Cocaine Can a vein act like an artery? Painless artery shots?

[mBaby]

I'm familiar with the differences of hitting a vein/artery, the color of the blood, the pressure or lack of etc. but there's been plenty of times where my blood wasn't very dark and seemed to shoot into the rig but there was no pain inserting the needle or when I pushed the plunger down a bit to test.
I noticed the blood has less pressure when registering after I loosen the tourniquet but it still has some momentum.

Is it possible for veins to have brighter colored blood? I've been shooting opiates for two years and I rarely get very dark, slow blood but never had any pain or issues when injecting in those spots. I figure if I've been shooting arteries for two years something really bad should have happened by now even if I've been lucky. There's been the odd time where I did feel extreme pain and i would stop so I know what it's supposed to feel like.


So here's my questions:

• Is it possible to inject an artery and not feel pain?
• Is it possible to be injecting in arteries frequently and not be experiencing complications other than some temporary redness and burning? (I get this sometimes but only with coke so I don't THINK its related to an artery shot but don't quote me on that)
• What are the chances of having a serious medical emergency with an accidental arterial shot, is it like a chance something bad will happen but usually any pain/swelling/whatever will subside? Or is it one of those things where it's serious and requires immediate medical attention pretty much EVERY time?
• Can veins have blood thats darker than artery but still pretty bright and with a small amount of pressure when registering?
• Could I have been injecting arteries for over two years with little to no side effects or is that just insane?

So from everything I've read about differentiating between arteries and veins I've become very confused and pretty freaked out lol. I've had the super dark vein blood so FEW times that when I did get that while registering I thought something was wrong.

 

[Raysu]

An arterial stick takes effort. The vessels are deeper set and access is at strategic locations. Where are you hitting, at what angle, and how deep do you drive in your needle?

 

[mBaby]

Just on the forearms, never anywhere else cuz I can't hit anywhere else I go in at about a 45 degree angle and I put it in all the way, I assumed it's supposed to go all the way.

 

[Raysu]

No if you have decent veins they are very superficial. If you tied off sufficiently or have stand out veins you can clearly see them. If you are like me they are not as visible but you can feel them easily (it's springy like a rubber band just below the surface of your skin). The idea of going in more than just superficially is so slight movement does not cause you to slip out.

 

[crzydiamond]

You would KNOW if you are in an artery. The pain and pressure are very different than a vein

I do know what you mean about blood color variations. What it is--the main veins are that super dark blood ( I hit it occasionally deep in upper arm so I assumed brachial vein, and one or two other spots) but mostly when you're hitting veins that branch out from the main ones the color is lighter. It's is not light like arterial blood. Arterial blood is very light BRIGHT red. It has pressure that can push the needle out. Sometimes it's frothy/bubbly. So relax. I think you're sometimes hitting deep veins and sometimes hitting surface veins, and that accounts for what you see.

You don't always need to put the entire needle in. Unless you go shallow and you do it to stabilize in the vein, or you have short tips. It really depends on the vein you're hitting, what the angle is, and what kind/length of needle. Of course, shooting coke make you not so steady after the first few. So you may be stabilizing.

Coke will indeed cause vein constriction which makes it harder to hit. Try and stay hydrated on binges. Also, though cocaine numbs,it is caustic to veins which may cause some of your issues. Though my likely guess would be the cut causing the side effects. Or the coke itself leaking a bit after veins shrink. Obviously with coke you know if you hit. But you may not notice a tiny bit leaking out due to the numbness


Anyway relax. I'd bet my paycheck you're not in an artery.

 

[Znegative]

You would KNOW if you are in an artery. The pain and pressure are very different than a vein

I do know what you mean about blood color variations. What it is--the main veins are that super dark blood ( I hit it occasionally deep in upper arm so I assumed brachial vein, and one or two other spots) but mostly when you're hitting veins that branch out from the main ones the color is lighter. It's is not light like arterial blood. Arterial blood is very light BRIGHT red. It has pressure that can push the needle out. Sometimes it's frothy/bubbly. So relax. I think you're sometimes hitting deep veins and sometimes hitting surface veins, and that accounts for what you see.

You don't always need to put the entire needle in. Unless you go shallow and you do it to stabilize in the vein, or you have short tips. It really depends on the vein you're hitting, what the angle is, and what kind/length of needle. Of course, shooting coke make you not so steady after the first few. So you may be stabilizing.

Coke will indeed cause vein constriction which makes it harder to hit. Try and stay hydrated on binges. Also, though cocaine numbs,it is caustic to veins which may cause some of your issues. Though my likely guess would be the cut causing the side effects. Or the coke itself leaking a bit after veins shrink. Obviously with coke you know if you hit. But you may not notice a tiny bit leaking out due to the numbness


Anyway relax. I'd bet my paycheck you're not in an artery.

This is a lot of good information.

Hitting arteries isn't always incredibly painful, and sometimes you won't even know that you hit one for about ten seconds following your shot. The tell tale signs are usually swelling and blotches/hives. Going by the color of the blood is a decent indicator but for me, I always judged the blood by it's consistency (arterial blood is frothy), the speed at which it entered the barrel (veinous blood will produce a slow register, arterial blood often shoots up like a pink ribbon), and if there's any feeling of pressure. I've heard people say that when you hit the femoral artery, the plunger can literally be pushed back out of the barrel, IDK if there's something wrong with me, but thats never been the case. However there is a feeling of resistance.

Also, veinous blood can often be bright red, usually this is caused by dehydration, or damaged veins. It's still a different color/consistency then arterial blood, which is almost pink. Arterial blood often coagulates super fast too.

I also was always a fan of inserting the needle all the way in to insure stability, but make sure if you're going to use that technique that you're going in at the right angle and are using the write length of needle. You say that you insert the needle at a 45 degree angle to hit veins on your forearm? What gauge and needle length are you using, because that's an awfully steep angle, and if you were using say a 1/2" tip, you very well could be hitting an artery. Also, you haven't been shooting dope that long so I'm assuming you have plenty of other veins. I know that you said you can't hit anywhere else, but I guarantee that you can. Learn how to feel for veins, tye off or do some push ups and make a fist, look at a diagram of veins in the arm and then try to feel out those spots. IMO learning to feel a vein is just as important (if not more) then seeing them.

 

[DoesntLearn]

Inwould rather hit a vein that i can feel well than one i can see better, however i know my veins pretty well but i always end up with damn 1/2" tip pins instead of the short ones i like for myself since the long ones i dont go in all the way and that sometimes causes me to miss, most misses are when im sick and shaking, but with the short tips i just jam the fucker in and fire away, they seem to be the perfect ones for me but everyone is dofferent. Highly doubt you are hitting an artery, i did once and it pushed the pin right out of me, however i also have insanely high blood pressure to begin with but ill never forget the feeling from it. Never again, ide rather quit everything cold turkey and withdraw like a madman than even chance hitting an artery again. But as someone else said, ill put a paycheck down that you didnt hit an artery.

 

[mBaby]

Thanks for the replies! That's really good info and helped put my mind at ease. I thought I knew everything I needed to know but the more I read and experience the more questions I have.

So I guess the redness and slight numbess/burning is prob a leaky vein or something because it's not really painful just scary.

And after reading this I paid attention I how I put the needle in and it's actually a lot less than 45 degrees, that is pretty steep, I had to look at a picture of angles

It's incredibly hard for me to keep the needle stable if I don't put it in all the way, I've never had success with that. I try feeling for veins but it's really hard to aim for them and if I manage to feel one then I don't know how deep to go and I don't think it ever hit it that way.

I was sure I was fine then I read all the stuff about the blood shooting in and the colour and started to doubt myself.
My doubts have been cleared up, I feel a lot better and I appreciate you guys taking the time to answer

 

[mBaby]

What happens when you blow a vein because I noticed my whole arm down to the finger tips immediately goes red and kinda numb but it's the worst in the fingers and hands. Then after a minute or so the same happens to the other arms as well and there's times when my chest and face get hot and red too. Not unbearably but it's noticeable. This started with my arms And throughout the day would get a little worse with each shot and would always go away but now it's gotten pretty bad where it's a lot more uncomfortable and doesn't completely go away and even my first shot of the day it's bad and patches of skin on my hands gets darker :S

When the first symptoms appear right after I inject I think it's an artery but I never feel the kinds of pain and other things you guys described.
I thought it might be something with the circulation and it's gradually worsened and spreading through my body but every theory i've come up with ends up being wrong when I find a key difference that disproves my idea.

 

[da man]

What happens when you blow a vein because I noticed my whole arm down to the finger tips immediately goes red and kinda numb but it's the worst in the fingers and hands. Then after a minute or so the same happens to the other arms as well and there's times when my chest and face get hot and red too. Not unbearably but it's noticeable. This started with my arms And throughout the day would get a little worse with each shot and would always go away but now it's gotten pretty bad where it's a lot more uncomfortable and doesn't completely go away and even my first shot of the day it's bad and patches of skin on my hands gets darker :S

When the first symptoms appear right after I inject I think it's an artery but I never feel the kinds of pain and other things you guys described.
I thought it might be something with the circulation and it's gradually worsened and spreading through my body but every theory i've come up with ends up being wrong when I find a key difference that disproves my idea.

i once put a couple of drops in my wrist artery the pain was incredible and my hand swelled up like a ball, i ouldnt even close my hand or bend any fingers, if u hit an artery u know for sure tho smaller lesser arterys are not quite as painful as main ones. also the pain shoots from point of entry away from your heart, so in my case down to my fingert ips. i think that sounds like a dodgy cut personally to answer your second question whats the quality of the coke like, and it does have numbing effects whih might be y your arm feels a bit numb, but that doesnt sound too clever, remember when your high on coke u get para tho an might be thinking its worse than it is. its easily done when your hammered.

 

[da man]

when u blow a vein it just swells quite a bit and looks a bit worrying ive never notied any other symptons really, i doint eveb think theres any pain iir.

 

[mBaby]

i never really get swelling but that area feels numb which makes me think the vein blew and the coke leaked into the surrounding tissue

 

[mBaby]

I guess the redness and burning/tingling, more so tingling I guess because its not painful, could be the effects of the heavy coke use because it started happening gradually and I've always been hitting the same spots and never had an issue.

If an artery did get injected into would the symptoms only be in the hand/arm it was done in? For me it starts in the one I shot in then the other one gradually begins to look and feel the same way.

I think (and hope lol) your right, I've been reading and overthinking too much. I talked to my doc about it but he says its just the constrictive effects of the coke and kinda brushes it off because he's mad I'm doing coke now so I don't get to discuss it much with him...

 

[BigG]

Veins take blood back towards the heart which is then pumped into systemic circulation and to the brain and organs ...where as arteries take the blood down to the extremities ending in smaller and smaller vessels then capilliaries. A shot into an artery in the arm would take the substance down to the relevant hand where often it gets stuck in that area. If you really had been injecting into an artery then I imagine the offending arm would have been amputated by now...

Not to mention the blood pressure would force the plunger back violently ... Google brachial artery and you'll see where it runs in the arm.

No-one can say for sure on the internet but I'm willing to bet you haven't been injecting into an artery.