Hepatitis doesn’t cause sepsis, but the virus can cause damage to your liver, which puts you at higher risk for infections. Sepsis, which was often called blood poisoning, is the body’s life-threatening response to infection. Like strokes or heart attacks, sepsis is a medical emergency that requires rapid diagnosis and treatment. Infection symptoms can include fever and chills, as well as redness or discoloration, pain, and swelling at the injection site. While IV medication use is generally safe, it can cause both mild and dangerous side effects. Medications given intravenously act on your body very quickly, so side effects, allergic reactions, and other effects can happen fast.
This irritation can be due to the pH of the drug or other irritating ingredients that the drug may contain. One of the most common complications of IV injections is inflammation of the vein, or phlebitis. If you or a loved one has recently used an IV drug and is showing signs of sepsis, it’s important to get medical help right away and to tell the doctor about the injections.
Psychosocial Interventions and Public Policies Related to Drug Injection Behavior and
As use persists, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to cover up the signs of use. This is especially true with IV drug use, due to the method’s highly invasive nature. The hepatitis virus can cause hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the most serious of the hepatitis viruses. Hepatitis C can be either acute or chronic, meaning the symptoms are either short- or long-term.
- These drugs can provide even greater success than methadone, and in some cases, without the potentially dangerous side effects of methadone.
- In June 1988, the report issued by the IOM/NAS AIDS committee concluded that federal efforts to reduce HIV transmission among IV drug users were grossly inadequate.
- It also outlines some of the pros and cons of IV injections and infusions, as well as some of their possible risks and side effects.
- Sharing injection equipment among friends and injecting each other appear to have strong sexual connotations.
The typical medical professional offers minimal information (i.e., clean needle use, avoid needle sharing) for safe injection in the context of complex and varied behaviors. PWID interviewed in this study demonstrate what is likely widespread basic understanding of safe injection practices. In addition, PWID interviewed noted information about “safe” practices often travels via word of mouth rather than from medical professionals. PWID would benefit from pervasive messaging throughout the medical system, provided through a more complex and in depth understanding of the potential risks and prevention strategies. Dutra et al. reviewed psychosocial interventions for substance use disorders and
concluded that psychosocial interventions have low-moderate to high-moderate treatment
effect for illicit drugs30.
Addiction Treatment Options for IV Drug Users
An air embolism can cause severe health concerns, such as heart attack or stroke. With a tunneled catheter, medication can be sent directly into veins in your heart. One end of the catheter is placed into a vein in your neck or chest during a short surgical procedure. The rest of the catheter is tunneled through your body, with the other end coming out through your skin.
With
more severe craving symptoms, substance abusers are at higher risk of risky behaviors and
are more likely to use drugs impulsively, regardless of the hazard of blood-borne diseases6. In 1987 reports were published on the increasing use of the syringe exchange program in Amsterdam (van den Hoek et al., 1987; Buning et al., in press) and the bleach distribution program in San Francisco (Chaisson et al., 1987a; Watters, 1987a). The Amsterdam program had actually been established prior to concerns about AIDS, but it was greatly expanded when AIDS cases were diagnosed in the city. In another study conducted in Amsterdam (van den Hoek et al., 1987), increased use of the needle exchange program occurred simultaneously with reductions in the reported frequency of drug injection among the respondents. The use of nonsterile injection equipment may account for a range of infections in IV drug users, including bacterial endocarditis, hepatitis, malaria, and cellulitis or soft tissue infections (Louria et al., 1967).
Drug extravasation
This form of administration is commonly utilized for administering rehydration or other oral solutions. IV is commonly used to provide nourishment to people who cannot orally ingest food or water. An additional common practice leading to damaged tissue was the self-treatment of perceived minor injection-related injuries. Fentanyl use, as well as concurrent opioid and stimulant use, was reported to lead to increased injection frequency due to a perceived shorter high, often in excess of 15 separate injection events per day. Additionally, it was described by several participants that even though harm reduction knowledge may be present, priority of risk reduction strategies may be diminished as a consequence of drug high. Of those participants that did report receiving harm reduction strategies for SBI, it was described as primarily limited to needle sharing and re-use.
As detailed in Chapter 4, achieving and sustaining behavioral change is frequently difficult. For example, https://ecosoberhouse.com/rs may reduce the number of persons with whom they share injection equipment, but they may continue to share with a close personal friend or sexual partner. Indeed, as described later in this chapter, the use of the same injection equipment within a close relationship is sometimes not even thought of as “sharing” (Des Jarlais and Friedman, 1988).
These data included information on prior treatment and the use of primary, secondary, and tertiary drugs of abuse, as well as client demographic data. CODAP also created a census of drug users in publicly funded treatment programs and provided useful indicators of trends in demographic characteristics of drug users. However, CODAP data were not sufficiently detailed to be of use to researchers or clinicians (NIDA, 1981).
IV drugs are often injected into the veins (intravascular), under the skin (subcutaneous) or the muscle (intramuscular). Apart from marijuana, most drugs can be injected, resulting in stronger and more dangerous effects on the body. The most important aspect of recovering from iv drug use is understanding the severity of your addiction or that of a loved one.