Abscess Experience

Pharma / TRT
1

Hi everyone, I’ll try to keep this brief. This may be of interest to some of you - and maybe some people will be able to add their own advice.

On june 12th, I shot 1ml test prop into my left delt.

Everything was fine, until about 4 days post.

A very painful raised area appeared. No redness, striae, or signs of systemic infection.

At first it was hard, and so resembled a slowly-dispersing lump of oil - which I have had before, no problem.

However, it proceeded to become fluctuant, and the tissue over the area felt “thin”.

I took the plunge yesterday and decided to aspirate the fluid within.

I emptied around 10ml (and a further 5ml today).

The fluid had no odour, was pink (blood and pus) and sticky.

Again, I have no signs of systemic infection.

I deal with abscesses on a regular basis at work, albeit mostly in the jaw, so the etiology/histology tends to be very different.

The standard procedure is to drain the pus (incision or aspiration) and administer antibiotics, unless there are signs of the infection spreading. If so - the patient is hospitalised and the abscess is drained and antibiotics are given I.V.

If I visit my GP and tell the truth - AAS will be on my record forever. I have a few doctor friends who I can call on if needs be, but the treatment will not be much different to that which I have given myself.

I can get hold of antibiotics, but haven’t done so yet…

If anyone thinks I am handling this foolishly, or has anything to add, I’d be very grateful for your response.

Dave

2

I have one as we speak… i dont drain it incase i burst it, and it isnt a sterile abscess… but you seem to have done fine.

IF it is a sterile abscess… antibi’s are not necessary… even if not, your body may have beaten the infection - but now you have removed all the “weopans” the body uses (pus)… and POSSIBLY introduced bacteria to a sensitive area… i would say better safe than sorry…

Who cares if steroids are on your medical file? they are there to help you and you take steroids dont you?

I have been in pain, a deep VG abscess for the past few days, i sat on it (pun intended) to see how it fared for awhile - i know this is safe for a short time… i am confident in my bodys ability to fight infection OR let me know when it needs help from the brain… which can then stop thinking about pussy and get external help.

Went to the docs today, was 100% honest, i always am with 90% of people i meet about 90% of my life.
It has gone down a little, i got a handful of anti-bis just in case.

They are good to have on standby IMO if you inject regularly.

I vote get some antiBi’s… cant go wrong… maybe wait a day or two see if it starts to subside if you really are that against the docs, but dont be silly with your stubborness.

JMO.

JJ

3


If I had an abscess that myself or someone else drained 15 mls of fluid from I would seek some medical attention, not direction from a bunch of people on the internet.

If you get an infection that deep into your body it can travel to vital organs and even bones in very little time.

Attached is a photo of a buddy of mines shoulder that waited a bit too long to go and get an abscess in his shoulder looked at by a medical professional.

4

Thanks JJ, I appreciate your honesty. It’s nice to hear from someone with a similar experience.

I’d like to expand upon the medical records thing though - as this may be of benefit to you as a fellow englishman, lol.

I myself will be a doc (dental) in 1 year, if all goes well with my finals. As such, I have seen the other side of things - the side the public is not meant to be aware of.

There is a growing list of people who can be legally turned down for NHS treatment, based on lifestyle. Smoking and obesity are just the tip of the iceberg. Insurance companies (BUPA etc) also figure this into their policies (obviously).

AAS are bound to make it onto that list in the future, and I believe that (unless it is a matter of life vs death) one shouldn’t get this sort of thing on their record.

1 Like
5

[quote]LillGuy001 wrote:
If I had an abscess that myself or someone else drained 15 mls of fluid from I would seek some medical attention, not direction from a bunch of people on the internet.

If you get an infection that deep into your body it can travel to vital organs and even bones in very little time.

Attached is a photo of a buddy of mines shoulder that waited a bit too long to go and get an abscess in his shoulder looked at by a medical professional.[/quote]

Hey LillGuy, thanks for the pic, it’s certainly a potent incentive!

This is an honest question, I am not here to argue as after all I have asked for advice;

What do you think they will do besides drainage? And did your friend in the pic drain his abscess at all himself?

I have read that large abscesses may benefit from saline irrigation, and removal of the abscess wall to prevent recurrence.

I spend most of my working day in a hospital, so I think I may spend another couple of days draining and if the situation doesn’t improve I’ll call in on someone I can trust.

For the record though, it has improved with each draining “session” (three so far).

6

[quote]Dave_ wrote:
Thanks JJ, I appreciate your honesty. It’s nice to hear from someone with a similar experience.

I’d like to expand upon the medical records thing though - as this may be of benefit to you as a fellow englishman, lol.

I myself will be a doc (dental) in 1 year, if all goes well with my finals. As such, I have seen the other side of things - the side the public is not meant to be aware of.

There is a growing list of people who can be legally turned down for NHS treatment, based on lifestyle. Smoking and obesity are just the tip of the iceberg. Insurance companies (BUPA etc) also figure this into their policies (obviously).

AAS are bound to make it onto that list in the future, and I believe that (unless it is a matter of life vs death) one shouldn’t get this sort of thing on their record

[/quote]

Thanks for tip Dave_

7

[quote]dirtbag wrote:
Thanks for tip Dave_[/quote]

No problem dirtbag.

I don’t want to discourage people from getting help with major problems. If my problem doesn’t resolve soon I will have to bite the bullet and see someone. Fortunately I have “connections” and I may be able to keep everything quiet.

8

are you sure the pink fluid was puss?
I remember the only one i have ever had was “thin” like what you mentioned.

it was on my leg and I popped it like a pimple and pink fluid came out.
not to the extent of yours but none the less it was a pinkish and sticky.with no smell either.

it scared me and I had my friend look at it (vet) to see if I should have it treated or not.

there was no signs of infection at all and not painful after I popped it but I didnt drain it I got about 2mls out of it from squeezing it off and on all day.

turned into a huge zit of sorts.
he got me some antibiotics,biaxin I beleive, just incase some bacteria got in there and it went away on its own in about a week.

not sure if this helps any but its my experiance.

oh might i add and i am sorry for not stating this before.
the skin around the area opened up to about the size of a quarter or a little bigger which is why I was afraid didnt want it to grow any more

he did irrigate it with saline and cleaned the area with alch. and bandaged it up with a non stick pad and tape

gave me some saline to take with me told me wash it with anti bact soap 2 times a day and irrigate it when ever i change the pad

the anti bios were more incase of a secondary infection from the open wound.

and if it got worse to see the er.

9

[quote]Dave_ wrote:
dirtbag wrote:
Thanks for tip Dave_

No problem dirtbag.

I don’t want to discourage people from getting help with major problems. If my problem doesn’t resolve soon I will have to bite the bullet and see someone. Fortunately I have “connections” and I may be able to keep everything quiet.

[/quote]

Good luck Dave. Sounds like you are on top of it.

ToneBone

10

Dave, why do you have to say the abcess is due to AAS? Why not just play dumb? You are deeply involved in the medical industry, isn’t there some other story you could come up with?

You need to get that problem taken care of immediately, though, in my opinion, by a doctor. Having a mar on your record would be nothing compared to losing an arm or dying.

12

[quote]LillGuy001 wrote:
If I had an abscess that myself or someone else drained 15 mls of fluid from I would seek some medical attention, not direction from a bunch of people on the internet.

If you get an infection that deep into your body it can travel to vital organs and even bones in very little time.

Attached is a photo of a buddy of mines shoulder that waited a bit too long to go and get an abscess in his shoulder looked at by a medical professional.[/quote]

Wow, that is a large abscess! And I’ve heard that they don’t heal quickly either. Can you get abscesses from ways other than bacteria and unsterile conditions when injecting such as simply from the pure AAS itself?

13

Yes… that would be a sterile abscess… when a small particle of the drug is left, un-metabolised in the muscle tissue which causes irritation - thus the buildup for fluids etc… but seeing as there is no bactrria - this isnt infected - still an issue but not one that can kill or seriously hurt you.

As BBB said, the only difference between sterile and unsterile abscess is the prescence of a bacterium… (sp?)

JJ

14

[quote] JJ wrote:
Yes… that would be a sterile abscess… when a small particle of the drug is left, un-metabolised in the muscle tissue which causes irritation - thus the buildup for fluids etc… but seeing as there is no bactrria - this isnt infected - still an issue but not one that can kill or seriously hurt you.

As BBB said, the only difference between sterile and unsterile abscess is the prescence of a bacterium… (sp?)

JJ[/quote]

Thanks Joe, you da man. :wink:

15

[quote]InTheZone wrote:

Good luck Dave. Sounds like you are on top of it.

ToneBone[/quote]

Thanks Tone, I’ll keep you all posted. I’m hoping to learn enough from this so that I can deal with it easily in the future (although I hope I’ll never have to, lol).

16

[quote]Cortes wrote:
Dave, why do you have to say the abcess is due to AAS? Why not just play dumb? You are deeply involved in the medical industry, isn’t there some other story you could come up with?

You need to get that problem taken care of immediately, though, in my opinion, by a doctor. Having a mar on your record would be nothing compared to losing an arm or dying.[/quote]

Thanks Cortes. I could certainly come up with some other explanation, my only concern is if they take a biopsy and realise there is a load of oil in there as well!

17

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:

Taking oral antibiotics probably won’t do jack, since the infection (if there is one) appears to be successfully contained within the original site.

Bushy[/quote]

Hi Bushy, thanks for your response. I’d like to run something by you for a “second opinion” on my reasoning, if that’s ok.

If the infection has not yet caused the formation of an abscess, antibiotics will help to speed the formation of a granuloma, then abscess wall. After this has happened, the ABs will do sod all.

If the abscess has already formed, I would need to break the abscess wall to make ABs effective (not recommended!!).

As far as I have experienced (in patients anyway), most abscesses resolve if drained, without ABs.

I have access to an empty theatre tonight, so I am tempted to crack out the lignocaine and the scapel! I’m joking, sort of.

Dave

18

I personally think (it may be different for those who CAN lance it themselves) that the best way of dealing with it is not panicing, waiting for a maximum of 1 week and monitor its pain, heat, swelling, firmness and colour… if it is looking infected and not going away, go to the doctor for anti,biotics.

Mine recently went away after 5 days on its own… i have some good antibiotics i didnt use that go out of date 08/2010… so i am good for a few years hopefully!

I WAS stupid. i dropped the bare needle on the loaded barrel on the carpet, without thinking, i picked it up, wiped it with my unwashed hand and stuck myself.

i have been injecting for around 8 years now, IV and IM. I am known for my sterile and healthy injecting practices… especialy IV.

Yet still… i just didnt think, and i nearly had a hospital visit from it. served me right. :wink:

JJ

19

Thanks JJ. What is slightly odd is that there is no redness, swelling, heat, pain, or loss of function! Yet if I aspirate, there is still pus in there.

My injection technique and sterility are always tip-top, and my current batch of amps have never given me problems before. I suppose pus can still be present even when there are no pathogens, but given the above, it does seem odd.

20

Hey Dave_, that is very peculiar. Having only done two cycles, I’ve yet to run into that one.

I have only one thought, as far as procedure, if what you have is related to the injection. Of course, since there seems to be no infection, this may have no bearing at all.

My first cycle, I had one bad injection, which resulted in swelling, redness, fever, etc, over the course of a week or so. What I changed after that, was to add swabbing the injection site with an alcohol swab after I remove the needle, to try and avoid any pathogens trying to creep in the site post injection. Until then, I just covered the site with a tissue or pad. Since then, there have been no problems.

Now watch my next injection, I’ll end up with an absess!! Given your medical background, I’d imagine your method is impeccable, as it is. Just wanted to add my .02.