Diagram of the Circulatory System

[candy (OP)]

I wanted to post a diagram of the circulatory system for anyone that's interested.
It can be really helpful when trying to avoid arteries and also for knowing where veins are located.
Please let me know if this one isn't working for any of you and would like something different.

[Griffin]

Thanks for the post, i kind of wish they would of made all the veins red and all the arteries blue but that's cause I am lazy. That's kind of weird to me that their is only one vein in the leg all be it it's probably a beast its just kinda weird to me.

[Chip]

I asked the hospital what they would do about the fact that I have no visible surface veins except for about an inch in my feet.

They said they would use an ultrasound and that it's no hassle. Man, that's a huge relief ... anyone been through it ?

[Dog Food]

Dude, when i oded a couple months ago, went to the hospital n shit(was forced to) they had a hell of a time drawing blood. It was fuckin terrible and i was still high too. 

Now i normally have pretty big veins when its warm out and im not sick. When dopesick, its like my veins completely vanish and double vanish when its cold.  I literally havea heater in my room that i plug in to hold my arms over in the winter months.

So i get to the hospital, and i had to take my shirt off n put the shitty lil gown on. Then on top of no shirt, the god damn air conditioning was constantly blowing on me from straight above me in the cieling, i literally had goosebumps.  So the nurse tried a couple times with those huge 25g needles, and she had to ask another guy then, who came in and tried a couple times.  Then i demanded they get me a blanket to warm up. And before it was even on for 2 mins, the first nurse and then another girl came to try again.  At one poimt the first one was digging in and out on my left arm trying to hit In a Fucking Valve (where two veins come together, (where ur NOT supposed to hit)) while the other was digging on my right arm at the same time.  It was painful as hell, and if i tried to say where or dont or stop shed freak out that i cant tell her how to do her job.  I mean she was going in and out, where i could see a bubble forming from puncturing and slipping out even where the tie off needed removed.

It was completely horrible, i had like ten big puncture marks with big bruises around most of them the next few days.  Those fuckers kept me there for like 6 hours and almost 11pm where i was starting to get sick a lil and was gonna have to go cop just to go to bed.  I was really trying to go to bed before i was at the point of no sleeping if i didnt do any more.

[Chip]

Geeze dude, thanks for the uplifting and encouraging story 

that's exactly what I fear, no joy, pain and discomfort ... fuck that.

Why no ultrasound to find deeper veins ?

[Dog Food]

Idk why they didnt ultrasound me, all they really had to do is turn the a/c in my room off for a lil bit. I was super pissed when they both were digging at the same time. I even asked/told her to let me do it, ill hit before you will.  The first nurse even said her boyfriend was 100 days clean, so she may have had some deeper feelings/hate for why i couldnt say anything to try n help without her getting all mad.  Idk

[Griffin]

Damn that's messed up, I don't know why all hospitals don't have those lights that show you where veins are, there was a thread on here about them a while back they seem to work really good and it should be mandatory that way people don't have to pay for an ultrasound, they will still probably charge you out the ass for having to use the light here in the US. I have tried using my phone light since it's bright to find veins but I can only see the bigs ones on the very top with it and its hard to see them if you don't know where to look.

I am very lucky that I have a lot of really good veins, and all the ones in my arms are still good and easy to see and hit, I don't take it for granted, and hope that I don't start up with needles again. My hands are way to shaky to do it anyway, somedays I have trouble eating because of how bad it is, and if it's hot or if I had to do anything physical within the past 30 minutes it's out of the question. Seriously 5 push ups and I can barely write my name, it was horrible when I first started, I sometimes have to wait to even do my IM testosterone injections when my tremors are bad.

[Tainted]

I wanted to post a diagram of the circulatory system for anyone that's interested.
It can be really helpful when trying to avoid arteries and also for knowing where veins are located.
Please let me know if this one isn't working for any of you and would like something different.

candy Great idea posting that diagram. I was wondering, if you have any that are more zoomed in on the hands and arms? It's kind of hard to tell where they actually are on that diagram. I'll end up doing some googling tomorrow and seeing if I can find a good diagram, if I can, I'll post it in this thread.

It would be good to have a diagram that gives a really good idea of the location of arteries in the hands, forearms, and upper arm (bicep? dunno what thats called) as I imagine that's where most people hit.

Also, you've said this and others frequently say it, you have to check for a pulse, but the thing is, my veins have a pulse. I can feel a pulse in most of my veins, obviously not like the pulse in your wrist, but the larger veins I have absolutely have a pulse. I assume that's normal (maybe it's not, my resting pulse rate is 120, so maybe that's why?) but it makes feeling a pulse less definitive for me in deciding if it's an artery or a vein.

I've been hitting my hands very frequently and have been VERY worried about hitting arteries. I've been hitting the top/almost side of my hand, the base of the thumb area. I always check the area for a pulse, am very mindful of how deep and what direction I stick the needle in and so far haven't had any trouble, but I feel like I'm playing with fire because I imagine there has to be an artery somewhere near that area (the area in between your wrist and your thumb, theres a vein that runs on your left hand, from the rightmost part of your finger nail, all the way down to your wrist, i used to hit the area on my thumb, but scar tissue has made that not feasible, and there seems to be several veins closer to the wrist on the hand that are easier to hit)




In the 10 yrs I've been using, I've never been able to hit in the crook of my arm, until this month. 10 years of IV use and I've had maybe 3 veins on each arm that actually bulged out and where visible. Everything I do, I have to do by touch which is hard as FUCK.

[Tainted]

Damn that's messed up, I don't know why all hospitals don't have those lights that show you where veins are, there was a thread on here about them a while back they seem to work really good and it should be mandatory that way people don't have to pay for an ultrasound, they will still probably charge you out the ass for having to use the light here in the US. I have tried using my phone light since it's bright to find veins but I can only see the bigs ones on the very top with it and its hard to see them if you don't know where to look.

I am very lucky that I have a lot of really good veins, and all the ones in my arms are still good and easy to see and hit, I don't take it for granted, and hope that I don't start up with needles again. My hands are way to shaky to do it anyway, somedays I have trouble eating because of how bad it is, and if it's hot or if I had to do anything physical within the past 30 minutes it's out of the question. Seriously 5 push ups and I can barely write my name, it was horrible when I first started, I sometimes have to wait to even do my IM testosterone injections when my tremors are bad.

If you have veins that you can see, my advise to you is to start learning to feel for veins. I've never had veins that bulged, as I said in my last post, but learning what a vein feels like when you can actually see them will help you tremendously when your veins inevitably stop bulging and you start having trouble finding veins. They have a very unique feel and if you keep your habit up, your going to end up needing to find veins based almost entirely on touch and a rough idea of where a vein may be.

[Griffin]

That's good I have a weird tick that I follow my veins with my fingers when bored or nervous so I can feel and know where the ones that don't bulge are. Do any of you guys get that weird feeling after you stop shooting that you need something in your veins like you have to touch them. Like when I quit smoking I have to take big deep breaths to try to fulfill that fixation part of it I suppose it's similar just with my veins where I want to pinch and touch them.

[Tainted]

That's good I have a weird tick that I follow my veins with my fingers when bored or nervous so I can feel and know where the ones that don't bulge are. Do any of you guys get that weird feeling after you stop shooting that you need something in your veins like you have to touch them. Like when I quit smoking I have to take big deep breaths to try to fulfill that fixation part of it I suppose it's similar just with my veins where I want to pinch and touch them.

Kind of I think I get what it saying. When I've stopped,i found myself frequently squeezing my upper arm and seeing if any veins would bulge out. Or I'd mess with veins that are long since lost trying to figure out if collapsed or what

[Chip]

That's good I have a weird tick that I follow my veins with my fingers when bored or nervous so I can feel and know where the ones that don't bulge are. Do any of you guys get that weird feeling after you stop shooting that you need something in your veins like you have to touch them. Like when I quit smoking I have to take big deep breaths to try to fulfill that fixation part of it I suppose it's similar just with my veins where I want to pinch and touch them.

yep, i'm always wondering where the hidden ones are and have even thoughts about getting a vein finder and an ultrasound to identify and then mark with a tattoo exactly where they are ... but i always chicken out.