help ! pain and swelling in crook of ankle after shooting methadone liquid

[clinton (OP)]

I ived 50 mgs of liquid sugar free methadose four  times yesterday in the inner part of my ankle and foot...the first two shots went in easy and painless ..the last two I went a little deeper and noticed it was considerably harder to push the syringe down to empty the drug ..after emptying the syringe both times I felt a weird pressure in my foot and leg .a little painful but nothing terrible ,the pain was like a missed shot but more like pressure building up and the pain that goes with it ...today my ankle where I shot is red and warm and swollen ..

I don't think I hit into an artery because I hear it's extremely painful and it doesn't have a rush like when vein hitting ...

The pain was there but I've honestly I've had worse pain while iving and I got a rush every time ..

When I look up pictures of cellulitis it looks the same but it also looks like a missed shot under the skin ...

It hurts to walk and its warm on my ankle and up my calf ..I can walk though if I have too ...any ideas ?

[Poppy]

Have you got a photo of it?
If you think there is the slightest possibility that it is cellulitis though it needs checking by a medical professional. Cellulitis is not something you want to be fucking about with.

Are you banging the oral sugar free mixture, like the green stuff we have in the UK?

[clinton (OP)]

Yes I'm banging my sugar free liquid ..it's 10mgs a millilter ..

I shot it countless times without any issues whatsoever ..all over my hands and arms and feet and legs

..I've missed and had knots that were swollen and red and warm but this seems a little different

[clinton (OP)]

What does injecting into an artery feel like ? What are the after effects ? Would there be no question on my part if I hit an artery due to the pain associated or Is that exaggerated?

[Chip]

clinton, if you got an artery then i think you'd see bright red blood.

if it went bad on you, i suspect that signs would show on your extremities (toes, in this case).

i think it's a miss ... i hope it's just a miss.

photo ?

HR thought of the day: please try to avoid shooting Methadone into the feet/ankles; i have only done this once or twice and NEVER again. it's a cost-benefit thing ... i'm back to oral 'done and very keen to keep it that way. it's just not worth the risk !

you may need those feet veins for medical use later.

[clinton (OP)]

Toes are fine ..it just red at the injection site and swollen ..I 'll add a photo in a bit ..

Ty

Have you ever hit an artery ?

[Chip]

Have you ever hit an artery ?

me ? never.

hit plenty of "syringe gets yanked out" nerves though

anyone hit an artery in their feet or ankles ?

[Guts]

I've never really gotten scars or tracks except from shooting methadone... mostly. Misses with methadone for me are often gnarly shits... bumps, even if red and hot, have always eventually gone away though... I'd just try to take some antibiotics if I could and watch it for a few days... that's probably horrible medical advice in six ways that I don't care about but yeah.

[shoybs]

I've hit an artery before in my arm. In my case what happened was I got no rush, and then my whole hand swelled up and turned bright red, and tingled everywhere. Arteries take blood AWAY from the heart, so what can happen is the drug all just gets dumped at the end of the extremety, which is what causes the swelling and tingling. I'm not a doctor and I only have anecdotal evidence, but what you're describing doesnt sound like an artery hit.

You said it's warm to the touch? It might be an absess then. Every time I've had a bump that turned warm to the touch, it ended up as an abscess.

[candy]

Doesn't sound like you hit an artery. More like a missed shot and easy to do in that area.

Clinton, it sounds like you may have missed those last two shots.
Best thing to do is get heat on the area and elevate your foot to reduce pain and swelling.

Avoid using that extremity for a few weeks if possible. Sounds like you don't have much to use in your hands or arms.
Be careful injecting Methadone, whether it is sugar-free or not. Oral meds like that are just not meant to be injected.
It is really not worth the potential risks.

Heat will help to circulate blood supply to the area and reduce swelling. Elevating your foot will help as well and is a good idea, even if it does not hurt.

Anytime you have swelling like that, treat it right away. Apply heat and elevate as soon as possible when dealing with the lower extremities.

If you should notice it getting worse, I would recommend seeking medical attention. You don't want to lose your foot!

Maybe this is a good time to take a break from injecting all together or at least for a while until you can heal up those veins in your arms and hands.
Can't say they will come back and be as great as they once were, but when you are going for the feet or ankles to inject methadone, you are taking a big risk.
Just because you have been lucky so far, doesn't mean that one injection won't cost you your leg.

Keep us updated and of course, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

[shoybs]

@candy Would you recommend massaging the affected area as well? Whenever I get a bad miss I usually massage the area with a warm compress. I'm just curious as to if me doing that may be hurting rather than helping.

[Taytoechip]

doesnt sound like an artery to me either.
Someone once told me that when you hit an artery, you'll know. and holy fuck they were right. In the years i spent injecting i did so maybe 5 times, only in my arms though. each time was a new and terrifying experience. The very first time i did the moment i registered in the artery the rig immediately filled up with blood so fast and with so much pressure that the plunger actually shot out the top of the barrel. No fucking joke. You want to talk about a shitty situation. Especially because that wasted shot had about 50 fucking bucks crammed down in it.
Just once though, the other times made my hand/arm swell up like it was going to explode. super red and blotchy skin, wicked looking histamine looking shit. fuckkkk just bad all around. my hand/arm would be fucked for at least an entire day.

What candy said up there is gospel.
best of luck friend

[shoybs]

doesnt sound like an artery to me either.
Someone once told me that when you hit an artery, you'll know. and holy fuck they were right. In the years i spent injecting i did so maybe 5 times, only in my arms though. each time was a new and terrifying experience. The very first time i did the moment i registered in the artery the rig immediately filled up with blood so fast and with so much pressure that the plunger actually shot out the top of the barrel. No fucking joke. You want to talk about a shitty situation. Especially because that wasted shot had about 50 fucking bucks crammed down in it.
Just once though, the other times made my hand/arm swell up like it was going to explode. super red and blotchy skin, wicked looking histamine looking shit. fuckkkk just bad all around. my hand/arm would be fucked for at least an entire day.

What candy said up there is gospel.
best of luck friend

That's a good way to describe it "feeling like your hand is going to explode". I have an artery in my right arm that runs like right next to or underneath a fat ass vein, and I've hit that bitch like 3 times. But I never got that whole "blood forcefully pushes plunger back" or even "bright, frothy blood" from it. It just looked like plain old vein blood, which is why i pushed the dope in. If I would've seen any of the telltale signs of hitting an artery, i definitely would've pulled out. Hehe... Pulling out.

[Guts]

Maybe you missed part of it... I know, personally, I have a hard time handling those big ass rigs. I either have to choose between using a big harpoon needle, and emptying the contents quickly but not moving it in or out, or melting on a regular insulin sized tip and pushing really hard to empty the thick done and try not to move it from pushing too hard. A 27 g short tip would probably be perfect but yeah...

[Z]

If it was a miss then pay close attention to it.  The only permanent scarring I have is from missing a methadone injection and have it swell up into an angry tennis ball of pus.  I couldn't imagine something like that on my ankle.  Ouch.