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Injection; IV Complications and Information MEGATHREAD and FAQ II - show me the blood

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"Holy jesus!" Are the first words that come to mind after reading this. I would say the majority of intravenous harm reduction information given out is about ELIMINATING blood-to-blood contact, and thereby reducing disease and infection spread. I really hope this is one of your most trusted friends, and that you are both have up-to-date health records showing you as being major-blood-transferred-disease free. Even then, when regarding intravenous injection, blood should NEVER be shared. Not to mention *sitting* blood can accumulate all kinds of bacteria and nasties of the sort. Even your own blood should only be recycled when fresh (i.e. immediately). Only do when needed (for example registering a shot with a plume of blood but then slipping out/through the vein and having to start over, preferably with a new needle, immediately.

As I stated in my original post, the shot with the blood was used almost a minute after i was put in there. It didnt even sit there.....at the most 2 minutes from first syringe to second. As far as the friend goes, it is my boyfriend of 10 years. Sorry, prolly should have mentioned that.

Since I posted that, I learned how to hit myself. It's alot easier, and I can stop alot quicker if I feel a miss comin on. Last night, however, I filled another shot with blood after registering and slipping out of the vein, this time a 30 unit one, with blood up to the fifty unit line. It didn't hardly do anything to me either. That tells me that when your injecting speed, the amount that it is diluted in matters significantly on the type of rush u get. Anyone else agree?
 
At the time the doctors told me that the healing process depended on where exactly in your arm the nerve was damaged (and obviously, on how long you slept on it).

I went to the ER and got like a fabric and metal cast for my hand to hold it in place

Yeah I also had to wear one of those for months to maintain my wrist in place. It was a pain in the ass but I was so relieved when I slowly started to be able to move my fingers... the wrist was the longest to heal.

It was a pretty scary experience as a whole, when the doctors told me that if the arm wouldn't heal (it happens) the best solution would be to amputate (sp?) it, (so I wouldn't have a skinny/bony useless limb hanging from my body) I was like => :!
 
36 hours?! Go to the fucking hospital! This is not something you just sleep on (pun intended).

ive been... i went sunday at 3pm.... my hand died at 11 or so.

im in a splint. the doc says the nerves have to grow back and relearn movements.

it seems like a slow process. i still cant use it or lift it. ive been trying my hardest to use my hand but no luck. havent seen opiates since sunday tho on the brightside.

please give advice/suggestions. i havent followed up since my er visit should i?

ugh anyone else have this happen?

peace- ty
 
I think amputating is kind of extreme, I had to push for nuerosurgery, primary doc wanted to take the wait and see approach till I told them my medical benefits expire soon and I pushed for more diagnostics. But amputation? I was still able to keep my arm strengthened, even if not I would wait it out for some new kind of solution to treat it.
 
I have deep veins so it's easier for me to register myself in my hands/wrists... am I more likely to hit an artery there?
 
I wouldn't use any on the under side of the wrist, personally. Hands are fine though.
 
I have deep veins so it's easier for me to register myself in my hands/wrists... am I more likely to hit an artery there?

If you are careful you should be OK. The veins are very close to the skin in the hands/wrist area. I would also like to note that 31G needles are almost required for hitting these veins in my experience.

I think if you know what you're doing (know to not probe deeper than your veins are relatively speaking, know how to look out for artery blood, etc) then you should be OK. If you have any other questions feel free to ask them.
 
Yeah I pretty much ONLY hit hand and wrist area, since finding veins in my arms in then usual spots is nearly impossible.

My favorite spot is a vein that runs along the inside of the wrist... Kinda starts at the base of the thumb by the inside part of the wrist (imagine laying your arm flat on a table, with your palm spread and flat on the table... Now imagine running a line along the inside of your arm starting at the inside wrist, equidistant between arm top and bottom... Right in the middle. There's basically a 6 inch stretch of vein that you can see, but more importantly, feel, running down there that I find very easy to hit.

A nurse once showed me the trick of finding a vein by it's feel. Touch the skin where you think (or know) there is a vein and it feels kinds spongy and bounces back - even if I gently press down on one part of this vein in my wrist, you can see it "flex" along all 6 inches under the arm, sort of giving a little "on switch" to show where my vein is so I can hit. Then it just takes practice to know how deep to go with the needle - the trickiest part.

But once I got the hang of it (took about 2 weeks) Its pretty easy now, I only miss a shot maybe 1 in 20.

Anyway, thats my best trick, learning how to find veins by feel, not just looking for a telltale blue line.

It's easier than you think!
 
ive been... i went sunday at 3pm.... my hand died at 11 or so.

im in a splint. the doc says the nerves have to grow back and relearn movements.

it seems like a slow process. i still cant use it or lift it. ive been trying my hardest to use my hand but no luck. havent seen opiates since sunday tho on the brightside.

please give advice/suggestions. i havent followed up since my er visit should i?

ugh anyone else have this happen?

peace- ty

Stay positive and do your your best to use that hand so the nerves rebuild. See about physical theropy and talk to nureologist about other options. It took about 4 months before I got use of my hand back. Best of luck.
 
I originally posted this in the sub mega thread, but figured it may be more appropriate here, so I just copy and pasted it in here as well:

Well guys, I am a bit concerned here. Yesterday night I IV'd 2mg of suboxone into a vein in the crook of my arm, I did NOT use a micron for the shot as I only have one on hand and I am waiting on the bac. water to make a large supply. I did however draw from the spoon through a cotton, backloaded the solution into another syringe filled to the 15 unit mark with packed cotton, than squeezed out and drew up through fresh ball of cotton, the final product was the normal looking translucent orange color, not cloudy at all.
My hands were a little shaky as I was in the onset of w/d, so right after I registered the first time, my hand jerked slightly as I depressed the plunger and a drop(literally drop) missed the vein, I could tell by the burning sensation of a miss of sub. I re-registered and finished the shot with no problem, and got my anticipated effects, no problems at the injection site.
Well about 1 hour ago, 18hrs after the shot, I noticed the site was becoming tender, and the track mark was slightly red, no buldge or bruise and the reddness went away after using a warm compress, however I feel a slight soreness when I bend my arm.
I am worried because I have an appointment with my sub doc on thursday next week and I cannot go in there with a red mark on the crook of my arm right ontop of the vein, and the 90 degree temps will make long sleeves appear suspicious.
I hope that it will not form an abscess because of the tiny amount missed and the fact that it took 18hrs to become irritated. I am hoping that I may have nicked the vein or tissue when my hand jerked and thats what is causing the reddish pink looking track mark.
Any advice on this matter or something I should do to avoid an abscess and keep it from getting any worse would be greatly appriciated. I hope I am just over-reacting and that it will be fine by the appointment.
 
It took me about 2 months to regain the use of my wrist and hand; the only lasting effect is that my left wrist is now very slightly weaker than my right, but its barely noticeable. I dunno if the nerves heal or if you just find new nerve pathways to the affected area, but it seems like this problem will correct itself with the appropriate medical care, so don't worry too much. gl
 
Any advice on this matter or something I should do to avoid an abscess and keep it from getting any worse would be greatly appriciated. I hope I am just over-reacting and that it will be fine by the appointment.

I think this happens to everyone who shoots there subs. Yesterday I missed maybe 1cc, and I felt that unpleasant burn. It's getting harder for me to shoot into that vein because of thrombosis, so I'm trying to use other ones now.

I don't think you should worry too much. I've shot suboxone without a micron filter for months, and probably in that time missed at least 4 or 5 times a portion of my shot. Each time, the worst thing that happened was it would hurt and maybe look a little red. The best thing to do, is to take a warm wash cloth and put pressure on the site of the injection. This always works golden for me.

Subs are dangerous to shoot, but the good thing about shooting in the crook of the elbow is there's a lot of surrounding tissue to absorb the shot should you miss. If you don't have steady hands you got to be super carefull when shooting into places like your hands or feet, because there's not as much fat or muscle, and I believe there is also less blood flow.
 
I was trying to clean coagulated blood out of a needle, and here's what happened. I tried squeezing it out, and the blood leaked into the applicator tip. Still clogged. I tried backloading isopropanol into the syringe, and that didn't work. I emptied it out and tried just pushing through 3-5 units. Well, when I did that, I applied so much pressure that the needle tip and applicator (the thing that holds the needle onto the syringe) went flying off and ricochet off the wall. 8o

So, if you are trying to clean out coagulated blood out of a needle, please be careful.
 
or just get a new fit!
Yeah, that's what I did anyways.

I clean blood out of my used syringes just because I don't like the idea of having blood clotted in a syringe when it comes time to go to the needle exchange.

Seeing as the needle tip and applicator are... in the wind... somewhere... I have a good 1/2 CC syringe for intranasal use now. :) I am thinking of preparing some doxylamine for that very purpose.
 
Okay, so I've got a question. I shot some instant release oxycodone yesterday. I shot into the vein on my bicep, I was in and registered but the needle slipped out and I ended up shooting maybe 20-35 units not into the vein. With dope this wouldn't worry me, but because it's a pill I'm kind of scared. I must confess I did NOT micron filter it - but the solution was pretty clear, I could see the numbers on the barrel from the other side.

I missed the shot last night around 2AM. It's 4PM the next day and this shit still hurts. There isn't a bump or anything, probably because I missed so little.

Do I have anything to worry about? :(
 
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