Heroin IV: How do I hit if I've already missed

[Ridethecircuswheel]

I've been a chipper for about a year using mainly heroin. I do it every once in awhile but never developed an addiction, even when I started IVing. I used to have my girlfriend do it for me but I eventually had to learn by myself.

What happens is my arm doesn't have far bulging veins so its very hard to hit one. People often say that you feel a "pop" and usually, FOR ME, I see a tiny bit of blood rise from the needle so that's when I know to keep steady, pull back the plunger exposing a good amount of blood, and then push in. Whats been happening is i'll see a tiny very light bit of blood shoot up but i know i'm not on a vein.. the problem is the whole syringe is filled with dark red blood and i bcome extremely frustrated..

Does anybody have any way to know if you've hit a vein even if it is completely filled with red??

usually i pull the plunger up and see a big air bubble so i know i don't have it.. but if isnt a big apparent air bubble does that mean i hit it ?

 

[Jean-Paul]

um. if you gently push down on the plunger you'll know you didn't hit because it will hurt. or you could muscle and end up with abscesses.

fun times!

 

[pbuilder]

Just out of curiosity, what do you consider "not addicted".

Like how often do you use...

And you are telling me you never think about heroin during the day? Because generally if it enters your thoughts on a day to day process you are mentally addicted... Although this is obviously just a matter of self control, unlike physical addiction where you will get dope sick without using.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

To answer your question I don't actually need to know whether or not you're addicted, but do you understand that you can be addicted without being physically dependent? Anyway, I think people are wary of posts that start out with "I'm not addicted but..." It can be a negative influence on others who think "See people can do heroin without getting addicted, I'm going to start using heroin and I won't get addicted". And we all start off this way, thinking that we aren't addicted. Anyway, it doesn't actually matter to me (and I'm sure to most others), this is supposed to be a place where you can come and not receive judgement about drug use, but people sometimes get a bit worried when they think someone may not be being honest with themselves, or may not fully understand what addiction is.

As for shooting with blood already in the syringe, I've done it 100s of times and it is possible to know whether or not you've hit a vein. When it's not in a vein and you pull up on the plunger what looks like air bubbles will come into the syringe - but it's not actually air (unless you have a faulty syringe), it's a vacuum, so essentially nothing. When you have hit a vein and you pull up on the plunger, more blood will enter the syringe. You can tell because there will be more blood in the syringe than there already was, and it will be fresh dark red blood coming in. If you aren't sure, very carefully start to slowly push down the plunger: if it's not in a vein it will usually hurt and your skin will swell up - if this happens stop pushing down on the plunger and start again. Let me know if you need any other tips. You may want to read up on how to find veins and keep your veins healthy so that you don't have to deal with the syringe full of blood very often.

Also I don't think it's helpful to say addiction is "obviously just a matter of self-control", that's very blaming and makes it sound as though if only someone has enough willpower they could control it.

 

[comatoserct]

I think what has been happening to you does that to me in certain places. Do you push in and a little blood comes in, so you push down and it pops out and misses? then once it's messed up it just stops working. Hate that.

I would definitely try alternating spots even if it's hard to find them. try your full arm, and wirst/hand if you have the proper sterile equiptment

 

[Jean-Paul]

i think he meant a habit, not an addiction. chipping is different from having a real habit.

i can't even READ about searching for a vein. my god. then again, i only hit myself a handful of times. i found guys to hit me while i closed my eyes and turned my head.

 

[Tommyboy]

How much blood are you drawing back? It seems like you are pulling back too much, so try only pulling back a little but, only drawing up a little bit of blood. You may want to try the "vacuum method," which is when you draw back on the plunger a little right when the needle breaks the skin, which will create some suction. This will cause it to automatically register once you are in the vein.

 

[SUB SHOOTER 2010]

One other thing, I know this doesn't usually happen much but make sure your syringe isn't clogged, there's been times where I'm positive in a vein but I cant draw any blood back. I keep trying and I eventually end up pulling the syringe out and getting the bubbles out just to find out its been clogged the whole time and I really was in the vein. The needle was just clogged so no blood would draw back and I was just making a pincushion out of myself.

 

[rhythmtech]

If you only pull back a hair, only a tiny tiny stream of blood will plume into the syringe. OR if you are not in, you will see no change and a tiny "bubble", the vacuum that swimmingdancer described.

It's important to have good technique, which develops over time. Make sure you are tying off, good and tight. Take a bit of time to prepare your veins. Make sure you are accurately judging roughly how far in your veins are and how far to stick in the needle before pulling back. Use a very shallow angle, almost parallel to your arm even. Bevel on the needle should always be up!

Most importantly use a feather touch on the plunger, that way its a little easier to tell when your in, and you wont get a whole lot of blood in your shot, just enough to see your in.

Hope this helps

 

[Swimmingdancer]

One other thing, I know this doesn't usually happen much but make sure your syringe isn't clogged, there's been times where I'm positive in a vein but I cant draw any blood back. I keep trying and I eventually end up pulling the syringe out and getting the bubbles out just to find out its been clogged the whole time and I really was in the vein. The needle was just clogged so no blood would draw back and I was just making a pincushion out of myself.

Really excellent point!

 

[VaderisBaddAss]

I don't do IV on my own, I've only ever received IV - in hospital therapy, but I've gotten multiple multiple IVs inserted before and they tell me all the time "your veins are terrible!". A few things they do to help my veins pop up is either leave the tourniquet on for a few minutes and bang on the vein.
If that doesn't work try wrapping your arm in warm-hot blankets or hot packs if you have them for maybe 5-10 minutes and the veins will pop up and be easier to spot.
Also, definitely try another spot too because after trying to hit the same spot for a long time scar tissue will build up and then you won't even be able to get past that to even get to the vein, so be careful of that too. I have a spot on my arm where they can't even go near because of scar tissue.
Lastly, someone already said but if you do miss the vein, if you slowly push in the skin will buldge or swell and often times hurt like a be sting, that's how you know you missed.

 

[Ridethecircuswheel]

I'm sorry I didn't want to start this post sounding like I'm in denial. I might as well say I'm an addict because I am for sure mentally addicted because I love dope and I feel relieved that I can buy a dime bag and get high to relax.

I usually use for a day or two and then give it up for a couple weeks then go back not because i'm an expert at self control mainly because after 2 days of shooting dope i don't like the feeling of it I sleep a lot and hide away in my room. I have to keep up appearances and feel guilty if I use for more than 3 days in a row. I've never had withdrawal and have never got sick. I have a little bit of a habit but I just chip at it.

 

[Ridethecircuswheel]

This helped tremendously thank you.

 

[GBM]

I don't do IV on my own, I've only ever received IV - in hospital therapy, but I've gotten multiple multiple IVs inserted before and they tell me all the time "your veins are terrible!". A few things they do to help my veins pop up is either leave the tourniquet on for a few minutes and bang on the vein.
If that doesn't work try wrapping your arm in warm-hot blankets or hot packs if you have them for maybe 5-10 minutes and the veins will pop up and be easier to spot.
Also, definitely try another spot too because after trying to hit the same spot for a long time scar tissue will build up and then you won't even be able to get past that to even get to the vein, so be careful of that too. I have a spot on my arm where they can't even go near because of scar tissue.
Lastly, someone already said but if you do miss the vein, if you slowly push in the skin will buldge or swell and often times hurt like a be sting, that's how you know you missed.

QFT. Everytime I go to the hospital, wen they go to give me an IV they always put the rubber band around my arm then wrap it in a heat blanket for about 5 minutes, then poke in the needle. I'd say give this a try perhaps.

 

[Ridethecircuswheel]

I heard that heat helps. Somebody suggested taking a warm shower but when I get dope I get so excited to do it I couldn't possibly have the patience to shower hahaha. Maybe thats a sign I AM an addict lols.

 

[Ridethecircuswheel]

If Anybody could maybe answer me this question:

I recently did a cotton shot. If people don't know what that is its called juicing the cotton in which you get "seconds" of your dope. I pushed down, hit the vein.. pulled back (btw these syringes i have take a lot of effort and finger strength to pull back from some reason) and got an air bubble. So i used the vacuum method.. pulled up.. and then started pushing down. It all went smooth and i KNOW i didn't miss because it didn't sting and was going down smooth and then all the sudden it felt like everything got jammed up as if there was no room left in my vein like it clogged?

it felt like there was super glue in my needle for a minute then finally it pushed down. Does this mean i may have missed at the end of the shot?

 

[Tommyboy]

Did you use a cotton still to filter the stuff from the other cottons, bc if not, then it could have gotten clogged from the cuts that had been caught in the cotton.

Next thing is, stop doing cotton shots. Bacteria begins to grow in the cottons, so the longer they are around After the first use, the bigger the chance of IVing the bacteria and getting "cotton fever" from this.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

If Anybody could maybe answer me this question:

I recently did a cotton shot. If people don't know what that is its called juicing the cotton in which you get "seconds" of your dope. I pushed down, hit the vein.. pulled back (btw these syringes i have take a lot of effort and finger strength to pull back from some reason) and got an air bubble. So i used the vacuum method.. pulled up.. and then started pushing down. It all went smooth and i KNOW i didn't miss because it didn't sting and was going down smooth and then all the sudden it felt like everything got jammed up as if there was no room left in my vein like it clogged?

it felt like there was super glue in my needle for a minute then finally it pushed down. Does this mean i may have missed at the end of the shot?

It could either be that the last part missed or that the syringe clogged. When that happens I'd try to register again to make sure it was still in the vein. But it sounds more like a clog in the syringe to me.

 

[ferryman]

If you cooked up filters it could be that fibre got into the syringe, this can not only be dangerous but also points out that you are stretching your gear to the max and may be losing tolerance, fibre clogs are virtually invisible to the naked eye, the best way to avoid these are to use a cigarette style tip to filter through, insert the empty pin bevel side up into the 'side' of the filter. I have had one experience of a 'dirty hit' from fibre and it was the most unbearable experience of my life - totally unforgettable in the worst possible way.

 

[ms4104]

If Anybody could maybe answer me this question:

I recently did a cotton shot. If people don't know what that is its called juicing the cotton in which you get "seconds" of your dope. I pushed down, hit the vein.. pulled back (btw these syringes i have take a lot of effort and finger strength to pull back from some reason) and got an air bubble. So i used the vacuum method.. pulled up.. and then started pushing down. It all went smooth and i KNOW i didn't miss because it didn't sting and was going down smooth and then all the sudden it felt like everything got jammed up as if there was no room left in my vein like it clogged?

it felt like there was super glue in my needle for a minute then finally it pushed down. Does this mean i may have missed at the end of the shot?

If you slide out of the vein the amount of pressure needed to push the syringe will increase (it will not be smooth), but I have a feeling you like either had a little clot of blood or a clog or something internally in your pin.