Heroin serious lung and breathing issues after years of smoking black tar

[whos there]

in the spirit of harm reduction im putting this out there for anyone interested. i exclusively smoked high quality black (point dope no cheap shooter shit) on foil for almost 8 years, call it 7 with attempts at rehab and maintenance along the way. it wasnt the quality and it wasnt my technique, wasnt burning dope or scorching foil. im the rare kind of dopefiend that doesnt smoke cigarettes and i only really smoke weed when im not doing dope, which is not often. i know pack a day smokers twice my age who dont experience what i have recently.
my lungs are fucked. im only 28 and i cant do even the most modest form of exercise without getting short of breath, i was panting vaccuming the house yesterday. holding my breath for like ten seconds makes me gasp for breath. the last couple weeks i was still using id lay down to sleep and end up sitting up almost in tears because i felt i was struggling to breathe. it actually hurt to draw breath for a week or so. my lungs made this gnarly wheezing sound and id try to cough shit up but it didnt help. my voice sounds different and though it doesnt hurt now, its painfully obvious i fucked my shit up but good. i still feel short of breath most of the time, im scared to even smoke weed now and to think this was only heroin...most (99%) people i know smoke cigs too, cant imagine if id done that as well but i guess the tar from dope is worse than all the bullshit cigs have in them.
so beware fellow dragon chasers, dont keep at it for years and years like i did, it fucking sucks not being able to breathe. i want to like go outside and take a breath of fresh air cuz i feel like im suffocating but it doesnt help. im sure the foil didnt do me any favors but even if you dab or whatever youre still inhaling the sticky resin of crudely refined opium, and im here to tell you this shit aint no joke.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

If you quit your lungs may recover, they may not, I'm not sure. You can always quit.

 

[negrogesic]

You mentioned the word "dab"...Entirely off-topic, but did you mean to imply that people smoke tar heroin out of a dabbing rig? I've never heard of this (I wonder how well this would work).

In any case, it sounds like you could be experiencing symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Have you experienced any swelling in your lower extremities? You are probably going to want a lung function test, CT scan etc (along with discontinuation of the smoked heroin). If you're still using it in this route I'd recommend you reevaluate it as impaired lung function can get pretty miserable.

 

[whos there]

yea plenty of people do dabs of black, works great if you know what youre doing, i always sucked at dab rigs plus theyre not exactly mobile or easily concealed hence the foil. ive looked it up i probably do or will have copd, its super discouraging cuz everything i read says it only gets worse with time no matter how long you abstain. i honestly dont want to go to the dr just to get the bad news im sure theyll tell me and there really aint shit they can do it its gotten this bad, an inhaler wont help the best advice anyone can give is to quit smoking which is easier said than done given the nature of addiction. ive told myself now that if i feel the urge to score again next time its gonna be the needle, and ive avoided that route so far given that i know how quickly my life will spiral if i become an iv drug user. im pretty irresponsible and fiendish when it comes to substance abuse, if one thing goes in a vein everything will.

 

[Str8 Shewter]

That’s actually one of my biggest fears. I would smoke so much that I had hardcore, homeless addicts tell me they were worried about me. I remember getting the crackling lungs. People would tell me I sounded like I was dying. Got pneumonia for the first time in my life.

 

[Str8 Shewter]

yea plenty of people do dabs of black, works great if you know what youre doing, i always sucked at dab rigs plus theyre not exactly mobile or easily concealed hence the foil. ive looked it up i probably do or will have copd, its super discouraging cuz everything i read says it only gets worse with time no matter how long you abstain. i honestly dont want to go to the dr just to get the bad news im sure theyll tell me and there really aint shit they can do it its gotten this bad, an inhaler wont help the best advice anyone can give is to quit smoking which is easier said than done given the nature of addiction. ive told myself now that if i feel the urge to score again next time its gonna be the needle, and ive avoided that route so far given that i know how quickly my life will spiral if i become an iv drug user. im pretty irresponsible and fiendish when it comes to substance abuse, if one thing goes in a vein everything will.

Also in states where rec weed is legal, it pretty much gives you the ability to smoke H openly with no repercussions. People simply think you’re just dabbing weed in your car. I’ve spent hours sitting in someone’s car blazing H in this way, at first it seems surreal. Like we’re just smoking heroin out here in the open and no one is batting an eye?

 

[whos there]

That’s actually one of my biggest fears. I would smoke so much that I had hardcore, homeless addicts tell me they were worried about me. I remember getting the crackling lungs. People would tell me I sounded like I was dying. Got pneumonia for the first time in my life.

shits real. i got told it sounded like there was an alien in my chest, maybe poppies will flower and burst thru my esophagus alien style.
just ran across this old bumped thread and it sounds like alot of the same, only mostly from snorting dope. i did try snorting for a week or so at the end but i already was having trouble breathing so didnt notice a difference. im tempted to say its something in the dope but i know like 5 or 6 other people getting the same shit i do and theyre not wheezing and sounding like death