Harm Reduction IV Meth and vein abscesses

[Beyondme29q]

I have a knot on my arm where I usually inject at. Can I still use the vein for injecting meth, should I flag the vein above or below the knot?

 

[Nurse Ratched]

I have a knot on my arm where I usually inject at. Can I still use the vein for injecting meth, should I flag the vein above or below the knot?

I hate to state the obvious but why would you inject where you already have an issue. The knot.

Don't you think it would be more " harm reduction " to let the knot heal before you go poking it again.

Use whichever vein looks good to you and whatever you did to get the knot....don't do that.

 

[moonyham]

Yeah I think I agree with the above.. Don't inject where you are already having issues. That's a start. Maybe try a different limb altogether.

 

[Atomic_Decay]

When a vein goes hard and knotty from shooting meth it is almost always gone forever. Leave it alone for a while and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to use it upstream of the knot once or twice in a few weeks.

But eventually ALL the veins in your arm are going to be shot for good. I have not shot meth for nearly 2 years now, but technicians in the hospital still can’t draw blood from anywhere on either arm. I don’t hav3 circulation problems and never had an abscess- but every vein still totally shot.

 

[G_Chem]

I lost a lot of veins during chemo, this is how they’d go. By the end it felt like my veins were full of cement, knotted hard ropey. Anyways when one would get a knot the “medicine” (if you can call it that) couldn’t travel up that vein anymore and would start to balloon in my arm subcutaneously.

As been said, if it’s got a knot it’s done. Your body will need to grow a new one now which only comes with hard work.

-GC

 

[Atomic_Decay]

In many cases the ‘knots’ are where the meth damages one of the many one way valves throughout your veins, rather than the vein wall directly. Once the valve is damaged blood can flow backwards in that area and block up causing an effect similar to a varicose vein. The blood pools and clots and then hardens leading to the lumpy / ropes feeling. This is sometimes called Superficial Venous Thrombosis- which in small surface veins is not a critical problem.

It is possible to reduce the problem sometimes. Home remedies include compression stockings immediately after the IV plus warm compresses. The OTC medicine Hirudoid can help a lot. Heparin injections from a Dr. are the next level up. But bottom line is , once that valve is damaged - your vein is fucked.