IVing and Infections

[kemikals]

Lately i've been playing with needles occasionally,and my question is for those who have expirience with IVing. I'm curious how many mishaps or infections have been related to your banging of dope and how often do these occur.

 

[sixthseal.com]

I'm far from being the most qualified person to answer this, but a friend of mine has been using needles every weekend for IV meth and he hasn't had any infections yet. It's hard to get sterile water for injections here so he just uses boiled water (which is not the safest way to go about it). The only thing he's fond of is meth though, and he doesn't filter it with a cotton filter (which is also not quite right). He feels that it's a bit of a hassle to do that when the crystal shards can be put directly into a syringe filled with pre-boiled and left to cool water by pulling out the plunger and just dumping it straight in. I'll love to hear from anyone with more experience about whether this is more dangerous than filtering it, I'm curious too.

 

[geetered]

^ not near as the media pusts it out too be

 

[Chubba75]

Alright, to be honest (no point in lying)...

I've shot probably 300 times over the past 4 - 5 months... haven't missed one shot, or had one infection.

I use a fresh sterile syringe each time, but I rarely have just washed my hands/arm prior (due to shooting up a lot in cars) and stopped using alcohol swabs a long, long time ago (probably after like my 20th injection).

The majority of the meth I shoot is unfiltered... I suck up 30 - 40 units, and squirt it directly into the bag that the drugs came in, these bags are exceptionally clean though... because EVERYONE around here mixes straight out of there bags, so the dealers make a effort.

So I've shot every kind of meth there is unfilitered and had no problems. I make an effort to filter stuff I know is very crappy (when I have to shoot 0.3 - 0.5g), but good grade meth and "ice" I NEVER filter.

So I dunno... maybe I'm just lucky, but I have never experience anything that I could call an infection.

EDIT: I've also mixed/shot up every kind of water there is, the majority of times with tap water straight into a glass... no problems at all, though when I do have sterile water amps sitting around (and they're great in cars, but I usually used bottle water) I always use them.

 

[sixthseal.com]

Thanks for the replies.
Yeah, I gathered that it's not as dangerous at the media makes it sound, from the fact that he hasn't had an infection...yet.
Anyway, I think it's the luck of the draw as well, I've seen people with absesses, but they're the ones who re-use syringes. My friend does not reuse syringes.
However, the packaging we get here is anything BUT clean, but so far so good. *crosses fingers*
Doesn't bottled water contain a lot of minerals and all that which makes it less suitable than boiled tap water for injecting? The tap water is run through a filter though (although water from taps is supposed to be drinkable here, most people own water filters) before being boiled...

 

[Chubba75]

I only use the bottled water (30 units/0.3ml couldn't hurt... could it?) when I'm out driving, since you don't have a clean tap/glass handy... although sterile water amps (especially the 10ml, resealable ones) are just ideal for that situation.

Re-using syringes would definetely cause infections easily, unless you took the proper care (rinsing multiple times with water... and bleach I believe)... although what sort of IV user could go to that extent EVERY time they inject, hence there's probably minute amounts of blood/bacteria left in the barrel even after flushing with water... fast foward 20 injections (and probably a week) that minute amount has grown expodentially and is really fucking dirty now.

I would of never injected if we didn't have free access to needle exchanges in Australia, it's just not worth the risk.

 

[staind rose]

i haven't had any infections as far as i can remember, but bad reactions and dirty hits.

the worst shot ever (that didn't even get me high cause it was a cotton rinse- stupid as fuck) was the result of not using clean, sterile equipment.

first came the tremors, i was in my bed alone. my leg kept shaking and i didn't understand why, a little while longer my whole body was shaking. i thought maybe it was an anxiety attack or something (never had one before but you never know) so i tried to convince myself i was fine. ha. didn't work. eventually the tremors died, i was alright for maybe 2 mins,

then it went to my head. i thought my head was gonna explode the pain was so intense. fuckin stabbing pains on the inside of my head like a knife prodding at my brain. over and over. i was totally convinced i was gonna die, but too delirious from pain to move. at the time i thought i had a blood clot in my brain and i was just fucked and i wanted to get it over with quickly.

after a few hours, the pain eased off and i broke into a fever. eventually i was able to call my friends (by this time it was morning, i had taken the shot at maybe 11 pm). my fever was getting better by the time they took my tempature, and it was 104. my whole room felt like a sauna (according to them, fuck if i could tell) from my body heat. the fever continued to drop and i narrowly avoided getting my ass hauled off to the hospital.

damn, that shit sucked. someone should have kicked my ass for being SO STUPID. fuck. use clean shit!

 

[Chubba75]

I did one cotton rinse, but it was about 3 hours after the previous injection... didn't get a bad hit, but fuck that was stupid... never did it again.

The things you do when you're desperate That sounded bad... could it of been cotton fever?

 

[blahblahblah]

Two injections out of thousands upon thousands caused me to get 'cotton fever' and an abscess.

 

[negrogesic]

It's hard to get sterile water for injections here

That statement is pure ignorance; ever heard of sterile eye-wash solution containing nothing else but sterile saline, available at EVERY corner pharmacy OTC? Jesus.....

And yes i have had my share of "cotton fever" like reactions, but i think it was more of a toxic shock like syndrome, the symptoms are similar, terrible migrane headache, fine tremor, delerium, fever, vomiting, shivering, chills etc. It usually passes after 2-4 hours, and if it doesnt, one should seek medical attention. EACH case that i had this reaction from a shot was from injected MS contin, one of the worst pills a person can inject due to the huge amount of particulates and wax. I have never had "cotton fever" symptoms from injecting anything else BUT ms contin. The individual who formulated this pill should be strapped down and administered a nice dirty IV shot of unfiltered ms contin.....

 

[sixthseal.com]

^^
Jesus fucking Christ, that's news to me! On an unrelated note, we seem to share the same fondness of using the Lord's name in vain.

Seriously though, thanks for that info, I'll keep that in mind. I did not know they were suitable for these purposes.

 

[dressed4insanity]

Please don't take this as a go ahead to do anything dumb. But, I have given myself > 1000 IV injections(mostly heroin) and have NEVER gotten an infection. Most of these injections were with tap water, and very unsterile conditions(IE, not prepping the injection site, street dope, not washing hands first, rinsing cottons that were days old, using needles 8-10x before switching). I've probably only missed(SC'd) about 50 injections, and this is usually where infection occurs.

However, in the interest of harm reduction: use sterile water/NS, wash hands before handling injection equipment, wipe injection site with isopropanol and let dry immediatly before injecting, at least filter your drugs with cotton, if not a micron filter(this is expensive, but buy some if you can afford it), and most importantly: rotate injection sites, especially if you are a daily user, collapsed veins don't just bounce back after a few days(or even months, sometimes years) of rest.

 

[Thurgood]

I've been shooting dope (both heroin and coke) now for about 2 years or so...in the past two years I have gotten cotton fever once. As far as infections, my inner elbow site was pretty nasty looking at times (due to my own total ignorance) since I shot solely in that spot, it didn't take long (probably about 6 months) until the vein was collapsed. In regards to the what it looked like, always was deep red/black & blue, nasty to where I can't believe I actually let it get like that, I was fortunate it always cleared up with little medical attention (the most I ever did for it was apply some triple anti-biotic ointment to it).

 

[Flexistentialist]

A dirty hit can have a range of causes, from the bacteria responsible for cotton fever to tiny pieces of dust, or something in the cut (or pill binders). Negrogesic's right in that it's shock reaction to the injection of something foreign (either bacteria or particle).

The symptoms include banging headache, fever / chills, and nausea. Some severe dirty hits can last for over 12 hours. If it gets worse or you don't start to get better after this point, you should go to hospital.

Cotton or cigarette filters aren't the best, but they're better than nothing at all. Even if it's crystal, there still could be other shit that you have the oppurtunity to try and remove. When you mix up in the bag, just drop a piece of filter in there too and draw up through it.

Immediate infections (like site infections or dirty hits) aren't the only types of infections that can occur from injecting. I recently saw a guy who had a difficult to treat fungal infection in his right lung from long term injecting, with poor hygene / technique.

Endocarditis is another infection related to longer term injecting, caused by a build-up of bacteria / fragments around the heart valves. This is often fatal, because the symptoms are usually missed until it's too late.

There are quite a few other longer term infections that can come from injecting, so you should always try to be as clean as possible, and filter as best you can.

 

[technolicious]

never had an infection, been using tar for about 9 months

unpleasant experiences:

I have had a few missed shots, OUCH! felt like a chemical burn, skin would bubble if too close to surface leaving nasty sore
bruising too, shooting into muscle right near a vein
scarring


but over all bad experiences have been kept down following a few guidelines i set up for myself

before touching any iv equip or dope

1) wash hands, arms (up to mid bicep) with antibacterial soap
2) prepare workstation...basically where i will be shooting up, wiping down surface areas with alcohol where equip will be laying

3) make sure all equip (works) are all clean
-clean out cooker, fresh new needle
or needle that has been rinsed, soaked and washed with h202 or alcohol for at least 10 seconds

new cottons every shot

have lotion, alcohol, h202, bacitracin, and bandaids readily available

clean saline water used, or tap water boiled for 10 minutes plus


sterilization, cleanliness techniques thru injection process

keep all equip in clean surface areas, after pullin shot thru cotton
-wipe needle with alcohol pad and cap syringe

before injection
tie off, exam good vein
apply alcohol pad in circular motion to remove dirt from surface of vein (injection site)

inject

wipe area with alcohol pad, apply small amount of bacitracin to injection spot, and if your real anal here apply a bandaid

if you miss the shot
and surface of injection site starts to hurt, swell, become red
apply hot compress, rubbin area lightly
keep an eye on it to make sure the swelling goes down within 24-48hrs

if you are in the middle of an injection or starting off and it hurts to push in plunger, pretty good chance your not hitting
dont force it, remove needle find new spot (no needle stickin happy here take your time to repeat cleanliness tips to new injection area)

BE PATIENT
this can be helpful, specially avoiding painful situations and wasting your precious dope

getting sloppy and skipping steps is where you will run into trouble
-not washing hands (specially in public areas)
-reusing dirty needle
- getting poke happy tryin to find a vein


enjoy and becareful

sometimes all guidelines are not held exact
like
- i will go thru two or three shots in the same day using same cotton filter and not cleanin cooker btwn shots
-wont use bacitracin ( i highly recommend this tho, as it must cut down on scarring and track marks)
- cant make all surface areas clean if fixing in a bathroom, public place etc....jus try to be clean as possible making sure to have clean hands thru out the process if touching common areas where germs will be present


alot of good info given here already
-rotate injection sites

so basically i have stayed clear of mishaps by following these steps


#1 RULE BE PATIENT, CLEAN, AND DONT RUSH IT

 

[TJ]

I don't share needles, but have to reuse them. I give each pick 3 or 4 uses maximum before they get tossed in a sealed container. I'm probably one of few steady users that make a whole ritual EACH and EVERY time. After each shot, I rinse 3 or 4 times and let the picks dry. For mixing, always wash spoon, use distilled water, a clean piece of cotton every time for each shot. You should use new cotton each time or else you can get cotton fever from the bacteria that grows on it. I recommend filter cause once it's liquified (especially if there are particles that WON'T and there are those that don't dissolve maybe you can't see) you want to be sure you are only shooting liquid. The vessels that carry the dope from your arm, lungs, heart, and BRAIN....when they reach the brain the blood vessels get smaller and smaller. An undissolved particle could get lodged and if that happens that could cut of oxygen to an area of the brain causing it to die or you could have a stroke. Therefore I use filter every time. I don't boil, as you lose part of the dope, but again clean spoon, washed hands, wipe area with water b4 hitting, rinse pick at least several times, but don't shoot with tap water. I had done that for the first 3 years of slingin, and I did get a staph infection which gave me the runs for a month and had to take Rx levaquin antibiotic to kill it. I since quit using tap water last 3 years and haven't had an infection since. Also, only place I will shoot is at home in my own place period. The reason most people get abscesses is extremely dull needles and not using precautions above.

 

[forevadazin]

I've been shooting up for 3 years so far and just recently I had a bad infection in my arm...it wasn't a staff infection..it was under the skin..can;t think of the name right now but oh well..

It ended up swelling up from my shoulder to my wrist with a golf ball sized section where the needle went in..
It started leaking white puss on the 5th day and I couldnt even move my arm or sleep or anything cause it hurt so bad..
I ended up in the hospital for 3 days on alot of anti-biotics and morphine shots every 2 hours..
they had to cut the infection sized golf ball on my arm and take a huge que tip and shove it under my skin and get all the puss out..blood and so much white stuff came out..it was gross..

So now I have a huge scar on my arm over top of an old favorite vein...

So be careful.

 

[naturalone]

thank you for this thread. i have decided to postpone playing with needles indefinitely. i'm just too much of a puss.

 

[wilson]

I've IV'd about 200 times, and never had any infections or such.
I'm not really careful with the hygiene, but I do atleast wash my hands, spoon and the injection site.

 

[ebeneezer_geeza]

only time i had a bad hit was when i stupidly iv'd crushed and poorly filtered tablets, this was on two occasions and i would never want to repeat the experience. Other than that out of the thousands - zero. But i only use pharm ampoules, never used street stuff.