Medical consequence of Herion addiction

[lme]

I understand that long time Herion users can develop bacterial infections.  A person I am dating (in long time recovery) has large holes in his arms and legs because of these infections.  Am I in danger of contraction an infection?  Are there precautions I should take?

[zeraa]

im wondering about someone close to me if that person is using again. hes recovered now for about 3 month he used to inject it in his arms he has a scar from it as well. but today i seen that he has a bruised vein he says hes not doing it and i want to believe him but i was jus wondering if u knew an answer to my question/? can this happen if your not injecting needles anymore??

[HelpwHerion]

I have a friend that is having some of the same things going on with him.  He has opening on his legs.  I looks like a shark came up and bit a chunk out of his legs.  Both of them.  He has been addicted for over ten years too.  He was clean for about 4 years. But, in the past couple of years he has relapse several times.  He is now going to a Methadone clinic, but still continues to use about every three months or so.  I am really worried that he sores/wounds can get infected or worse be irriversible! they are starting to get an order to them. You know he won't go to the hospital.  The last time he did to get help, he just wanted the drugs they would prescribe and hit with a heafty hospital bill.  I don't know what to do.  He still goes to work, but he can bearly walk.  Anysight would be appreciated.

[HelpwHerion]

I have a friend that has been a herion addict for more than 10 years (on and off using).  He had it under control for about four years.  Then last year he relapsed.  He has since gone to a Mehedone clinic and has been going there for over a year now.  He still continues to use Herion every three month or so. He shoots up in his legs.  He has scars from the previous years and they will not go away.  Since his last relapse he has gotten very bad OPEN sores on both of his legs.  They are very gross.  He should be in the hospital I think, but he won't go - you know that.  I know he tried to go and get some help from the hospital, but all he got was taken to court for the bills.  I am concerned that his legs are infected.  The opening is about 5-6 inches long and 3-4 inches wide.  It looks like a shark bit a piece out of his leg.  I am very scared for his health and possible amutation!!  Can someone give me some insight on this matter.  

[mrmichael67]

You are going to suffer a lot.  Most people who are generally healthy can go through withdrawals without fear of dying.

[AlexisInTx]

Yes, usually with heroin or other narcotic withdrawal, the suffering can be acute, but if you're healthy (like mrmichael said), there is no risk of dying.

Benzodiazapines (i.e. Xanax, Valium, etc.) on the other hand, can cause seizures and death in some instances when stopped abruptly.

[Ig]

Hi,

I'd like to know if your addicted to herroine and you stop taking it without any treatment (ex: if you get lost on a treking expidition) can you die... or are you just going to suffer a lot...

thanx...

Ig.

[DrEviltimmy]

<<<<<Hepatitis C (which there is NO cure for),>>>>> Try Peg-Interferon + Rebetrol. now hep c free. Just have to get pain med free now. which was not to easy.

thx
timothy

[OxyDout]

that was a great post, and I completely agree with you.  I have #1 down, I think I'm definitely close to #2 and as for #3, well, I'm surrounded by my mom who is in the church chior, the prayer line etc....... my sister is the same way, HOWEVER, I unlike my mother and sister do not just accept everything, instead I question it, I mean there really is a lot to question and wonder about, right??  I talked to my priest yesterday, I told him I had issues, not very detailed, but in anycase, he told me, " you don't go to church to be like everyone else, you don't go just because you think you have to, you should only go to church if you think its a place that will make you feel welcome, no matter what you believe. I'm here to serve as a helper, I'm not here to make you believe and all that I do.  You have to do what makes you happy, and believe in only what you want to believe in."

He is an incredible source, he brought me through sunday school, confirmation, etc.....  So I think I can hopefully become more spiritual sometime down the road.  As for now, I'm still clean, I get a little better everyday, and everyday I feel more emotions coming back, its a great feeling.  If I even have a cigarette now, I get a panick attack, is that wierd??

thanks again skip,

GWH

[OxyDout]

i read the aderall (sp) post below, I didn't understand your post up here, but I did want to say I tried the same route and skipper couldn't be anymore right.  you take the aderall, you get to speedy and you search for an opiate, it sucks.  Take it from me, just tough it out, I'm on day 22 or 23 I lost count....... but im doing well.  Thanks skipper!

GWH

[tex3]

Hi all. I haven't posted much the past week or so, been super busy. Hope everyone is okay.

GWH - I'm so proud of you!!! I knew you could do this! How do you feel? This is the longest I think I've ever seen you go since I've been around here. Looks like you made it past the hump. Hang in there. How's the leg? Full update, please!

Alexandra - are you feeling any relief? When I still had chronic pain, my addiction doctor put me on buprenex strictly for pain relief. For me it was a lifesaver. It blocked the effects of other narcotics (which trust me, I tried) and gave superb pain relief without a buzz. I did not get addicted to it, nor did I abuse it, although at first I experimented to see what happened if I took more. Since it's a partial agonist/partial antagonist, it loses effectiveness when taken at higher doses. I functioned fine on it. I had only very mild physical withdrawal when I quit (tired, a little weepy). If you have to take a drug for pain relief, this is the one to take, in my book. Any doctor can prescribe it for pain relief, and it is not scheduled like vicodin or others (I think it's a 4, but not sure). However, many doctors don't know much about it yet. Just an idea...although I know others who have more problems with it, most I know loved it.
tracy

[skipper]

gwh:
hey 3 weeks...that's as good of start as i've ever seen from you
since you started posting here. i get really "uncomfortable" when
i get going with the advice. i tend to offend people, or at any
rate really turn people off when i give advice. that said, allow me a moment of your time....

recovery from addiction  has 3 basic components:
1) physical
2) emotional
3) spiritual

ok so #1 is pretty obvious. you like to go to the gym. you've al-
ready demonstrated your willingness to become physically healthy.
workouts, proper diet...for whatever it's worth, i think you will
do very well with #1.

now #2. keep in mind this is kip's take on things, ok? when i first cleaned up my hand, i had over a decade of using all the drugs i could squirt into my arm. i was in my early 30's. i could carry everything i owned in a small suitcase. i thought i knew up
from down, but that's about it. i did have the great fortune to
be in the company of people who saw i was something more than the
pile of dirt-**** i thought i was. i don't know why, but for the
first time in my life i started to listen and take direction from
someone else. within the first couple years i had a wonderful
woman who is now my wife. i had a job that lasted longer than 2
months. things started happening to and for me that i had given
up hope for....

now what about #3?
well my  third grade perfect attendance to sunday school didn't
hurt me....but it didn't do **** for me either. i wouldn't say i
was an atheist, because that was just too much work....i was as the program talk puts it " spiritually bankrupt." i used to worry
about the spiritual component of recovery. i had no idea how to
aquire spiritual recovery. and then one day i woke up and felt
really good. good like i'ld never felt before. it kind of freaked
me out. a friend explained it to me. it was "spiritual recovery!"
how did this happen? i did nothing to get it. turns out, if you
work at the physical and emotional stuff, sooner or later the
spiritual part just kind of came along on it's own...

gwh, i really don't know very much. every day something happens
that lets me know how little i do know. i think i was addicted to
drugs in the first year i started using them. i will be "recover-
ing" (hopefully) from drug addiction for the rest of my life. 'ya
know i still scheme and scam...and god (or whatever) laughs at my
plans.

hope ya got something besides bored out of all this. my point is,
i believe recovery from addiction is a life-long thing. any how
i don't see kip getting all better anytime soon. just remember-
i'm going to love all of you, and there isn't a damm thing any of
you can do about it!

so...keep an angel on your shoulder
kip

[OxyDout]

well, I was thinking about that today and I actually have many events which are contingent (sp) to my financial situation................ ENGAGEMENT in about 1.5 yrs, which will include an expensive ring.............. a condo within 3 years which will need a large downpayment...... etc.........  I have stayed sober long enough to see the difference it can make on my life, and although I'm still not there, I do see all the positives and I don't see myself going back to it, I just don't.

I got a call from "my guy" a week ago, he asked where is last "installment" was, but he was nice about it.  I told him I just couldn't come back up there because I didn't want to deal with it yet.  He understood and told me he absolutely refused to sell me anything........ the point being if a dealer is telling you to stop, well then thats pretty bad........... anyway, I believe this is day 22, i have sort of lost track, but anyway, you make a good point groovy, but I think I have it covered between becoming more responible, NEEDING money and ABSOLUTELY LOVING THE GYM!!!!

[1fortheroad]

hi - what happens when the new car excitement wears off?  i really worry about your long-term plan for sobriety.  you've come a long way, and i'd hate to see you slip now...

[OxyDout]

I'm doing well, my leg is calming down, but I still feel like ****, everyday I hope to wake up and feel less aggitated and more energetic, and every day I wake up and hate the world........ I need some type of pep talk, please help! My new car is the only thing holding me together!!!

GWH

[the mick]

Thanks for all of the information everyone.  Yes, my doctor knows I am an opiate addict, that's what got me into all of this anti-depressant stuff.  My biggest fear right now are panic attacks, which have occurred regularly since I stopped taking Oxycontin.  The worst part is I'm a full time musician, so I am scared to death of having a panic attack on stage in front of 1,000 people.  Hopefully, the Ativan will decrease the amount of panic attacks.  Michael, thanks so much for all of your help, and everyone else too.  Hope everyone is getting along okay.  
                                          The Mick

[mrmichael67]

My drug of, should I say no choice, is morphine.  I have no choice but to take it or live with pain, which I will not do.  I had two failed spinal fusions with nerve damage and arthritis in my lower back.

[the mick]

I have just had my first hopeful moment since my departure with Oxycontin two weeks ago.  I sat on my couch and stared out the window, and for the first time in years my future looked bright.  I felt free.  I have to go out of town this weekend, and I realized that I don't have to worry if I'm going to have enough Oxys to get me through the weekend.  It was the best feeling I have had in a long time.  I am finally free.
                                               The Mick

[alexandra_r]

I last shot drugs over 10 years ago and have permanent discolorations on both my arms, as well as terrible scarring on my inner arms and hands.  As far as I know, these will never go away.  I'm not too sad about this, because it is a constant reminder of where I DON'T want to be EVER again!

[Salene]

I have a question for anyone....do the scars from shooting up ever go away?  My husband who started out shooting cocaine but now smokes crack, has terrible dark purple scars all over his arms from wrist to shoulder almost.  He did get an abcess from injecting the same spot and missed a vein.  He thinks they will go away either over time or with putting stuff on them (retin-a, vit E oil, etc) but I'm hearing he's stuck with them.  Not that it matters now that he's strung out on crack and only God knows where right now! but just wondering.. THANKS...
jsm

[alexandra_r]

Mr. Michael--you just added to my confirmation that I _do not_ want to have a spinal fusion.  That's what 2 dr's (1 neurosurgeon and 1 orthopedic) told me I had to do to correct my herniated disc.  They say they can't do a simple discetomy because of the location (L4 - L5) and because I have bad disc degeneration as well.  I read this article (in Harper's I think) a couple of months ago, written by a surgeon who also had fusion for his back--it was called "Knife in the Back"--I can't remember the Dr's name, but it began with an "S."  After reading that article, I decided I would never get a fusion because he said that it fails more than 50% of the time.  So, I figure the devil I know is better than the devil I don't.  My back is killing me--but I am going to try to get through withdrawals before I decide if I can live with it or not.  It's very hard--I know the usual pain in muscles and joints that goes along with withdrawal (God knows, I know), but today it feels like there is a burning knife in my lower back and I have horrible electric pain that is running down the back and side of my right leg.  I have been up since 4:00 a.m. icing my back.

[alexandra_r]

I live in CA.  I have a terrible HMO--and would not trust any of their doctors to cut me.  I have Kaiser, if anyone is familiar with it--they are horrible!  But, I have the option to switch to either Cigna or Blue Cross (although more expensive, worth it, I think) in October with my job, at which point I do plan on going to another doc.  I chose Kaiser originally because of no co-pay on office visits, and 5 dollar prescriptions (and I was in grad school at the time, so no $).  Do you have any suggestions for a good orthopedic surgeon around the San Francisco area?

[mrmichael67]

They can do a laminectomy at that level.  I don't know why they are telling you that.  But, you are right, fusions have a high failure rate.  I am 34 years old and this has been going on for four years now.  I actually first injured my back when I was 18.  I can only imagine where I will be when I am 44 or 54.  It scares me, to be honest.  My second doctor said that the first should have done just a laminectomy, not a anterior/posterior bak fusion (with the titanium cages).  He said it was way too agressive.  Get another opinion.  What state do you live in?

[OxyDout]

the mick, I think you wrote about the prescription of ativan and an anti-depressant, anyway.  If you meant .05 (half a mg) then that is a very low dose and I would not worry about getting addicted.  However, I don't know you very well, so please go forward with precaution.  I know I hate valium,ativan etc.......it puts me to sleep its very annoying, anyway, I would be careful just do as mrmichael says.  TAKE IT AS PRESCRIBED.....
The anti-depressants I would watch out for, I have heard on numerous occasions that they can be addicting, and if you think about it, why wouldn't they be?? Does your doctor know about your addiction problem? Either way, tell him your nervous about taking the prescriptions, ask him if you can get addicted, etc....... he should be able to tell you everything.  Keep your head up, your on your way.  


Side Note:  THIS IS MY 20TH DAY SOBER!!!!!!!!!

[theonlybenzoaddct]

I'm arecovering benzodiazepam addicit. My Family docter Put me on Xanax, and paxil. I just want to say ya that the benzo he precribed(adivan)can be VERY addictive. Even in small amounts for 3-4 weeks. The paxil, thats even worse. I went through worse w/d from the paxil including brain Zaps(where i get really annoying electric zaps in the noodle. Not to mention fatiug(sp) roller coaster moods as if pmsX3, insomnia,and panic and horrible anxiety. Plus you have no labido. Believe me on this Mick. I am also a X opiate abuser, and the w/d with the benzo's and SSRI'S can be worse that opiate w/d. I know this sounds like Im trying to scare you but I'm not. Just type PAXIL WITHDRAW ant yahoo, or google. You'l find a plethera of people who Think paxil is da deble! Just be carfull.

                              BenzoAndy