Question
 

Hi Everyone,

I have a question. What does a fresh track mark from heroin use look like? I believe my bf had a slip about a week ago. Last night he pointed out a deep scratch about 1/4 in long that looked like a deep scratch with a bruise and said it was a dog scratch.

I got weirded out because he has other cuts ect and never points them out and my brother used to make up weird excuses about scabbing cuts from using. Could a track mark look like a scatch? He kept complaining he was tired and looked distant?

Sounds just like a track mark and it sounds like he is using again. Time will tell for sure. I would safeguard your money and hide your valuables and begin to detach. Or better yet, is there somewhere else he can stay if he is going to be doing heroin again? You certainly don't want to ride that merry-go-round, do you?

Love,
KJ

So track marks can be long cuts? He does not live with me. He lives about 45 minutes away. I actually hid my jewelry and anything else valuable. He is away for the next 12 days. My brother who is in recovery said it would not be a long scratch but a bruise.

It looks like the scabby part all the way down. I do not know if there is a vein in your wrist there. palm side on thumb side about 3/4 inch up and down. I guess I have no idea....

Nor do you need to have an idea. Bring the focus back to you and your own life and everything will fall into place. Playing detective with our addicts doesn't make for a sane life for us!

Love,
KJ

What would you do if it was a track mark? What are your boundaries? Because, if he is using, it will become obvious from his behavior soon enough...

Is he working any kind of recovery program? How long ago did he get clean?

Trust your gut. What do you think?

Thanks for responding. Yes he does go to meetings and has a sponsor and is doing stepwork his patterns are just different. My gut tells me he is up to no good. If I knew he was using I would leave him, my sobriety comes first but I could be wrong. I just dont know how to approach it with him. I guess next time he looks high I will just ask him but how do you say it nicely?

I am sober myself except I used alcohol as my drug of choice I never got into heavier drugs.

Hello Kitty really is looking out for your best interest and so are we here at the forums. YOU do YOU! It could be a track mark, heroin, roxi, anything. Keep your boundaries in place for your own sanity, not anyone else. IV users bring the increased risk of HIV and Hep C. Your mental and emotional health is first and foremost. Personally, I've N-E-V-E-R seen or heard of anyone coming back once they begin IV use. I just buried my fiance 11-29-09 of an overdose. A very crafty concealment process in the beginning. But eventually they get sloppy. Yours is getting sloppy AND lying. Raise the bar higher for yourself and keep your own accord and life manageable. I wish you the best of all things in 2010.

No matter what drug a person did or the way they managed to get the drug in them... if these people want recovery they can find it. I was an IV user at one time, and I am recovered from IV use about 4 years. I went down the scale on opiates and I am 15 months clean of all opiates. I also know several nurses that used IV and are recovered 3 plus years.
I don't get all concerned about the route the drug gets in the body. I am more interested in not using any drugs at this point. I do believe your bf will begin to show behaviors that indicate usage if he is indeed using.
I would be insane though trying to figure out if somebody was or wasn't using. Being a monitor of someone would be exhausting. I would rather monitor myself and it is a bit easier and I really can't control anyone but myself.

Thanks everyone. I did end up getting honest with him yesterday about the way I was feeling. I am only responsible for me and the conversation went well and helped me to be more communicative.

He explained that he was a new drug from the doctors (a type of benzo) and was afraid to tell me out of my reaction. He has something wrong with his head from being at war in iraq and has been going to the doctor. He said he is not abusing them and never abused benzos. He also said if he was using I would know as he would be completely nodded out and would not be returning my phone calls or even around. So I feel good about it and I trust him and am just focusing on me like everyone said.

Thanks for all the support!

I just wanted to pipe up and respond to one of the post - THE LIE IS DEAD - WE DO RECOVER. iv drug users do recover and stay clean for multiples of years if you dont believe it come to a NA meeting and meet the winners.

Thank you dcm 1200 and meditation. My AS is an IV opiate user and I have to hold on to the hope that he can overcome it if he chooses to do so.

there are scores of recovering iv-drug users, many of them famous for it. my personal fave is mr cool singer: james taylor. when i think of how intelligent, personable and talented he is, and that he was a junkie for years, i am amazed and heartened.

cmhcali: i am relieved for you, but he might be on a dangerous slope. our guts definitely do tell us things, but i also know firsthand that they can be off (for me, it's due to a lot of non-truth-telling over the past year, so there are trust issues)
but mine would never ever answer a phone call if he was using - might send a text tho

does his prescribing doc know he is an addict? benzo's are nothing to mess with. but i think that if he is taking the scrip as prescribed, good for him, if he starts taking not as prescribed, well, that's abuse