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What Causes Coughing After Intravenous Administration Of Methamphetamines?
Question: I'm just wondering what causes the coughing spasm experienced after intravenous administration of methamphetamines?
Brief Answer:
It is due to pulmonary edema
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Methamphetamine is a stimulant which is commonly used as a drug of abuse. Intravenous administration suddenly increases the blood levels of methamphetamine which in high doses can lead to pulmonary congestion and resultant pulmonary edema. This pulmonary edema causes reflex bronchospasm and hence leads to difficulty breathing and sudden cough.
I hope that answers your query. I do hope that you will keep yourself away from it as well as all other addicting substances.
Please let me know if you have nay further query. I will be glad to help. In case you decide to close the discussion, please rate the answer.
Best wishes,
Dr. Sunil Gupta
It is due to pulmonary edema
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Methamphetamine is a stimulant which is commonly used as a drug of abuse. Intravenous administration suddenly increases the blood levels of methamphetamine which in high doses can lead to pulmonary congestion and resultant pulmonary edema. This pulmonary edema causes reflex bronchospasm and hence leads to difficulty breathing and sudden cough.
I hope that answers your query. I do hope that you will keep yourself away from it as well as all other addicting substances.
Please let me know if you have nay further query. I will be glad to help. In case you decide to close the discussion, please rate the answer.
Best wishes,
Dr. Sunil Gupta
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Dr. XXXXXXX Thank you for your answer. I have a follow up regarding additional effects. I've never used methamphetamine, so i can't speak from personal experience, but when it is injected, I'm told that if the syringe breeches the vein and the solution is pushed into the arm outside of the vein it causes a extremely painful burning feeling as well as swelling and stenosis (hardness) around the injection site. Can you explain what that is and why that happens?
Brief Answer:
It is due to the irritant nature of the chemical
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for following up. The phenomenon of drugs getting outside the vein is termed extravasation and the resultant effects of burning sensation and selling at the injection site is not just limited to methamphetamine but also to other drugs including those used for treatment in cancer, cocaine, etc.
The main reason is that such chemicals are irritant in nature and as such when the pass into local tissue, they cause an inflammatory reaction ranging from mild to severe. Mild symptoms include warmth and slight itching, whereas severe symptoms include even tissue damage.
I do hope that answers your query. Please feel free to ask any further queries that you might have. I will try to answer them in the best possible way.
Best wishes,
Dr. Sunil Gupta
It is due to the irritant nature of the chemical
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for following up. The phenomenon of drugs getting outside the vein is termed extravasation and the resultant effects of burning sensation and selling at the injection site is not just limited to methamphetamine but also to other drugs including those used for treatment in cancer, cocaine, etc.
The main reason is that such chemicals are irritant in nature and as such when the pass into local tissue, they cause an inflammatory reaction ranging from mild to severe. Mild symptoms include warmth and slight itching, whereas severe symptoms include even tissue damage.
I do hope that answers your query. Please feel free to ask any further queries that you might have. I will try to answer them in the best possible way.
Best wishes,
Dr. Sunil Gupta
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Hi Dr. XXXXXXX Thank you again for your reply. I have one final question, that i've yet to be able to get an answer to researching on my own. I've noticed and felt on those who have injected methamphetamine sometimes at sites on their arms where they have injected and began to extravate, but stopped and redid the venipuncture successfully, that the initial site gets a hard lump under the skin. What is that and does that eventually go away?
Brief Answer:
It can be due to tissue fibrosis.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for following up. The hard lump that you have mentioned is due to tissue fibrosis which occurs as a result of inflammation of the area. It usually occurs as a long standing complication of extravasation. It depends on the amount of tissue damage due to the inflammation.
The fibrosis can resolve with time, but most of the time leaves some remnant; i.e, complete resolution doesn't occur. If the tissue damage is minimal, it is possible that the lump goes away but if it is severe, it can last for a very long duration.
I do hope that answers you query. Please let me know if I can help you out with any further queries. I will be glad to do that. In case you decide to close the discussion, please rate the answer.
Best wishes,
Dr. Sunil Gupta
It can be due to tissue fibrosis.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for following up. The hard lump that you have mentioned is due to tissue fibrosis which occurs as a result of inflammation of the area. It usually occurs as a long standing complication of extravasation. It depends on the amount of tissue damage due to the inflammation.
The fibrosis can resolve with time, but most of the time leaves some remnant; i.e, complete resolution doesn't occur. If the tissue damage is minimal, it is possible that the lump goes away but if it is severe, it can last for a very long duration.
I do hope that answers you query. Please let me know if I can help you out with any further queries. I will be glad to do that. In case you decide to close the discussion, please rate the answer.
Best wishes,
Dr. Sunil Gupta
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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