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Heroin I barely ever manage to find a vein even after reading all of the tips I can find. Is there any technique I can use for a sure fire way of a success?

S

swimboi890

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
13
Preferably on my arms. I’ve used tourniquets and warmth and everything from a-z but it’s still nearly impossible for me to find a vein. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Try a short tip needle. Also, what gauge needle are you currently using? Switching to a lower gauge (larger needle) can make it easier, especially if your problem is sliding out.
 
burn out said:
Try a short tip needle. Also, what gauge needle are you currently using? Switching to a lower gauge (larger needle) can make it easier, especially if your problem is sliding out.
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Im already using short tip needles! I can never manage to draw any fucking blood out. I did a ton of research and I still cant do it and I just wasted all my fucking dope and its in a syringe and I really want to do it. What the fuck am I doing wrong? Im doing the tourniquet right after the middle of my bicep too. Are there any easily safely accessible veins? My wrists and hands have gone to shit bc of all the failed attemps and im furious.
 
chinup said:
do you mean you can't find a vein full stop or that all the ones in your arms are blown already?
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I cant 'find' veins by barely seeing them, but none of them ever stick out when i tie my arm off. Ive tried the windmill method, keeping it warm, chugging water, literally fucking everything What do I do?!?!
 
tbh i know its really frustrating but anything that makes IV drug use harder is probably a good thing if it puts you off. its not a good road to go down.

can you not get someone to help you? when i first started i got other people to do it and they could get in without tying or anything, just got straight in. its best to do with someone experienced anyway to get the basics of harm reduction, i was awful on my own for keeping things sterile don't think i did a single shot that hadn't been on the floor.

some people just have difficult to find veins. i have a friend who'se never IVd but nurses have to take blood from her hand cos they can't get anything in her arms. fucking nurses!! like they know anatomically where everything should be. whereas i can see at least 4 veins in the crook of my elbow just by pumping my hand a bit.
 
chinup said:
tbh i know its really frustrating but anything that makes IV drug use harder is probably a good thing if it puts you off. its not a good road to go down.

can you not get someone to help you? when i first started i got other people to do it and they could get in without tying or anything, just got straight in. its best to do with someone experienced anyway to get the basics of harm reduction, i was awful on my own for keeping things sterile don't think i did a single shot that hadn't been on the floor.

some people just have difficult to find veins. i have a friend who'se never IVd but nurses have to take blood from her hand cos they can't get anything in her arms. fucking nurses!! like they know anatomically where everything should be. whereas i can see at least 4 veins in the crook of my elbow just by pumping my hand a bit.
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Yeah - one time when I was in college, I was with my ex girlfriend in the hospital and even the head nurse couldnt get the IV in her while she just sat there getting her hand stabbed over and over again. Eventually, though, they managed to hook up the IV and she finally got her much needed Dilauded. Seems wrong to say but I was kinda jealous lmao!
 
Update 06/11 approx 5 PM:
I guess I managed to find a vein on my left arm, because after injecting and starting to feel the affects of the heroin, I wake up to my aunt walking in on my with almost all my paraphernalia out; yet another reason I would prefer to live by myself. I think she understood what was going on and all she said was to take care of myself.​
About 10-15 minutes ago IV’d crack into the same vein, same injection point. Will I be okay? Should I avoid using that vein now? The heroin/fentanyl high is extremely light, if not completely gone. The crack high is on the come down.​
 
You can use the same vein more than twice if that's what you're asking. A junkie will use the same vein over and over until it collapses, which can take months. It is a good idea to rotate injection sites but eventually you will still run out of good veins if you IV every day for years.

Also if you are having trouble finding veins with the short tip needles, try long tips. I think those are easier in general, the short tips can be better in some situations all depending on the vein in question and your own preferences.

You will know when you are in a vein because blood will enter the syringe when you pull back on the plunger.
 
rotate your sites!! honestly i know after it being so hard to find a place you could get in its tempting to just go there until its gone. but you'll preserve your sites much better if you don't hammer the same one constantly.

also crack will ruin it super quick, i lost my left arm veins insanely fast doing that. though i've since discovered a couple of new ones i'd missed but i don't use those drugs anymore, let alone IV. also i got told later on that going lower down is better as then when those veins go you can still use the veins higher up but it was a bit late for me at that point so i haven't tested that.

please please remember to sterilise the area, use fresh needles, at least boil your water if you doln't have sterile water and use alcohol wipes on the site after.
 
Seriously man, rotate the sites. And more people need to use alcohol wipes before and after. You are already rolling the dice enough. Yet I have 3 suggestions to help you. 1. I started my shooting days with baby veins. Even years after I stopped slamming and nurses still have trouble getting a vein. I mainly shot up in my legs. Knowing that every one knows to look on the arms for track marks. Plus, the legs are bigger= bigger veins. U can tie off or not. Sometimes a tie is your enemy because it fills the vein with so much... it causes it to roll. 2. I never did this one and you need a very experienced person to do it, but hang your head off of a bed and put your thumb over your lips and bear down like having a bowl movement. Ive seen a lot of people do this one. 3. Get a little coke(i mean very little) and skin pop by where you think a vein is. This is a practice used in hospitals with my own street twist to it. Besides numbing the area... it irritates the vein and makes it bigger and irritated. Plus, there's the plus of no pain. Warning, the little couple drops of a numbing agent hurt more that 100 cc of heroin. But desperate times. And I guess I have 4. Tricks up my sleeve. 4. This isn't a trick to find a vein, its a instead. Make up your shot of heroin in a syringe, then break off the needle. Next bend over and touch your toes. Get some kind of lubricant(Vaseline, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, of even a little spit and put it all around and on your Anus. Stay bent over and stick the syringe as far in as you can. Literally until your fingers are to your hole. Now angle the syringe head towards your belly button. Then pull it back out a half inch or so. These last two steps ensure that you are not shooting that shot into any bowels that may be in there. Its because of people not doing these last two steps that has kept "turkey basting" from becoming the primary way. That and people being immature about "up the butt" stuff. Also, lastly after you push your whole shot in. Leave the syringe in your butt and stay bent over for a minute. This makes sure that the liquid shot doesn't come dripping out after you inject. Just a minute or so tops like that then you pull o u t the syringe because all the liquid is now absorbed inside. This is knowledge i wish I had ten years ago. Then I would have saved a lot of time, frustration, and dope! For in the butt it bypasses the tummy and goes directly into your system. When I was still shooting it. I was at a friend's house and had already spent a long time trying and trying to get a vein. So I said screw it and did it turkey for one of the first times. I actually tasted it when it went in too. I was so high... it surprised the hell out of me. Then I did my research on it. I still do it like that several times a day and I've never missed all that crap that comes with main lining. This last way is safer, cleaner, easier. The only risk that's immediate is possibly doing too much. Which since its not hard to do, you and everyone needs to do a "tester"! You might have gotten your dope from the same source as always, but there's no guarantee he did. Besides that every batch is different or at least has the ability to be. So every one. Make up a baby one and put it in your ass. Wait 10-15 at most and if your not high enough... do some more. Your ass isn't going anywhere. Please give this method a try. If you listen to my advice... I bet you will want to thank me. Also, please pass this new info to anyone who will listen. Testers and turkey basting should be the main ways to use. For several reasons. As I believe I've more than explained.
 
Sounds like you may have fine veins, which if so you need a 29/30/31gauge needle to get in the vein.
I've mistakenly used 27 and 25 gauge to try get into veins in my hand and they always just end up going through the vein.

Failing that you may have your veins deeper in your body than usual, if that's the case you need a longer needle to get at it.
 
How long have you been fixing? Are you just starting out and having problems finding a vain or have you hammered the sites you have been using a wile?
*Edit sorry Ive re-read and sounds like your new to the game. The first thing I would suggest is don't fix it unless its not working for you any other way, Ive been shooting for years and trust me its over rated, yes the fist few are great but it all end up the same in the end and wearing long sleeves in the summer sucks balls.
If you can see a vain in your arm you can shoot in it. Its all down to technique, feeling the vain pop and pulling back to confirm. Use a torny and loosen it before pushing the gear in. The best way would be to show you, if you have skype or suchlike I will give you a demo ( and also show you what 10 years of IV drug use does to you veins ( and self respect, I have had mornings crying, whilst covered in blood unable to get a hit)).
Again I bring you to my first point, find another method! Smoke a joint, have a cheeky wank, just don't get into shooting the gear.
 
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swimboi890 said:
Preferably on my arms. I’ve used tourniquets and warmth and everything from a-z but it’s still nearly impossible for me to find a vein. Any help would be much appreciated.
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Sot down and have your arm raised and elbow resting on an atm support , make sure you have decent lighting (like a bathroom light).

Veins are felt rather than seen, feels like a strand of spaghetti sort of.

Tourniquet comfortably over the middle of your biceps, not too tight .
 
I used to have issues too until I started dping this. I used to only do this when I had to use a long but now I found that if I do this even when I use a short I could hit small shallow veins in my hands, wrist ,feet, ect. Just take a cap and cut it a little more then in half then Put back on syringe. This makes it so that your needle is shorter. You will have to adjust your cuts to find ths perfect length for you but once you do I reccomend saving it for future use. Not sure if this will help but its worth a try. Like I said I used to struggle horribly and it was because I kept going too far snd right through my veins.
 
when i used to shoot up, id never tie off, id just lean over like im gonna touch my toes without bending my knees and let my arms hang till the veins popped out, then hit it.

Also if you pull back the second the needles in your skin, then try to find the vein, blood will fill the syringe as soon as you hit gold
 
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I was banging heroin (and plenty of meth/coke in there) for 7 cumulative years and, needless to say, I know your pain.

The desperation I went to to hit was astounding. I went from my arms and hands to my feet and then my ankles and calves. And then my neck. And then my groin and crotch. Finally...you know where. Nothing could stop me. I'm done now (18 months clean!) and can look back on that with some horror.

Anyway, a couple things that I did as I was winding down and getting desperate:

Warm washcloths held on the space you're trying to find a vein. This can help them stand up.

Go up in needle size (or down in gauge). This helps blood flow back into the rig itself and the heftier needle can punch through scar tissue more easily. I used 30 gauge (31 if I was hitting my hands or feet) shorts for years but towards the end I "upgraded" to a 28 gauge long. I was able to find a few deeper ones in my arms that way (and when I say deep, I mean I sank most of the 1/2th inch needle into my arm to find it). You aren't limited to just the veins you can see or "think" are there. Veins run all up and down your arms, and most you can't see.

Somebody said this, but ROTATE THOSE SITES. I know it's exciting to find a reliable spot to hit after struggling and just go in for the kill on that ONE specific spot going forward (I was that guy for a long time), but trust me, you are in for a life of pain and disappointment if you do that. My rule was 3 shots into that one spot before I move on and give it a minimum of five days to heal up. 7-10 days would be even better, though I know that's not easy.

Also, get creative. I don't know if you want to constrain your use to your arms only (though that won't last, if you're at all like me), but there are decent sized veins that run back underneath your forearm. If you do a "bicep flex" type of pose and look where your elbow meets your arm on the inside, you're gonna see some pretty thick veins run upwards. I made use of those many times. If you hit those, you might be shooting AWAY from your heart, so in the wrong direction in a sense, but as long as you don't slam the plunger down I never had any problems.

Finally, if you're shaking too badly from dopesickness, pop a few units of your shot into your upper arm or thigh. Wait a few minutes for that small amount of dope to absorb and your shakes will get a lot better. Just don't make a habit of doing that and DON'T do it with a dirty, because skin popping with dirties can give you an abscess. (Honestly, you should never do anything with a dirty rig besides dispose of it properly, but I would be a hypocrite if I said that I "only ever used a rig once.")

Hope that helps! I won't comment on your situation, because I don't know it, but if you ever want to discuss any hardships or addiction in general then let me know.
 
chinup said:
and use alcohol wipes on the site after.
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In fact don't do that. Alkie wipes are for disinfecting the area BEFOREHAND .

Swipe your injection site once or twice in one direction. Wait a few secs for the moisture from it to dry on your skin. After injection press a piece of gauze or clean paper tissue on the site which will help to minimize bruising and stop any bleeding.
The alcohol in the wipes actually encourages more bleeding which is why they're not for after. (Also no need to disinfect twice.)
 
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