Harm Reduction A Worst Case Injecting Scenerio

[jhjhsdi]

It was a used syringe with blood from 2 weeks ago with cocaine and a pullback mushroom of blood I didn’t push all but halfway cause I puked, the rest of that shot fucked me up good and not in a good way

2 weeks wow i thought if it had blood in for more than a few hours it was a write off!

 

[Deru]

It was a used syringe with blood from 2 weeks ago with cocaine and a pullback mushroom of blood I didn’t push all but halfway cause I puked, the rest of that shot fucked me up good and not in a good way

You got seriously lucky, for sure. I've injected old coagulated syringes weeks old too, in my dark days, and well... I didn't have luck on my side.

I remember one time it felt like my bones were ice, I had a 105 degree fever, and I curled up on my bathroom floor with the heating floor maxed out in front of this tiny heating unit I had added and the house thermostat set to 80.... this is of course before I lost my house to foreclosure. It is utter insanity to think of those days and to realize my brain actually sent out signals to behave that way.

 

[OpiateKiller]

You got seriously lucky, for sure. I've injected old coagulated syringes weeks old too, in my dark days, and well... I didn't have luck on my side.

I remember one time it felt like my bones were ice, I had a 105 degree fever, and I curled up on my bathroom floor with the heating floor maxed out in front of this tiny heating unit I had added and the house thermostat set to 80.... this is of course before I lost my house to foreclosure. It is utter insanity to think of those days and to realize my brain actually sent out signals to behave that way.

Brother when you are acting in a way influenced by any real deal substance, whether it be opiates, cocaine, stimulants or benzos... there is no need for explanation, at least to me.

I

 

[DopeSound]

So are they just formed in the blood stream from (heavy) IV use? Pretty scary stuff man.
I bet it was scary in the hospital what they said about the scar tissue!
I get paranoid when i get an abscess that it will pop under my skin and leak into blood stream, maybe it could happen that way too?
I dont want to go to sleep now lol i still have a massive lump on my hand although almost all of the green coloring has gone now.
Hows the hospital visit treating you this time? I was in for a completely unrelated to drugs reason and they were really nice at the very start but as soon as they struggled to get an IV line in me and i told them i was an IV user and they saw the abscess on my hand I swear they started treating me real differently.
All the best buddy i mean that

The hospital

First, let me say that is truly scary and I'm so happy you we're able to get to a hospital.

I'd be curious to find out some more information.



If you weren't injecting into your neck, what was causing the abscesses? By the time it would reach your carotid arteries, anything injected into the venous system would have made it through pulmonary system capillaries. Was there some type of secondary cause, like venous insufficiency or something that allowed leakage?

There was no complications in your heart, heart valves, pericardium or lungs and only specifically in your neck with no injection into the neck?



What type of steroids? That sounds terrifying, as giving steroids to someone with an infection such as yours can lead to death, as it lowers your immune system. Why the need for concurrent antibiotics and steroids? I've never heard of cocnurrent intravenous steroid and antibiotics.



Are you receiving any treatment for neuorpthy?

All it takes to get an abscess in your spine is a few bacteria finding their way in there. As previously stated there is bad blood flow in the spine so it is difficult for the bacteria to get there, but once inside they have basically free reign because the white blood cells can barely get to them to fight infection from lack of blood flow. The abscesses then form because the bacteria have no where to go and grows faster than they can leave the spine. I was lucky in that I had no other complications. I do not remember the specific name of the steroids they were giving me, but two of the four antibiotics were cephapine and vancomycin. The reason for the steroids in combo with antibiotics was to reduce the swelling around the abscesses/infection as to stop it from pushing on my spinal cord any further and causing more damage or having it paralyze my heart/lungs.

 

[raising_da_piggy]

I’m not sure if you answered this but I didn’t read all posts - did you reuse needles? Did you clean them? How long did you reuse needles? And what was your water source? Did you filter your heroin with cotton?

I’ve been an IV drug user and IM steroid user for years, and I know I’m not immune but by the grace of God I’ve never had an infection or abscess. Would like to keep it that way. A few times I injected old blood and got a horrible fever, shakes, etc but was better in 12 hours

 

[OpialiciouslyMe]

Where on earth did you get the information steroids compromise your immune system? Quite the contrary and in-line with all other reasons why they are used in the first place, they boost all major systems of the human body

Are you joking? Steroids as in corticosteroids are immunosuppressant and given for example after transplants to prevent rejection. They work by suppressing the immune system and that's why they're also used for autoimmune conditions. I bet you were thinking of steroids bodybuilders use... Those are not used medically in a hospital lol.
Evidence of what I've just explained at this link from the NHS so reputable source in case you were to question it. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/steroids/

"Steroids also reduce the activity of the immune system, which is the body's natural defence against illness and infection."
That's also why giving them while an infection is active is really crazy as you're killing your body defences but if OP says so there must have been a reason medically and we don't know the whole medical situation in detail.
They're talking about corticosteroids of course in that link and quote.
Quite amazed that someone would mix up corticosteroids and anabolic steroids. They're two completely different things. Never heard of cortisone as a steroid? It's the classic one that it's even otc (hydrocortisone creams).

As for OP with MRSA usually they give you vancomycin IV as other antibiotics are pretty much ineffective against resistant bacteria like those. That's a very potent antibiotic and pretty much last resort.