Bloodclots, aneurisms, black eyes, fainting, comas..?

scottishbastard · 08-12-2009, 02:12 AM

I'll try and keep this short...

My girlfriend and I were into hard drugs (namely heroin and pills) for a few years. Earlier this year we moved to the mountains to try and get on a methadone program and stay away from the city/junkie friends/dealers. One day we were snowed in and couldn't get to the program. My girlfriend took a few xanax, a few tylenol codeine, and a few somas to avoid dopesickness. She went downstairs to make a sandwich and suddenly collapsed on the floor.

She spent the next two weeks in the hospital in ICU going between a natural coma and an induced coma. When she woke up she was having seizures and asthma attacks and was put back in an induced coma.

They attributed everything to an overdose and withdrawals, as well as asperation and pneumonia from the asperation which I believed for a while. But recently I have been questioning this diagnosis. Here's why:

*She had a high tolerance to pills and had taken more than this in the past.

*She had never passed out or overdosed before.

*About two weeks before this she formed a black eye out of nowhere which then spread to the other eye and even though we put hot and cold packs on it, it would not go away. It would go from black, to purple, to blue, to reddish, to greenish, back to black and so on. She never hit her eye or head on anything as far as we know. The black eyes appeared out of nowhere and wouldn't go away.

*Even though they said she asperated and they thought she had pnemonia, they couldn't draw any fluid from her lungs, and couldn't see anything on the x rays or whatever.

*The nurses were the only people with her that I saw until the day when they had to put her back in an induced coma because of her seizures/asthma like attacks. When they finally called the doctor in to see her he seemed shocked that they had her in general population and that all they had been giving her was 1mg of Ativan (tranquilizer/benzo) to stop the spasms/asthma attacks.

My belief now is that she had/has some kind of bloodclotting issue. The other theory I have is she may have fallen down due to Soma's muscle relaxation properties and hit her head (she DID hit her head and had a large bump on her forehead from it).

If anyone knows anything about this kind of thing I would appreciate info. It's not that I want to prove it wasn't the drugs. I'm sure it was atleast partially the drugs that triggered it. I want to know because if it happened once it could happen again. I would like to take her to the doctor for this, but money is tight as hell right now. I would like to know if it's likely a clotting type issue so I can scrape up cash to take her.

Thanks guys.

-w.k.

my_scatterheart · 08-12-2009, 08:56 AM

The black eye bit could be a bleeding and/or blood disorder that should really be looked into. Which could probably explain the rest.
Also just because you've done a certain concoction of pills before doesn't mean you can't randomly overdose. Especially while you're trying to get clean. Shocks to your system. I understand dopesickness but you also can't expect to just take whatever and be ok with no side effects. Your body will start reacting differently to a lot of things once you begin your detox.
Also aspiration/pneumonia in drug overdose cases = not unusual. (idk personally about the no fluid, but chance of lung infection?) How is she now though? Would tell us a lot

Aurora · 08-12-2009, 09:28 AM

LOL, if you suspect the doctors are incorrect, Yahooka is the next best place for medical diagnoses.

best of luck, though.

my_scatterheart · 08-12-2009, 09:31 AM

primarily lol @ bloodclots and aneurisms oh my.
If she had an aneurism, you'd know. And the doctors would know way before you.

Mydriasis · 08-12-2009, 11:40 AM

Scottishbastard -

Dope-sickness can really destroy peoples body chemistry. Some are rather unaffected by it. others really struggle through it because it massively changes the way their body works.

I'm going to say trust the doctors, unless you didn't give them all the info on her use. If you haven't do so asap. No kidding around here.

If she was trying to get clean, and she took a muscle relaxer, an opiate, and some sleeping pills/muscle relaxers and she collapsed. I'd call that an overdose hombre.

OD's can occur for tons of reasons. One of the big ones is changes in environment.

She really does have to get clean and if your drug abuse is similar to hers, than... I'd reccommend the same for you too.

Does she have a black eye or really just swollen eye's? That can be from getting clean for sure, so can seizures, and changes in the immune system(aka getting sick. pnuemonia). I've experianced some pretty similar things just not to the extent of hospitalization. You said she hit her head, she could have had a mild concussion also helping her to slip into a coma until her weakly functioning body could awaken from the poisons she ingested... She's lucky to be alive, and yes I would say it was the drug use entirely.

Trust your doctors, tell them the truth 100%, they go to school for 8+ years for this, you just have google and some side-knowledge. Unless your a doctor yourself...

~1~ · 08-12-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurora

LOL, if you suspect the doctors are incorrect, Yahooka is the next best place for medical diagnoses.

best of luck, though.

Maybe not diagnosis, but practical knowledge from past experiences could be helpful in pointing to something that a doctor may have over looked, they're not gods and can make mistakes as well as having their thought process clouded by the patients history and present condition (i.e. these are drug addict type symptoms so they get looked at as that) Second opinions are helpful, even if they may come from a slightly dubious source sometimes it could lead you to ask the right questions to those who are in a position to have the right answers.

Harm prevention is what we preach here, if you'd rather not help then there are plenty of other forums here for you to post in.

Aurora · 08-12-2009, 12:11 PM

I understand that, i do. However, the best advice possible in this thread is to get a second opinion from a different doctor. He can collect as much info from random people on the internet all he wants but in the end the people who have studied for years in medical school will ultimately be his best source of knowledge.

~1~ · 08-12-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurora

I understand that, i do. However, the best advice possible in this thread is to get a second opinion from a different doctor. He can collect as much info from random people on the internet all he wants but in the end the people who have studied for years in medical school will ultimately be his best source of knowledge.

Just so you know, I wasn't coming down on you man, we are on the same page. Second opinion from a second Dr. is what I was saying, but its also good to ask alot of questions from alot of sources so you can take a bit of knowledge in with you. Never hurts to ask I always say.

Aurora · 08-12-2009, 12:26 PM

True but if you are looking for knowledge you should be looking in the right places - a lot if disinformation and plain silly theories can result from looking in the wrong places. At the very least, i encourage him posting on a medical message board or something like that. a simple google search of Med MB's nets a lot of results.

my_scatterheart · 08-12-2009, 12:52 PM

Fact of the matter is most of the things he listed are common detox ailments. There are a few things that are worrisome, but they went to the doctor and the issues didn't sound to be overlooked. Like for instance I've seen the black eye thing but never as severe as he described. Now that could be an underlying issue, or it could just be she's extremely fair skinned naturally and gets worse bruises. Unless of course, as stated above, he didn't clearly tell the doctors her priors / situation. If things worsen or become of greater concern, he needs to take her back. But honestly...kinda nature of the beast kinda stuff. No internet forum is a 100% plan on follow up treatment. He knows that. (I think)

Aurora · 08-12-2009, 01:25 PM

Sorry if I sound preachy or whatever, there isn't anything wrong asking advice here. (I just thought it was funny coming to yahooka for a second opinion) For all I know he's already looking at a second opinion and posted on medical MB's. i'll shutup now

Aurora · 08-12-2009, 01:33 PM

lmao

scottishbastard · 08-12-2009, 04:28 PM

Nah this happened on St. Patrick's day. We've both been clean ever since. She detoxed while in an induced coma and I went cold turkey.

That's also the reason I asked here, because we don't even live in the same town anymore, and yeah she's doing fine.

The thing is I've heard lots of bad shit about the hospital she went to (St. Bernadines).
The other thing is she only saw ONE doctor the whole time she was there. Everyone else was a nurse. They took an hour to come in and help her to the bathroom each time, the lab techs had to stab her about 15 times before drawing blood etc.
They didn't even call a doctor in until they couldn't stop her from having this asthma attack/seizure type thing. When the doctor came in he seemed pissed off that they hadn't called him in earlier.

And yeah she had black eyes but they were swollen too. The weird part is they came out of nowhere about 2 weeks before hand and then it spread to the other eye. It was almost gone when she passed out.

But even now she has slight bruise marks under her eyes. They're very mild, but it still worries me.

And she has never bruised that easily before.

And also, don't worry I will be taking her to a real doctor haha.

Her parents also commented that they thought the nurses/doctors were full of shit. Not the diagnosis necessarily but just the way they treated them and stuff.

my_scatterheart · 08-12-2009, 04:47 PM

I recommend you both to get a full work up done after your recoveries are stable and sussed out a little more to get a handle on the damage you've done, if any, and where your health is at.
Everyone needs to sit down with a legit doctor now and then and know their progress, I think it's important.

08-12-2009, 02:12 AM	#1 (permalink)
scottishbastard ARGH! FUCK! KILL! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Castaic/Los Angeles California BITCHES! Posts: 1,956 Thanks: 32 Thanked 67 Times in 58 Posts	Bloodclots, aneurisms, black eyes, fainting, comas..? I'll try and keep this short... My girlfriend and I were into hard drugs (namely heroin and pills) for a few years. Earlier this year we moved to the mountains to try and get on a methadone program and stay away from the city/junkie friends/dealers. One day we were snowed in and couldn't get to the program. My girlfriend took a few xanax, a few tylenol codeine, and a few somas to avoid dopesickness. She went downstairs to make a sandwich and suddenly collapsed on the floor. She spent the next two weeks in the hospital in ICU going between a natural coma and an induced coma. When she woke up she was having seizures and asthma attacks and was put back in an induced coma. They attributed everything to an overdose and withdrawals, as well as asperation and pneumonia from the asperation which I believed for a while. But recently I have been questioning this diagnosis. Here's why: She had a high tolerance to pills and had taken more than this in the past. She had never passed out or overdosed before. About two weeks before this she formed a black eye out of nowhere which then spread to the other eye and even though we put hot and cold packs on it, it would not go away. It would go from black, to purple, to blue, to reddish, to greenish, back to black and so on. She never hit her eye or head on anything as far as we know. The black eyes appeared out of nowhere and wouldn't go away. Even though they said she asperated and they thought she had pnemonia, they couldn't draw any fluid from her lungs, and couldn't see anything on the x rays or whatever. *The nurses were the only people with her that I saw until the day when they had to put her back in an induced coma because of her seizures/asthma like attacks. When they finally called the doctor in to see her he seemed shocked that they had her in general population and that all they had been giving her was 1mg of Ativan (tranquilizer/benzo) to stop the spasms/asthma attacks. My belief now is that she had/has some kind of bloodclotting issue. The other theory I have is she may have fallen down due to Soma's muscle relaxation properties and hit her head (she DID hit her head and had a large bump on her forehead from it). If anyone knows anything about this kind of thing I would appreciate info. It's not that I want to prove it wasn't the drugs. I'm sure it was atleast partially the drugs that triggered it. I want to know because if it happened once it could happen again. I would like to take her to the doctor for this, but money is tight as hell right now. I would like to know if it's likely a clotting type issue so I can scrape up cash to take her. Thanks guys. -w.k. __________________ Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do No matter what I ask of you You think you hold the high hand I've got my doubts I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts ..... And even if I have to go to Claremont Well I guess I'll just have to go to Claremont Let me go Let me lie low Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do No matter what I ask of you And you send your dark messengers to tempt me I come from Chino so all your threats are empty - the mountain goats

08-12-2009, 08:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
my_scatterheart Today, I am alive. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 4,064 Thanks: 1,300 Thanked 2,713 Times in 1,579 Posts	The black eye bit could be a bleeding and/or blood disorder that should really be looked into. Which could probably explain the rest. Also just because you've done a certain concoction of pills before doesn't mean you can't randomly overdose. Especially while you're trying to get clean. Shocks to your system. I understand dopesickness but you also can't expect to just take whatever and be ok with no side effects. Your body will start reacting differently to a lot of things once you begin your detox. Also aspiration/pneumonia in drug overdose cases = not unusual. (idk personally about the no fluid, but chance of lung infection?) How is she now though? Would tell us a lot __________________ Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

08-12-2009, 09:28 AM	#3 (permalink)
Aurora Blackbird Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: snowy land Posts: 651 Thanks: 199 Thanked 204 Times in 148 Posts	LOL, if you suspect the doctors are incorrect, Yahooka is the next best place for medical diagnoses. best of luck, though. __________________

08-12-2009, 09:31 AM	#4 (permalink)
my_scatterheart Today, I am alive. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 4,064 Thanks: 1,300 Thanked 2,713 Times in 1,579 Posts	primarily lol @ bloodclots and aneurisms oh my. If she had an aneurism, you'd know. And the doctors would know way before you. __________________ Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

08-12-2009, 11:40 AM	#5 (permalink)
Mydriasis Do Not Resuscitate Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,317 Thanks: 840 Thanked 431 Times in 298 Posts	Scottishbastard - Dope-sickness can really destroy peoples body chemistry. Some are rather unaffected by it. others really struggle through it because it massively changes the way their body works. I'm going to say trust the doctors, unless you didn't give them all the info on her use. If you haven't do so asap. No kidding around here. If she was trying to get clean, and she took a muscle relaxer, an opiate, and some sleeping pills/muscle relaxers and she collapsed. I'd call that an overdose hombre. OD's can occur for tons of reasons. One of the big ones is changes in environment. She really does have to get clean and if your drug abuse is similar to hers, than... I'd reccommend the same for you too. Does she have a black eye or really just swollen eye's? That can be from getting clean for sure, so can seizures, and changes in the immune system(aka getting sick. pnuemonia). I've experianced some pretty similar things just not to the extent of hospitalization. You said she hit her head, she could have had a mild concussion also helping her to slip into a coma until her weakly functioning body could awaken from the poisons she ingested... She's lucky to be alive, and yes I would say it was the drug use entirely. Trust your doctors, tell them the truth 100%, they go to school for 8+ years for this, you just have google and some side-knowledge. Unless your a doctor yourself... __________________ ۞ Last edited by Mydriasis; 08-12-2009 at 11:43 AM.

08-12-2009, 12:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
Aurora Blackbird Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: snowy land Posts: 651 Thanks: 199 Thanked 204 Times in 148 Posts	I understand that, i do. However, the best advice possible in this thread is to get a second opinion from a different doctor. He can collect as much info from random people on the internet all he wants but in the end the people who have studied for years in medical school will ultimately be his best source of knowledge. __________________

08-12-2009, 12:26 PM	#9 (permalink)
Aurora Blackbird Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: snowy land Posts: 651 Thanks: 199 Thanked 204 Times in 148 Posts	True but if you are looking for knowledge you should be looking in the right places - a lot if disinformation and plain silly theories can result from looking in the wrong places. At the very least, i encourage him posting on a medical message board or something like that. a simple google search of Med MB's nets a lot of results. __________________

08-12-2009, 12:52 PM	#10 (permalink)
my_scatterheart Today, I am alive. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 4,064 Thanks: 1,300 Thanked 2,713 Times in 1,579 Posts	Fact of the matter is most of the things he listed are common detox ailments. There are a few things that are worrisome, but they went to the doctor and the issues didn't sound to be overlooked. Like for instance I've seen the black eye thing but never as severe as he described. Now that could be an underlying issue, or it could just be she's extremely fair skinned naturally and gets worse bruises. Unless of course, as stated above, he didn't clearly tell the doctors her priors / situation. If things worsen or become of greater concern, he needs to take her back. But honestly...kinda nature of the beast kinda stuff. No internet forum is a 100% plan on follow up treatment. He knows that. (I think) __________________ Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

08-12-2009, 01:25 PM	#11 (permalink)
Aurora Blackbird Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: snowy land Posts: 651 Thanks: 199 Thanked 204 Times in 148 Posts	Sorry if I sound preachy or whatever, there isn't anything wrong asking advice here. (I just thought it was funny coming to yahooka for a second opinion) For all I know he's already looking at a second opinion and posted on medical MB's. i'll shutup now __________________

08-12-2009, 01:33 PM	#12 (permalink)
Aurora Blackbird Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: snowy land Posts: 651 Thanks: 199 Thanked 204 Times in 148 Posts	lmao __________________

08-12-2009, 04:28 PM	#13 (permalink)
scottishbastard ARGH! FUCK! KILL! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Castaic/Los Angeles California BITCHES! Posts: 1,956 Thanks: 32 Thanked 67 Times in 58 Posts	Nah this happened on St. Patrick's day. We've both been clean ever since. She detoxed while in an induced coma and I went cold turkey. That's also the reason I asked here, because we don't even live in the same town anymore, and yeah she's doing fine. The thing is I've heard lots of bad shit about the hospital she went to (St. Bernadines). The other thing is she only saw ONE doctor the whole time she was there. Everyone else was a nurse. They took an hour to come in and help her to the bathroom each time, the lab techs had to stab her about 15 times before drawing blood etc. They didn't even call a doctor in until they couldn't stop her from having this asthma attack/seizure type thing. When the doctor came in he seemed pissed off that they hadn't called him in earlier. And yeah she had black eyes but they were swollen too. The weird part is they came out of nowhere about 2 weeks before hand and then it spread to the other eye. It was almost gone when she passed out. But even now she has slight bruise marks under her eyes. They're very mild, but it still worries me. And she has never bruised that easily before. And also, don't worry I will be taking her to a real doctor haha. Her parents also commented that they thought the nurses/doctors were full of shit. Not the diagnosis necessarily but just the way they treated them and stuff. __________________ Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do No matter what I ask of you You think you hold the high hand I've got my doubts I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts ..... And even if I have to go to Claremont Well I guess I'll just have to go to Claremont Let me go Let me lie low Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do No matter what I ask of you And you send your dark messengers to tempt me I come from Chino so all your threats are empty - the mountain goats

08-12-2009, 04:47 PM	#14 (permalink)
my_scatterheart Today, I am alive. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 4,064 Thanks: 1,300 Thanked 2,713 Times in 1,579 Posts	I recommend you both to get a full work up done after your recoveries are stable and sussed out a little more to get a handle on the damage you've done, if any, and where your health is at. Everyone needs to sit down with a legit doctor now and then and know their progress, I think it's important. __________________ Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

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