Harm Reduction Injection; IV Complications and Info MEGATHREAD & FAQ III Vs I Want Blood

[i3069]

sore arm after dilly shot

I didn't miss the dilly shot. But, my forearm is sore, not swollen. It's sore to the touch, only at the injection site. Please tell me what's wrong. Thanks in advance.

 

[whitegreen]

IV when having a tick?

I feel bad for making a completely new thread about this but after all it's a sub-forum for homeless thread and I really can't seem to find a better place for this question. I found it funny and maybe, and hopefully some of you might do as well

But it hit me, a few days ago after having taking a two hour walk in the nature, a few days later I found a tick on the side of my body, it hadn't started sucking blood yet and wasn't "stuck" that bad yet fortunately, I got the whole thing out with a "tick-pen", head and everything so that's all fine.

But what hit me was, what happens if you have a tick that have started sucking blood on you and let's say you I.V. some heroin or some other compound?

Would the tick become high as f*** or more likely die from it? Or would it even be affected at all maybe? (For some reason)

For some reason I find this interesting and I am really curious to know the answer, if someone does?

Cheers everyone, take care and stay safe!

 

[Liminality]

Hirudoid works wonders for veinous damage. Sore veins, lumps, track marks all helped immensely by hirudoid. Dads a dr. So i got plenty of it. Heat packs regulary will keep swelling down (not rigt after injecting) Vitamin E might help in your case but i think it's more superficial track marks, skinnhealth, etc.

intense exercise using agmatine and other blood flow increasers (citrulline malate) are good for general vein health. Agmatine is a good one for fixing veins definitely. More vascular, easier to hit and more flow for healing..

 

[Akerman]

Hirudoid works wonders for veinous damage. Sore veins, lumps, track marks all helped immensely by hirudoid.

I had to press my Dr for a prescription of Hirudoid and was unsuccessful, but fortuntately, you can buy a version from behind-the-counter at larger pharmacies.

I can't describe how often I genuinely think Hirudoid saved my, well, mostly arms, during my more dangerous injecting days. You don't want to apply too much, but I definitely missed shots of stuff where I applied Hirudoid and was, at least thus far, seemingly fine, where the same gear a missed shot without hirudoid caused major problems. This was multiple times across various substances.

May be pure chance. But I stand behind it as a harm reduction tool IV users should keep handy, even based on my own tentative experience.

 

[infantannihilator]

I got me some 28g 1/2" 1cc terumo pins today. Haven't gotten the chance to use them, but just opening the pack and feeling the action.. WOW. These are like butter. They make the BD superfines feel like you're pushing/pulling the plunger through tar.. its literally effortless. I checked three of them and the bevel is all in the same direction for each (in line with little tabs for your fingers at the top, making it so you can get super shallow without the tabs hitting your arm or whatever.. the BD's are all over the place in terms of orientation.

Pretty excited for the chance to use these..

 

[Akerman]

I got me some 28g 1/2" 1cc terumo pins today. Haven't gotten the chance to use them, but just opening the pack and feeling the action.. WOW. These are like butter. They make the BD superfines feel like you're pushing/pulling the plunger through tar.. its literally effortless. I checked three of them and the bevel is all in the same direction for each (in line with little tabs for your fingers at the top, making it so you can get super shallow without the tabs hitting your arm or whatever.. the BD's are all over the place in terms of orientation.

Pretty excited for the chance to use these..

Yeah, I think the BD Microfines or whatever they're calling themselves these days are 29 or 30g, and although generally the advice is that you should use the smallest pin possible, if you've got a bit of scarring or vein damage the insulin pins of these tiny gauges can get blunted before you even register. Even a tiny increase in the size of the needle may be contributing to why you're finding these pins better - even air flows in and out of them a wee bit faster. But also, clearly not the only factor at play here - brilliant feedback on product quality comparisons, thank you

I don't know what the situation is like in Canada, but in Wales, UK, at least, most pharmacies which offer needle exchange include the Terumo pins rather than BD. There is, however, a slow trickle over to the Nevershare needles - at 30g, they clog surprisingly little and were designed with drug users in mind, very smooth action etc. Larger exchange services will carry a range of all-in-ones and various needle gauges and barells for those who prefer separates

 

[infantannihilator]

Yeah, I think the BD Microfines or whatever they're calling themselves these days are 29 or 30g, and although generally the advice is that you should use the smallest pin possible, if you've got a bit of scarring or vein damage the insulin pins of these tiny gauges can get blunted before you even register. Even a tiny increase in the size of the needle may be contributing to why you're finding these pins better - even air flows in and out of them a wee bit faster. But also, clearly not the only factor at play here - brilliant feedback on product quality comparisons, thank you

I don't know what the situation is like in Canada, but in Wales, UK, at least, most pharmacies which offer needle exchange include the Terumo pins rather than BD. There is, however, a slow trickle over to the Nevershare needles - at 30g, they clog surprisingly little and were designed with drug users in mind, very smooth action etc. Larger exchange services will carry a range of all-in-ones and various needle gauges and barells for those who prefer separates

Well, as I said I haven't actually gotten to use them yet. It's not looking like I'll be able to until sometime next week - quite broke at the moment unfortunately, but it's for the best, for my tolerance and for my veins.. coke is one hell of a drug and I've been a little careless during shakey desperate moments lately hitting the big go-to-always work veins. Last time I used I felt resistance and I figure it was due to inflammation and scarring.

I go to a needle exchange at a community center here in Toronto and they carry absolutely everything. I heard about the Terumos from this thread actually so I made a note to get them the next time I was there. Pharmacies don't carry anything but BD's and it seems only ever 8mms if they even have 1mls.. its sort of a rough go sometimes. I like that the terumos are 1/2" (12.7mm) length too. It seems for BD's here the smallest insulin pins are 30g. They have those there too. The terumos they have are 27-28g and .5 to 1ml. I've also gotten bd 27g needles with 3ml syringes there before for when I was pushing larger amounts in and wanted to not have such a strong solution going in. I've personally never had any issues with clogging, I think that is more a problem of filtering, but I could be wrong. I also get prerolled sterile cottons there that are excellent, they don't swell up as they have a little casing (they look like little cylinders of tightly rolled cotton), so they stay tight and filter pretty well. Unfortunately they don't have wheel filters there or I'd grab a box. get wipes, sterile water, vitc, everything there and its all free which is awesome. Also got myself a large sharps bin so I could clear out my drawer.. hah. It's called an exchange, but they don't have any rules such as you have to bring them back to get more kind of thing.

I was in the area and decided to stock up, as I'd been out and spending the $5 on 10 packs of the 30g BDs lately. So I just opened a few up to do a few comparisons to see what was up with them and was pretty floored by how effortlessly the plunger moved. I find the BD's when you open them from the packs are "stuck" and take a good jolt to get moving at first, not so with the terumos. In terms of the gauge, 27g is literally .004" bigger than 30g.. so its really not a massive difference, and I find even with shakey ass hands, as long as I dont blow the vein or miss, there is barely any mark. I've used 25g before in a pinch and even those didn't leave much of a mark.. marks imo are really a product of not using new needles every time. Quite frankly I'm considering shooting a little sterile water just to get a better feel haha, but I can wait.

 

[Akerman]

Well, as I said I haven't actually gotten to use them yet. It's not looking like I'll be able to until sometime next week - quite broke at the moment unfortunately, but it's for the best, for my tolerance and for my veins.. coke is one hell of a drug and I've been a little careless during shakey desperate moments lately hitting the big go-to-always work veins. Last time I used I felt resistance and I figure it was due to inflammation and scarring.

I go to a needle exchange at a community center here in Toronto and they carry absolutely everything. I heard about the Terumos from this thread actually so I made a note to get them the next time I was there. Pharmacies don't carry anything but BD's and it seems only ever 8mms if they even have 1mls.. its sort of a rough go sometimes. I like that the terumos are 1/2" (12.7mm) length too. It seems for BD's here the smallest insulin pins are 30g. They have those there too. The terumos they have are 27-28g and .5 to 1ml. I've also gotten bd 27g needles with 3ml syringes there before for when I was pushing larger amounts in and wanted to not have such a strong solution going in. I've personally never had any issues with clogging, I think that is more a problem of filtering, but I could be wrong. I also get prerolled sterile cottons there that are excellent, they don't swell up as they have a little casing (they look like little cylinders of tightly rolled cotton), so they stay tight and filter pretty well. Unfortunately they don't have wheel filters there or I'd grab a box. get wipes, sterile water, vitc, everything there and its all free which is awesome. Also got myself a large sharps bin so I could clear out my drawer.. hah. It's called an exchange, but they don't have any rules such as you have to bring them back to get more kind of thing.

I was in the area and decided to stock up, as I'd been out and spending the $5 on 10 packs of the 30g BDs lately. So I just opened a few up to do a few comparisons to see what was up with them and was pretty floored by how effortlessly the plunger moved. I find the BD's when you open them from the packs are "stuck" and take a good jolt to get moving at first, not so with the terumos. In terms of the gauge, 27g is literally .004" bigger than 30g.. so its really not a massive difference, and I find even with shakey ass hands, as long as I dont blow the vein or miss, there is barely any mark. I've used 25g before in a pinch and even those didn't leave much of a mark.. marks imo are really a product of not using new needles every time. Quite frankly I'm considering shooting a little sterile water just to get a better feel haha, but I can wait.

It depends in large part what you're shooting up and how you're taking care of yourself. I've never once had a syringe clog when shooting heroin, but amphetamines are a whole different story, they seem to thicken your blood and by the time you've got a real register you can clog a smaller pin with your own blood, particularly if you haven't been eating/drinking/sleeping right.

25g are my preferred size, but then I have a lot of old surgical scarring and stuff, and I need a long, strong needle to get through it as painlessly as possible. But I've shot IV using blues and blacks (23/22g) before and its not so much scarring that's an issue (even most tracks fade) its more the invisible scarring of the veins that can mean you need to keep escalating up a pin size (or retire an entire vein)

If the urge overtakes you, remember that it doesn't have to be you that takes the pin. If you really want to play with them, inject an orange or one of those squeezy stress balls. Or, wait it out, it'll probably be worth the added rush

 

[infantannihilator]

It depends in large part what you're shooting up and how you're taking care of yourself. I've never once had a syringe clog when shooting heroin, but amphetamines are a whole different story, they seem to thicken your blood and by the time you've got a real register you can clog a smaller pin with your own blood, particularly if you haven't been eating/drinking/sleeping right.

25g are my preferred size, but then I have a lot of old surgical scarring and stuff, and I need a long, strong needle to get through it as painlessly as possible. But I've shot IV using blues and blacks (23/22g) before and its not so much scarring that's an issue (even most tracks fade) its more the invisible scarring of the veins that can mean you need to keep escalating up a pin size (or retire an entire vein)

If the urge overtakes you, remember that it doesn't have to be you that takes the pin. If you really want to play with them, inject an orange or one of those squeezy stress balls. Or, wait it out, it'll probably be worth the added rush

I just find it hard to hit smaller veins, when I get to like 25g the veins seem the size of the damn pin. Tourni on with them all swollen its no problem, but when it comes off the veins end up shrinking around the needle practically and I worry about blowouts misses much more as there is so little less room. Also my veins ALL seem to want to roll like nobodies busiess, no matter what I do so that complicates things and smaller pins do go in easier. Shooting coke doesnt help with the vasoconstriction either. I try not to use a tourni, but after a shot I pretty much have to. I;ve sometimes had issues where the tourni wont come off and I end up making too much of a jerk and shake the needle in the vein. Either way, I suppose steadier hands are the answer. Been considering giving meth a go.. but I love coke so much lol

Don't you worry about inner scar tissue thinning the inner diameter of the veins?

 

[Akerman]

I just find it hard to hit smaller veins, when I get to like 25g the veins seem the size of the damn pin. Tourni on with them all swollen its no problem, but when it comes off the veins end up shrinking around the needle practically and I worry about blowouts misses much more as there is so little less room. Also my veins ALL seem to want to roll like nobodies busiess, no matter what I do so that complicates things and smaller pins do go in easier. Shooting coke doesnt help with the vasoconstriction either. I try not to use a tourni, but after a shot I pretty much have to. I;ve sometimes had issues where the tourni wont come off and I end up making too much of a jerk and shake the needle in the vein. Either way, I suppose steadier hands are the answer. Been considering giving meth a go.. but I love coke so much lol

Don't you worry about inner scar tissue thinning the inner diameter of the veins?

If you're using a touniquet, find a material and length that works for you. Needs to be long enough to hold in the mouth so that you can release it quickly, needs to be a slippery fabric (like a gentlemans tie) which slips over itself and releases easily. Medical torniquets are generally designed to be operated two-handed, so not great for a solo shooter. If you can get your hands on a military issue one, those things are like gold, designed to be operated by a single hand.

If you're going in littler veins (or possibly just have little veins!) then sticking to smaller, shorter pins is sensible. You're lucky you can get hold of 0.5s, round here you have to specially request that they order in anything smaller than basically a 1ml.

And alas, I did most of the damage at a time when I didn't really see myself living long enough to outlast my veins. Now I'm down to 3 sites that I can use - one in my left arm which is deeply buried under scar tissue so takes at least a 16mm pin to reach it, I have one untapped vein in that arm which I vaguely keep for medical (or drug-ical) emergencies, and I have my neck (not willing to go in the groin). But I knackered wrists, fingers, feet, ankles, legs, arms, hands.

My experience has been that if I give my main site a week or two to heal, I can hit it with a Nevershare pin (30g by 12mm I think), but drugs IV take a while to kick in for me, precisely because of the damage I've done to my body. I intend to quit or at least dramatically cut down my IV use, if for no other reason than that my body is forcing me to (well, there are plenty of other reasons, but that one is the most pressing). I do feel that the smaller pins do less damage, but within a couple days, even with all my self-prodding and experience, I could probably only just tell the difference between having had a day (or several) binging with 25g versus the tiny 30g. No doubt its doing damage in the long term, but since I'm down to pretty much one vein I'm comfortable using... well, when the needles aren't long enough, they just aren't long enough (or strong enough, as the case may be). I currently use a long orange (1 1/2 inches, 25g) to hit that site and it seems to be holding up okay. I think the damage I would probably have done digging and jabbing trying to hit a deep, scarred vein with insulin pins, or resorting to shooting up in my neck, the harms would have potentially been greater. And I at least have access to clean equipment as and when needed.

I never got much off coke but then I never IV'd it. Neither cocaine nor crack seem to have any effect on me, which is a shame because crack is cheap as chips around here (or at least, considerably cheaper than a Dominoes) and people on crack seem to want to give others crack for free.

I wouldn't recommend IV meth. I've done it, its a nightmare for your veins and overall health. Cocaine is risky because its an anesthetic - you don't always notice if you miss a shot or slip out of a vein. Meth just eats your veins, and if you miss a shot or blow a vein it's liable to cause chaos. If you can get hold of pills I'd go the oral route, or possibly smoke it. If you want to get a taste of the IV hit you could plug it on an empty bowel, but again, its not the nicest stuff - you wouldn't want to be putting it up your bum or your nose or your veins with any frequency unless you're prepared to deal with outcomes [sore bottom, nose bleeds, damaged veins]/you're a bit of a needle junkie.

If you're injecting into somewhere that leaves both hands free (or usable), I've had a bit of luck with stabilising rolly veins simply by putting pressure with one finger about a CM above where I intend to go in, and another finger applying firm pressure below. It acts like a baby-torniquet after a fashion, and it also just literally holds stuff in place so there's less room for veins to wiggle about.

 

[infantannihilator]

I can get a hold of .5's but don't like them, hands are kinda small and its just more comfortable for me to have half loaded pins if possible. If I have to go near 1ml I move up to a 3ml. I've only used .5ml BDs and I noticed they are fucking terrible in terms of action and I ended up with more troubles with them.. plus like I said, I'd rather use more water and keep the concentration lower to reduce the veinous shock, and it helps in case of a miss too. Then again its easier and faster to put in 20 units than it is 70, but its a trade off. I've got a medical tourniquet that rubber stuff, so it is sticky. I try to leave a little as possible tucked under so its not hard to undo, but things happen. Either that or I'll wrap a long sleeve around my arm and pin it against my side. I've tried other injection sides like my leg but never seem to get them to work even though I can see the veins right there..

I have pretty damn visible surface veins, but I've found when I get into t he ones that get deeper that I'll be in, and then start injecting and the veins shrink and I end up pulling out. I guess I just need longer needles and to go even more shallow to ensure its in there. It's a tricky situation. I'm pretty good with not missing from coke and can generally tell when things start to go wrong even with the anesthesia. I don't slam things I take it slow enough and usually do a second register half way just to be sure.. while missing half a shot sucks, I'd rather have it still in the pin and load up some more for a second go rather than push it all under my skin lol.

If you haven't IVd coke I'd say don't try it.. heh. Never done anything more addicting in my life.

I've got a number of great veins on my arms, but for the most part theyre really awkward to hit. Maybe its just newbishness but they all see to be on the outer edge of my arm which seems really awkward for me.

In terms of shooting meth.. well it can't be any worse than putting 2-3gs of coke into my veins in a sitting with 15+ injections over the course of a few hours.. the latter ones pretty badly done in desperation..

 

[Akerman]

If I have to go near 1ml I move up to a 3ml... plus like I said, I'd rather use more water and keep the concentration lower to reduce the veinous shock, and it helps in case of a miss too. Then again its easier and faster to put in 20 units than it is 70, but its a trade off.

It's worth noting that pulling back on the plunger of a 3ml barell to register may cause a lot more damage than simply loading up a couple of shots and if you think you're going to have a hard time registering again, and if its in a real short time span (like, the amount of time it would normally take you to inject 3ml) you can just switch over the barrels, quickly re-register and not have to worry about collapsing veins because of accidental over-suction. Of course, that means using separate pins and barrels. But bigger rigs are also harder to pull back on, physically, and if you're struggling with the shakies that's just a nightmare on top of a nightmare.

I've got a medical tourniquet that rubber stuff, so it is sticky. I try to leave a little as possible tucked under so its not hard to undo, but things happen. Either that or I'll wrap a long sleeve around my arm and pin it against my side.

Yeah, medical tourniquets are generally not up for personal use. Wrapping your sleeve around your arm is a good technique, the wide fabric causes less potential bruising, and its way easier to release than a clip or silicone tournie. My favorite material for them is the silk rope manufactured in Japan for bondage and shibari etc - its designed not to cause bruising, it slides over itself really easily (so comes undone easily) and its rope, so its long enough to wrap it around most limbs a couple of times and still have enough length left to hold it in your mouth for fast release. Also key, it washes without a fuss and is pretty cheap, so you can keep things budget-friendly and hygienic

I have pretty damn visible surface veins, but I've found when I get into t he ones that get deeper that I'll be in, and then start injecting and the veins shrink and I end up pulling out. I guess I just need longer needles and to go even more shallow to ensure its in there. It's a tricky situation.

Sometimes a longer needle can be helpful in allowing you to start off shallow and also to push the length of the needle into the vein space so that you can be most sure of a secure placement and register.

I don't slam things I take it slow enough and usually do a second register half way just to be sure.. while missing half a shot sucks, I'd rather have it still in the pin and load up some more for a second go rather than push it all under my skin lol.

It's a key yeah, take it slow. Plus it sounds like you're putting your health first in at least some aspects of using.

If you haven't IVd coke I'd say don't try it.. heh. Never done anything more addicting in my life.

I'll do me best

I've got a number of great veins on my arms, but for the most part theyre really awkward to hit. Maybe its just newbishness but they all see to be on the outer edge of my arm which seems really awkward for me.

Yeah, those side veins can be a bugger. They don't always run like they look like they should run either. Positioning is the key to this one. You want to be shooting in the direction of your heart, and ideally keeping the limb lower than heart level so you have the best chance of blood gathering in those veins. I found the best way to hit these veins was with my arm pointed upwards and steadied against my boobs/abdomen, with the use of a mirror and good lighting. Also, take a hot bath or shower, drink plenty, and lift weights - you'll see veins you never saw before. And don't look for veins, feel for them. The surface veins are often fragile and a bastard to hit and not blow, but you should be able to feel for healthy, springy veins and aim for them based on what you feel, not what lines are easy to see.

In terms of shooting meth.. well it can't be any worse than putting 2-3gs of coke into my veins in a sitting with 15+ injections over the course of a few hours.. the latter ones pretty badly done in desperation..

It pretty much can be yeah. I would easily burn through 40 rigs of a weekend when I was on the IV meth. If you know you've got a fiend in you, don't feed it - that same dose and re-dose thing that you've experienced with coke applies to tweakers, too. Plus, if you're a regular or semi-regular coke user (or heavier), meth is a load your body doesn't need. Coke is bad enough for your heart (and mind) without adding another stimulant to your drug wheel.

 

[infantannihilator]

It's worth noting that pulling back on the plunger of a 3ml barell to register may cause a lot more damage than simply loading up a couple of shots and if you think you're going to have a hard time registering again, and if its in a real short time span (like, the amount of time it would normally take you to inject 3ml) you can just switch over the barrels, quickly re-register and not have to worry about collapsing veins because of accidental over-suction. Of course, that means using separate pins and barrels. But bigger rigs are also harder to pull back on, physically, and if you're struggling with the shakies that's just a nightmare on top of a nightmare.

I've often wondered about that suction thing, I mean we're pulling back like 1 unit at most. I get with the smaller veins, especially when the needle is pretty much being hugged by the vein entirely that this could be a problem.. but I mean when they draw blood and whatever its a huge needle and blood gushes out of it like crazy, I cant imagine there not being enough flow. Ive actually found with the 3mls that due to the bigger size its easier to get a hold of and keep steady. I've never pushed that much in my vein, I just used them when I got to 1-1.5ml simply because the plunger isnt out as far and that overall leads to increased steadiness for me anyway.. but it is obvious how you could suck in a lot more blood. In terms of loading up multiple shots.. thats a nogo. I IV for the rush, not for really anything else, and with coke if you're not getting that rush you may as well snort it imo.. thats why a half missed shot is the worst fucking thing in the world.. you dont get the rush and its essentially a waste even with leftover material

Yeah, those side veins can be a bugger. They don't always run like they look like they should run either. Positioning is the key to this one. You want to be shooting in the direction of your heart, and ideally keeping the limb lower than heart level so you have the best chance of blood gathering in those veins. I found the best way to hit these veins was with my arm pointed upwards and steadied against my boobs/abdomen, with the use of a mirror and good lighting. Also, take a hot bath or shower, drink plenty, and lift weights - you'll see veins you never saw before. And don't look for veins, feel for them. The surface veins are often fragile and a bastard to hit and not blow, but you should be able to feel for healthy, springy veins and aim for them based on what you feel, not what lines are easy to see.

Yeah I've got to try to tackle this one, I've seen it done that way. Right now I just sit on a chair or bed or whatever and lay my arm down on my leg or between my legs. I guess this is the easy position. I know to shoot in the direction of the bloodflow. My skin is thin and translucent and I can basically see every vein in there, anthing else I feel is muscle and tendon, so I'm not sure how else to go about it lol

This is my left arm with my veins about as plump as they get. The one on the far right I fucked up and its got a ropey bit to it, bloods still flowing but I don't want to hit it. The next one over is big enough but it rolls like crazy no matter what I do so its really hard to get then that leaves the big old major vein. The others I feel are too small and fragile as you said. Keep in mind that once I'm high the veins shrink considerably, even with a tourni on. Most of the other larger veins towards my hand all meet up into the one large vein but I really dont want to hit that for a while. The others wrap around the other side like I mentioned, but generally they all lead to the same places as well. I can hit the bicep vein from the crook with my arm straight most of the time with ease, but I find I tend to always bruise when I hit that vein. Ah well, I suppose I'll get more experienced and figure things out, I guess I just like to be able to see the vein to know I'm actually in it well for now..

http://i.imgur.com/1GDf8kO.jpg

I tried to hit the one highlighted in red, got in no problem, registerd, pulled the tourny and started trying to push in water but was met twice with a stinging pain.. I know something is wrong, but I know I am in the vein so I'm not sure whatsup. Site went red and pulled a temporary collapse which Ive noticed happens to me quite often at an injection site, but within 5 mins its back plump again. Not sure what the deal is, the vein is plenty big.. I mean people on here talk about shooting into their finger veins and shit like that.. I know looking at the photo most people would drool, I dont really get what I'm doing wrong sometimes All this makes me seem really dumb I feel like.. I've managed to shoot up like 300 times now since I began without any major issues, I'd say ive had maybe 10 half misses in all those times but with the easier fatter veins which Id really like to start avoiding more.. Really like to know where im going wrong. I play it super shallow so I know Im not pushing through.. maybe Im playing too shallow and tearing the vein, causing leakage hence the sting?

I guess what confuses me is watching IV catheter insertions.. 20g needles stuck 1inch deep into hand veins. They go in, see the flash of blood as they say, and then they push the things right on in and then pull out the insertion needle (I realize catheters are plastic over a solid needle used for insertion). They seem so rough too, I kinda dont get it heh.

It pretty much can be yeah. I would easily burn through 40 rigs of a weekend when I was on the IV meth. If you know you've got a fiend in you, don't feed it - that same dose and re-dose thing that you've experienced with coke applies to tweakers, too. Plus, if you're a regular or semi-regular coke user (or heavier), meth is a load your body doesn't need. Coke is bad enough for your heart (and mind) without adding another stimulant to your drug wheel.

Heh, I thought IV meth lasted a little longer at least. My whole foray into coke started small and I didnt even like it much at first, but then I did enough for a real rush and its been kinda downhill form there. Went on a huge binge with my tax return and now I've kept it to like 3g a week if that.. I can't afford the habit quite frankly, and I also cant afford to be trashing my arms - its summer and its hot out and for work I cannot cover my arms so bruises etc are a nogo. Generally a miss lump or bruise is gone for me in a few days, but I do bruise easy.. I guess all that plays into my trying to keep things as safe as possible

 

[infantannihilator]

Any tips for holding the syringe in those awkward places? I tend to hold the syringe near the end with my pinky and ring finger and thumb, and use my middle and index to pull back to register with and then plunge with one or the other.. it seems much harder to do this hitting those outer veins, unless I point in the wrong direction.. other not so good ways Ive done it is basically hamfisting it with my pinky and ring and using my thumb and index to operate the plunger, but that seems even worse in this case

 

[svacheme3]

So something weird happens every once in a while, and now that it's caused a serious complication I need to find out more. I go to inject, and get a strong register, but when I push in it burns and a large area flashes red and white. I reregister and it still comes back all blood. It is not an arterial hit, as that would cause burning down into the hand. I still get a rush, which is why I just continued sometimes. Normally all traces go away, but recently some idiot used a nasty cut and now a large and painful bruise has formed.. Also need to figure out what's up with that. Looks like a large black and blue, but not hard, not warm, and not spreading, and totally unlike anything I've seen in my 12 year habit. Anyone familiar with either of these problems?

Edit: Showing beats telling... http://i57.tinypic.com/2dlskmo.jpg
Spot circled in green is injection site. Pic is of arm.. nothing naughty. Also should add that 4 days in, I'd expect warmth and swelling if it was infected, but it's still soft and cool (as in, same softness and temp as normal skin), just f'ing painful.

 

[svacheme3]

Any tips for holding the syringe in those awkward places? I tend to hold the syringe near the end with my pinky and ring finger and thumb, and use my middle and index to pull back to register with and then plunge with one or the other.. it seems much harder to do this hitting those outer veins, unless I point in the wrong direction.. other not so good ways Ive done it is basically hamfisting it with my pinky and ring and using my thumb and index to operate the plunger, but that seems even worse in this case

You don't need two fingers to operate the plunger.. It can be held by all fingers and the plunger operated with just the thumb... Like you play with a clicky top pen. This way is much more stable since you don't have to switch positions or have a loose grip resulting in the needle moving out as you switch to pushing in.

 

[Jimmyiv]

Sorry I have to reply I couldn't find where to post maybe because I'm stressed.

In the last 6 months I've been IV pure morphine from a vile. I've had no problems finding veins or scaring I'm very clean and at this stage I'm just using once a month. But twice this month due to being down I've tried to do hydromorphone Hydrochloride 16mg (Jurnista) obviously this is a pill which I'm breaking down in warm water and extracting thru a filter It seems to come out thick and the needle is being getting blunt when extracting thru the filter or the spoon. I don't which or both of these is leading to me not to find a vein or not withdrawal blood from a vein. I look like a filthy junkie with bruises all over my arm. I end up shooting when frustrated just into my hand or arm. I'm really worried about what damage I'm doing! Can doing this just twice lead to the horrible things as mentioned above? I am not going to shoot pills at least ever again due to the stress it causes me! Any help comments or what sign to watch for would be great.

Thanks Alot

 

[wezface]

^ are you hitting the tip of the needle against the bottom of the spoon? What gauge are you using?

You should be using COLD water to do your extractions, as well. Warm water is not as bad as hot water, but pills have fillers and binders that break down and become soluble in warm/hot water, and you don't want those getting in your solution. This could be what's making your liquid thick.

 

[svacheme3]

16mg of hydromorphone means extended release.. the kind of horrible gunk in that is likely to cause gangrene if you keep missing. If the needle feels blunted, it is, and you're going to have a hard time with all the work required to get anything out of the gunk without blunting it. Maybe transfer to a new rig afterwards, but never give up and settle for a miss: you'll wind up even worse off than me right now (anyone?)

 

[crOOk]

I actually hit an artery a few weeks back right next to where the wound from a recently acquired abscess was still gaping. The bruise was about as big as the cross section of an apple and took 3 weeks to fade - well, I can actually still see it 4 weeks later. Good times. Trying naltrexone now. Can't say it has me feel all that great.