From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: Cellulitis Blues Date: 1995/10/18 newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard Babalon wrote: >I don't have any friends that >use as well anymore so I'm wondering about a few things. First, what is >cellulitis? Just can't wait to get that one...and how do I prevent it? Also, >this particular thing has happened twice now; I insert the needle, flag at >which point I notice I'm in a vein...I start to inject and then withdraw the >needle at which point my entire arm feels like scalding water just shot >through from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. You hit an artery Babalon. You need to remember the old junkie maxim in such situations: "If it's black, whack it back, If it's red, danger ahead!" You go by the colour of the blood. If the blood is very dark, close to black, it's in a vein. If it's lighter, almost pink, then you're in an artery. Shooting into arteries is a _very_ dangerous business, and I've known several people lose arms and legs as a result of mistakes like this. Take care. ==================================================================== From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: Cellulitis Blues Date: 1995/10/19 newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard In article <463m6i$9ke@park.interport.net>, a@b.c (Bayer Baby) wrote: >I hit an artery once (or so I surmised at the time and have confirmed since) >with similiar consequences to my countrywoman's. What I want to know is Peter, >what makes hitting in arteries so much more dangerous?? The fact that whatever > contaminants/solids might be in the shot would go directly to tissue in the >extremities, perhaps causing blockages in a capillary?? This is precisely the problem. The blockages then prevent oxygenation of the extremities causing gangrene, which spreads incredibly rapidly. If you're very lucky, like my friend Cav, you may just end up with the tips of your fingers turning black, but very slowly gettting better. Much more likely was what happened to my friend Alan, who lost a finger. But last year I visited a woman in hospital who had lost her whole leg at the buttock. Given that she worked as a prostitute this did serious damage to her earning capacity. AFAIK, she hasn't yet tapped into the specialist market of amputee fetishists. Of course, this is much more likely if you are shooting pills, but capillaries are small, and particulate matter in a cut could quite easily have the same impact. ==================================================================== From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: injecting into groin Date: 1996/02/08 newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard (Roydon) wrote: >I have been an intra-venous drug user for about 15 years. I have been >on a script for methadone amps for around 1 year. Before that my >injecting was irregular, sporadic although not infrequent. I used to >inject street heroin and cocaine, also pharmeceuticals including >various amps and also pills (filtered and unfiltered), including >palfium, diconal, phyceptone, valium, ritalin and dexedrine. >My veins have always stayed healthy and large; no abcesses, lumps or >collapsed or thrombosed veins (although the skin around my favorite >fixing sites has become somewhat scarred.) Been there, done that. :-) > However, within the relatively short time I've been using 50 mg >concentrated (in 1ml water) methadone amps, the veins in my arms have >disappeared extremely rapidly so as to become unusable. > I'm left with a difficult choice. Feeling unable to give up >injecting, I have to now use the femoral vien in my groin. I am very >worried about the possible long and short term harm this may cause me. >The main point I want to make however, is how damaging these >concentrated amps seem to be. They seem to damage the tissue directly, >and who knows what damage is done to the blood. I believe that you're mistaken about this. I suspect that it's really just the fact that you've been doing it longer. How on earth could a drug that is made for injection have this impact?. >I would like to warn everyone about these concentrated amps. Also, I >would like information about injecting into the groin, ie. the >relative positions of the artery to vien etc OK. feel in the crack where your leg meets your torso until you find a pulse. That is the femoral artery. The femoral vein will be two fingers width in from the artery. You should be very careful here, because the two vessels can get twisted together. Always draw back and check the blood. If it's bright pink, it's arterial blood. Take the works out immediately, and apply heavy pressure to the wound until the bleeding stops. If the blood is black, you can shoot it in. You will probably need an inch long needle to actually reach the vein. Most people use a blue needle, but if you can find a long orange, you will do less damage to the tissue. [...] ==================================================================== From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: the risks of an ongoing daily i.v use of methadone Date: 1996/09/29 newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard >Do you know anything about adverse sequelae of injecting methadone >_tablets_? I advised a friend not to do this, relaying the comment of a >former a.d.h-er that the starch fillers would either not dissolve or would >require so much cooking to be dissolved that the meth would be >"destroyed", so that trying to shoot her pills would just be a waste of >drugs. But what if one injected partially dissolved cellulose? Could the >results be similar to the ones you mention? And what about this idea of >"destroying" the methadone? Does such a thing happen? (I may have >misinterpreted my "advisor" regarding this point). Not specifically methadone tablets, but this applies to shooting any tablets not made specifically for injection. (In the UK, they used to produce heroin 'jacks', 10 mg tablets made specifically for injection. You drop one in the works and it goes clear with a little shake.) If you are going to shoot tablets, my experience was that cooking didn't break them down any further than the solution would allow. The most efficient method was to break the pill into quarters, drop the quarters into a barrel, draw up some just-boiled water and shake the works until the tablets dissolve completely. This produces a solution though, and the filler remains as particulate matter. Tablet fillers are sometimes more than simple starch, and in some tablets can contain silicone. Shooting any tablets will cause thrombosis of the veins eventually. Only today I met a friend who has just come out of hospital with deep vein thrombosis Ñ a blockage in the big femoral vein. More serious (in the sense that you really have to act fast) is when you shoot tablets into the artery. The blood carries the particles to the extremities where they block the small capillaries and prevent oxygen reaching them. This causes gangrene, which has a pretty rapid spread. As I said, I've known a number of people lose tips of fingers, whole fingers and one working girl who lost her whole leg Ñ amputated at the buttock, though accidentally shooting temazepam into her femoral artery. If this happens (and you'll know about it because the pain is immediate and excruciating) go straight to hospital. How much of your body they save will depend on how soon you get there. I've known people go immediately and keep their fingers, others go after a few hours and lose them. The girl who lost her leg went within 48 hours of doing it. The problem is that people using downers and opiates may mask the pain by getting obliterated. If you do feel pain in your extremities after shooting up, go straight to hospital. Shooting up is always a risky business. Shooting pills is much more risky than shooting powders made for injection ==================================================================== From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: HELP! Lumps in the Veins !! Date: 1997/03/18 Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard > I am trying to find out information on lumps caused by IV >heroin injection. These lumps are initially painful and are either at >the location of the vein (which are no longer visible), or slightly to >the side of them. Could be either thrombosis or an abcess. If it's _in_ the vein, it's thrombosis. If it isn't, it's an abcess. > Do these lumps go away?? How long does it usually take. Do Depends on what they are. If they are abscesses, then yes, but you may need antibiotics if they get worse before they get better. If they are thrombosis (clots or blockages caused by crap in the dope) then they probably wont go away. You don't want them to. You want them to stay where they are. If they start moving, that's a problem. >they pose a health risk. Some health risk. Thrombosis on the surface veins isn't anything to worry about particularly. The blood system interprets thrombosis as damage and routes around it. If its in deeper veins, you might have a problem. Keep your eyes open for either swelling or an open wound developing. If either happens, see a doctor fast. >How common are vein problems under sterile >conditions, and close scrutiny to not missing. Help! More than you'd think. Year before last, I lost a friend who only ever used sterile pharmaceutical drugs and sterile equipment to endocarditis -- which he may have picked up from his skin as the sterile needle went in. IV drug use can never be 100% safe. You pays your money... ==================================================================== From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: Flesh-eating bacteriea (was Re: Kicking the Heroin Habit) Date: 1997/04/27 Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard In article <33610a06.34096683@news.earthlink.net>, anon@penet.fi (Crash) wrote: >You can also easily get what appears to be a flesh eating >virus by missing the vein with a speed ball. >It is from whatever nasty shit that is cut into the cocaine. > I saw it happen to a friend of mine, and the cure was quite >disgusting as well as extensive and costly. I will spare you the gory >details. Just make sure you never miss with a speed ball. It's not really a flesh eating virus. It's actually an abscess where the infection gets out of control and so becomes ulcerated because of damage to the blood vessels preventing a fresh supply of blood to that area of the flesh. You can get them from injecting plain old heroin and cocaine as well as from speedballs, and they are usually treated by a combination of antibiotics, and packing the wound with some gunk and then covering it with a dressing. But the gunk has to be cleaned out every day or so, and fresh gunk put in so as to keep air getting at the wound. They can get really nasty. I've seen one guy whose legs were covered in them.. huge things, as big as your hand. I believe they are identical to something called 'tropical ulcers', a condition that occurs when people get infections in tropical countries, but I may be wrong about this. ==================================================================== From: (Peter McDermott) Subject: Re: heroin preparation Date: 1996/10/25 newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard >i really only know about tar as it was what i was on. you have to put the >brown lump in a spoon with a little water. heat the water with a lighter >until the tar turns to mush and then use a small object plunger of the 'fit > to mix the water and the mush. then throw a tiny >piece of cotton in and draw the liquid up into the barrel. be SURE to get >the air bubbles out of it or you could get a bubble in the bloodstream >which can be FATAL. Nah, this is a myth. I've been shooting bubbles all my life with no ill effects. You'd need to shoot a big 20ml works full of air to run a real risk. ==================================================================== From: Xstacy Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard Subject: The drama continues... Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 20:40:29 -0400 Well, being a person who has always had the ability to laugh at myself, when I have done something stupid. I thought I would go ahead and tell my ordeal, and give all you experienced IV users a good chuckle... Yeah, I'm the one who thought I might have hit an artery my first time trying IVD... anyway, I was ready for my second attempt. Well I tried the 7 pills this morning. For starters I think part of my problem is the needle I'm using, it's 5/8 long so I only poke it in like 1/2 way. Well trying to keep the needle only in half way, and pushing the plunger, with one hand is hard! (aahhh I just got an idea... Oh yeah this should work.. Ya know how when you give blood or get an IV, the put the needle in, and TAPE it to your arm to hold it in place... Now if I do that, that should help keep me from pushing in to far, and help steady the needle...) If I decide to give it another try I'll do that, so anyway back to my story.. Loaded the needle with my 7 tabs, now diluted in water, and tried to hit the big vein on the side of my wrist, behind my thumb. Tried 2X but the skin was kinda tough and it just wasn't working to well, couldn't seem to find the vein, I kept moving it around poking proding, and was starting to gross myself out, so figured it was best to try a different area. So as I'm looking at my arm to find another spot, I can't help but notice the huge bulging vein on the back of my hand, smack dab in the middle! So I went for it, pulled some blood in, then started pushing out, and I must have either went through the whole vein or I don't know what, cause as soon as I started pushing, it hurt like a mother fucker and I could see the skin puff up! I knew from previous posts that, that was not a good sign (thanks guys!) So, I took it out right away. Now I'm starting to get pissed.. I look at the clock, I should have left for work 5 minutes ago!! I feverishly start checking out my foot, tried one prick there, no luck! No I was really getting anxious, and late, so I said fuck it, and jammed it in my arm, same place as last time. Got it there with out much of a problem. Then when I pulled the needle out and threw it down to grab a cotton and apply pressure (this is unbeleivable, but I have wounds to prove it) as I threw the needle and moved to grab the cotton the needle jammed right into my middle finger, like a damn dart! Only me... it could only happen to me.. and naturally that managed to hit a vein, so blood spewed out of my finger. So now here I am a mess, my table looks like Jack the Ripper stopped by... My arm hardly bruised at all, But the rest of me..was a mess! The back of my hand was the worst.. big bruise, very puffy, and hurts like HELL!! Two small needle pricks in the side of my arm (which no one would really notice but me) Then of course the finger has an impresive bruise as well. Worst thing was... still no damn buzz!! This is starting to suck! I only have 15 pills left, and I have 24 days left till I get a refill!! Do I take the chance and do all 15 pills.. if it doesn't work that leaves me totally out with no buzz.. am I loosing the meth when I soak it in water, all pull it up through the cotton? Should I just snort the damn things? Being that I have so few left, I was trying to inject them to get the optimal results... but I still haven't gotten any. HELP!! I am all ears..