freaking out

[MikeH]

I just shot 5 bags of white H -- 15 minutes ago -- I was able to draw blood back, so I figured I hit a vein, but right after I emptied the needle, a big bulge formed on my wrist. Th swelling has gone down, but the area is still raised and white. I hope I'm not fucked up. Hopefully, I only wasted the shit by missing the vein...I don't want to go to the fucking hospital, obviously. Can anyone out there let me know what to expect? Thanks, Mike.

[nick]

Urr Mike man,what's this doing in the bup forum?

Your wrist should be sore for a few days before settling down,but if it doesn't improve or it deteriotes or you get a fever or nausea go to a hospital and tell them what happened.

Good luck.

[ProdigalSon]

Use a heating pad, heard it works

[george123]

Might become an abscess, don't worry, it's not as a big deal as people think. I had one and they just surgically removed it, took 5 minutes, and then they gave me some vicodins. You can't even really see a scar, except for the incision, which is pretty weird because the thing was the size of a tennis ball.

[HistoryofMadness]

well it probably won't become an abscess just use the heating pad as suggested and be easy on it, maybe massage it a little, most likely it'll be sore as fuck and raised and may even bruise but you'll know if its an abscess after a few days... don't worry man it happens all the time..

oh and it may get a little worse looking before it gets better, but if it keeps on getting worse, then you may have one...

[HeidiW]

get a wet wash cloth, put it in the microwave for 3o seconds and hold it on your wrist (as long as you can take it)

[MikeH]

Thanks for all the advice/feedback everybody -- I'm feeling much calmer now. I'll update my situation over the next coupla days so as to let everybody know how my wrist is. Again, I really appreciate everyone's comments as well as this site itself b/c it's such a wonderful resource for folks like us. Thanks for alleviating my anxiety.
-Mike H

[SDSEP]

might be a little late on this one.

What you need to do, is place your wrist in a salt bath for about 20 min a few times a day.
Also use a heat pack when you can. This will bring the abcess to a head. DON"T POP IT. You could get a nasty infection. This is only if it becomes an abcess, odds are you just wasted your shot.

[candy]

I just shot 5 bags of white H -- 15 minutes ago -- I was able to draw blood back, so I figured I hit a vein, but right after I emptied the needle, a big bulge formed on my wrist. Th swelling has gone down, but the area is still raised and white. I hope I'm not fucked up. Hopefully, I only wasted the shit by missing the vein...I don't want to go to the fucking hospital, obviously. Can anyone out there let me know what to expect? Thanks, Mike.


Two things first of all; 1) You may have taken the whole shot, but the wrist is a sensitive area to inject and swelling may just be a reaction of your body. 2) You missed the shot and it infiltrated, which means was injected into the tissues around the site. Your body will absorb it.
Did it hurt going in? You didn't mention that and when you miss, esp. in that area around the wrist, you are going to feel it. Did you pull back after you emptied you syringe and get blood. Some do and some don't to make sure they were in the vein.

If you did, in more sensitive areas of the body, example around the wrist, when ever we cause injury, such as a needlestick, an inflammatory response occurs and can cause those raised areas.

I would watch for signs of redness and increased swelling, pain, basically if the area starts to look worse. Try warm heating to the area for twenty minutes a few times a day. That will help the swelling go down and help the body absorb what is left there.

What you want to avoid is an abscess which is what I am basically saying.

Hope it improves and if not you can send me a message or post on the forum.

Be well.

[moviebuff927]

Sometimes, especially in places where you've been injecting a lot, you can draw back blood but when you inject, it pools under the skin. You can even pull back after that and still draw blood. I "think" it has to do with the valves in your veins, but I'm not sure. I've had this happen a lot recently, but once I see it starts to pool, I stop injecting. I always watch very closely when I inject just so I can make sure that it's not bubbling under the skin or it's not burning. I go to great lengths to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Warm compresses, as everyone has said, work miracles sometimes. Best advice for next time: Keep an eye on your injecting site, especially while injecting. Inject slowly and take not of any type of change at the injection site (like the pooling of blood under the skin) and stop if you notice even the slightest bit of bubbling. Most times you'll feel a little burn. That's always the telltale sign: the burn when you inject.

[MikeH]

Thanks for all the good feedback everybody. Thankfully, I didn't develop an abcess and the area is completely healed. The only evidence is a tiny mark where I poked myself with the syringe. I got lucky this time -- what a scary experience.
-Mike H