Opioids Blowing out veins

[MemphisX3]

Ok, I have had this happen to me twice. Once was 2-3 years ago the other was just this weekend. I am not talking about collpased veins I am talking about blowing a vien out from high pressure. The first time, I had an 8mg dilaudid shot and just thrusted the plunger down once I registered (no tourniquate). I did not take any caution, just threw it down, and it seemed to have "blown out" my vien. I felt a little rush, and for awhile it felt like the dilaudid was being introduced in a slow manner. I didn't miss the shot as there was no lump or anything. Then on Saturday morning I had a 12mg dilaudid shot prepped and ready. I used a rubberband as a turniquate for my hand veins and registered. I guess the shot was too close to the touniquate and I did not release the rubberband until after the shot. It seems the pressure had "blown" my vein as it was the same thing that happened years before. Didn't miss the shot, got a weak rush, and again it seemed the dilaudid was just slowly being introduced into my blood stream. No lump, just irritated and red. I caught a nod but was pretty bummed because 1. it was clearly not a 12mg rush and 2. the top of my hand was irritated.

Has this happened to anyone else? what is the medical term for this? I am not worried about it at all as I recuperated fine from the first time. I was just wondering if this happens often to people. I know I should have removed the rubberband before slamming it home but I was too concerned that in the process the rig would have slipped out of the vein and I did not have the patience to do the process all over again.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Preventing having to do a second puncture is always a good priority, but I believe that the tourniquet may have caused too much pressure, which led to your shot leaking out of the vein - even if your needle is 100% in the vein. The solution will leak backwards out of the vein around the needle itself.

At least this is my understanding of it; I would try to get a tourniquet that is easier to release after registering, or not using one at all. How's not using a tourniquet? Are you less likely to get it on the first try? Or do you only use one when you can't find a vein otherwise?

I expect you have already tried a list of things to help your veins show on their own, like making sure you are not cold, running lukewarm water over your injection site after washing your hands in case you are cold, doing jumping jacks in place to get the blood pressure a little higher, and so on. I also find staying properly hydrated will help your veins out a lot too.

 

[MemphisX3]

Preventing having to do a second puncture is always a good priority, but I believe that the tourniquet may have caused too much pressure, which led to your shot leaking out of the vein - even if your needle is 100% in the vein. The solution will leak backwards out of the vein around the needle itself.

At least this is my understanding of it; I would try to get a tourniquet that is easier to release after registering, or not using one at all. How's not using a tourniquet? Are you less likely to get it on the first try? Or do you only use one when you can't find a vein otherwise?

I expect you have already tried a list of things to help your veins show on their own, like making sure you are not cold, running lukewarm water over your injection site after washing your hands in case you are cold, doing jumping jacks in place to get the blood pressure a little higher, and so on. I also find staying properly hydrated will help your veins out a lot too.

most of the time i have no need for a tourniquate. i understand using a new rig everytime is a great harm reduction technique but around here it is hard to obtain a new rig evertime as you need a prescription to buy them. i was using the tourniquet because i had a less than new rig and it is easier to jab a popping vein with a touriquet than to poke yourself numerous times in an attempt to puncture a vein.

the solution definitely didnt leak out. if i use a tourniquet i remove the rubberband while the rig is still in the vein. sometimes when i do this technique it does get backed up but will flow once it is removed. i just made the mistake of blasting off way to close to the tourniquet and am quite sure the vein was blown out. like i said it was not a missed shot as i got a small rush and there is no lump.

i will continue to use this method as i am farmiliar with it and it rarely results in difficulties. was just posting to see if anyone else has had this experience. today (two days after said event) my hand is not swollen at all, it is a bit red and tender but other than that it is fine.

 

[Project Will]

So I am very inexperienced with IV use (only use rarely on special occasions) and think I blew out a vein. About an hour ago while shooting some H in a vein in my forearm, I had the tourniquet pretty tight and forgot to take it off before injecting. Immediately upon injection, a big lump appeared on the injection site. The lump is sore and quite noticeable. It is slightly red, but that is probably from keeping a heat pad against it.

I did my best to take safety precautions. The water I used was boiled for 20 minutes, along with the spoon. The syringe was fresh from the package and it was my first jab. I used an alcohol swab on the injection spot prior to injection. The H was brown powder that I filtered using a piece of tampon (lol) as I don't have any micron filters. I have since covered the injection site with neosporin and taken a few ibuprofen to hopefully reduce inflammation.

Can someone with more knowledge and experience let me know what I should do? I took some ibuprofen and have been compressing with a heat pad. Is a heat pad better than a cold pad? Is this something I need to be worried about? I realize you cannot diagnose me over the internet, but an educated guess on whether this is in fact a blown vein would be greatly appreciated - and if not, what else could it be? The bump is larger than the amount of fluid injected, so I doubt it is a missed shot.

I am not here to ask advice and then ignore it if I don't like what I hear. Harm reduction comes first, so if need be I will go to the hospital. Any advice would be really appreciated!

 

[Captain.Heroin]

What was the volume you were injecting? Remember... 1 mL and 1 cc are the same thing (mL stands for milliliter, cc stands for cubic centimeter), and 1mL = 100 units.

Secondly, how quickly did you inject?

If you can answer these two questions, then I should have a better idea if you just missed your shot, or if your vein is blown. I can't diagnose over the internet of course, and if you have the resources, you could seek out medical help/attention if you wished to do so, to get a better idea.

Sometimes even after having made a shot successfully, especially the ones that are small/thin ones, your vein my recede to the point where you cannot see it anymore. So I wouldn't automatically assume you blew the vein, unless you have reason to believe you did (if you slammed a whole 1ml shot down quickly, with the tourniquet still on, it becomes more likely that you did, as this alone can cause it to blow even if you are in the vein fully).

When a big lump appears, while injecting, this is normally a subcutaneous shot. It's when your needle bevel slips out of the vein, or pokes through the other side of the vein.

In your situation, I'd use warm water and a towel to do a heat compress (you don't want it too hot, just lukewarm, so you don't burn the epidermis).

The bump is larger than the amount of fluid injected, so I doubt it is a missed shot.

That's because your body inflames the area, sometimes to the point where it's much larger than the amount of liquid you inject. Especially with a drug like methamphetamine; missing 20-30 units of it will swell up 3-4+ times the size.

 

[Project Will]

What was the volume you were injecting? Remember... 1 mL and 1 cc are the same thing (mL stands for milliliter, cc stands for cubic centimeter), and 1mL = 100 units.

I used a 1ml 25 gage syringe (big, I know, but all I had). It was filled to about .8ml and I only shot up about .5ml in that spot.

Secondly, how quickly did you inject?

I injected the ~0.5ml over about 8 seconds or so. I was having real trouble getting the vein to pop out enough so I had the tourniquet wrapped around my arm really tight.

When a big lump appears, while injecting, this is normally a subcutaneous shot. It's when your needle bevel slips out of the vein, or pokes through the other side of the vein.

In your situation, I'd use warm water and a towel to do a heat compress (you don't want it too hot, just lukewarm, so you don't burn the epidermis).

That's because your body inflames the area, sometimes to the point where it's much larger than the amount of liquid you inject. Especially with a drug like methamphetamine; missing 20-30 units of it will swell up 3-4+ times the size.

Yeah it is quite possible that it was just a missed shot exacerbated by inflammation. The swelling has actually gone down quite a bit. The soreness is still there - it is also slightly purple like a mild bruise, but barely noticeable now. I'm not sure if you were just using meth as an example, but to clarify I was using H not meth.

Thank you for your help! Somehow I knew it would be you answering my question and I'm glad I was right