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Heroin Missed heroin shot

OEandricearoni

OEandricearoni

Bluelighter
Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
440
Location
Detroit
I recently missed a shot of H in my hand like 2 days ago. Since then, it hand has turned red and is a bit swollen. It hurts when i touch it, not unbearable pain but its relatively painful. The red part feels warm and it got a little bit bigger overnight.

Anyone else had a similar experience? Did you end up going to the hospital? What did they do? If i go to the hospital, what should i say? I want to just be honest with them and tell them what happened but I'm a little bit worried they might try to get the police involved or something. Just curious of others experiences.

I plan on going to urgent care after work tomorrow if it still isn't any better. I have a bottle of amoxicillin so last night I started taking that, hoping that it would at least slow down the spreading or fight any infection at least a little bit until i get into the hospital tomorrow and get it checked out.
 
If the swelling is increasing, and it is hot/warm to the touch as well as painful, then it can quite possibly be an abscess. In the name of harm reduction I recommend going to the hospital. Just tell them the truth - they will still treat you obviously, and if they know the true reason why it happened it will help them make a more accurate treatment plan. Out of all the missed shots I ever had in my life, zero ended up being an abscess somehow (luckily), but your best bet is to go get it checked out my man.

The sooner the better, before the infection keeps spreading.
 
BrokedownPalace said:
If the swelling is increasing, and it is hot/warm to the touch as well as painful, then it can quite possibly be an abscess. In the name of harm reduction I recommend going to the hospital. Just tell them the truth - they will still treat you obviously, and if they know the true reason why it happened it will help them make a more accurate treatment plan. Out of all the missed shots I ever had in my life, zero ended up being an abscess somehow (luckily), but your best bet is to go get it checked out my man.

The sooner the better, before the infection keeps spreading.
Click to expand...

I've had quite a few missed shots in my day as well. I cant recall if any of them ever got this bad though. There may be an abcess forming but right now there is no abcess. Just redness and some swelling.

I don't think it is necessary for me to rush to the ER right this second, but I'm definitely planning on going to the hospital tomorrow and going to urgent care when i get out of work, around 2pm, unless that is the swelling goes down a lot and the its much less painful tomorrow morning, i dont think that's going to happen though.

I just made this thread out of curiosity of other peoples experiences. I had already planned on getting medical attention before i even created the thread, which i find isnt usually the case on BL unfortunately. Its hard to blame people though, especially when they are uninsured.
 
It could be infected even if it hasn't turned into an abscess yet. An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed within the tissue. Many people just think infection = abscess. I would definitely go to a doctor/hospital if it doesn't rapidly improve, in the meantime put hot wet cloths on it.

I think it's very unlikely the hospital would involve the police, merely admitting to having used drugs isn't illegal. Just be honest with them and maybe throw in the "I've learned my lesson and am never going to inject drugs again, I feel so stupid" thing in order to elicit more compassion, and make sure they don't assume it was a suicide attempt or you're a danger to yourself or anything. I've never had a problem getting medical treatment for drug-related injuries, although there are occasionally some people in health care who will judge you and not treat you very nicely. The way you appear and speak to them makes a difference. Being all humble and apologetic and regretful is much better than giving them attitude, even if you feel like they deserve it. But for the most part my experiences have been good, and I've certainly never had the cops called, but different places may be different. Don't bring any drugs or paraphernalia on you of course. And try not to go in noticeably high.
 
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I had a fairly spooky lump from a missed shot on my arm when I decided to go to a suboxone clinic. The doctor seemed concerned and told me to apply hot compresses on it and keep a close eye on it over the next couple days and to come back if it wasn't improving. I boiled water in my tea kettle and poured it on a towel, folded it up and pressed it to the lump, let it sit until towel wasn't hot. Did this periodically through the day and the lump began to shrink noticeably. I'm pretty sure I found a fairly detailed walkthrough of hot compress treatment of lumps via google search.
 
I had something similar, possible the same thing. I must have missed an entire shot. When I would shoot into my right arm I would register but for some reason if I slipped out I couldn't feel it or notice it... maybe due to location. Everywhere else I would notice right away because it would burn and there would be a little swelling. I have never IVed in my arm since getting the infection. Basically my arm was swollen and I had a huge bump and the skin was red. But there was no pus and no signs of an abscess.

I did end up going to the doctor and they thought it was an abscess that hadn't formed yet. They told me to do hot compresses and take antibiotics and scheduled me to come back later in the weak to cut it open. However, just from the hot compresses it went away. I didn't need to take the antibiotics or get it cut open.

I would do a hot compresses as often as you can, you have to do it a LOT. Like every hour or more. This will either make it go away or if it is an abscess, it will draw the pus to the surface.

My arm ached but I could touch the area with no real pain.. If the site itself is extremely painful it's usually a sign that it is an abscess.
 
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