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

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ive been using short tip needles for the past month and today at the pharmacy all they had was regular tip... and im having serious problems IVINg..... Ive gotten good iving with short tips too

do you guys have any tips switching from short tips to regular tips.... Does my angle of attack have to be more shallow because of how long the regular tip needles are... it feels like im going through the vein probably... Hold it more parallel?
 
Hey cite I was thinking about your plight and while I have no experience with short tips, it sounds like you should give the "slow and steady" registering trick a tryout.

I wish we could come up with a better term for the process, but I'll try to explain... For a lot of people, the hardest part about registering is having to basically guess at how deep you should stick the needle before you pull back and see if you're in. This is especially true for me, since I can't see any of the veins in my arm - I feel them out to find the basic location and then would do my best to guess how deep the vein was. Like many i'd insert the needle, pull back, not see any blood, pull out, insert a little deeper (or shallower) and try again.

Well one day I realized that once the needle tip goes just far enough to be under the skin (we're talking what, less than a 16th of an inch?) when you pull back the vacuum is created in the syringe and will STAY THAT WAY until it encounters a liquid to suck up (in this case, hopefully the blood in your target vein).

This means you no longer have to guess at depth! Just insert the needle a tiny bit (just enough to get the "hole" under your skin), pull back on the plunger, hold it, and now slowly push the needle in; when it finally pierces the vein, you'll see the blood fill the syringe and you are now registered and ready for action.

Coming up with this totally made all the difference for me - it doesn't matter if the vein is right under then skin or an inch deep - with your "cocked and ready" syringe, whenever it hits the vein you'll know instantly.

So, even if you're using a 4 inch needle, you won't have to worry about going too deep - when you see the blood, stop!

Of course there is always still the unavoidable fact that sometimes you're just in the wrong spot and you wont hit the vein at all - in those cases you'll just have to use common sense and stop pushing that needle in before it goes through your arm :-)

Good luck!
 
^^^^ thanks John,,, i absoluetly do the vacuum trick everytime... oh well i still feel like my angle with the regular tips is too extreme.... ill keep trying lol..

see i feel like im going through the vein...
 
Go easy on MAJ.Pain guys. He's in pain, struggling with his doctor, just stabbed himself with a needle a bunch of times, likely injected a little bit of a pill subcutaneously, and I remember something about one of his threads being closed or moved as well. A bad day in general :(

Major please feel free to take it out on Bluelight (the inanimate collection of information) if it prevents harm to your self image, but be warned you may find that the people who have spent countless hours contributing to that information trying to help people get a little pissed off and unwelcoming (yes I am one of them but at least you read up on stuff first even if you are whining now).

I've read several of your posts and though I am surprised that you haven't injected before by the way you've been talking about it, I honestly don't think you would have if you hadn't found Bluelight and 'harm reduction' regarding safe IVing techniques. So in a way Bluelight is slightly to blame. Then again Bluelight's safe IVing information probably saves the lives and limbs of hundreds of people a week, so I think in this case you choosing to try and shoot up and thereby slightly hurting your hand might not be the most good for most people side of the coin.

Good luck taking responsibility for you own actions and with your doctor and pain management! :D

p.s. From the description your hand wound is very mild and any damage should heal quite quickly. Watch for infection I suppose but that's it.
 
Ok this might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda see where Maj was coming from when he blamed Bluelight for his drug problems.

Let's face it, this is a great place to learn how to be responsible and safe, but it also teaches and enables new users.

I started out here because I wanted to know how I could have more "fun" with the dilaudid I am perscribed every month. I didn't want to IV, but I learned about plugging here and so that alone made me more of a, um, "power user."

Then when my tolerance skyrocketed and I knew I had to step over my line and try IV, I know I never would have done it if it weren't for the instruction and help of the BL community.

I can say for a fact that if it weren't for BL having my back, I never would have IV'd. And if I wanted to try another drug, everything I need to know about it is here.

Without the safety net that is BL, I simply wouldn't be as deep into it as I am now.

And the same is true for Maj and many others.

It's not a bad thing, but we can't all pretend that BL is purely harm reduction and doesn't enable people to safely go down a path they wouldn't have otherwise considered.
 
^^
"That is wise. Were I to invoke logic however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
-Spock
Click to expand...
It is an interesting discussion but not appropriate for this thread. Take it up in Philosophy or Support if you'd like.
 
But it was brought up in this thread so I replied.

And the ultimate message Spock learned from Kirk is that sometimes the needs of the ONE can come first...
 
Hello. So I think that I missed a shot yesterday. Today its still a little sore. And s little red.

And after I realized that I think I may have missed a little because it was a little sore
I put a hot compress on it...

Now what my question is..

What can I do now that its the next day to help with trying to heal it? Hot compress again? OrIce it now? Anything else I can do?

Sorry I've been searching for hours trying to find out what to do to help it and only could find wat your supposed to. Do directly following. Not after care days following...

I don't want to waste any more time searching When I really just want to get started on trying to help it out now... as I haven't found an answer... thank you n I hope I can get a. Response soon..

Thanks bunches guys
 
There isn't that much you can do Nightlites which is why there isn't that much about it. The heat for a little while was good as it helps the drug absorb and applying some ice to keep the swelling down is effective until about 24 to 48 hours after the injury. After that just rest your arm(?) and pretty much let nature take its course (as if it were a bruise).

You can and should monitor the location for infection (increased swelling after 48 hours, fever, etc) and for an abscess which is like a giant pimple under the skin. Both of these need to be treated by a doctor.

Good Luck!
 
im trying to find a vein in my leg so ican use both hands. suggestions where to look? im afraid to hit something wrong since iv heard the veins and arteries are closer to the surface in ur legs feet and hands correct?
 
Blood return from your lower extremities is low so it is strongly recommended to focus on shooting in lower arms, upper arms, and perhaps even hands first. If despite this you still choose to shoot into a vein in your leg be very careful and push the shot very slowly.

Here's a picture of veins in the leg.

(NSFW for size)
NSFW:
scan_vein_leg.jpg


I'd like to reiterate that arms are safer and eventually you will get better at it. You could also always have someone else shoot you up in the meantime.

Stay safe.

edit:
iv heard the veins and arteries are closer to the surface in ur legs feet and hands correct?
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Arteries will still be deep within the body protected by muscle mass. I doubt this ^ is correct.
 
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trouble having a dig

Sorry if there is already loads of threads/posts about this alread- looking through the forum is tricky on phone screen and I'm lazy and high..

Every time I've tried to have a hit today it's fucked up and not worked properly, I've got good, easy to see veins in my arms (at least I think theyre good) Anyway, Everytime I've got the pin in I can not draw any blood back into the barrel.. I was trying for two hours and used loads of pins and wasted a lot of gear and can't work out what Im doing wrong!?

Anyone know what's happening? As I said my veins are Ok, stick out quite good and I tie up to avoid slippage..
 
I'm going to move this to the injection complication megathread and you can read through that and get your technique down. If you aren't registering in the vein then you probably aren't in it. Try and use the method where once you puncture the skin you draw back and create a small vaccuum in the rig. Then advance slowly and once you are in the vein you should see it flash.
 
Yeah the vacuum technique is very useful. I am surprised though that if you have decent veins, that you cannot register.. Make sure to hold the syringe almost parallel to your arm instead of going in at a steep angle. Also make sure not to puncture through the vein.

What size needles are you using?
 
VandiLLisM said:
im trying to find a vein in my leg so ican use both hands. suggestions where to look? im afraid to hit something wrong since iv heard the veins and arteries are closer to the surface in ur legs feet and hands correct?
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i have shot numerous in both my feet.i use the veins in top of my feet but from long use they are now gone.i also use the veins right next to my ankles(towards your toes).

as for the guy who asks about the rush,at least for me the effect is the same wether im shooting in my arms or my feet.
 
Captain.Heroin said:


28G is a little large for me. Whenever I use a gauge larger than 31g I have to hold it in place after the shot's done, otherwise blood spurts out too quickly.

Click to expand...

I've found the same problem almost every time. I use 28g from the exchange. Whenever I hit I try to remember to hold the needle in place carefully for a long time to let the junk flow away from the injection site. Otherwise there is clearly a pain from the junk slipping out of the injection site. Also some drug loss that way.
 
VandiLLisM said:
im trying to find a vein in my leg so ican use both hands. suggestions where to look? im afraid to hit something wrong since iv heard the veins and arteries are closer to the surface in ur legs feet and hands correct?
Click to expand...

I've found a miracle vein on the side/back on my leg at the knee. I believe it's the 'Long Saphenous Vein", it's like a sister to the Femoral, very fat and easy to hit. For me it's no where near an artery.
On some people it's really way on the back side and hard to hit.

http://www.bigveins.com/

http://www.doctorveins.com/varicose-veins/closure.shtml
 
Just when I started hitting my shots every time I started to abuse my veins and not rotate. Scar tissue formed over them and maybe them harder to hit. I ended up using a belt as a tourniquet and like an ass did loosen it until half way through and I was too careless to see if I was still in so I ended up missing half the shot. I also shot some suboxone in this vein(no choice at the time) but I didn't miss that and it was very diluted only a 1/4 of a strip with at least 50cc of water. The vein feels hard and I was reading through this thread and I feel I may have thrombophlebitis, or maybe its just any older bump thats from a miss. I think it's the former because like an idiot I went to inject more suboxone in it earlier and I was literally on top of the vein I could feel it yet only a little blood came through. On the other hand on my other vein that is hard I tried that and blood spewed out of it. For the bluelighter's and mods who have read my thread over the past few weeks you'll say this guy hasn't learned. Fact is, I did get good at IV'ing I just over abused my veins, and when I was high I became careless, not caring to see if I was still registered. There was a point about a week ago where I would get the shot first try, where it previous would take me a dozen jabs at the vein. Due to legal and financial limitations I had to give my veins a break from Saturday until Tuesday, they have healed a bit and I wish I could give them more time but I really can't. I really got to start working out, I have injected two friends with more visible veins and got them first time as well.

Edit: Again I am being a hypochondriac I doubt I have thrombophlebitis after a couple missed shots, a few shots of suboxone, and forgetting to loosen the tourniquet once or twice. I may me wrong though thats why I left my original post as is. Also, I will not inject suboxone again unless I have a micron filter, also I won't use the veins in question tomorrow.
 
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Losing (collapsing) a vein

I'd be curious to hear more details about what you did and what your usage was like to have lost the veins in your feet.

I think many people new to IV get scared over these stories about people losing, or collapsing a vein; in the interest of harm reduction I think it would be helpful if people who have lost a vein "In combat" shared the details.

Were you practicing safe injection techniques, or were you being lazy about it and lost the vein from being careless?

Were you being safe but only used that vein so long it just gave up on you?

Many users (including me) would really like to hear the details - I'm sorry you lost a vein, but perhaps your story can help others learn what to do/not to do to avoid the same thing.

andrikos1977 said:
i have shot numerous in both my feet.i use the veins in top of my feet but from long use they are now gone.i also use the veins right next to my ankles(towards your toes)
Click to expand...

Personally, I have 4 sites I rotate around (2 arms, 2 hands). Since I inject 4 times a day, I pretty much use the same vein once every 24 hours. So far I see no signs of damage, maybe because I'm lucky or maybe because I try to play it safe by always washing up, using a fresh needle and filtering the shot properly.

People say that by practicing safe injection technique you're unlikely to lose a vein, but how far can you push it?

No matter how safe an injector you are, if you use the same vein 10 times a day are you going to loose it?

Another thing I do is even though I use the same vein every 24 hours, I try to pick a different spot on the vein each time; the veins I'm using are anywhere from 2 to 6 inches long, so there is plenty of room to give the exact spot I injected last time some time to heal.

Have YOU lost a vein? Please share the details...
 
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