Might have caught an infection from IV drug use

[xbluex]

Hey everyone, this is my first post and I was hoping you guys could help. About two weeks ago I tried IV heroine for the first time. I thought what's the worse that could happen? I'm only guna try it once. Unfortunately the best sterile practices were not used. Product was mixed with water and a brand new syringe was used, but site was not cleaned with alcohol and hands were not washed. Anyways, I gave it a try and did not like it as I threw up about 5-6 times throughout the night. Thought that was that, never guna try it again.

Next day felt fine until I was guna go to bed that night. Felt off and suddenly felt something come over me. I took some benadryl and eventually went to bed. The next few days after that I began experiencing chills and intermittent fevers that were held at bay with NSAID's. Started to worry a bit but fevers went away. After 2-3 days the fevers were gone, but then developed an abnormal heart beat that could best be described as a forceful heartbeat. Pulse was consistently 60-70 bpm, but heartbeat seemed strangely harder and noticeable than usual.

Then came the fatigue and the feeling that things just weren't right. After 2 weeks of this I went to urgent care to tell the doctor what had happened as I was starting to get worried. The doctor was young and didn't seem very experienced. I explained to her my symptoms and she says, its from doing heroine and especially because it was your first time it will take some time for you to feel better? Wait what I thought? I only did the stuff once, and my condition has only worsened with time. The doctor was insistent that it was from the heroine and that it couldn't be an infection due to me not having a fever at the time. I asked her if there was any kind of blood test or anything that could be done and she said no that they didn't do blood tests at urgent care.

She recommended I follow up and make an appointment with another doctor to run a series of blood tests to see if it could be anything such as thyroid or hormone levels... I just recently started to feel a slight pain in my lower spine and am starting to think the worst. Who knows what kind of pathogens I introduced to my bloodstream with this one time use, and now I'm in a world of anxiety. I'm going to make the follow up appointment and see what kind of blood work or anything I can have done as my condition only appears to get worse with the passing days. I'm just starting to accept that I'm a screw up and more than likely I've caused some harm to myself that is going to cost me dearly.

 

[Bearlove]

Hi there and welcome to Bluelight - I hope you do not mind but I broke up your wall of text (as people tend to ignore posts without breaks or paragraphs). Make your follow up appointment as advised by the doctor, there is a possibility that your feeling unwell with nothing to do with the injecting.

If your needle was sterile, the water was sterile and you filtered then, from what I know there is only a small risk from infection without cleaning the spot first. Yes if you were very dirty and were handling the needle a lot with dirty hands then the risks would be increased.

Is there a possibility that you may be stressing out and overthinking this?

Bear

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

If you are worried that you may have an infection from IV drug use, see a medical professional.

 

[xbluex]

I want to believe that I am over stressing myself, but the symptoms I am having are making it hard to accept that nothing is wrong with me. I have an appointment set up for tomorrow morning in which I can hopefully get some blood work done or something to rule out any bacteria in the bloodstream.

 

[xbluex]

But could it be possible that I may have taken a hit of contaminated heroine? I'm not sure how long it would take to acquire a full blown infection from IV'ing something like that, but it feels as though my condition is only getting worse.

 

[firahs75]

Not that I recommend taking a cavalier attitude towards these things, but I have shot pills bought on the street, after handling them with dirty hands, crushing them on a non-sterile surface and using a syringe with old blood in it (mine), done dope in SE Asia that was handed to me in a torn napkin by a less-than-hygienic Tuk Tuk driver....after some shots, I have gotten fevers of 103 where I was literally kicking and shaking with my teeth chattering...not fun, but it subsided...Had an echocardiogram done during a recent hospital stay (unrelated)...no endo or anything...Now that is an extreme example, but not the only one, and I am still alive and kickin'....So, I think you're fine...You probably got a bug that was totally unrelated to your one-time use (influenza, mono, etc).

 

[placid space]

Not that I recommend taking a cavalier attitude towards these things, but I have shot pills bought on the street, after handling them with dirty hands, crushing them on a non-sterile surface and using a syringe with old blood in it (mine), done dope in SE Asia that was handed to me in a torn napkin by a less-than-hygienic Tuk Tuk driver....after some shots, I have gotten fevers of 103 where I was literally kicking and shaking with my teeth chattering...not fun, but it subsided...Had an echocardiogram done during a recent hospital stay (unrelated)...no endo or anything...Now that is an extreme example, but not the only one, and I am still alive and kickin'....So, I think you're fine...You probably got a bug that was totally unrelated to your one-time use (influenza, mono, etc).

Yes, there are ppl who lived "on the edge" for number of years and managed to avoid all the typical downfalls and disease. And then there are those that OD on the first try or catch Hep. C.


Dude if youre feeling off get tested for sure. You yourself know your body best. After two weeks it definitely shouldnt have anything to do with H (per se). Im not sure about contaminated H but your never know, I have yet to witness a dealer who deals with his product with gloves or washes his hands.
Btw, youre not a hypochondriac by any chance ?
Do report back what you found out!

 

[firahs75]

You did not mention any irritation, swelling, or soreness at the injection site (plus you used a clean rig), so the fact that your symptoms did not begin until the following evening suggests that it most likely had nothing to do with your shot...Every time I have gotten an infection from a dirty hit, the symptoms manifested very, very quickly; even stuff like cellulitis and MRSA...

I'm not saying that you are not ill with something. I am saying (for what its worth) that if you are ill, I'm 99% certain that it wasn't from your shot...

 

[xbluex]

Thanks I appreciate the responses you guys. My doctors visit today went well I guess. I explained to the doctor my symptoms and he ordered pretty much every blood test for me. According to the doc my complete blood cell count looked good so it did not indicate an infection from that, but he also ordered a blood culture and tests for other infectious diseases. He said they would call me to follow up for the culture in 3-4 days and the rest of the tests will be in 2 weeks. Feeling a little better today I guess. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Euphoricacidd]

Like above poster said, using a sterile needle & water, you're at low risk for infection. But it is very possible the heroin could be contaminated, I assume it isn't the cleanest thing in the first place. But, from what I read it could just be your anxiety. Your brain is probably a bit frazzled from the heroin and that's not gonna help your worries. Wait two days or so and monitor the injection site.