Misc Temperamental veins...sometimes easy to hit, sometimes not

[kthxbi]

Hi all, first up, sorry if this is a hugely obvious topic or the wrong forum or whatever... I had a look but I'm on my phone and its a bit of a chore, so...

Question's a pretty simple one really... I've had about three and a half years off IV and have recently gotten back into it, only problem being that I'm messy as feck doing so. Some days I don't even need a tourniquet my veins are so easy to hit and then some days, like today, even when tied off, every vein seems to roll or every shot seems to miss. It seems like much more of a problem on my left arm, where I tend to shoot, but I could be imagining that.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience or advice on whatthe deal might be. Is it collapsed veins, or am I just an idiot? O missed about 4 shots on my left arm last night, no obvious reason and wasn't obviously missing but just kept pushing thru the other end of the vein or something. Did my first attempt on my right arm and had no real problems.

Again, sorry if this is often discussed ... Internet on my phone is a nightmare.
Thanks,
F

 

[versd]

veins sometime have a tendency to move if they have been abused. sometimes veins which are usually used for shooting begin to accumulate damage and become more difficult to access.

giving veins time to heal can help with the damage, and not abusing veins past a certain point.

careful with missed shots. holding your arm straight and applying taut pressure will help with 'rolling' veins.

 

[bingey]

^
veins don't move , some roll. But what you are referring to is a vein collapsing and the blood stream being diverted to other (surface) veins.

As for the Op , vein collapse is a gradual process (unles you are shooting big amounts of solids or wax or spear it with a harpoon or something) , usually you begin to have more trouble registering , more leakage (less good rush), the vein will become less visible. all these are signs to rotate to another spot.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Have you looked at the IV Megathread? The link is in my signature.

 

[kthxbi]

So what do you reckon it is? I heard that muscle helps prevent veins rolling and I think I've potentially lost a bit of weight... It's just crazy how recently even if holding an arm tight plus a tie I still have my veins roll so often.

Edit: no, i haven't seen the megathread... Will have a look, thanks!

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Are you using a fresh syringe for each injection? IV'ing with a dull rig can make it much harder to hit.