Injecting - I am having a lot of trouble hitting my veins

[billy1nk]

An Aardaark I met asked me to post on her behalf:

"I've been injecting heroin for the last 3 months and it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to hit. My friend, who has only injected things a few times but is very smart and knowledgeable about this kind of thing, told me that I probably have multiple collapsed veins. I've only been doing about a gram a week and I keep using fresh needles and I've been rotating injection spots but some times it takes me up to 20 times to hit. What is going on with my veins, why are they so difficult? Recently I've actually been drawing back blood and injecting and it muscles anyway. I've only been doing this stuff for a few months and I don't really hangout with other people that do it so I don't know what is happening. Can anyone figure this out or give me some advice on how to fix it?"

The Aardvaark says: Thank you very much!

Reputation Comments on this post:

Read the rules & dont self incriminate.

[ex-junkie]

collapsed veins have a somewhat sunken appearance in swims experience. is swiy using a tourniquet? also where is he digging for veins?

some things swim used to do was clench her fist a few times and give a little slap to the injection site before going in. she also used to hold her breath whilst she administered it. it helped to keep her from wobbling when she was shaky. she would push it in slowly.

swim always had somewhat good veins though, and never needed a tourniquet.

if swiys having trouble at 3 months, maybe stop injecting all together. have a think about how shit the vein situation will be after a few years of digging...

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good advice. Swim wishes he would have had someone put him straight when it would have still been beneficial... :(

[madfan]

Swims had the same problem for a very long time.Within a few months of swims first fix she was using her hands & feet.
Sometimes it takes hours to get a hit.And almost always it misses.
Or the veins thrombosed & swim ends up with yet another hole in her legs.
Swim thinks swiy probably has small veins & they dont last very long.She advises swiy to quit now as it will only get worse.
Swiy really does not want to end up with a needle fixation like swims.She has literally dozens of unsightly scars on what were once a lovely pair of legs.
If,as swim suspects,swiy ignores her advice,then she recommends a hot bath to get the veins up.If possible stay in bed for the first hit of the day.
And finally,try working out.
Have any swiys seen the size of Madonnas veins since she got into keep fit?

And welcome to the forum.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Well said, the addiction to the needle is almost as bad as the addiction to the H...

[billy1nk]

Yeah swim has been using a belt as a tourniquet. The injection sites swim uses mostly are all on the arms. The ones that appear to be collapsed or whatever are the inner elbows where the big vein runs which is probably the easiest to hit and the top of the wrist. Swim has a lot of trouble hitting anywhere else but whenever swim hits in those 4 it seems to muscle lately. Swim tried to go in his hand once today and it didnt draw any blood so after like 10 misses he just muscled it into his wrist. Swims friend can usually hit him in about 5 attempts but even he says swim is really hard to hit and has bad veins.

[old hippie 56]

Hate to be a spoiler, but swiy needs to find another method of administration. IVing appears not to be swiy cup of tea. Cowboy has known a few people that couldn't shoot up due to bad veins.

[billy1nk]

Swim doesn't have any other methods worth doing. Swim barely notices the effects of snorting/smoking heroin and has too much dignity to try rectal.

[ex-junkie]

take a week off, then start smoking it. even better idea, is to not use it at all, but swim understands that swiy is walking his own path, etc, etc. she hates to be a pain, but at the same time she doesnt like to see people entering into the same path of self destruction that she followed, and struggled for years to escape from.

[Junkhead23]

Pacman thinks he is past the don't do it no more talk don't SWIY's? He sounds exactly like pacman. His veins are shite as well SWI just have to keep practising and if SWIY aren't sure that SWIY are in don't push it in anyway because SWIY are desperate for the hit. Did that himself the other day and now his hand is the size of a boxing glove and he cannot clench said hand. If the one in your wrist is gone it has gone no poin in keep trying to hit it if it is gone there is an artery nearby there too (that crosses over the vein). Pacman has hit this before and it was excrutiating and his whole arm swelled up. SWIY have any exhanges nearby? They usually have a nurse that can advise SWIY on new places to hit. Oh yeah and if SWIY are going in hands use a ligh underneath them that shows them up pretty well. Also the hot bath is a good thing too and swinging your arms in circles gets the up too. Don't have tourny on too tight eithe as it constricts the artery and SWIY only want to constrict the veins. Good luck

[Spucky]

People have to take Care their Veins,
this mean swiny have to use some medical products like Heparin-Creme 120.000 Units.
Also never started to hit the Veins unprepared,
do always a kind of Vein-Sports (Like pushing a ball in your Fist, use hot water, etc.)
that every try of injection is a Hit!

[Hapworth]

How often has SWIY been injecting? SWIM can't tell if SWIY's problem is damaged veins or simply the rookie problem of not being able to hit consistently. SWIM can tell you that he has foolishly shot into the same vein, with only occasional rotation, for months now and is still able to hit. SWIM is starting to rotate more, though. Perhaps SWIY has difficult veins. As another poster said, the big vein in the bend of the inner elbow is easiest (SWIM actually shoots a few inches above the bend, right below the bicep, because this is where he can feel the vein). Find veins that you can feel more than see. SWIM has clearly visible veins that are difficult to hit because they are down beneath the skin. On the other hand, the vein he loves to hit most often is barely visible but very easy to feel (it feels like a ridge). Also, once SWIY registers, keep a steady hand. Try not to move the needle at all. The needle can easily slide out or punch through the vein. Finally, SWIY should feel when you are in the vein. The needle pushes against the rubbery resistance of the vein and then slides in. SWIM has learned to trust this feel even more than registering.

[rbegoniaz]

Swir thinks that anyone who's banging H will have trouble with their veins at some point in the junkies journey.(isnt that an illiteratin?).the question is,When?A few months into it at a gram a week(swiy didn't specify white or tar)Swir assumes white yes?before swir went "downtown" swir shot da cocaine and pretty much laid to waste what little veins Swir had.Going downtown and only having tar at Swir's disposal,even rotating,tourniquets and being super careful it's a road that endeds way to soon.Obviously Swiy has maybe small veins and all the above replys are it.This is what you have to look forward too.ANGUISH and so much fucking time it is pathetic.Really.Another suggestion is this:Because Swirs' veins refused to participate Swir was left to popping or im.and because she had done this route so long when she did get into a vein the rush was almost identical.Can't really understand that one but it's true.The best way as stated above is heat first then tourniquet.How in the world can you muscle into Swiys' wrist?Damn that hurt huh?good luck to you and keep in mind that "if" you were to ever have some sort of emergency and they needed to start an IV and with no veins you are fucked.what they do then is start whet is called a center line.It's under your clavicle and trust me on this one it ain't no fun!

[BastardoFatsquardo]

SWIM would need to know what SWIY not you is doing first of all really, meaning what type of gear, and what type of syringes would help out a little bit!

BastardoFatsquardo added 5 Minutes and 56 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by rbegoniaz

Swir thinks that anyone who's banging H will have trouble with their veins at some point in the junkies journey.(isnt that an illiteratin?).the question is,When?A few months into it at a gram a week(swiy didn't specify white or tar)Swir assumes white yes?before swir went "downtown" swir shot da cocaine and pretty much laid to waste what little veins Swir had.Going downtown and only having tar at Swir's disposal,even rotating,tourniquets and being super careful it's a road that endeds way to soon.Obviously Swiy has maybe small veins and all the above replys are it.This is what you have to look forward too.ANGUISH and so much fucking time it is pathetic.Really.Another suggestion is this:Because Swirs' veins refused to participate Swir was left to popping or im.and because she had done this route so long when she did get into a vein the rush was almost identical.Can't really understand that one but it's true.The best way as stated above is heat first then tourniquet.How in the world can you muscle into Swiys' wrist?Damn that hurt huh?good luck to you and keep in mind that "if" you were to ever have some sort of emergency and they needed to start an IV and with no veins you are fucked.what they do then is start whet is called a center line.It's under your clavicle and trust me on this one it ain't no fun!

SWIM knows exactly what Swir is talking about. SWIM used to have to muscle it all the time, as SWIM never had enough time to find a vein, and the effects were felt almost instantly , and it was tar. Now SWIM either gets really lucky, and hits quick or can be up to an hour. It is almost relief that SWIM dont have to dig around anymore rather than the rush that is satisfying at that point!

[Dicemanstyle]

stop shooting start smoking or snorting. Give them a rest.

[W!SE]

swim had the same prob but he recently learned a lil bit more... very important shoot at a 45 degree angle....tap on site a few times(clean hands first obv)

he ended up sayin fk it and shot his biggest shot to date I.M. big fuckin mistake never do that again

put it in..45 degree - no blood but it looks like its in the right area - pull out but NOT completely and move back in this almost always works for swim

swim reallly feels for u on this one nothing worse than not being able to fix when ur right there!! matter fact this is probly why swim gets a high in its own when sees blood rush in cus he now associates the sight with the feeling

oh what has he gotten into. 2 weeks old only swim on

[m.swinehart81]

Swim has been shooting dope on and off again for almost 10 years now and he has no veins what so ever. Swim cant feel or see veins anywhere in his body anymore. He wishes he would have had someone give him good advice such as take a break, or start snorting/smoking. Now swim wonders if he will ever get his veins back or not.

[bmk]

sounds like swiy might no be going in deep enough mabe the pick is on to mutch of an angle

[Benniboi]

look mate, everyones gonna tell you to find another route of administration, but if you are set on digging still then there are many other places swim could try, how about the thighs, top of the legs, sides of the pelvis, bottom of legs, even on the underside of the foot and ankles, swim has fixed in all these places, as well is in the palm of the hand, fingers etc, if you are trying these sensitive places get a .5 microfine needle with a tiny tip as they are easier to get into the those veins as they are much smaller; the only problem is sometimes it's hard to fit everything you wanna fit in a .5 pin but swim's had lots of luck doing this. And if you're still having trouble and you're still desperate to fix (I may get flamed but hey this is about advice and i'm simply giving it) look at femoral injecting- granted it has many dangers but for occasional usage it is, with the right amount of knowledge and right needle, possible to do semi-saftely. swim uses this method every now and again saftely and has had no troubles up to now (touch wood)
sorry if i've pissed anyone off saying this but it's just impartial advice- obviously you should also heed what other swimmers are saying about harm reduction: there are other routes of administration that are still very effective and can give a good rush if done properely.

[m.swinehart81]

Regarding the last post, there are lots of other places to inject. Its very true, but if swiy is already having problems hitting after only a couple months of use than it most likely means that swiy isnt very experienced yet. With that being said it may not be the best idea for swiy to start injecting in dangerous places like the femoral vein. If this is something that swiy decides to do than swiy should definitely do some research on the whole thing. Dont just blindly start digging around in high risk places like that without educating swiyourself first!

[east_of_eden]

Swim has been using for over 10 years and for the first 5 her veins were just fine but now they are all collapsed and she's gone everywhere even the palms of her hands (which hurts) like someone else said.

The worst thing about this is it's not possible to just stop or to smoke/snort it instead. Once swiy is used to injecting that's the only way swiy will want to do it.

Swim doesn't feel it at all if she smokes it and so has to IM it, which actually works well but is dangerous. she has a lot of scars also and has had several abcesses.

For OP, be careful when swiy isn't sure that's swiys 100% in the vein, injecting it anyways can cause a multitude of different problems that will very likely force you to have to go to a doctor or emergency room some day (and that's not fun ). stay safe.

[Esmerelda]

Regarding the comments earlier about femoral injecting... look up an illustration of the 'great saphenous' (or even 'small saphenous') vein. It's not ideal but it's safer than the femoral as it's a superficial vein, and damage of it is extremely unlikely to lead to loss of the limb or pulmonary embolism (I think a single case of PE from the g. saphenous has been reported).

Having said that I agree that other routes are by far the most sensible option. The above is purely an attemt to help Swiy avoid the femoral if Swiy is insistant.

If Swie has lost these two veins already there are other options, but they're not particularly safe so I don't feel comfortable suggesting them.

[Junkhead23]

Femoral injecting can and does usually lead to Deep Vein Thrombosis and it's not pretty believe pacman

[Benniboi]

like the other swimmers say femoral injecting can be a very risky practice but swim is merely trying to offer impartial advice. Take all the risks into consideration and make swiyour own decisions. good luck pal