Opioids whats going on with my vein?

[chrysalism]

I hope this is the right place to post, I searched for posts about Iv and vein questions, it seems like they were mostly in this forum. I've been injecting Dilaudid for a little while now and I haven't had trouble getting the syringe to register for the most part until 3 weeks ago. I inserted the needle, pulled back, and got the flash of blood so I started to push the plunger down slowly. After a second or 2 I started to notice a lump like I missed the shot so I stopped and re-registered to make sure I was still in. I was so I started to try to inject again but the lump got a little bigger so I stopped and took the needle out. I felt a little bit of rush from the Dilaudid for a few seconds but not what I should of for the amount that went in. I massaged the lump a little, figured it go down and decided to give that vein at least a couple days break to heal and next time I'd try to hit it higher up. Well that lump stayed the same size for a couple of days and got hard. The lump slowly went down but its stayed kind of hard in that area.

Its been 3 weeks since that shot and I decided to give it another try today because I need more spots to rotate. I inserted the needle and got it to register so started to inject and it hurt a little so I stopped and re-registered and finished my shot. No lump or anything else unusual happened at first but within seconds my skin got blotchy and red and itched up and down where the vein lies in my arm and to top it off I got barely any rush from a shot that should of given a decent one and barely felt any effects of the Dilaudid at all. The red, blotchy, itchy skin went away after 15 minutes or so and no lump formed.

And ideas whats going on with this vein? If it was a collapsed vein would I be able to get the syringe to register the way I am?
I'm not going to use this vein anymore, at least for a really long time but I'm still curious what the problem could be.

My veins are a little hard and feel kind of knotty when pushing on them but no other problems for now. (I'm assuming the hard/knotty feeling is because I reuse my syringes.
I know its bad and I make sure to thoroughly clean them with bleach before and after using them. I cant get to the needle exchange because I'm disabled and have no way of getting there on my own, same reason I dont buy syringes at the pharmacy, so I order them online which would be too expensive if I were to only use them once like you're supposed to.)

The crook of my elbows are my favorite place to inject and I can get the vein in one of my forearms but I can never seem to get veins on my hands or other forearm easily, or at all most of the times. Any tips of getting the veins in my hands? It seems like they're shallow veins so I don't know why I cant get them. Only thing I do know is that even with a tourniquet they seem to roll but I'd think poking around enough I'd get them eventually now that I switched to the smaller 29g needles. Its frustrating. I've tried just about every tip I've read about how to hit veins.



Thank you so much for any ideas you might have about my weird vein issue!!

 

[chrysalism]

Does anyone have any idea what could be going on with my vein?

 

[chrysalism]

I haven't injected into this vein since my first post but I need somewhere else to hit so last night I tried this vein by injecting just water and it registered completely normal so I pushed the plunger down slowly and it was all fine. I moved up the vein a little and injected my dilaudid and it was going fine and I could feel the rush starting but I slipped out of the vein so I stopped injecting and moved the needle around to find the vein again. I dont know if it was the same vein but I registered when my needle was a little deeper. As soon as I started injecting I got the pins and needles and a weird rash up and down my forearm and my hand swelled up. This lasted for a half hr or so but the tingling feeling is still kind of there. I am so confused as to whats going on. I need to be able to use this vein again. I really though with a month or so to heal it'd be fine. Whats confusing me is that the water and the first half of the dilaudid was going good until I had to get back into the vein. I really need some input. Thanks!

 

[crzydiamond]

If you were out of the vein and some solution got into the surrounding tissues that would be a reason for the reaction. The blotchiness sounds like a histamine reaction, more common with morphine (I have had it happen previously with heroin even when completely in the vein--had a rash and blotches all along the vein)

But you also say you aren't feeling the rush as you normally do so odds are you are not getting a clean hit.

As far as your previous questions on hand veins--they are much easier with a short tip syringe, like a 3/8" as opposed to a standard insulting syringe. 29 gauge is average as far as thickness, but for hands you'd be better off with a smaller gauge like a 30 or 31. However those won't hold up as well to reuse as due to them being thinner they are more flexible and bend more easily

Truthfully, as you obviously still have arm and hand veins to use, I'd just avoid the problem vein. There are tons of arm veins that can be easily hit other than the elbow one. I mean, when I went on a prolonged IV cocaine binge on top of an opiate habit I was to the point I would have to find some esoteric spot like my finger just to get a morning shot in and get well. That is problematic. But from what you are saying you just need to find some other arm veins and avoid this one.

Sometimes you have one that for whatever reason doesn't work right too. I had one that I would get great flashes from and be in when I double checked, but it never hit right. And yet there was a vein next to it that hit fine and I swear hit harder with the same dose than any others in my arm. So go figure lol

Maybe someone else has an explanation, but my best guess is histamine reaction due to solution getting into your tissues