• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Harm Reduction Where to shoot when ur veins are trashed?

i have no idea where to get a micron filter. i use a whole cigg filter. i did some research online and everyone seemed to say the same thing...cotton is too soft and bad shit will get through. cig filters are thicker and long, and are very dense. it takes me about 15 mins just to suck it up. i'm extremely careful, i use alcohol to clean everything, i use my syriges only once and i bleach them all anyway (in case someday i don't have a new one and no money!!!)
 
i have no idea where to get a micron filter. i use a whole cigg filter. i did some research online and everyone seemed to say the same thing...cotton is too soft and bad shit will get through. cig filters are thicker and long, and are very dense. it takes me about 15 mins just to suck it up. i'm extremely careful, i use alcohol to clean everything, i use my syriges only once and i bleach them all anyway (in case someday i don't have a new one and no money!!!)

I believe most just order wheel filters from online. I really hope you consider it and I also hope you don't plan on reusing needles much. You should do a search and see if there are any needle exchanges in your area. Welcome to bluelight
 
i hear you.
you can order micron filters online but if there is any kind of needle exchange program near you, go through them cuz they're not free online.

i iv 'done when i've got to also. i've been using micron filters, butterfly needles w/ a 3cc start and finish of sterile water, and keep my mix pretty dilute so it filters good. been a couple years now, still using my original best spots, like the fat one on my wrist. but
it's absolutely cuz of the filters so if there's any way...

is there anywhere on your arm/hands accessible?
i'm sorry. i wish i had something better to offer. best of luck.
 
I guess I'm link happy:
http://www.harmreduction.org//downloads/levels.pdf

I still can't find the vein maps. Anyone else have these handy?

rnquf1dhtvsfa8tqno3z.jpg

twbwcp6cr6gq3zqatqel.jpg

Despite me posting the hand vein map, please: do not use your hands for IV if at all possible.
 
Its my understanding that each vein has a corresponding artery (ie cephalic vein has a cephalic artery) located very near, but oftentimes deeper below the skin. Is this accurate?
 
Its my understanding that each vein has a corresponding artery (ie cephalic vein has a cephalic artery) located very near, but oftentimes deeper below the skin. Is this accurate?

I do think that is the idea.

I think that holds true for most of the body. I think there might be an exception to that when it comes to the heart/lung circulatory veins and arteries. I think they might be called different things. I also might be wrong.

For most of the veins you'd use for IV, there is a corresponding artery.

I do think that arteries could be different places in respects to the vein depending on which one it is, but often it is deeper below the skin.

Closer to your extremities (your hands, wrists, ankles, feet, neck, penis, etc) is where arteries come dangerously close to veins, which is why you won't want to use these areas unless you are very careful and know the difference between vein and artery blood.

The best way to help keep your veins in good health is to use a heat compress whenever you may miss, to apply triple antibiotic ointment once a day (overuse of triple antibiotic ointment tends to make the scars worse, not better), to work out cardiovascularly and muscularly to keep your circulatory system in shape, and a good diet.
 
cool. thanks for the maps. those are the ones i was thinking of

i wish i could find this one map that was color coded for veins and arteries in the entire body. such a map is out there but i'm too drunk, tired and lazy to look.
 
Is there evidence of this or is this personal experience? I use trip antibiotic sometimes 3 times a day on my marks.

This is what I was told by people who worked at an SEP who had people that came in experiment at different frequencies and they said once a day was the most helpful whereas anything more than that didn't help.

I've noticed the most improvement from one application per day (per area...you can do it 3 times I just wouldn't apply it 3 times in the same area, 3 times 3 different areas you should be fine).
 
This is what I was told by people who worked at an SEP who had people that came in experiment at different frequencies and they said once a day was the most helpful whereas anything more than that didn't help.

I've noticed the most improvement from one application per day (per area...you can do it 3 times I just wouldn't apply it 3 times in the same area, 3 times 3 different areas you should be fine).

So do you apply it immediately after your shot?
 
You've only shot smack a "dozen or two" times?

Yeah, when I was using heroin I primarily snorted. Compared to IV and smoked, which both have near-instant effects but have a short lived peak, snorted heroin would give me a 3 to 4 hour peak and at least 6 to 8 hours of total duration, which made snorting more effective than IVing.

Only when I started to get over my heroin use and start to put it past me is when I tried IVing it. Then, when I was on Suboxone, and I would get some heroin for "one last time" (which I quickly learned was never the last time if I didnt), that's when I would IV it.

I feel pretty lucky to not be physically dependent when I tried IV heroin, otherwise I would've had a lot worse luck than I did.

And yeah, I do think about how ironic it is that I IV suboxone a lot more than I ever IV'd heroin...however I know if I was IVing heroin and was still addicted to it, it wouldn't be a once every four to six hour thing that IV bupe is for me. I would've probably shot heroin every second to third hour (really probably more often than that as the peak wasn't even 2 hours for me when IV'd), and I would have much worse track marks. Using IV bupe roughly 3 times a day (or once every 4 to 6 hours) is a lot more efficient than IV heroin would have been for me when I was dependent.

So do you apply it immediately after your shot?

Typically I put it on before I go to bed, because that's when I get the most rest out of myself and it tends to do the best recovery. If I put it on after my shot, and it isn't the last shot of the night, then when I shoot again, I'll end up wiping a good bit of it off w/ the (next) alcohol pad. But yeah, after my last shot of the night, I can put it on essentially as soon as the blood clots and stops seeping out at all.
 
before people go poking themselves in places that should probably be let alone.. try taking a bath/shower as hot as you can stand. then afterwards, look and see if any have come out of hiding. because in my experience, if they're there.. you'll see them after that.

but if you still can't see any, you should probably lay off for a bit.
 
When I get a strong craving, I find myself dwelling on act of shooting up more than the high itself. In fact, fuck the high, come to think of it that isn't what I crave...nodding itself is frustrating to me, I can't stand to be uncontrollably drifting in and out of consciousness, not with all the shit (school, work) that I have to do.

So what's the big deal about dope then anyway?

The preparation, the rising build up of anticipation for rush, that fucking rush....

Once that's over, the high itself is hardly noticeable because it hardly compares. After that, it's just about having to wait another 4 or 5 hours untill you can experience that blissful 10 seconds all over again...


wow, that sucks about the 10 second in-brain metabolic rush.
i can kind of relate... a couple of times i did OC for too many days straight (10-14 days straight tops), and when I had been out of WD one of those times around 10 days after a last dose, i got a craving, copped a 30mg Roxi, and didnt even think of eating it. It went to the dome.

After snorting half of it, it felt so good even before the effects pharmacologically set in.

Of Course, about 20 minutes after the second half I felt regret for doing opiates again, especially since they don't even feel THAT good. Then, I expressed even more regret after doing OC's through the weekend, making it 6 days of use again. Oh well, at least it wasn't 10 days of use.
At least WD's were not so bad. at least... :!
 
before people go poking themselves in places that should probably be let alone.. try taking a bath/shower as hot as you can stand. then afterwards, look and see if any have come out of hiding. because in my experience, if they're there.. you'll see them after that.

but if you still can't see any, you should probably lay off for a bit.


some very good avice right here folks


temperature is the reason most junkies are romantic about shooting in the summer they start injecting and horrifiedly desperate in the next winter to not miss their hard shot in the cold or finding even a vein at worst
 
some very good avice right here folks


temperature is the reason most junkies are romantic about shooting in the summer they start injecting and horrifiedly desperate in the next winter to not miss their hard shot in the cold or finding even a vein at worst

That was a really hard sentence to understand.
 
Oh well, at least it wasn't 10 days of use.
At least WD's were not so bad. at least... :!

Ha, I always have a case of the "at least's" when I use/

At least i only did 5 bags today
At least I didn't nod out in public
At least this is only the 2nd time im using this rig
At least ....at least...at least

One day I will be able to say "At least I was able to quit drugs":D
 
Top