Oh dear... My veins - When Should I Worry

[antigonemuse]

I have very tricky veins to find... My doctors agree. blood tests are nightmares for me. Any IV injection, "professionally" done or in receration ends up with countless jabs into my arms, wrists, hands and feet.

So, at the moment, SWIM has two darkish purple bruises with a red swollen vein in the middle. One on the inside wrist, the other above on the forearm. they are from last night, they are very tender and getting darker everytime i look at them.

I am assuming it is okay to just hot and cold press them, as needed til the swelling and bruising subside.

When is it time to worry about veins... E.G. blowing them, skipping them, collapseing

any spots other then feet, hand, neck, and arms SWIM could bang into? totally odd question... how about breasts?

[antony]

ive never injected anything, but given blood and nurses haven't been able to find veins in me with turnoquets after just working out. so i don't think it says much with dr.ss.

[hovadagod]

If they itch get yourself on some antibiotics.

[candy]

I would not advise using the breasts to inject. Most women have trouble with their veins, finding them that is.

For swollen veins and bruising I would use ice. For infiltrations, which is when you inject fluid into the surrounding tissues, such as with a missed shot, I would go for heat. This helps the fluid sitting in the tissues to be absorbed much quicker and prevents infections(abscesses.)

If your veins appear as red and raised, this is called phlebitis and can be treated with antiinflammatories, such as Ibuprofen and heat.

In the a.m. when our blood pressure is lower, which is when our circulation is poorer, finding veins can be hard. Doing a bit of exercise, arm raises, push ups, etc. will help get the blood flowing and bring up the veins on the arms. Taking a hot shower in the morning will help as well. Applying a hot pad or compress to the site works well too. Remember you want to get your blood flowing. Men do have better veins as they tend to be larger and have more muscle mass....Well some men have more muscle mass!

Are you using a tourniquet? If not, I advise you do. While a belt or such can work, getting a real tourniquet is best. If that is not an option, get a pair of pantyhose and cut off the leg and use as you would a tourniquet.

The smaller the vein, the more likely they will blow, which is what causes the bruising and swelling. Once you do blow a vein, apply light pressure for about 30 secs. Put on some ice immediately. You can also get something called Arnica gel or cream and apply it to the bruising. It works to fade the bruising faster. You can find it at those vitamin stores, such as GNC or any place that sells vitamins and the such.

There are good veins in the arm, but they can run deep and and take some practice and patience. The easiest to find is the brachial vein and this runs along the top of the upper part of the arm.

And I cannot say it enough....Lots of water....The more hydrated you are the better. Dehydration is one big reason for not finding veins. The more water you drink, the better your veins will appear.

I have the had the same problem and at the end of my last run was shooting in the neck into the jugulur veins....I don't recommend this to anyone and being a nurse I felt qualified to do this. Have started a thousand IV's in the neck of many patients, junkies or not....But, this should only be done by someone who has the experience. Not a place you want to go poking around in and you don't want to blow the veins in the neck or stick an artery by mistake. Not only can this lead to emboli or clots, but all sorts of nerve damage and other problems that could be serious.

Be patient and do some prep and you will get better results.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, just ask!

Best not to go stabbing around. While I know it can be frustrating and when one is sick, it is a bitch to not want to wait. Try some of the suggestions above and see if this helps.

[antigonemuse]

Candy... Thank you so much for the very insightful and detailed advise. I grateful for the time taken on the reply! It is very helpful.

I have began to apply heat to my arms to help speed the healing time. Hopfully there will be some improvement before work on Monday.

Peace :eyebrow:

[candyshop]

do you have anyone capable and trustworthy that could help you with areas you cannot reach?clearly this would not be practical all of the time but perhaps now and then to give your regular sites a rest

[Saceman1]

Don't panic - veins come back (unless they're totally screwed)!

I went through a period where I was covered with bruises and couldn't find one.

Then I got serious:

Always use a torni
Always use a fresh fit
A few weight curls and hot bath if veins aren't sitting up and begging to be fed
Anti-bruising cream after using
Rotate injecting sites regularly

After that, I was just using (once or twice daily) on the inner elbow veins and had zero tracks, scars or evidence of use.

Look after those puppies and they'll serve you for a long and enjoyable career. :)

[poppy]

The age old vein problem!! Not only do us women have to cope with periods, giving birth, etc, we also have shit veins!!! God was undoubtedly a man!
I know exactly how you feel, believe me I'm often in a state of blood, snot and tears, when trying to find a vein. I wish I could wave a wand for you (and me)but obviously I can't. I can't even tell u anything that Candy hasn't already. Good luck.

[madnesscult]

Yeah...most of my veins are gone, and don't seem to be coming back (although I never really fucked them up - they just seemed to receed slowly). I've been having to go really close to my wrist which absolutely fucking sucks.
Is there anything one can do to make veins come back faster?

[shaunclo]

Is there anything one can do to make veins come back faster?

Unfortunately, no. As far as I know only time can heal your veins.

[Hammilton]

Whatever you do, do not put a compress on it. Like the sort your wrap on and stays tight for hours. A friend IM'ing codeine nearling lost two legs from that.

[superman]

codiene should not be injected, ever, anywhere, period.

I would not be blaming a compress on that close call of his

[candy]

Well, you can wrap a compress too tight and if left on too long, it can compromise the circulation and lead to tissue death.

Because the circulation in the legs is slower anyway than that of the upper extremeties, injectors inparticular can have all sorts of problems with circulation, healing, and infection.

If a compression bandage, such as an ace bandage is left on too long and is too tight as I said, you can have some serious problems. When you decrease the circulation to an area, there is a decrease in the amount of oxygen going to the tissues and this can result in tissue damage and death of the tissues. Which of course can lead to gangrene.

There should be no reason one would need to use a compression bandage after injecting. A warm compress placed on the site is fine or a gauze bandage that is held by tape. Unless placed by a doc or nurse or after instruction by one is OK, but one placed too tight or incorrectly can lead to all sorts of problems.

And you would be surprised by what people will do or the home remedies they can come up with to treat themselves. I have seen some pretty disgusting shit after some home remedies by well meaning family and friends who were trying to help and made something very minor into a disaster.

If you have medical problem that is not getting better...see a doc!

[Zoop]

This comment could be seen as sllghtly off-topic, but it's actually sorta on topic.

A sharp needle is essential for good injections. Really, they get perceptibly dull after three injections, BUT...

I noticed recently that a brand new rig I had was really really dull. I had only used it twice and it was weird. I just assumed it was sharp because it was brand new out of the package practically. I was trying to hit a vein on the inside of the forearm, and I had to push that thing so hard that it was dimpling the skin in like it would if you just poked your arm with a toothpick or something not sharp enough to penetrate the skin. I was thinking, "damn, I got some thick ass skin."

I changed to a new rig and it went right in, the same place. So, I know that other rig was just dull.

The only thing I can think of to explain how dull it go so fast, is that when re-capping the needle, if you're not careful, it will "dig in" to the side of the plastic cap, and I think this can really dull up the needle real fast.

Anyone got any thoughts on that? I'd recommend that if you can, like if it's safe and someone's not gonna get stabbed with your rig, then don't re-cap it, because that only has a chance of dulling it, or just be REAL CAREFUL when sliding the cap on.

OBTW, the rig I'm talking about is a BD 3ml size detacheable needle job, with a 1 inch needle, 22G.

[SirDonkeyPunch]

We have a harm reduction needle exchange over here where i live. They trade 1 for 1 used rigs for new. The main lady that runs it is an ex-junky with Hep C. So shes got some personal drive to help the better good of the drug using population. In any case she almost demands we use new rigs for every shot. So i do that for the most part except for when i dont have my big ol bag of syringes with me. Christ last time i went in shes just like "So how many ya need?" , i dont know the amount last time was good were going out of town so were gonna take a few with us(me and my woman), then shes just like "ok well ill give ya 80" Its funny walking out of the needle exchange building with a big ol bag a needles and a cop drives by. w00t cant do nothin!

but in regards to your post when i have had to use needles more than once i notice that the majority of the time when you put the cap back on you will catch yourself 4times out of 5 hittin the side of that cap. A thing i try to do when i use a rig more than once is take a really good hard look at the tip. I turn it so i can easily see the bevel at the end and then i look to see if the very end of the tip and see if its straight or whether its crooked one way or the other. If its not ill grab a diff rig.

BTW if you got an exchange program near you, take advantage of it!

[Chipper]

One more thing that can help and that's drinking some alcohol. It acts as a blood thinner and has helped. What works for me is a hot shower/a brisk walk/a drink.

[Duckfeet]

Pushups work for me. Patience. Use a tie. Get some dumbells, do curls every day. I burnt my best ones out on *coke* binges, of all things. And if u can get a good rig, it's always better, but I won't *not* do dope, just 'cuz I got a dull rig... just the nature of things. I've had most of the crappy misses and crap talked about in earlier posts. Time seems to heal most of'em...except my two main veins in crook of elbow. Haven't seen hide nor hair of either one of'em in a long time. Hot shower, yeah. I don't know about jugular vein. Everybody I knew hit there, it was always end of the line. Time to switch to drinking white port or something, if that's the only spot left you can hit. I've know women could find veins inside upper thighs. Men often find something down by ankles. One of those deals where "you don't know what you got 'til it's gone" kind of thing. Some people used to like throwing away plunger and cutting off top of rig and putting baby pacifier on end, tie it on with rubber bands. That way you don't have to pull back plunger to register...on the other hand, if you use pacifier rig, and start screwing up, it's harder to play around with. Why is this such a depressing topic to me...

[Beautifully_Broken]

im not even an iv-er, but i had an interesting thought the other day

i'm really pale and my veins show thru my skin (not that that makes them any easier to hit, i always end up black and blue from the dr's) anyway, before hoppin in the shower the other day i was noticing that i can see several blue veins running thru my boobs...im not going to try, but in a pinch, could those be used?

[Duckfeet]

im not even an iv-er, but i had an interesting thought the other day

i'm really pale and my veins show thru my skin (not that that makes them any easier to hit, i always end up black and blue from the dr's) anyway, before hoppin in the shower the other day i was noticing that i can see several blue veins running thru my boobs...im not going to try, but in a pinch, could those be used?
My old lady had those, and she was hurtin for veins, but never did go that far. I think they were actually real little...fun to look at though ;-)

[AWOL]

Pushups work for me. Patience. Use a tie. Get some dumbells, do curls every day. I burnt my best ones out on *coke* binges, of all things. And if u can get a good rig, it's always better, but I won't *not* do dope, just 'cuz I got a dull rig... just the nature of things. I've had most of the crappy misses and crap talked about in earlier posts. Time seems to heal most of'em...except my two main veins in crook of elbow. Haven't seen hide nor hair of either one of'em in a long time. Hot shower, yeah. I don't know about jugular vein. Everybody I knew hit there, it was always end of the line. Time to switch to drinking white port or something, if that's the only spot left you can hit. I've know women could find veins inside upper thighs. Men often find something down by ankles. One of those deals where "you don't know what you got 'til it's gone" kind of thing. Some people used to like throwing away plunger and cutting off top of rig and putting baby pacifier on end, tie it on with rubber bands. That way you don't have to pull back plunger to register...on the other hand, if you use pacifier rig, and start screwing up, it's harder to play around with. Why is this such a depressing topic to me...


^^ Working out I think helps a lot. I don't know if anyone else does strenuous work (one of my jobs) or lifts weights and has seen what I'm talking about. After a few sets of curls I've no need to even tie off and I think that it's because I work out. I'm not sure if it will help if you've not been exersizing and then just start exersizing? I'd think that it would. Maybe someone else could comment. I've been lifting since I was about 16, so 10 years off and on at times. But I think it's made the difference in my having lots of veins to hit. Most all of the guys I know who have lifted for a few years have viens that look something like below. That's not my arm btw. Plus it gives you lots of spots to hit so hiding marks is a lot easier obviously.

[nick]

Hope you found a vein by now Antagone.Just wanted to say there are usable veins in the breast,freaked me right out first time I saw someone try and shoot up there.
DV you're right.Exercise helped bring my veins "up".

[azuran]

A while ago I could never find any of my veins, but then I started to exercise and lift weights pretty heavily, and after just a few weeks my veins were readily visible.