Injection Infection? Need help please!!

[Sitar]

Ok, I have what I think may be a serious problem and I need some advice or help from some veteran IV users. I'm going to take my time with explaining this situation, so please bear with me.

Here's the hypothetical situation. I can't explain WHY I chose to do something this stupid; it just happened. I guess I can blame being a little drunk. I have only IV'd drugs a couple times, but I've had a couple rigs lying around for ages.

Last night I hypothetically decided it would be brilliant to IV some generic Ambien; Zolpidem. I'd been sniffing it to good effect recently and decided it might be cool to take it to the next level. I was very clean about everything and loaded up a dose of 5 mgs. I poked my left hand, couldn't hit, so I switched arms and got the big vein on my right arm over the top of my wrist.

I felt the dose immediately, but it really wasn't any stronger or more effective than sniffing. So I decided to load the rig again and have some more. This is where it gets stupid (hypothetically).

I cleaned out the rig very thoroughly with Isopropyl alcohol and hot water, and I loaded another dose of Zolpidem. At this point, I was definitely impaired physically and didn't have the best coordination. I attempted to stab my left hand again for some reason, and actually managed to register some blood, so I thought I was good to go. I was wrong. Very very wrong.

I pushed in the whole amount in the rig before realizing that there was a big bubble under the skin where I was injecting. I had "blown" the hit, as I believe it's called. It didn't hurt, so I didn't worry at the time, and I've done shots of various things subcutaneously, so I didn't think it was any big deal that this happened. Until I woke up today....

My left hand now has a big spot about a couple inches in size. It's slightly swollen and pink. And it's painful. Very painful. What have I (hypothetically) done to myself?

Will this just go away in a couple days and I'll be fine (what I'm hoping), or will this be an infection? I feel so fucking stupid for this. If I lose my hand, I'll lose my life (I'm a musician).

I do have some Cipro (antibiotic) I could take just in case it's an infection. I really can't tell anyone about this and I'm broke, so medical attention is out of the question. I feel like such a junkie idiot right now.

HELP!

[nick]

Be cool bro,if you lose your hand you will not lose your life and I doubt you'll lose your hand.It could just be the missed shot and will subside in a couple of days.It could be an infection so take the antibiotics.If it gets worse,looks bad after 48 hours swallow your pride,stiff upper lip and seek medical aid.If you can't face your doc,many needle exchanges have nurses to care for iv wounds.Be calm,don't panic and good luck.

[madnesscult]

Use a hot compress (like a wash-cloth soaked in hot, hot water), and that should help. It's what I use whenever I miss a shot of H, and it works a hell of a lot better than ice (which one would think would work better for swelling).

Missed shots in the hands seem to be more severe and last longer than other areas. I've had my hand painful and swollen for up to a week after missing a good amount in my hand. So, give it a few days. I would say you probably won't need medical attention unless it gets worse over the next few days. As long as the situation is improving, you shouldn't be worried.

As for being infected, I'd say hold off on taking the antibiotics. Nothing you've said so far seems like it's infected, so if I were you, I wouldn't waste the meds. Now, if it gets worse after a few days, then it's probably infected and you should take them.

I'm just going from my personal experiences, and I'm sure Candy can give you some much better advice.

[Curio]

^^^moist heat is good...like a damp washcloth over the hand and put a heating pad gently on top...
some of the time it might even be good to keep an ace wrap around it to slightly compress it....help absorb the missed shot and keep the swelling down a bit...
take some advil (with food)....for the inflammation....

keep an eye on your temperature...

and don't feel badly...I did this very thing around april? may? with OC and ritalin and who the frig remembers what else trying to put everything in one "neat" shot, huh huh....and not only blew it -- I'd third spaced the entire load (if you laughed at LOAD, you aren't sick you FAKER!!)

Then I GOT so sick within hours I thought I'd not last the night (cotton fever)....teeth chattering so loud I swore he(so) would hear and come into the room to see what was up...yeah right, so anyway, then I pm'd or emailed Opi and Bi11i just so some would know why the fire medic chick was dead in her bedroom with a huge lump inside the elbow area!! Now, that's embarrassing!

[Sitar]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

So pain, swelling, and redness are typical results of a missed hit, and not necessarily indicative of damage or infection? And it usually goes away in a few days?

I'm just really upset and freaked out about this. Again, I have very little experience with IV stuff (and after this scare, I don't think I'll EVER mess with it again). It really hurts pretty badly.

[Curio]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

So pain, swelling, and redness are typical results of a missed hit, and not necessarily indicative of damage or infection? And it usually goes away in a few days?

I'm just really upset and freaked out about this. Again, I have very little experience with IV stuff (and after this scare, I don't think I'll EVER mess with it again). It really hurts pretty badly.
Yees yes & yes

keep us posted though, ok? hopefully candy will see this and post her recommendations...she's helped in these situations many times and has a lot of experience & training behind her!

also, you mentioned the top of the hand or wrist joint? try to rest the area, both above and below the joint .. or basically not bending the joint around or twisting it so that area can have some down time to move all that fluid, etc. out of there

Any numbness in your hand or fingers, fingertips?? If pain increases, swelling gets worse, numbness and/or tingling etc...these are things to watch along with your temperature and the temp. of the skin around the area...

[Duckfeet]

All the above advice seems good. Misses often ache. I've missed everything. Some drugs are known for causing abcesses--barbituates for one--mepergan, other shit it depends. *Most* stuff depending on what it was, and amount, just ached for a few days. *But* if it doesn't get better, and you'll be able to tell, you know, redness will increase, it'll get hotter, then trot down to see local doc, or emergency room, and they'll take care of it for you. Don't wait if it gets infected, or spreads, or you get fever go get it taken care of.

[HistoryofMadness]

two things:

1. I'm moving this to harm reduction so our nurse can have a virtual look.

2. You're cool as long as you DON'T FUCK with it... that will only irritate it, and as long as you keep putting a warm wet cloth on it ever 15 min or so, then off for a little while, etc...

It WILL be swollen for a while (week? depending on how much liguid, prlly more) and it WILL be sore to the touch much longer...

You're cool, man, just relax, keep your blood pressure down, and don't use that hand for strenuous stuf if not necessary!

And be more careful - hit slow, you should be able to see that bubble WAY before you get through the shot... if not you're not paying enough attention...

Good Luck.

[madnesscult]

HOM: good advice.

Sitar: if you're careful and pay more attention to what you're doing, IVing can be relatively safe. And yes, it'll probably last for at least a few days. As I mentioned before, in my experience, misses in the hand/wrist area tend to last a lot longer than in other areas, and I've had swollen and painful hands for up to 9/10 days.

If you do decide to IV in the future, just watch the area. If it burns, you're missing. If you see a bubble or any kind of swelling in the area you're injecting, you're missing. I would recommend registering a few times throughout the shot, especially if there's a lot of fluid. Like HOM said, do it slowly, so if you do miss, you won't have injected all that much by the time you notice it. Oh, and also, if you feel any resistance when pushing the plunger in, you may be missing also.

[Sitar]

OK, things are looking and feeling better today.

It's not quite as swollen. It's still a little pink, but actually not as much as yesterday. It still hurts, but not as severely as yesterday, so I think the prognosis is good. I think I get to keep my hand. :)

The problem was that I was already fucked up when I did it. The first shot went off without a single hitch. So by the time I got around to the second shot, I was more impaired than I thought I was. I can't believe I got that whole shot bubbled under there before I noticed. Whoops! But it was a lot deeper under the skin than I would have done a SC shot, so it was hard to see it happening at first, and I was quite intoxicated at the time.

The important thing is that my hand is getting better. Here's the scary part. Upon closer inspection, I've found 4 other puncture marks on my arm that I don't recall attempting at all. I was obviously way more fucked up than I thought I was or I wouldn't have tried that second shot. Lesson learned.

[kat1lifeleft]

Glad to hear your doing better!

[AWOL]

Glad it's looking better, I know missed shots are always crappy but that first one is downright frightful.



The times when I've fucked myself up the most were always when I was already intoxicated. Not only with IV'ing, but in other ways, like accidentally downing an entire bottle of Temazapam because I was too out of it to notice what I was doing. Or taking Seroquel after a DXM trip because I didn’t have my head on straight and ending up in ICU for 5 days. I’ve since become very VERY cautious whenever re-dosing, or adding anything to stop and do a check on how intoxicated I am. I usualy get scared straight and stop what I'm doing.