Hi guys. Obviously sharing needles is a retarded idea. I know that. However, I'm wondering if it is possible to sterilize a needle which 1 other person besides myself used exactly 1 time. If I were to, say, rinse it, run bleach through it, rinse it again, etc, would it once again be ok to use? Obviously not 100% safe like a new needle, but would it be close to safe? I just don't have any other rig or any way to get one any time soon and I'm sitting on a nice fat shot of dope (heroin) I'm absolutely DYING to bang right now... Fast answers appreciated thanks for the help guys.
-
BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards
Using my needle again after someone... Questions
- Thread starter gearfiend
- Start date
You should be fine just don't make a habit out of it you have taken every precaution though. That's good you ran bleach through it that's what I would have suggested to do before using it. This person doesn't have aids or hep C? If they did I would still be weary to try it no matter what I ran through it but if they don't then you should be fine.
It really sucks when you got the dope ready to go but not the pins but no fear you can go ahead and get high.
It really sucks when you got the dope ready to go but not the pins but no fear you can go ahead and get high.
Mel22
Bluelight Crew
I wouldn't listen to one word of this.
Absolutely do not share needles. Sort something else out. Find a new needle, or wait until you do. If you get sick, then so be it. Organise yourself better in future, but don't risk it now.
You have no idea if this person has something nasty, and if they do, I definitely wouldn't rely on a bit of bleach to save you. You want the shot at the moment, but you're posting here because you know it's a bad idea. You'll be terrified tomorrow, and totally regret it. It's not worth it.
Don't be stupid. Don't share needles.
xstayfadedx
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2011
- Messages
- 20,559
Agreed
T. Calderone
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2010
- Messages
- 8,979
Don't risk it, this is how I got hep c. Plus you don't know who else your friend might have shared needles with before this.
XLadyMassacreX
Greenlighter
Obviously bleaching is not a 100 percent guarantee that you wont catch anything but the "technique" exists for a reason , right ? Personally , I would not share a needle but its easy for me to say it since I live in NYC where you can buy a set at just about any pharmacy. It sounds like you understand the risks, so if you absolutely sure that you can deal with knowing you might get hiv ,hep c or some other nastiness + the mental nightmare that you no doubt will experience while waiting for those test results ( and if you do this , i strongly suggest you get tested as soon as the window period is over) then go for it. Just a suggestion ..If you are sick ,may be you can do a bag or two just to stay well until you can get your hands on a new set? Oh and if you are sharing a cooker and a cotton ( or drawing up up from the same source ) I wouldnt do it since there is no way to bleach your dope!
The funny part is this guy probably shot the dope 5 minutes after posting this question.
I shouldn't have said no fear go ahead and get high because he does have to fear still despite cleaning a syringe there is still a chance of catching something cleaning just reduces harm. So I admit that was wrong of me to say.
Most users are not going to be sick for a few days trying to get a needle, the fact is some places its not easy to come across them. There isn't always a needle exchange down the road some places there are restrictions placed on buying needles. He is aware of the dangers and is taking the precautions to reduce harm as much as possible.
If you want actual HR advice instead of just say no here you go. Providing information on this topic is a practical matter. We can't pretend that heroin users can or will do what is in their best interests. Yes In a perfect world, people should never reuse their syringes; they become dirty and the needles become dull. But we dont live in a perfect world do we?Sometimes, reusing syringes is necessary, and so i will provide the user with the proper information on how to clean them. When a user is forced to reuse a syringe Cleaning the syringes is still the most important thing a user can do, even when he doesn't share them. I used to teach techniques such as this during my time volunteering at the supervised injection site in Vancouver just in case a user can't make it to Insite for whatever reason such as the site being closed or no pharmacy open to get a syringe from.
Find a work area and clean it. Bathrooms are okay, but kitchens are better. Regardless, make sure that the area in which you are going to work is as clean as you can get it.
Wash your hands.
Rinse the syringe with cold water several times. This can be done in any number of ways.
Draw clean water into the syringe from a small sterile container of water, and flush the contents into the sink.
Remove the plunger from the syringe and pour the water into the syringe barrel; replace the plunger and flush the contents into the sink.
Start the faucet flowing at a steady rate; draw water into the syringe directly from the water flow flush the contents into the sink.
Pour regular household bleach into a small clean container. If bleach is unavailable, you can use isopropyl alcohol or even hydrogen peroxide.
From the small container holding the bleach, draw up bleach into the syringe until the barrel is about half full.
Pull the syringe plunger out as far as it will go without detaching it.
Shake the syringe for about a minute.
Empty the syringe contents into the sink.
Empty and clean the container holding the bleach . Do not reuse the bleach!
Rinse the syringe several times with cold water.
There is controversy about how long the syringe should be kept in bleach. 30-60 seconds is long enough to kill HIV. No amount of time seems to kill Hepatitis C. There is some word that hydrogen peroxide will kill Hepatitis I recommend to be careful, rinse with both. This way you can disinfect the syringe and sterilise it to a degree. In the medical field high temperatures are used which cannot be recreated by most users so after cleaning as you already know the syringe still isn't considered sterile.
Regardless of what you do, understand your risks. If you share syringes with others, you are putting yourself in danger. Under the best circumstances, never reuse a syringe. You should only reuse your own syringe that you have cleaned. But if it comes down to it only reuse another's syringe that you have cleaned if you should decide to take the risk. Keep in mind its up to you to trust whether the person has hep C or whatever but keep in mind there's a good chance an IV drug user will have something you could catch.
I forgot to add you know if a needle has been used too many times you can always take the tip off and squirt the solution up your rear. Using needles more than once dull the tips and make it dangerous to use along with creating nasty scars(track marks) where you have been injecting.
Sharpening tips can be done but is not recommended unless you know what your doing because it can be easy to do on the wrong angle or shards of metal can be left over if you do not rinse it well enough. It also makes the tip weaker but before the disposable world of today it was common practice for nurses to sharpen needle points using a small very fine arkansas stone(found at health stores some people have used sandpaper/match strikers but this is very crude and risky). I don't think needles should be used till this point (past 2-3 pricks of the skin)but again in some cases a sharp needle beats a dull one. I have done this before and know how but I don't recommend this as it is risky for someone to do this without proper training. There are step by step instructions online should you wish to research these techniques.
I shouldn't have said no fear go ahead and get high because he does have to fear still despite cleaning a syringe there is still a chance of catching something cleaning just reduces harm. So I admit that was wrong of me to say.
Most users are not going to be sick for a few days trying to get a needle, the fact is some places its not easy to come across them. There isn't always a needle exchange down the road some places there are restrictions placed on buying needles. He is aware of the dangers and is taking the precautions to reduce harm as much as possible.
If you want actual HR advice instead of just say no here you go. Providing information on this topic is a practical matter. We can't pretend that heroin users can or will do what is in their best interests. Yes In a perfect world, people should never reuse their syringes; they become dirty and the needles become dull. But we dont live in a perfect world do we?Sometimes, reusing syringes is necessary, and so i will provide the user with the proper information on how to clean them. When a user is forced to reuse a syringe Cleaning the syringes is still the most important thing a user can do, even when he doesn't share them. I used to teach techniques such as this during my time volunteering at the supervised injection site in Vancouver just in case a user can't make it to Insite for whatever reason such as the site being closed or no pharmacy open to get a syringe from.
Find a work area and clean it. Bathrooms are okay, but kitchens are better. Regardless, make sure that the area in which you are going to work is as clean as you can get it.
Wash your hands.
Rinse the syringe with cold water several times. This can be done in any number of ways.
Draw clean water into the syringe from a small sterile container of water, and flush the contents into the sink.
Remove the plunger from the syringe and pour the water into the syringe barrel; replace the plunger and flush the contents into the sink.
Start the faucet flowing at a steady rate; draw water into the syringe directly from the water flow flush the contents into the sink.
Pour regular household bleach into a small clean container. If bleach is unavailable, you can use isopropyl alcohol or even hydrogen peroxide.
From the small container holding the bleach, draw up bleach into the syringe until the barrel is about half full.
Pull the syringe plunger out as far as it will go without detaching it.
Shake the syringe for about a minute.
Empty the syringe contents into the sink.
Empty and clean the container holding the bleach . Do not reuse the bleach!
Rinse the syringe several times with cold water.
There is controversy about how long the syringe should be kept in bleach. 30-60 seconds is long enough to kill HIV. No amount of time seems to kill Hepatitis C. There is some word that hydrogen peroxide will kill Hepatitis I recommend to be careful, rinse with both. This way you can disinfect the syringe and sterilise it to a degree. In the medical field high temperatures are used which cannot be recreated by most users so after cleaning as you already know the syringe still isn't considered sterile.
Regardless of what you do, understand your risks. If you share syringes with others, you are putting yourself in danger. Under the best circumstances, never reuse a syringe. You should only reuse your own syringe that you have cleaned. But if it comes down to it only reuse another's syringe that you have cleaned if you should decide to take the risk. Keep in mind its up to you to trust whether the person has hep C or whatever but keep in mind there's a good chance an IV drug user will have something you could catch.
I forgot to add you know if a needle has been used too many times you can always take the tip off and squirt the solution up your rear. Using needles more than once dull the tips and make it dangerous to use along with creating nasty scars(track marks) where you have been injecting.
Sharpening tips can be done but is not recommended unless you know what your doing because it can be easy to do on the wrong angle or shards of metal can be left over if you do not rinse it well enough. It also makes the tip weaker but before the disposable world of today it was common practice for nurses to sharpen needle points using a small very fine arkansas stone(found at health stores some people have used sandpaper/match strikers but this is very crude and risky). I don't think needles should be used till this point (past 2-3 pricks of the skin)but again in some cases a sharp needle beats a dull one. I have done this before and know how but I don't recommend this as it is risky for someone to do this without proper training. There are step by step instructions online should you wish to research these techniques.
Last edited:
downerhead
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2014
- Messages
- 552
T Calderone is right,that's how I got Hep C myself,from the one and only person I ever shared a needle with and I only did that because I figured "well,I'm already fucking her so..."The methadone clinic I used to go to actually had a poster about this.It said twice with bleach,3x with water.You're supposed to let the bleach sit in the rig for 30 seconds before squirting it out and rinsing with water,repeat.Obviously fill the rig to capacity.The 3rd rinse with water woud be,I presume,to make sure you get all of the bleach out.You damn sure don't want any Chlorox in your shot lol.I realize the OP has already done that shot most likely,I just posted this so that anyone reading this in the future has a method of safely cleaning rigs that was put out by healthcare professionals instead of someone's best guess.You'd be surprised at the shit I've heard people use and swear is safe:nail polish remover,rubbing alcohol,acetone and even dumber shit.And for heaven's sake use 100% straight bleach,not a cleaning product containing bleach,it's not the same and it won't kill blood born pathogens,including Hep C.Of course,not sharing rigs is the safest way but realistically,if someone is dopesick and there's only one set of rigs between 2 or more people,that rig is going to be used by everyone present.If you're going to iv,at least be as safe about it as possible.Use you're own clean water,not the water someone else has dipped their rigs in.Ditto for cottons,cookers and whatever you're tying off with.You might be amazed at the number of things you can get from unhygenic iv practices.I've had one friend die and another almost die fron endocarditis(an infection of the lining around the heart).HIV and Hep are by no means the only kinds of blood poisoning you can get from shooting up.Also,make sure your injection sites are clean,preferably with an alcohol prep pad but at least a good scrubbing with anti bacterial soap.Every time you poke a hole in you're body it's a pathway for bacteria to enter.Minimize this risk by using safe iv methods in as clean of an environment as possible(try not to shoot up in a junkie shot house crawling with cockroaches and people that haven't bathed in a month).And if you're interested in staying free,don't ride dirty,keep your rigs,spoons and other paraphenalia at home.You can always eat the dope if you have to but you can't eat a rig or cooker.Almost forgot to mention this but even if you're the only one using the rigs,bleach them out periodically.Even after flushing them with water, microscopic ammounts of blood can remain in the shaft of that needle and become a breeding ground for various bacteria.Finally,keep up you're own pesonal hygiene so that you're poking that hole into skin that's as clean as possible.Take good care of yourself,it's the lifestyle that kills a lot of junkies almost as much as the drugs themselves.Sorry to ramble on and I appologize if I sound preachy but I've lost more friends than I care to think about.Be safe everybody,
downerhead.
downerhead.
RedHandedDenial
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2014
- Messages
- 170
I agree with train, but dont just suck up the bleach and squirt that shit out, let that shit sit for 2 minutes in there. I would do that FIVE times. That shoukd definitely kill anything. Then i would do the same thing with 90% alcohol five times as well.. can NEVER be too cautious. I did this with a girl i knew had hep c and i didnt get it