IV use - harm reduction questions.

[sxeandpure]

I've done some searching but can't find specific answers to these questions...

1) How much cotton should be used when filtering your solution? Obviously it should be clean, but I've also been told to use a very, very small piece of cotton (pretty much as tiny as possible)...any truth in this? I assume it's to minimize the risk of cotton fibers getting into your syringe.

2) Sometimes when I draw my solution from the cotton, the cotton remains "brown"...I'm told it should turn white and that's how I know I have my drugs all in the syringe. But this doesn't seem to matter much, I still feel the effects of the drug...

3) Lastly, on occasion, I have trouble telling if I'm deep enough into the vein or not...I know when I miss because I experience no rush and get a bump around the injection site (I know this is bad). Is there anything I can do to make sure I REMAIN in a vein when shooting? I know I can get in at first, I draw back blood, but after I usually shake/fuck up and sometimes pull back out without realizing it.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Pjkt2501]

Bdd -> od

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Use a small tightly rolled ball of cotton, about the size of a small match head. That's the sizes they give out at the needle exchanges. The cotton remains brown because by filtering, you're obviously not getting back 100% of your solution, when it passes through the cotton it leaves it's color. If it's really dark that cotton can be pounded out later on if you're desperate. Slipping out of a vein happens. You can try and avoid it by anchoring your hand against your arm so the syringe doesn't move around as much. Also, you may be angling the syringe too much so that a lot of the needle is out of your skin when registering. Try a more parallel approach to the skin so more of the needle is in your vein. This will help prevent you from slipping out. It takes practice. You need to be very calm and still.

 

[obscure]

^^^this is all good info, but I'll through in my two cents.


1/2) You don'y need much cotton, or cigarette filter. Just enough to do the job. And like the previous post said, it's okay that it turns brown. There's still some dope left in there and when you get desperate you can process those and reclaim some of what you've lost. Just be careful and do it the right way to avoid cotton fever.

3) It takes a long time to develop good technique, I do it for a living and it took me a while drawing blood, giving IVs, etc.. to get good at it. Then it was almost like starting over when I started shooting myself. Using a tourniquet helps anchor the vein. Take a deep breath right before you insert, breathing out right before you break the skin, that helps keep you steady. Same for firing a gun. Keep still, pull back to register and make sure you have flask back. Then slowly push in on the plunger. You can then fill it up with blood and reinject so you don't waste as much dope if you're into that.

The text book way to insert a needle IV is to puncture at 45 degrees then lower to 15 once you start advancing the needle. Generally you can puncture a bit lower though. Overall, it takes a lot of practice. Just make sure you're keeping everything clean and or sterile. There are a lot of bad things that can arise from improper technique.

Good luck and be safe.

 

[Znegative]

Yes^, mr.scagnattie speaks of many truths.

When you insert the tip of the syringe, immediately pull back on the plunger, and then as you slide the point further in, to where you visualize the vein to be, a vacuum will be created, causing the blood to "shoot up the dropper's neck" (sorry velvet underground reference, what I mean is, the blood will flow right up the barel without having to register). Then with a steady hand you can push down on the plunger as you know you're in the vein, and re-register halfwa through the shot to be sure. With this technique, I stopped using a tourniquet for good.

As for the color of the cotton, it will always be some shade of brown if you're using heroin, though the more cut the dope is, the more dark the cotton is going to appear. I've never used tar heroin, it I imagine the resulting cotton would look pretty dark, as does the cotton from that sticky Mexican dope that shows up Everyonce in a blue moon on the east coast as well. You'll know when you've gotten all your gear out of the filter though, because as you pull up on the syringe, you'll hear a hissing sound when you've sucked everything up.

 

[Albion]

You should be using micron filters instead of filtering through cotten or cigarette filters. Asides from all the other risks, you can get cotten fever.

 

[muvolution]

Hold the collar of the non-business end of the syringe between your thumb and ring finger and use your index finger and middle to operate the plunger. This way you can re-register one you are in.
I usually register at 100 units, then at 60 units, then at 30 units while I am pushing the solution in.

 

[tricomb]

Hold the collar of the non-business end of the syringe between your thumb and ring finger and use your index finger and middle to operate the plunger. This way you can re-register one you are in.
I usually register at 100 units, then at 60 units, then at 30 units while I am pushing the solution in.

You just blew my mind, I had that exact same technique.