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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Numbness In Arm After Injecting Meth?

My arm is numb after shooting up Meth. I think I went in through the vein and out the other side. Soviet pulled it back a little and saw blood bloom into the syringe so I plunged most of it but it started burning which means I m out of the vein. After twice moving it in or out depending on whether it was burning or not I gave up and pled the needle out. When I did this I felt this sharper burning which is usually the case when I miss my vein. But then my arm went number after I rubbed the injection site to ease that pain. Did I hit a nerve or is it the Meth numbing my arm from missing that vein? Or is it because it was right in the crease of my left arm? The numbness has already subsided slightly do it is dissipating.less than 30 minutes since injection
Thu, 25 Aug 2016
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Addiction Medicine Specialist 's  Response
Oh, if symptoms are gone then it's going to be hard to recommend testing/treatment but easy to say don't do meth.

Cannot say in your particular case and the main issues would be direct damage/irritation/poking with the needle (hit a nerve...how fast recovery occurs varies from minutes to months but recovery mostly occurs especially if the symptoms do NOT include weakness/paralysis and if the symptoms improve in under a day) OR loss of blood flow. Meth is a stress hormone that causes blood vessels to squeeze shut. Mostly this would be very visible. This can cause permanent death of the area not getting blood flow. IT is entirely preventable if someone got to the ER in time (minutes to an hour) and permanent by the next day certainly. OR the blood flow effect only is partial, lasts only as long as the drug is there, and goes away completely by the time the drug wears off (certainly by the next day).

Bottom line, these questions usually have a lag of over a day. By the time this is received the person receiving it has usually recovered or has permanent damage. In this context, certainly we cannot diagnose, prescribe or recommend action since it isn't in time, but it can answer the question..
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What Causes Numbness In Arm After Injecting Meth?

Oh, if symptoms are gone then it s going to be hard to recommend testing/treatment but easy to say don t do meth. Cannot say in your particular case and the main issues would be direct damage/irritation/poking with the needle (hit a nerve...how fast recovery occurs varies from minutes to months but recovery mostly occurs especially if the symptoms do NOT include weakness/paralysis and if the symptoms improve in under a day) OR loss of blood flow. Meth is a stress hormone that causes blood vessels to squeeze shut. Mostly this would be very visible. This can cause permanent death of the area not getting blood flow. IT is entirely preventable if someone got to the ER in time (minutes to an hour) and permanent by the next day certainly. OR the blood flow effect only is partial, lasts only as long as the drug is there, and goes away completely by the time the drug wears off (certainly by the next day). Bottom line, these questions usually have a lag of over a day. By the time this is received the person receiving it has usually recovered or has permanent damage. In this context, certainly we cannot diagnose, prescribe or recommend action since it isn t in time, but it can answer the question..