig, but the plunger wouldn't budge when I tried to push off. I retracted the needle and tested it only to discover it was not clogged at all. Upon further inspection, I noticed that small sliver of very dark blood was infact a very tiny blood clot. I hypothesized that the vein must be clogged, and that the clot must have prevented me from injecting.
The next day, I noticed the vein had sunken in, causing a dimple to appear at the injection site. I examined the 4-inch span of vein for pain and inflammation. No pain, but the vein felt constricted rather than inflamed. I figured it must have collapsed because of my attempt to use the vein when it was still injured.
I showed the vein to my peer support and let her feel it. She noted that the site felt feverish. She said this is a sign of infection and urged me to go to my doctor for some antibiotics. I didn't. Instead, I showed it to my psychiatric nurse practitioner. He said it was just scar tissue, pointing out the cord-like texture my injured vein now had, and instructed me to go back to rehab. Since the cord-like texture was a sudden, drastic change in my vein's compsour, I doubted it was just scar tissue, and was still thinking that the vein was collapsed. However, trusting his word, I continued to neglect seeing a doctor.
After about an other week or so, I checked on the vein only to find a non-uniform lump had formed. I didn't remember missing, and because of the shape of the lump and distance from the injection site, there was no way it could have been a miss. My thoughts were that my vein must have somehow burst from injecting to fast. I imagined the lump was blood that clotted outside the vein, (I don't think it works like that).
I showed the new lump to my NP and he said I just missed, despite noting that the lump was new. I knew in my heart that he was wrong.
I spent days wondering how a lump would just appear three weeks after the injury. There's no way I missed, or the lump would have already been there. Same, I thought, if it had burst. I examined the lump again, taking note of it's shape. I found that it traced a small portion of the injured vein, and curved into a branching vein. Now I'm back to the theory that my vein is clogged with a clot, and the lump must have collected blood and grew overtime.
I've searched for all of my theories— blown, collapsed, blood clot, cancer—and I'm still leaning to the lodged blood clot theory, the cord-like texture listed as a symptom stands out the most. The only thing is, I don't have any of the pain, inflammation, or flushing usually associated with a clogged vein anymore, and I can't find anything about IV meth causing a clotting effect to take place, so it might not be a clotted vein afterall. Maybe this was just a freak phenomenon.
As of right now, the dimple at the injection site has disappeared, and the vein doesn't feel like it's so tight anymore. It's getting the soft texture back to it, but still cord-like at the injection site. The lump has shrunken pretty significantly, and no longer extends along the branching vein. It's still warm to the touch compared to other parts of my skin, but it's definitely looking like it's finally began to heal without medical treatment. Still, I'd like to get in to a doctor if only just to find out what exactly happened so that it could be avoided in the future.
I'd love to hear from others. Has anybody else experienced this type of injury after slamming meth? What theories do you have behind this freak injury? Anyone with professional medical experience know what exactly happened to cause the initial injury? What are some ways I can prevent this from happening again?
