deltakappamu
Bluelighter
SO let me begin by saying I am fairly certain this thread is in the wrong spot, but I mulled it over for a while before posting, and I just could not find a great fit. My apologies in advance to the mods for probably having to move it.
Annnnnnnyway.....I know there has been a lot of talk about the damage done by long term iv drug usage, but I just need to share my experience and hear feed back from anyone who has similar issues. A little background: My first DOC was IV cocaine (both powder and crack broken down in lemon J or vinegar,) which of course is HELL on the veins, not only from the actual stuff you're putting in them, but due to the frequency of injecting. After a few years of IV strictly IV coke, I began using heroin (and back then it was tar.) Anyway, I don't need to get into all that stuff per say, other than the fact that I stopped using drugs intravenously in 2003, due to not being able to access any longer. I had used up every available vein and the collateral circulation veins that had formed from that damage. I am saying that I literally have nothing-my neck veins even quit on me. Toward the end I began using the smallest superficial veins in palms of my hands and fingertips. These veins are not meant for injecting (obvi) and you can imagine the damage I caused. There is literally not a vein on my body that could be reached that was left untouched.
I was very sick in my addiction and did not think of, nor care about the ramifications of these actions. I just assumed I would be a junkie for life, and that is what I did all day everyday and thought I would never do anything else. Anyway, lets get to the reason of my post. It has been since 2003 since I Have injected IV.. I had to switch over to IM from 2003-2009, then stayed clean for two years, then started IM'ing again. I know that many former IV drug abusers are hard sticks when it comes to an IV start or drawing blood in a medical setting, but to say that for myself is an understatement. I had to have surgery a few months ago, and I was 2 hours late because the nurses could not get an IV started on me. They ended up having to have an anesthesiologist do it, and he had to use an ultrasound to find my veins. He had great difficulty even with the ultrasound machine. He ended up having to use an extra long catheter and spent 20 minutes digging around and that is with the help of the ultrasound machine. Finally he got an IV started and I had my surgery. I was in the hospital 5 days and they had to get blood work on me and no one could get it. They tried every 6 hours for the 5 days and I ended up being discharged without getting the bloodworm drawn.
This brings me to today...I had to have blood work done and I work in medicine, so I had co workers try to draw me. No one could get me. We even got an order to have it drawn out of my foot, and still nothing. I was sent to a different facility where several people attempted me. 14 sticks later, and nothing, so they sent me up to this special team of people, and after an hour they could not get it either. I was there from 7:30am until noon getting stuck, and still no blood was drawn. I never had the best veins in the world before I began IV drugs, but they weren't that bad either. Now it is practically impossible for anyone to access me. I kept hearing from medical professionals over the years that it would get better, but it has not.
My question is this: is there anyone else that has this issue? I am not referring to those of you that are hard sticks because you have damaged your veins, I am asking if there is anyone out there that literally cannot be accessed? I am starting to wonder if there is some sort of underlying condition here.. I am fully aware that what I was using caused damage to my veins, but this is unusual to not be able to be accessed..like ever. I have tried doing research on this stuff but there isn't a whole lot. I am wondering if I should consider seeing a vein specialist. I do not want my veins "back" so I can do more drugs, I plan to be clean.. but merely for health reasons. I hate to think of being in an accident, god forbid, and the paramedics wasting time trying to get an IV start in my AC's when they should just skip straight to inserting something like a central line. As I get older, I start to worry, like if I get a chronic illness..what will I do? I will have to have a medi-port put in or something.. ughhhh.
Thanks for reading.. I am eager to hear any responses.
Annnnnnnyway.....I know there has been a lot of talk about the damage done by long term iv drug usage, but I just need to share my experience and hear feed back from anyone who has similar issues. A little background: My first DOC was IV cocaine (both powder and crack broken down in lemon J or vinegar,) which of course is HELL on the veins, not only from the actual stuff you're putting in them, but due to the frequency of injecting. After a few years of IV strictly IV coke, I began using heroin (and back then it was tar.) Anyway, I don't need to get into all that stuff per say, other than the fact that I stopped using drugs intravenously in 2003, due to not being able to access any longer. I had used up every available vein and the collateral circulation veins that had formed from that damage. I am saying that I literally have nothing-my neck veins even quit on me. Toward the end I began using the smallest superficial veins in palms of my hands and fingertips. These veins are not meant for injecting (obvi) and you can imagine the damage I caused. There is literally not a vein on my body that could be reached that was left untouched.
I was very sick in my addiction and did not think of, nor care about the ramifications of these actions. I just assumed I would be a junkie for life, and that is what I did all day everyday and thought I would never do anything else. Anyway, lets get to the reason of my post. It has been since 2003 since I Have injected IV.. I had to switch over to IM from 2003-2009, then stayed clean for two years, then started IM'ing again. I know that many former IV drug abusers are hard sticks when it comes to an IV start or drawing blood in a medical setting, but to say that for myself is an understatement. I had to have surgery a few months ago, and I was 2 hours late because the nurses could not get an IV started on me. They ended up having to have an anesthesiologist do it, and he had to use an ultrasound to find my veins. He had great difficulty even with the ultrasound machine. He ended up having to use an extra long catheter and spent 20 minutes digging around and that is with the help of the ultrasound machine. Finally he got an IV started and I had my surgery. I was in the hospital 5 days and they had to get blood work on me and no one could get it. They tried every 6 hours for the 5 days and I ended up being discharged without getting the bloodworm drawn.
This brings me to today...I had to have blood work done and I work in medicine, so I had co workers try to draw me. No one could get me. We even got an order to have it drawn out of my foot, and still nothing. I was sent to a different facility where several people attempted me. 14 sticks later, and nothing, so they sent me up to this special team of people, and after an hour they could not get it either. I was there from 7:30am until noon getting stuck, and still no blood was drawn. I never had the best veins in the world before I began IV drugs, but they weren't that bad either. Now it is practically impossible for anyone to access me. I kept hearing from medical professionals over the years that it would get better, but it has not.
My question is this: is there anyone else that has this issue? I am not referring to those of you that are hard sticks because you have damaged your veins, I am asking if there is anyone out there that literally cannot be accessed? I am starting to wonder if there is some sort of underlying condition here.. I am fully aware that what I was using caused damage to my veins, but this is unusual to not be able to be accessed..like ever. I have tried doing research on this stuff but there isn't a whole lot. I am wondering if I should consider seeing a vein specialist. I do not want my veins "back" so I can do more drugs, I plan to be clean.. but merely for health reasons. I hate to think of being in an accident, god forbid, and the paramedics wasting time trying to get an IV start in my AC's when they should just skip straight to inserting something like a central line. As I get older, I start to worry, like if I get a chronic illness..what will I do? I will have to have a medi-port put in or something.. ughhhh.
Thanks for reading.. I am eager to hear any responses.
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![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
