So yesterday afternoon i was having trouble injecting a speedball (heroin and methamphetamine.)
I commonly have trouble when injecting meth because i am extra careful with making sure i am in the vein and haven't slipped out.
This level of caution results in me registering many times throughout 1 shot (bad i know) and always removing the tourniquet fully before injecting. Now i know the tourniquet should always be released, but i have trouble re-registering most of the time after i release the tourniquet. This results in me poking my vein so many times that i feel injecting slowly with the tourniquet not fully released is usually the best way for me. Although when i am injecting speed i do my best to release it because i do not want any speed making its way outside of my vein.
Yesterday while attempting the aforementioned injection i was having trouble staying in the vein after releasing the tourniquet; as i previously mentioned this is common for me.
What wasn't common was that the blood that did make its way into the barrel seemed to get thick and clot almost immediately.
Upon realizing this i unloaded everything out the back and re-filtered it into a new rig.
At this point i was able to register and complete the deed with the tourniquet about 2/3rds of the way loosened.
I am pretty sure i did not miss because i know when even the tiniest bit of speed finds its way out my vein it burns like hell.
Also i felt the expected effects of the shot and experienced a strong scent of methamphetamine (for some reason i experience smell as opposed to the taste so many other I.V users experience.) So in my experience no effects matched that of a missed hit.
Now this is the part I'm curious as to if any of you guys know what exactly may have happened.
Immediately after the injection i realized that the chosen vein, precisely where the injection occurred, (cephalic vein in my left arm) had puffed up much like an inflated balloon.
I ran my finger over the swollen area and my vein was a little sore and felt hard...almost like a tendon or something.
After rubbing the bloated area the bloated portion seemed to travel a few millimeters up stream.
This sort of terrified me and i decided that i should probably not touch the thing.
I almost drove myself to the E.R right then, but refrained from doing so after reassuring myself that superficial blood clots are rarely serious. After notifying my roommate that he should probably check on me periodically i went back to studying for finals,
and when i took a smoke break about 30 minutes later i checked the area and the lump/swollen area was gone.
So do any of you bluelighters know what possibly happened? Is this what "blowing out a vein" from excess pressure looks like?
Or could it actually have been a clot (my blood was oddly clotting while trying to re-register.)
If it likely could have been a clot should i be worried/see a doctor?
Do you think the odd occurrence with my blood could be my red blood cells exploding due to the solution?
Any advice, knowledge or thoughts on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
also i apologize for the lengthy post, I've been studying for finals for the past 18 or so hours and i may be a little sped up.
TLDR: i injected a speedball and experienced a swollen/hard vein that seemed to travel after messing with it.
The swelling/stiffness (lump?) was gone about 30 mins later.
I commonly have trouble when injecting meth because i am extra careful with making sure i am in the vein and haven't slipped out.
This level of caution results in me registering many times throughout 1 shot (bad i know) and always removing the tourniquet fully before injecting. Now i know the tourniquet should always be released, but i have trouble re-registering most of the time after i release the tourniquet. This results in me poking my vein so many times that i feel injecting slowly with the tourniquet not fully released is usually the best way for me. Although when i am injecting speed i do my best to release it because i do not want any speed making its way outside of my vein.
Yesterday while attempting the aforementioned injection i was having trouble staying in the vein after releasing the tourniquet; as i previously mentioned this is common for me.
What wasn't common was that the blood that did make its way into the barrel seemed to get thick and clot almost immediately.
Upon realizing this i unloaded everything out the back and re-filtered it into a new rig.
At this point i was able to register and complete the deed with the tourniquet about 2/3rds of the way loosened.
I am pretty sure i did not miss because i know when even the tiniest bit of speed finds its way out my vein it burns like hell.
Also i felt the expected effects of the shot and experienced a strong scent of methamphetamine (for some reason i experience smell as opposed to the taste so many other I.V users experience.) So in my experience no effects matched that of a missed hit.
Now this is the part I'm curious as to if any of you guys know what exactly may have happened.
Immediately after the injection i realized that the chosen vein, precisely where the injection occurred, (cephalic vein in my left arm) had puffed up much like an inflated balloon.
I ran my finger over the swollen area and my vein was a little sore and felt hard...almost like a tendon or something.
After rubbing the bloated area the bloated portion seemed to travel a few millimeters up stream.
This sort of terrified me and i decided that i should probably not touch the thing.
I almost drove myself to the E.R right then, but refrained from doing so after reassuring myself that superficial blood clots are rarely serious. After notifying my roommate that he should probably check on me periodically i went back to studying for finals,
and when i took a smoke break about 30 minutes later i checked the area and the lump/swollen area was gone.
So do any of you bluelighters know what possibly happened? Is this what "blowing out a vein" from excess pressure looks like?
Or could it actually have been a clot (my blood was oddly clotting while trying to re-register.)
If it likely could have been a clot should i be worried/see a doctor?
Do you think the odd occurrence with my blood could be my red blood cells exploding due to the solution?
Any advice, knowledge or thoughts on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
also i apologize for the lengthy post, I've been studying for finals for the past 18 or so hours and i may be a little sped up.
TLDR: i injected a speedball and experienced a swollen/hard vein that seemed to travel after messing with it.
The swelling/stiffness (lump?) was gone about 30 mins later.