Missed Shot - *sigh* - What should SWIM do

[ohsee80]

I have been using opiates off and on (mostly on) for the last 5 years. Recently about 6 mo's ago I found a good tar dealer and have been using it daily since. I have been taking care of some friends' needs recently and has decided to stray from 'busting a mix' with sleeping pills. My buddy came by a few days ago and decided to mainline it right in front of me, and the nod he got from just a 20 of tar made me envious of the feeling. My friend didnt have any obvious bruises or markings and claims to do it alot. I of course being curious got a clean rig from friend, and stupidly waited instead of having my friend assist me.

Fast forward to an hour ago.

I took sanitary precautions and prepared a shot just as I saw my friend do it, was very patient and tried to hit the back of my hand with a 100-u 1cc insulin syringe....

Pulled back, a decent amount of blood entered and it seemed to register, then as I was pushing in the plunger... ahh very painful stinging sensation, and hardly anything was pushed in but still left a bubble under my skin. Sore to the touch.

I know there are threads on this but the ones I read were vague/unhelpful.

What should I do now to prevent any infection/abscess?

I'm debating on whether its a sign to never try that again, .... but fuck its very enticing.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Hi ohsee80, welcome to Bluelight
We don't use "SWIM" here - it doesn't offer you any real protection, sounds silly and makes your posts hard to read. I edited your post to remove the SWIMs.
Please check out the Bluelight User Agreement and the Basic Drug Discussion Guidelines.

How is the area looking now? Is it still painful? Is it hot to the touch? Has the swelling gotten worse or better? If it looked like it formed a bubble under the skin it is probably that it slipped out of the vein or you had punctured through the vein or something and so some of the solution "missed" and went into your surrounding tissues. If you had hit a nerve or artery it would have been extremely painful and would be very swollen. I don't know if there's anything you can do after the fact to prevent complications from a missed shot other than cleaning it and monitoring it carefully. You can apply a warm damp cloth to the area to help with the swelling and getting the solution to absorb.

Please reconsider going down this path, I think you are right that this is a sign to not continue injecting

 

[SteeleyJ]

I've always used a heating pad over the area for the first hour and to clean the area immediately after the shot. After that you just gotta keep an eye on it man. Most likely it should just go away but watch for the area to start walling itself off with a softer spot in the middle or streaks heading up your arm. Either one of those things you need to see a doctor.

 

[ohsee80]

Ha, I'm glad that nobody uses SWIM here - I agree, I think its useless and silly, but some forums recommend it, good to know it's not needed here.

After an hour or so - (and a run to the store for some cuts to mix with ), the white bubble under my skin is not as noticeably white and now its just sore to the touch and if I put my hands side by side its clearly swelled up a little bit (not TOO swollen though..)

I did try and rub on the area a bit with my fingers and put a hot towel over it for a few minutes....

Hopefully it turns out to be OK, but its just all the horror stories I've heard about / scars I've seen that people have gotten from missing their shot that raises concern.

As addicts, alot of us try to reason and justify taking the leap into IV heroin use... My tolerance is already pretty high and I guess I was justifying shooting it to save money, but alot of the issues that go along with IV make me hesitant. I should probably just stick to snorting. It would probably be easier for me, but my veins aren't really big and obvious so I have a feeling I would miss alot.

Thanks for the tips Steeley and swimmingdancer, if you have any other addition or comment / suggestions please indulge.

Thanks

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Yeah, you will save money at first by switching to injection, but your tolerance goes up so quickly that it ends up being way more expensive in the long-term.

Sounds like it was just a miss or partial miss, I wouldn't worry about it too much, just put a warm cloth on it and check on it tomorrow to make sure it's better. And try to avoid missing in the future. Injecting in general can wreck your veins, especially if they are already small and delicate. We can give you some tips if you do decide to continue injecting, but of course you already know what my recommendation about injecting is (don't, lol)

 

[SteeleyJ]

Yeah, you will save money at first by switching to injection, but your tolerance goes up so quickly that it ends up being way more expensive in the long-term.

Absolutely, IME and watching countless others, all holy hell breaks loose if you keep going. Many here on BL can tell you they have a love/ hate relationship with the needle. Love the high, hate how bad it gets.

You haveto keep in mind that you're getting a higher dosage into your brain ( not to mention the psychological habituation that goes with the rush ) which means your tolerance will raise faster. Snorting will seem inferior. I hope it don't happen bad to you man, but i've seen it too many times.

As for the miss watch for it to harden into a circle, and watch for streaks. Most likely you won't abcess just keep an eye on it. You could also face a sterile abcess, which is all the inert cuts getting caught under your skin without the bacteria.....I've heard tar can be cut with nasty shit.