did i hit an artery?

[Tainted (OP)]

so i was injecting into the crook of my arm, the typical shooting up spot opposite end of your elbow. i normally dont hit there as my veins dont bulge and i can never find a vein there, but ive had a spot ive been hitting successfully all week. anyway, i goto hit there, no blood, so i pull back readjust a bit, push in, nothing, pull back, and i get a little blood as im pulling out so i push back in, thought i was in the sweet spot for the vein, so i pushed in (i figured if anything id be missing, not hitting an artery) but instantly my hand started burning and swelled up, not terribly bad, but enough to scare the shit uotta me. i was shooting morphine, so artery or miss shot, my whole arms red, well was, but my hands stayed swollen for maybe 15 minutes. now they maybe a little swollen (45min later) but they look mainly find, just maybe a little pale and red.
(also, i obv stopped immediately after i felt the burning so only hsot about 15-20units, and i lifted my arm up above my head and held pressure where i was hitting.)

did i hit an artery? reason im worried still is because i was shooting ABG morphine, not something i want getting clogged up in my fingers blood vessels....but i saw no pink blood, nothing frothy, in fact i thought i was more likely to miss the shot then to hit a vein, let alone an artery.

edit: i should add, i do morphine daily, i am used to the histamine reaction from missed shots. i can miss a shot on my forearm and have my thumb swell up 4 times its normal size  . but this was different, it was instantenous and my entire hand. and my hands still kinda pale, im scared to smoke a cig.

[dizzle]

I can smoke a cig that won't matter. But did u hit an artery? Maybe. Idk. I've seen superficial veins/arteries/capillaries that register and cause weird responses. However, they are usually local to the injection site, something that causes a reaction way down stream like that, I'd expect that had to be an artery. Idk what else would cause that. Arteries go away, veins go towards, capillaries bridge between them. That's the circulation 101, but I've seen each of these in action. I've seen veins collapse and capillaries turn into semi-functioning veins.

Basically the answer is yes. U probably hit an artery, don't fuck around, try to circulate the blood as much as you can, since u wee shooting morphine most of what you saw was undoubtedly a histamine rxn. If you shit is all white, then there's a concern there as that tells me there no blood flow in white areas, red at least denotes blood flow, while too much red or increased temperature means infection is possible, still better than white..


Idk if this helps, but I'm a little drunk so I'm responding as more of a stream of thoughts....

You should be good but do hot compresses and massages in the warm spots just to be safe....

[Tainted (OP)]

I can smoke a cig that won't matter. But did u hit an artery? Maybe. Idk. I've seen superficial veins/arteries/capillaries that register and cause weird responses. However, they are usually local to the injection site, something that causes a reaction way down stream like that, I'd expect that had to be an artery. Idk what else would cause that. Arteries go away, veins go towards, capillaries bridge between them. That's the circulation 101, but I've seen each of these in action. I've seen veins collapse and capillaries turn into semi-functioning veins.

Basically the answer is yes. U probably hit an artery, don't fuck around, try to circulate the blood as much as you can, since u wee shooting morphine most of what you saw was undoubtedly a histamine rxn. If you shit is all white, then there's a concern there as that tells me there no blood flow in white areas, red at least denotes blood flow, while too much red or increased temperature means infection is possible, still better than white..


Idk if this helps, but I'm a little drunk so I'm responding as more of a stream of thoughts....

You should be good but do hot compresses and massages in the warm spots just to be safe....

Helpful yeah. I know with morphine histidine reaction, there's no rhyme or reason to where it swell as far as I can tell, but this def wasn't that as we both agree.
Just seems so weird I was in an artery when I barely thought I was in a vein to begin with.
My hand seems to look normal now, but to be safe I'm going to keep a heating pad on my hand, (I keep a heating pad on all missed shots or anything looking swollen and I've gone ten years with only one abscess that needed dr treatment, lancing and anti biotics, and they was only cause I slacked on heat and was IVing Molly, not good to miss with)

Anyways, I have a lot of faith in the power of heat, but this is the first time I've hit an artery. Gonna keep heat far far far away from the area I hit(crook of arm, gonna heat my hands, where I assume the morphine landed in my blood vessels and shit in my fingers) I posted a thread on opiophile asking if I hit an artery cause I was using my wrist and had some strange reaction, but the general response was it wasn't an artery, no clue what I did, nerve maybe. After feeling my hands burn, I agree this is the first time I've hit an artery.

Although, I've always read that your hands swell so bad it feels like your skin is gonna rip and it's incredibly painful. While this burned and was painful, it was no where near as bad as I've typically read, it wasn't terrible, and the swelling was minor to moderate. Maybe i pierced an artery, pulled slightly out of it, so when I injected I half missed half got it into the artery

Anyway thanks for the reply, I've calmed down, smoked cigs(I was scared of increasing my heart rate and increasing blood flowing to pierced artery, but i think if I did hit an artery I did so minor, as the area doesn't look bruised. The scar area from repeated injections is kind of darker, but there isn't bruising (if I hit my forearm, even if I don't find a vein, it bruises bad, you'd think an artery would cause severe bruising in the crook of my arm)

I'm rambling. Gonna put heat on my hand, far from injection site, goto sleep, and hope it looks normal in morning and I don't wake up to something bad.

[candy]

@Tainted. You may have hit an artery. Was there a lot of bleeding after you pulled the needle out? That's generally a sign you have hit an artery.
It can be hard to tell if you have the tourniquet to tight, if you were using one that is. If not and you hit an artery, there is generally bright red blood that will start to fill the syringe. Of course these are suspected signs you hit an artery.

Ice the area, massage as tolerated to encourage blood flow.  If the area becomes pale and remains swollen, get medical care.
dizzle pretty much spelled it all out, but I encourage ice, instead of heat.
Heat is best for a missed shot.

I have had missed shots that swelled immediately without injecting much at all.
You can treat it like you hit an artery, but best to keep an eye on it. Elevate it, ice it for 24 hours, massage as tolerated, and keep the area clean.
Let us know how you are.

And if you do encounter any problems such as an increase in pain, swelling, paleness of the extremity, seek medical treatment ASAP.

[DirtyJerzy]

Many years ago when I was fixing in my neck, and under my clavicle, I hit an artery on a couple occasions. It was usually obvious by the color of the blood, but a couple times with bth it wasn't super obvious, and I shot that shit. Tasted like I was sucking a penny and hurt like hell. Once it made me feel like I went into PWD's. Started pouring sweat, projectile vomiting, shaking like I had hypothermia, basically fucking SUCKED.

In my beginning days of using my femoral I hit the artery that runs right next to it, but it's always super obvious, by both the color, and the sensation. But even if I went in, registered that bright blood, and pulled right out, I'd get a rash, with a burning sensation going down my thigh. They run so close together that when your new to the femoral region it's easy to get into it. And it's like THE major artery so it's not fun to get into.

Long story short, IMO when you hit an artery you will know it.

[Tainted (OP)]

@Tainted. You may have hit an artery. Was there a lot of bleeding after you pulled the needle out? That's generally a sign you have hit an artery.
It can be hard to tell if you have the tourniquet to tight, if you were using one that is. If not and you hit an artery, there is generally bright red blood that will start to fill the syringe. Of course these are suspected signs you hit an artery.

Ice the area, massage as tolerated to encourage blood flow.  If the area becomes pale and remains swollen, get medical care.
dizzle pretty much spelled it all out, but I encourage ice, instead of heat.
Heat is best for a missed shot.

I have had missed shots that swelled immediately without injecting much at all.
You can treat it like you hit an artery, but best to keep an eye on it. Elevate it, ice it for 24 hours, massage as tolerated, and keep the area clean.
Let us know how you are.

And if you do encounter any problems such as an increase in pain, swelling, paleness of the extremity, seek medical treatment ASAP.

no, there wasn't really much bleeding afterwards. i don't normally bleed when i hit a vein, maybe a couple drops . this may have bled a tiny bit more, but it stopped in under a minute without applying pressure, i figured if it was bleeding it was internal, but it doesn't seem to have brujised the area much.

its just the way that my ENTIRE hand instantly swelled up and felt like it was on fire. ive missed with morphine SO many times and ive missed on my hand and had half my hand swell up and burn, but this felt and looked totallyt different, and it was almost instantaneous, whereas missed morphine tends to slowly swell up over the course of a minute or so.
edit: also, ive never had it instantly swell up and burn SO far freom the injection site whe nits just missed morph shot.

@candy  so do you think i didn't hit an artery? today it all seems fine, my hand is no longer pale, im not hitting that entire arm for the time being just to be safe. im gonna take a pic of the injeciton spot so you can see if its even near where an artery would be (im using half inch 30 gauge syringes, just your normal long tip insulin syringe)

[candy]

@Tainted, it is hard to really know. Most of the time when you hit an artery, it will bleed quite a bit.
You could of hit a nerve or missed the shot. I have had missed shots that swelled almost immediately and hurt like hell.
It's possible you just nicked the artery and missed the shot.

The one thing I have learned is that there are a number of things that can go wrong when injecting, and while we look for the obvious signs when you hit an artery (bright red frothy blood, syringe filling fast, etc.) that isn't always the case. Always feel for a pulse around the area you intend to inject in.  I think I will post a diagram that shows the circulatory system. While arteries tend to be deeper, there are those areas where they are very close to veins and closer to the surface which makes them easier to hit.

Usually arterial shots are much better after about 24 hours, unless complications.
And yes, avoid that extremity for a couple of days if you can. Go above the site is you can't avoid using the arm.

Sounds like you are doing OK and that is what matters most. Just continue to watch that area.

[candy]

I posted a diagram of the circulatory system, arteries and veins and where to look for them in Harm Reduction.
I am going to post it here as well.

[Tainted (OP)]

cant believe it but i did it again. this is the third time this happened in ~3 years. managed like 8 years before i hit an artery (maybe_) but that previous story was using the crook of my arm, my hand swelled up and hard, but not really inbetween


now, i was hitting on my thumb, knew i was in an area i was playin w. fire with, however, i thught it was a good vein, the blood was normal, darkish red, not at all bubbly. when i pushed down i got like 80 out of 100 units in befroe the burning and swelling hit, i slam pretty quick, so when i say i was able to slam 80, i do that very very quickly most of the time. had no reason tothink it was in an arterty until i got that WICKED burning in my fingers/hands/instant swelling
its mainly my two fingers and my thumb. middle-index-pinky fine, but thumb and pointer most important fingers, cant jerk off without em.

i do worry about wehtehr or not this actually was an artery as i was shooting kadian mixed with the cottonshot from a shot of H i just did moments before (kadian is morphine, but theres a cloud of shit floating in it that you cant filter out) and i know arterial shots all that unfiltered shit goes upstream and lands in blood vesseles or small capillaries and clogs them crossing necrosis and potential loss of lamb or appendage


so two questions, what can i do to help:? i know the previous advise from this thread, but im wondering if putting heat on my finger tips and stuff would help starting tomorrow?
obv if thers any discoloration ill goto ER

but is there any thing (other then morph histamine reaction cause I KNOW that and THIS is DEF NOT that) then hitting an artery? it seems so weird ive done this two or 3 times in the last 10 yrs, daily use, 1 cottons every shot, 3-5 shots a day, so i do a lot of sho ts a day the instantenous pain/burning, the skin swelling up, etc. is the main reason i think i hit an artery. if im not hitting an artery, im totally clueless. ive hit nerves before, but normally it makes my finger twitch or something and it hhurts so bad i gotta pull out before even trying to shoot any.
before i pulled out after i stopped injecting, i even re-registered to see what color the blood was and it looked normal, but it was ina bad bad spot for arteries. so much so i dont wana post a pic atm lol


edit: this didnt seem relevant in the start of the thread, but i smoked 20 worth of coke before i did my shot and hit the artery. tonight i did 2 dubs smoked of C, and did my H to come down, thankfully did, did the cotton fine. then i did the push off my stem, and i did my last morphine pill, and thats when i missed. i juist thought it shuold be worth noting that coke was involved both timnes. maybe that can cause the reactoin in my hand? or maybe the higher bp makes the artery bulge more, more liable to nic it? i dunno

like ive said, it didnt bleed at all after i puulled spike out. ive put pressure on itand kept it above head so far but dont think it bruiisin under skin

[mickeyaye6989]

This exact thing just happened to me. Like you, I'm quite familiar with what a miss looks/feels like, but this was way different - much faster to develop and engulfed my whole arm and hand from where I shot it down. Hand swelled up (never had that happen before), and felt like I was holding it over a fire. Took about an hour for it to chill out.

Guessing this was an artery shot? I hit the exact same place I usually do (a deep vein on the top of my forearm, can't see it but it registers easy as fuck). Not a ton of blood, but it did seem like it was much more red than usual (my vein is collapsed on one end I think, so when I register the blood is usually a little darker than normal).