Experiences - Snorting H leading to lung problems?

[Narsick]

AFOAF has been snorting heroin for approx 3 months and has developed lung problems. To be specific, difficulty breathing at times, coughing a large amount of snot-like stuff up, and having the need to blow their nose pretty regularly.

This individual isnt sure whether it's the cut used in the dope or the dope itself causing the problems. This individual has also been to the doctor regarding this issue, been put on antibiotics and steroids (which have helped and cleared them up for a short amount of time), but the problems keep coming back.

Has anyone else experienced the above? If so, do you know the cause or have an alternative method of using that wouldn't cause these problems? This person I speak of will not IV dope, and smoking doesn't yield much of a result. They are currently using the white rock form of H, crushing it up into lines, and snorting it.

Thanks a ton in advance!

[Potter]

Silicosis? It's what happens when you inhale dust on a regular basis. Chest x-ray time? Definitely a sign to cut back o the nose candy at least.

3 months isn't very long to be having issues like this. I'm not saying that the H isn't the cause, just that other issues should also be ruled out too. I can't help but feel that we'd hear more about these sorts of problems if it was Heroin related.

Have you looked into TEKs to clean your drugs of contaminants?

[ratgirldjh]

my rat started snorting mexican tar H mixed in a little bit of water and got what felt like a case of very bad allergies! it took her a couple of weeks to realize that every time she snorted any the allergies would come on! they allergy symptoms included sneezing, coughing, lots of mucous and chills!!! bad stuff!

she thinks that perhaps this substance is not the right pH for snorting or something. it seems too acidic because the moment she snorts any her whole mouth and sinus area feels weird (she thinks it gave her a sinus infection!) and it makes her sneeze and it just 'feels' acidic. she even got sores in her mouth when she snorted too much once. she wonders if putting some baking soda in it would help. she is going to find her pH test strips to check it out and see if this theory is correct.

btw - the H she got the time before this caused no problems and she just tested it again since she still had some! so it is this batch that seems 'off'...

of course i see that your friend has a totally different form of H but wanted to put this out there since snorting H (albeit liquid tar) is causing my rat respiratory distress also.

eta: does anyone know if there is a proper pH for snorting substances? my rat thinks 7 would be good since this is what her saline solution measures. thanks for any info.

eta2: my rat found her pH testing kit and the tar tested to 3 which is quite acidic. she added a TINY pinch of baking soda to some tar melted in water and it fizzed a bit - then she tested it and it was ph 5. she didn't want to chance adding more in case it would fall out of solution and she would then need to add citric acid... so she snorted a tiny bit to see what happened.

well it did not burn and it did not cause sneezing or any other sinus problem! so she thinks it was the pH of this batch. the old batch tested 4.5 which seems to be ok even though it is still acidic. she also wanted to add that the current batch smells slightly of tamarind!!! she wonders if they cut it with tamarind paste which is very acidic - she has some and tested it and it is pH 3 also... and it looks like tar heroin!!! she wonders why she never thought to cut hers with this years ago...

[kailey_elise]

Originally Posted by Narsick

AFOAF has been snorting heroin for approx 3 months and has developed lung problems. To be specific, difficulty breathing at times, coughing a large amount of snot-like stuff up, and having the need to blow their nose pretty regularly.

Has anyone else experienced the above? If so, do you know the cause or have an alternative method of using that wouldn't cause these problems? This person I speak of will not IV dope, and smoking doesn't yield much of a result. They are currently using the white rock form of H, crushing it up into lines, and snorting it.

Yeah, the best "method of use" would be to cut it out of your fucking life ASAP before you're 33 & sleeping in someone's living room for 2 years (& grateful to do that after being homeless for 3 years because why waste money on rent when it can go to dope?), still trying to piece your life together & wondering what the fuck went wrong & how it happened so damn fast...you had it "under control" for years & then...you didn't.

BUT, since I know the chance of you doing that are slim to none, a better method would be to plug it. Also known as "booty bumping", it works for the same reason snorting does, because your rectum is a huge (well, compared to your nostrils, at least) mucus membrane whose JOB is to absorb water. So, you mix it up as though you were going to inject it, but instead take a syringe withOUT a needle, lube it up, stick it in a bit, depress the plunger & wait a little bit for it to hit you.

*****
Method would be:

get container (spoon, cooker, bottle cap - better if it doesn't have threads in it, though)

put a line's worth in container (whatever you normally snort)

use syringe to suck up some clean water (tap water in a cup is fine); don't fill the entire syringe with water, because sometimes the heroin in the container causes it to "grow" in amount

squirt water (gently!) into container, stir, suck back into the syringe

lay down, lube anus if desired, insert, depress plunger, feel awesome

clean up your supplies
*****

You can get an oral/baby syringe at any drug store in the baby section. Some look like syringes with a plunger, some look like min turkey basters (or huge eye droppers, I guess); either will work.

It works better than snorting because not only is it being taken up by the mucus membrane, it also gets into a vein that bypasses the liver & 1st pass metabolism. If you don't know what that is, look it up here on DF & you'll find more info than you could dream of.

Having said all that, it's highly recommended you don't continue down this path...

All the best, and good luck!

~Kailey

ps. afaik, there isn't really another method other than snorting, smoking, injection, or plugging; oral won't work (okay, it won't work WELL) for heroin.

[ratgirldjh]

my rat wanted to add an update here.

after several weeks of sinus troubles and 'allergy' problems she finally realized that all this started
when she started snorting the liquid tar.

so she stopped doing this and her sinus troubles and allergies are going away!

so she would say this is NOT a good way to use this drug.

and she can't believe it took her so long to realize that this was causing her sinus infections and respiratory problems.

[Tdogg49]

Hey OP,

My friend has actually been having a similar problem from snorting H. She is coughing a lot, and coughs up the snot like stuff that you describe. She hasn't had any troubles breathing. She just picked up some stuff that gets rid of mucus, and is hoping that it works. She also has to blow her nose a lot, but I think that it is more due to the fact that she is snorting heroin and is building up in her nose with the boogers.

It is good to know that she is not the only one experiencing these problems. She actually started a post seeing if anybody had any similar issues, because it s a very odd issue.