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Cocaine IV- More stupid questions from a newb. Sorry.

kamikazimoth

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
6
I did some searching through past posts, just short of going all Sherlock Holmes on the forum, and didn't find what I was looking for specifically ... Sorry if this has been discussed and I just didn't catch it.

So ... Two questions; I've heard you're supposed to release the tourniquet before injecting, but when I do (I'm using a belt, that's what most people I know use) .. everything shifts and the needle often slips out of the vein. I always loosen it slowly and try to pay attention to the position of the needle ... Is there some trick to avoiding this that I don't know, or do I just suck at it ? Would getting one of those rubber medical tourniquets fix this problem ?

Question two ... I've found veins very deep (in my arm) that I reach by inserting the needle pretty much vertically and all the way down. Sound's crazy, but it's much easier for me to keep the needle in the vein this way. Is this especially unsafe ? I know that they're veins and not arteries, and it doesn't hurt any more than normal or anything ... but I haven't heard of anyone else doing it that way and I figured I'd ask to make sure I'm not unknowingly screwing myself up somehow.

Thanks in advance.
 
Personally, I keep my belt on until I've finished pushing the shot in, then I get my girlfriend to loosen the belt before I take out the needle to prevent bleeding. I've always had trouble releasing the belt after I registered for the same reason you listed. I always ended up falling out of the vein and missing the shot.

and I occasionally shoot into a deep vein in my bicep and I've never had any trouble with this.
 
I did some searching through past posts, just short of going all Sherlock Holmes on the forum, and didn't find what I was looking for specifically ... Sorry if this has been discussed and I just didn't catch it.

So ... Two questions; I've heard you're supposed to release the tourniquet before injecting, but when I do (I'm using a belt, that's what most people I know use) .. everything shifts and the needle often slips out of the vein. I always loosen it slowly and try to pay attention to the position of the needle ... Is there some trick to avoiding this that I don't know, or do I just suck at it ? Would getting one of those rubber medical tourniquets fix this problem ?

Question two ... I've found veins very deep (in my arm) that I reach by inserting the needle pretty much vertically and all the way down. Sound's crazy, but it's much easier for me to keep the needle in the vein this way. Is this especially unsafe ? I know that they're veins and not arteries, and it doesn't hurt any more than normal or anything ... but I haven't heard of anyone else doing it that way and I figured I'd ask to make sure I'm not unknowingly screwing myself up somehow.

Thanks in advance.

1) It is strongly, strongly, strongly suggested and recommended that you either don't use a tourniquet, or if you choose to use one, release it BEFORE your shot. The danger is that if you push a shot into your vein before releasing the tourniquet (esp. a big shot), there will be too much pressure along your vein which will cause your shot to swell the vein and in many cases burst / rupture it from too much pressure.

Using a tourniquet is not necessary by any means, in fact I would only recommend it if you have a) a proper rubber tourniquet that can be loosened with the mouth b) enough practice with your chosen tourniquet to where you can seamlessly release it before the shot using your mouth, without disturbing the position of the needle. I hardly ever use a tourniquet, I find I can just as easily hit without one, and safer.


2) Someone with more medical expertise would be more fit to answer this one, but I can say that when you push a shot with the barrel vertical (perpendicular to the veins) your squirting the contents of the syringe at fairly high speed into bottom wall of your vein, if you haven't punctured through, and this is probably causing a bit of physical damage / maybe a leaky shot.
 
2) Someone with more medical expertise would be more fit to answer this one, but I can say that when you push a shot with the barrel vertical (perpendicular to the veins) your squirting the contents of the syringe at fairly high speed into bottom wall of your vein, if you haven't punctured through, and this is probably causing a bit of physical damage / maybe a leaky shot.

Definitely, its always best practice to inject at an angle (approximately 45 degrees) toward the heart. Not only does this help prevent damage to the vessel, but it also helps avoid piercing through the vessel and missing your shot (which could have all sorts of negative effects.
 
I generally pop the tourniquet as soon as I know I'm properly in the vein. If not then, then definitely release it before taking the needle out (to avoid excessive bruising/bleeding.)

As for your second question... If injecting that way works for you, than I'm not going to knock it. I will say that going vertically as opposed to horizontally seems like a lot more likely to punch right through a vein, not to mention harder to keep the needle in the vein while injecting.
 
I feel you on the rig slipping out of the vein when you are using a belt as a tourniquest. I started using a blue rubber tourniqet from the exchange and have had much better results. But sometimes it still happens when I loosen the damn thing.

So what I have been doing is finding a vein and pushing in about half then loosening the tourniquet, registering again and push the last half of the shot in. Also I always register again once everything is in to make sure it didnt fall out near the end. Do other people do this too?

I have also found that when you are in a vein and pushing in the resistance is alot less than when you arent in a vein. So if you are having resistance pushing the shot in you might not be in the vein. It just takes practice and a good feeling/experience to be able to do it quickly and always successfully. Hope some of this helps you
 
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