Opioids cleaning a needle to re-use it?

[uponbenzos]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnsK_4gOYHU
OK 80% of the time ive got new pins when i rarely shoot.
does this method work. u gotta look at the link

now from this site:
http://www.friendtofriend.org/drugs/needles.html
it quotes

What is the difference between "disinfection" and "sterilization"?
Sterilization kills all living organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores, and usually involves heating (e.g., autoclaving) the instrument at very high temperatures or using a very powerful chemical for longer time periods. Disinfectants can kill or inactivate certain infectious organisms, but often are not able to kill all microorganisms. Disinfecting injection equipment with chemicals, such as bleach, does not guarantee that HIV is inactivated. Disinfectants and boiling water do not sterilize equipment.

Is disinfection by boiling worth trying? Are there other types of syringes besides plastic that wouldn't melt in boiling water?
Boiling of needles and syringes (and other drug injection equipment) for 15 minutes will disinfect the equipment. However, a limited trial of boiling a small number of insulin syringes (the type of syringe most commonly used by persons who inject drugs) damaged some of them (partially bent, distorted shape). In addition, boiling needles and syringes may not be possible in some situations where needles and syringes are being re-used and shared.

I know, I know what ya thinking. but sometimes u get in a situation that isnt premeditated & ya at a friends house. they have no new rigs & its to late to go get more or u cant get to a pharmacy. it doesnt happen often but it's happened to me before. & ive used the same needle i have before only used by me ofcourse a week later. (I bet theres ALOT of ppl out there that have done this.
now im sure its ok if u miss a vein & u re-use straight away or within the same night because there isnt enough time to build alot of bacteria. only problem is the rig is a bit blunter. but not much if it's only the 2nd time uve injected with it i assume.

http://www.positive.org/JustSayYes/cleaning.html
this website suggests using bleach to clean a rig but to kill HIV. i dont need to kill any diseases. I just wanna know what to do as a last result if I have one of MY OWN rigs but just havnt used it for a while. I only wanna know how to get rid of the bactera. as a last resort if theres no other way of getting a new rig.

I just wish it was simple as filly the rig with boiling water for 10 mins. its not diseases im worried about cuz i dont share needles. its just those few times ive re-used my same rig. even if i havnt used it in a week. which has been rare but if i am in a situation where i dont have a choice. there must be SOMETHING that helps kill atleast some bacteria. so boiling water wont help?

http://www.ourturningpoint.org/how-to-clean-a-needle.html
here is another very simple process of cleaning a rig. like i said i only need to kill bacteria. not iiv or hep cuz i never share.

tell me if it truly is THAT dangerous to reuse ya own rig. & if it is dangerous. how long after ya last shot shouldnt u re-use it because of bacteria build up?
for all those ppl who thing im playing with fire by even re-using the same night. ive actually been in hospital where they've missed the vein 2 or 3 times & they didnt change rig.
im not concerned ive a slightly blunted rig from just one prick. there was one time i re-used the same needle 4 times. cuz i had some other guy doing it for me & he kept missing & I only had the one rig so what was I suppose to do? I knew the needle gets blunt quick but i figured there's risks involved with EVERYTHING we do in life & there would be no time for bacteria build up cuz its re-used straight away.
Correct me if im wrong please! i dont wanna fuck my veins. im prettty confident if ya miss a vein u can atleast use the same rig ONCE again. it wouldnt be to blunt. Im assuming if u re-sure a rig, each time getting more blunt like 5 times it can cause collapsed verins. Is this correct?

so does bleach kill bacteria & just diseases?
the boiling water i just had a look up seems like it would melt ya rig. not a good idea.
Everyone knows that's a bad idea. I just wanna know the best thing u can do to clean the bacteria if ya dead set on using the needle & ya gunna do it anyway. like unfortunately im guilty off..... only a few times in desperation.

Im going to google some info on cleaning ya rig of bacteria. So I might edit this thread is any info i find.
Please dont respond by saying NEVER EVER re-use the same rig. Im trying to help with HR. cuz Im sure there are many BLers who have re-used there rig twice in a night or something because they only have one. & if they are going to do this stupid thing they may as weel do it the most safe way. whether it be cleaning it with bleach or using hot water, maybe not boiling. or maybe even clearing thr rig warm water a dozen times so it doesnt melt the plastic.

ok ive been googling & ive read that a guy shared a needle with another person with hep c by cleaning it with bleach. the guy who used it got tested & was clear so the bleach killed the hep c. im more interested in killing the bacteria in a needle that uve only personally used. If anyone could give me any help finding any info that would be great. just in case which i hop;e will never happen. im in the situation i have to use my own needle for a 2nd or maybe even 3rd time.

http://www.heroinhelper.com/user/admin/bleaching.shtml
seems like a good one. but it only kills HIV. it doesnt say anything about simple bacteria

ok this threads getting a bit long. sorry i probably could have summed it up in a few paragraphs.
one more source. I'll only add to this thread if i can find info on cleaning out simple bacteria for those who dont share but dont have a new needle in a situation they may find themselves in.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/29517-sterilize-insulin-needle/
ok theres a site just about killing bacteria. alcohol can help. im not sure if methylated spirits would be fine. & it says ti use boiling water but that may melt the plastic

 

[ANewKindOfArmy]

When i was dumb and younger before i learned all about safe iv use when i used to dope at the first couple months i'd use the same works over and over just would wash em out really good ( this is not what im telling you to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I'd use hot water with bleach and or/alcohol then wash it would with water a thousand times ( not literly a thousand but a bunch of times ) And yes after a couple shots they are like spoons at the end. I luckily never caught any virus's or diseases. I know their were times where id just wash em out with water 5 times and use it again a couple hours later... But do not do this, it was before i knew about safe Iv use.

Now, the needle truck that is around here in philly will give you a little bottle of bleach incase you have to use a needle again or someone else's they say... not sure how true it is, now im not 100% sure that this is safe or not but that's what they give you along with clean water ,saline if you want it, clean mixers, alcohol pads ties and cottons along with 10works for every 1 used needle you bring them back. So i guess a diluted bleach is safe as long as it's done right, but to be honest im not 100% sure if this is safe or not because after reading on here for a while, i relised how blessed i am that i never caught any blood pathogens or got any sickness's of virus's. Something about them giving out bleech especially if this is your own needle would make me feel somewhat fine about it. as i said im not 100% sure but im pretty sure you may be ok. Wait for someone else to reaspond before taking my advice because like i said im still a little iffy on the subject. Either it's true or it's a pure miricle i didnt catch anything but wait for someone else to reaspond before doing anything.

Be safe
-B

 

[uponbenzos]

Yeah Ive read that alcohol can help. & im SURE boiling water would kill some of the bacteria. but wouldnt it melt ya works?
ive been stupid re-using the same needle i havnt had in weeks. I'll try not to do it again. But u know how it is sometimes. a mate calls out of the blue who has some stuff and I dont have a car atm. I go to his house. its late. the pharmacys are closed & all ya got is the one ya used 2 weeks ago. Sometimes in that situation it's very tempting.
ya think to yaself. ya theres bacteria. so that. theres really only a small chance i'll get an infection or anything.
i need my car back so i can get to the late night pharmacy's if i dont have any. Im sure u empathize.
atm im telling myself i'll never do it again. but sometimes ya inhibitions are low. like when ya drinking. good thing i dont drink anymore but that's an example.
good thing is ive been mostly doin it with oxy & its not that much better than crushing em up. i dont think i'll be doin meth again. atleast for a long while. its good for 6 hrs but than the chewing is just annoying. & i cant even sleep on a handful of seroquel. what would be the waste & what i dont think i could overcome the temptation for is morph & h. there BAs are to low any other way. it almost seems worth it for that tiny risk of getting an infection.
my mate says he used to use the same one like 20 times heaps. his lucky he didnt loose an arm or something. but i guess ud have to be very very unlucky for anything like that to happen.
what would usually be the sort of stuff that would happen if u got an infection & what would be the chances.
is it like playing russion roulette or is it only a few % chance u'll get an infection or absess.. how do u speel absess & what is it exactly?
I'll look it up on wiki. any other complications from bacteria left in in ya needle?

 

[TheLostBoys]

Here is a close up of a needle after one use:

Here is a close up of a needle after the 2nd use:

You only want to use a needle once! You see how bent the tip is............

 

[xxxyyy]

i never shared needles, and reusing needles is a shitty idea, but boiling them in an iodine bath for several minutes was what i did when i ran out.
and no it doesn't melt the plastic.
also, needles really are dirt cheap, so stock up, and don't re-use them. that's pretty much how you get needle scars (also, it's really unpleasant).

 

[Busty St Clare]

Medical autoclaves use cycles of high pressure and temperatures up to 190 deg C (350 F) so boiling water (100 C) is just not enough to sterilise.

 

[RorerQuaalude714]

Yeah, I remember when I was using and I'd re-use needles. Here, you can get a bag of 10 for about 4 bucks, but I was so broke I'd have to re-use.

I never used a needle more than 4 times, which is really fucking bad if you see the pics above of what used needles look like when magnified. I don't even remember if I cleaned them out, besides running some water through them to spray out any blood that may have been in the barrel. I could always tell if a needle was old just by the feel when I booted up. A clean needle would just glide in, but a re-used needle always felt like it was punching through and dragging its way in. There was always this weird tugging feeling with almost like a popping and grinding feeling when the needle broke the skin and the scar tissue and entered the vein. Not pleasant, and definitely not a smart thing to do. I have a few sclerotic veins because of it, yet I only have one barely noticeable needle scar thanks to the obsessive procedure I'd use to boot up (alcohol swabs, pressure over the needle wound after taking the spike out, tying off and releasing properly and plenty of scar reducer PolySporin).

Anyways, I didn't even realize that there were clean needle exchanges here, that's how stupid I was about the whole thing. I NEVER SHARED a needle before, and trust me I've heard some nasty stories about needles that had been used multiple times by several people BEING SOLD to addicts that were banned from buying needles from the pharmacy and couldn't get to the clean needle exchange for various reasons. I'd then remember these guys sharpening their needles with matchbook striker pads because they had used the needle countless times. These guys then got surprised why all of their veins were collapsed and useless and why they'd always get abscesses, granulomas, and all that other nasty stuff. Worst part was when they started using these grimy second-hand dull rigs to inject into their necks.

 

[J.D.]

When I first started using, I'd run out and try to clean my rigs. Sometimes bleach and water, other times alcohol and water. I have no idea how clean they got. I know the needles got plenty dull. So I finally started breaking the needles off right after the first use to keep myself from reusing them. It forced me to stock up.

 

[tricomb]

Do not re-use needles.

If you must re-use needles, use a new needle tip and THOROUGHLY clean the entire apparatus with chlorine bleach AND isopropyl alcohol.

The risk of complications when re-using needles is so high it is never worth it. I would break off the needle and use it rectally, safer and still effective.

 

[phr]

Between the risk of infection(even if you don't share) and actual physical damage from a blunted needle, it's just not worth it.

Yeah it may be easy to say when you're not in the midst of addiction, but it's really the best advice.

If you're worried about bacteria/viruses, use bleach. That's your best bet from what I've read.

 

[oar9fi]

When I used to have to re-use a rig I found that sharpening the tip on the strike pad of a match book made it a little easier. Be sure to run some water, alcohol or bleach through it after doing this in case any of the "grit" came off into the needle. PLEASE be careful. I don't have to tell you that shooting up is dangerous. I was doing it for awhile & so was my younger brother but then I found him dead in the bathroom with a needle still in his arm (and I still didn't stop until I was on the 'done.) I'm not trying to preach- I'm just telling you my experience.

 

[tricomb]

Between the risk of infection(even if you don't share) and actual physical damage from a blunted needle, it's just not worth it.

Yeah it may be easy to say when you're not in the midst of addiction, but it's really the best advice.

If you're worried about bacteria/viruses, use bleach. That's your best bet from what I've read.

^Heed this man's advice. He speaks the truth. This is why I would use bleach AND isopropyl alcohol, because people have caught MSRA and other SERIOUS infections from re-using (not sharing, just reusing) their own syringes.

Don't rub your needle on the red phosphorus striking pad of matches (I used sandpaper once, do not reuse needles even if they appear sharp), I understand your reasoning for this but does not actually reduce harm, if anything it might make it worse.

 

[Venrak]

^Don't even suggest that someone sharpen needles. There is no excuse for not using a clean needle. You buy in bulk when you have the money, because you know you're going to be spending the money anyways. You'll save some money in the end, and you'll always have fresh rigs.

No excuse.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Tricomb

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Yes we all know it's not the best idea to reuse our own syringes but in reality it happens occasionally (due to things like poor planning, or difficulties in some places in obtaining syringes, or that we weren't intending to use, etc). In case this happens, I think it's best to provide advise on how to minimize harm instead of just saying "don't do it". People are going to do it anyway. Personally I think the risk of wrecking your veins is much higher than the risk of infection (assuming you are only using a rig that you yourself previously used and it was kept capped). But to avoid infection, the method I was taught by a nurse is to rinse the syringe out with bleach (best choice) or isopropyl alcohol (second choice) and then rinse it repeatedly with water. Perhaps it might not kill 100% of all bacteria and viruses and prions that are known to exist (for example Hep C), but it will kill 99% and it will kill any that are likely to be on/in a syringe that only you used, which is a whole lot better than doing nothing.

I have heard about the method of trying to sharpen your needle tip with a match book or something similar, but I was told (by HR drug outreach people) that the risks from this method can outweigh the benefits and that sharpening them incorrectly can actually make them more dangerous than they were before. It is extremely important to very thoroughly clean the syringe after sharpening. Here is a site with tips about sharpening:
http://www.heroinhelper.com/user/admin/sharpening.shtml

 

[tricomb]

^ Yes, by attempting to sharpen your syringe, it basically frees a whole bunch of metal particles, which you will then inject if not done properly. Which is why my judgement is, even done properly, the risk of "sharpening" your old syringes far outweighs the reward.

Also, that's why I said use chlorine bleach AND isopropyl alcohol to reduce, not eliminate risk of serious infection, godforbid MSRA and it's variants.

^Don't even suggest that someone sharpen needles. There is no excuse for not using a clean needle. You buy in bulk when you have the money, because you know you're going to be spending the money anyways. You'll save some money in the end, and you'll always have fresh rigs.

No excuse.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Tricomb

Honestly, you can save loads of money for getting syringes in bulk boxes of 100 or 1000, whatever suits your needs. They are probably the cheapest part of your addiction. I am no longer an IV drug user but I still use them for rectal administration, and let's be honest, who wants to re-use a syringe that's been up your rectum. I used to clean them myself with bleach and IPA, but it is just so much easier to throw it in the trash. I feel absolutely terrible for polluting my planet and using so much plastic syringes that will end up in a landfill, but I'd rather have a guilty conscience than risk re-using syringes.

edit: I couldn't find the same link of the kind I usually get, but I order boxes of 100 1mL Terumos (my favorite) oral syringes which I use for rectal administration. I like them because they are TINY and you can barely feel them, there is no discomfort, unlike using larger syringes (I still cannot believe people use 10mL to plug, ouuuuch) and for the drugs I use (with the exception of morphine), I don't have any problems using 1mL when you factor in the opiate's solubility. With morphine, I don't do more than 60mg/mL but this is not a problem because I can administer as many syringes full of 60mg morphine as I need. IMO it's nowhere near as inconvenient to administer multiple syringes rectally when you compare it to IV, you don't have to find a vein or swab with alcohol, etc.

I couldn't find a link to the kind I normally get off amazon, they're usually around $15 for a box of 100. The closest thing I could find to what I buy is http://www.amazon.com/Terumo-Syring...2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1337225972&sr=1-2-catcorr

They look like this

Notice that there's almost no deadspace, and look at how the tips are, they're great for rectal administration, I don't even need to use lubrication with these syringes, although when available I always use it anyways for minimal discomfort. Other oral syringes I've seen or used had either a way-too-long tip, or sharp edges or something that makes them a less-desirable option. I LOVE Terumos, it probably sounds like I work for them haha, but no, they're just the best syringes for rectal administration IME and I've tried many many many many brands.