Heroin Leaving your tourniquet on during injection

[Peel]

Hi all

As far as heroin goes, I've only IV'd black tar heroin before. Most tar contains a good amount of 6-MAM, which contributes a lot to the intensity of the initial rush, though since I've never IV'd number 4 I can't qualitatively tell the difference between a rush from a shot of tar chock full of those goodies, and a shot that possibly degraded to morphine sitting out a tad too long (I'm actually not entirely sure how quick the various metabolites of heroin degrade to morphine in water). The first couple months of shooting, after I registered I would push down the plunger while my tourniquet/belt was still tied; I did not know any better at the time. Later, after correcting my technique and releasing my belt before the injection, I noticed that I experienced a considerable loss in intensity during the onset. I do not believe this is due to increased tolerance, as the change happened too suddenly, and also during a period in which I was using less than usual. However, I am unsure whether it could be due to a change in quality/blend of heroin or not.

I've read several claims from people that leaving their belt tied during injection dramatically increased the rush they got from IV. Has anyone has this similar experience?

I understand that leaving your tourniquet tied runs the risk of blowing out your vein. Is this still a legitimate concern if I was only injecting ~15 units of solution, and at a site that was roughly a foot away from the tourniquet?

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I've never noticed a difference, but I don't tie off normally.

Also it takes 12hrs to degrade into morphine AFAIK. Idk anything more specific than that.

 

[shroomster]

Yes, it's because your creating a lot of pressure, and as soon as you release the torney, the blood flow accelerates. All of that pressure also puts a great deal of stress on your veins, so don't do it unless you want to lose them [faster]

 

[sekio]

Also it takes 12hrs to degrade into morphine AFAIK. Idk anything more specific than that.

It depends on temperature and pH. At room temperature in neutral solution the half life is something like 12-14 hours, so it will actually take much longer than a day to break down completely. But heroin is shipped to hospitals as a dry powder in an ampule for a reason... it's not doing you any favours to leave it sitting in solution any longer than it has to be.

 

[Blaze3620]

This is such a hard question to answer or a extremely easy one. Lol. It really depends on the person. Experience SWIM has n does is leaving it on until shot is done. Never have really had a problem in the hundreds of times this has been done. Maybe a handful of times outta massive amounts (not proud of that) have had a lil blow back occasionally but nothing serious. Completely tied off and blood registered and was in vain for entire shot but after the plunge there would be some white spots showing up around area, kind of looking like hives almost. This most likely was from pressure too high n some of the substance got pushed back out of the vein while plunging. 95% of the time or slightly more never has had any problems. If ur gonna leave it on just make sure it's not overly tight n loosen immediately after plunging. THE MAIN THINGS PPL DON'T SAY ENOUGH IS TRY AND ALWAYS USE NEW SYRINGE OR NEVER USE IT MORE THAN 3 TIMES N THAT'S ONLY IF U DIDN'T HAVE TO STICK IT MULTIPLE TIMES UNTIL IT REGISTERED. MAX 3 TIMES ON SUCCESSFUL SLAMMING ONLY. ALWAYS N I MEAN ALWAYS ROTATE INJECTION SITES! Look I'm not saying a foot away from old spot each time, maybe just a half inch or less. Just don't keep slamming in the same exact spot over n over. Give it a day or 2 before returning to same area. If these instructions r followed ur veins will stay healthy almost forever. Using dull syringe's n slamming in same exact spot over n over is what can cause serious problems, not keeping whatever ur using as a tourniquet on throughout entire process.

 

[JessFR]

I've seen people do all sorts of crazy shit in the belief that it makes the rush better. Including things that if anything should make the rush worse.

What matters most here is the placebo effect because it's probably a lot stronger than any real difference that exists. And given your finite number of veins and tars reputation for destroying them, I strongly recommend against doing this. Release the tourniquet before shooting. It's unlikely to make any difference except go through your veins faster.

Personally I rarely used tournaquets at all. If I haven't used in ages I'll often use them till I get back into practice again, but after that I find I'm easily good enough to do it without a tounaquet even with my small chick veins. So most guys should have no trouble after some practice.

So yeah, I strongly recommend against it. You want your veins to last. I got a friend with OCD, he has all sorts of very unhealthy rituals when shooting up and because of it he has used up virtually all his veins. With the kind of heroin we get in our area he shouldn't have lost more than a couple by now if he were doing it properly. I've lost none and I've been using for years at least 2-4 shots a day. Mostly because of good technique and good heroin. I'll tell you what it's not because of and its not because we used new needles every time. It's crazy how many times we would reuse them. Very stupid I know but we had our reasons.

He uses he same heroin and has blown through all his cause of stupid things he feels compelled to do by OCD. Like flushing the vein with blood a specific number of times after each shot. Still does it to this day.

This isn't quite that bad but tar is a lot harsher on the veins anyway so you don't want to take added risks for no definite payoff.

 

[Tubbs]

I'm with Jess, the only time I ever used a tourniquet was when I couldn't find a vein from overuse.

 

[tacodude]

It's also a great way to blow out a vein... Stupid idea. You want a good rush? Dissolve it in 25-50 units of water according to 1ml insulin rig.

 

[benji000]

Hi Guys, I.use a 25 gauge orange self
Jackback butterfly needle for IV meth use, and typically release the tournaquet, tonight I.didn't bother, it wasn't that tight, and I.Just pushed the plunger in, it went in.smooth, no skin.pop, no.bruise etc, no signs of missed shot whatsoever, but no.rush, I checked that I was still in the vain after injection and I was... so not releasing the tournaquet wouldn't of ruined the blast ???perhaps it was just average gear?