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Heroin possible abscess (tried search of course)

Princess_Poppy

Princess_Poppy

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
217
Location
Atlanta, GA
So. I think I am beyond describing the lump on my arm and asking what u think... I know what's up. It finally happened to me :( yep, I have an abscess. No doubt. So, go to the ER right? That's what I have every intention of doing, BUT... today, day 2, it got just a teeny bit better. Before, I couldn't put my arm straight. Now I can. It is still swollen, red, hard, but not quite as bad as before. So, I kinda want to wait it out just a little longer. If its getting better it will get better right? I don't have a fever, no swollen lymphs, and no general malaise. Tried, in a VERY sterile way, to drain myself with a syringe, but the gauge was too small. Anyone ever had a nasty one that DID get better? I'm ok to wait a bit as long as I don't have a fever etc? Advice appreciated.

Oh, its in the crook of my arm. It is localized, but there is no obvious "bump" although I can feel an irregular shaped mass under skin. Painful and warm to touch. Some sudden pain when extending my arm.
 
I've had a bad abscess that did heal on it's own,but looking back I was an idiot for not going to the ER.I would strongly urge you to go have it drained by a doctor.
 
Obviously the see a doctor advice is, as you said, the answer. I'm merely posting to add that attempting to drain it yourself is a recipe for permanent tissue loss, nerve damage, and spreading the infection.

If you are looking for anybody to tell you it might be okay to wait, or that they waited and everything turned out fine, in order to justify to yourself that you don't need to go, then you won't have to wait long. Remember it is your arm and you are the one who is going to be living with whatever decision you make so make sure you are the one who makes it.
 
^^ yes, I understand what u are saying. It just sucks because I lack the knowlege to determine the severity of my situation. When I look at pictures of abscesses, mine seems so minor. There is no ulcer, or opening whatsoever. It is also not noticable by a 3rd party. I know its there. I can feel it and the pain it is causing... but it is not "noticable". As I said before, most likely I will seek traetment, and I'm not looking for excuses not to. This is just a last ditch effort to make sure it is the best decision. Really, I'm not embarassed or scared to go. I live in atlanta ga and there is a hospital here that caters to low income people and they are always packed, they used to have a methadone clinic and still offer help for addiction sufferers. I think I will be treated fairly. So, the reason I dontwant to go if I don't have to: how bout an effin hole in my arm that will rival ANY track marks I have! Also I will have to make up something to tell people ya know? Don't worry, I would never let it get bad enough to cause any futher complications, and I think I'm done trying to drain it myself. I just wonder if maybe its not so bad, and I can avoid the pain and scarring that will surely be part of an er visit.
 
Just fucking go to the hospital and stop wasting time. Infections and tissue damage are usually not visible to the naked eye until it's too late, and honestly are you comfortable risking your arm in the hope it will self-heal?

You're going to have way more pain and scarring if you leave it alone. Doctors aren't there to cut your arm to shreds without a good reason. If rhey have to go digging int your tissue removing stuff then it honestly wouldn't have gone any better without care. In the best case they'll tell you it's fine, give you some Polysporin, and send you home.

There's a rule in first aid - If you don't know the condition of your (or your patient's) injury with absolute certainty (which you don't) then assume the worst.
 
^^whoa chill. No need to curse. I didn't say I planned on waiting days or anything. Like I said I have no fever etc... I plan to go tonight or first thing in the morning if there isn't a noticable improvement. I just wanted to see what people had to say before I go. I think I presented myself as a logical and intelligent person did I not? Just wanted some basis for comparison. I'm not on the verge of losing my arm :/
 
^It was a casual, perhaps slightly frustrated, swear from sekio and not judgmental yelling don't fret :). Though it is hard to convey tone o'er the internet eh?

Anyways we're here for logical and intelligent discussion and indeed there are some times when we can basically diagnosis injection complications over the internet and tell people to wait it out. Bright red, painful, and swollen after two days doesn't sound like just a missed shot that absorbs over a few hours. An irregular palpable mass underneath the skin doesn't sound like a hit nerve which would probably require a doctor anyways. It presents like an abscess, and whether or not the infection is spreading that is reason enough to get it checked out in an of itself methinks. As sekio said hopefully it's nothing, or you can be sent home to wait it out, or you can have it quickly dealt with.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out :)
 
Try to figure out if it's getting worse or better. Pain levels, inflammation, discoloration, and overall size of the effected area are all important signals.

If you can still feel the lump and it has been past 2-3 days, I would go to the ER - only because I have injected many times, micron filtered solution or not, and the "lump" tends to go away very quickly as I have never had an abscess.

With a micron filtered solution there is no pain with a subcutaneous injection and it goes away very quickly so I am not sure how to try to guess how long would have to pass to know for sure it's getting worse, but I would estimate more than 2-3 days.
 
Thank u all. And ditto about interpretting tone over the net. I'm not in the best mood myself today lol! As promised I have gone to the er since I decided it was NOT getting better.... I can feel heat coming off my arm. Just checked in. So far the nurse was really nice. I asked if she though I would have a scope gouged out of my arm and she could only say "hopefully not". So I'm still pretty pessimistic about that :/ overall, glad I'm here though. This thing hurts :( the idea of the expanding metropolis of staph under my skin was making me sick, eww.
 
Hmm. doc says it is cellulitus even though there is a spot that is harder than the rest. I hope she's right and antibiotics alone do the trick because my arm is literally throbbing at this point.
 
Glad to hear you went and it definitely turned out to be the correct decision! Hopefully you'll get the best of all worlds where it was an infection so going to the ER was justified but it is mild enough that it clears up in a day or so with penicillin :)
 
if we had a rep system here you would definetly get +1 for using your brain, good fellow BL'er
 
are a few weird looks really worth losing a fucking limb? kudos for thinking; it wasnt really so bad was it


...jesus
 
No, not sooo bad. Didn't have to have anything drained or anything. It was DEF the best decision though. By the time the doc came I was coming down with a fever and my ENTIRE arm was red. Pretty bad infection I guess... I still can't extend it today even though they gave me an IM shot of antibiotics :/ it is much better though.
 
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