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Heroin shot into an artery

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rosegardengreen

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Sep 25, 2011
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Hello there. This is my first post. I have browsed a little bit, trying to find some advice but came up empty. I know this has been a topic before but I feel my situation is a little different. 2 nights ago I shot heroin into the artery on my wrist. It swelled up near the injection and hurt like hell. Then it appeared that about 2 inches of the artery that I shot up into had turned red under my skin. I waited about 5 hours and finally went to the ER. the doctor put my hand under water & used some weird machine to see if the blood was still flowing, he said it was. and he clarified that i had indeed shot into an artery. he told me to heat it, ice it, and hold it up for a few days, and come back if it started to look discolored, but he thought it would be ok. then he walked away and i ran like hell to avoid a medical bill. the vein is back to looking greenish blue under my skin but it still hurts, like a dull throbbing pain, and although i have feeling in my fingers, they feel weird, like.. strained. i am scared shitless that i am going to get gangrene and have to get my fingers cut off or that i did some kind of nerve damage or something. and i cant really go back to the hospital so i dont know, maybe this is just normal recovery but im worried that it still hurts 2 days later.. any knowledge that can be dropped?
 
Really, the safest thing is to go back to hospital.. there is no substitute for a doctor being able to look at your hand and examine it in person. That is what I would advise you to do.

However, if you don't do this - to test the blood supply to your hand, press your nail down for 5 seconds, hard enough to turn it white, then let go. It should refill and become pink again within 2 seconds. If it doesn't, please get yourself some medical help immediately. You don't want to wait til the signs of gangrene start - by then it would be too late..

In terms of nerve damage, again you really need a doctor to examine your hand. It would be unlucky to hit a nerve as well as the artery, and presuming you hit your radial artery (same side as your thumb) the nerve nearest to it only supplies a tiny part of your hand, near the base of your thumb - but there is absolutely no way we can rule out nerve damage over the internet, I'm sorry..

Arteries have their own nerve supply, and do hurt when they are injected into, so this could be why you are still in pain. I understand about not having the money to go to hospital, but if you are worried, this really isn't something you want to risk.. it is a good sign that there was blood flow when you want to hospital, though, as the main problem is usually arteriospasm immediately after you inject into it.

Good luck <3
 
In my opinion and keep in mind I'm not a DR. you have missed the vein and pumped the smack under the skin also hitting a nerve. I agree with the doc ice heat ice heat in a few days you be fine.
 
the thing is, i did go to the hospital and the doctor didnt pay much attention or seem to care much. he told me i hit an artery but that the blood flow was ok, and i should just monitor it for discoloration. but he didnt say anything else, like if it was normal or not to be feeling pain after a few days or what would happen before the discoloration to warn me to come in before it was too late. i obviously cant go back to the same hospital, i would and WILL go to another one if i feel it really is serious, just as it is now i dont know if its serious or not. it hurts but i can move my fingers, they arent numb, but they do feel strange, i cant really describe the feeling in them its like something ive never felt before. i dont need people to tell me to go to the hospital, although i do appreciate the concern, i was more looking for someone who knows if it's ok that my wrist is hurting, if that is just natural and it will still get better..? i passed the fingernail test btw, the blood flow seems ok.
 
Passing the fingernail test doesn't mean it's okay, I worded it badly. It was more that if you failed, you needed to get to a hospital ASAP.

It is completely impossible for us to say if you are going to be okay or not, and the consequences of it not being okay are pretty severe.. far too much to risk imo.

As I said, good luck <3
 
rosegardengreen said:
Hello there. This is my first post. I have browsed a little bit, trying to find some advice but came up empty. I know this has been a topic before but I feel my situation is a little different. 2 nights ago I shot heroin into the artery on my wrist. It swelled up near the injection and hurt like hell. Then it appeared that about 2 inches of the artery that I shot up into had turned red under my skin. I waited about 5 hours and finally went to the ER. the doctor put my hand under water & used some weird machine to see if the blood was still flowing, he said it was. and he clarified that i had indeed shot into an artery. he told me to heat it, ice it, and hold it up for a few days, and come back if it started to look discolored, but he thought it would be ok. then he walked away and i ran like hell to avoid a medical bill. the vein is back to looking greenish blue under my skin but it still hurts, like a dull throbbing pain, and although i have feeling in my fingers, they feel weird, like.. strained. i am scared shitless that i am going to get gangrene and have to get my fingers cut off or that i did some kind of nerve damage or something. and i cant really go back to the hospital so i dont know, maybe this is just normal recovery but im worried that it still hurts 2 days later.. any knowledge that can be dropped?
Click to expand...

I experienced the same thing, and never went to the ER. My hand was kinda puffy and it hurt to touch, but after 3 or 4 days it returned to normal, just keep following the doctors orders
 
I did that exact same thing last time I shot. Did you get that electric burning sensation? I sure did..hurt like a bitch. Anyways, not that its the same with every person but I too got a dark semi greenish bruise on my hand. It went away tho. I think its just a bruise. Although once I'm not sure what happened, I was injecting in the middle of my arm (underside) and when I poked it hurt really bad so I pulled out before injecting and this big bruise almost immediately formed. Its now been 6 months and its still about the size of a pea. If you aren't in pain and if you think the ice/hot thing is working then I'd say you're probably OK..but if you think you should seek medical attention then do it aSAP before it gets worse.
 
If anything I would go back in 48 hours if your symptoms are not getting any better or gets worse. The safest route, as everyone has said, would be to go back to the doctor again (different hospital) just for a second opinion. If they don't think it's a concern either then at least you have the piece of mind. While you're there this time maybe try and get more detail. Ask if that is just bruising so you'll know what's going on with it. I'm sure if it gets severe enough you'll be more afraid to not go to the doctor than to go so hopefully you'll know that line before it's too late. Good luck.
 
Best idea would be to go to another hospital and don't worry about your medical bill. It can be worked out later with the hospital with $10 monthly payments and such.

Someone I know well hit a nerve while injecting and couldn't really feel part of his hand for 2 weeks. It's fine now.

I read many case studies on artery shots and the worst problems (amputations) are mostly in pill injections due to the binders/insoluble. But you might want to do more research on this part.

Why don't you try and find a county hospital/clinic and get it checked out just to make sure its ok. It's your hand afterall.
 
I'm pretty sure this isn't helping the guy out at all. He's being told 3 things to do at once. Go to ER, Fuck the ER, Wait and then maybe go back to the ER.
He doesn't know what to do lmao. Not a laughing matter, but I'm kind of laughing at how this is going down. You might as well just say put all the post #'s in a bag and draw one randomly. Then follow that advice.
 
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