Opioids Alternatives to micron filter?

[velocity92c]

I've been an IV drug user for several years now and after reading bluelight I'm starting to worry more and more about what exactly I'm putting into my body. I've slowed down majorly on IV use since the Purdue OC pills were reformulated, as there just isn't that much to shoot up anymore. I rarely shoot up heroin for fear of not knowing exactly what's in it, and don't really enjoy injecting my prescribed medicine (Suboxone). I know the fact that I'm on Suboxone and still injecting drugs recreationally may seem counterproductive, but Suboxone allowed me to separate myself from my addiction to Opiates and is mainly used for the day after opiate use to prevent myself from relapsing completely. I still use opiates recreationally but now I try to 'treat' myself to them about once a week or once every two weeks instead of it being an every day thing. Being a former opiate addict, even after one day of recreational opiate use I wake up the next day feeling like I've just gone through a month long binge of opiates, so I use my Suboxone that day and possibly next to 'ween' myself back to normal, even though I know that this is probably all mental. So in essence the Suboxone is still serving its purpose of keeping me from being addicted to opiates, just to get that out of the way.


ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, with the infrequency that I use opiates the micron filter process seems a little much for me. I'm curious to know if there are any alternatives to the micron filter that are better than a simple piece of cotton. I've injected using a piece of cotton probably 1,000 times or more and never once gotten cotton fever, so that's not really my concern at the moment. I'm more concerned with the things that get through the cotton into my bloodstream. I guess another question I have is with all of the negative comments on using just cotton on this forum, does a piece of cotton even filter anything besides the most basic binders that don't dissolve at all, or does it serve more of a purpose than that?

I know I should just break down and buy myself a micron filtering kit, but I shoot up so infrequently now that it's a little pricy for me, and when I do get my hands on something I like to do several shots and the junkie inside of me isn't going to want to do all of that extra work to get high. I know it's a sad thing to say, but it's the truth.

Are there any other filters that can be used that provide better protection than regular cotton? The only things I would ever shoot up are dilaudid, the original Oxycontin pills whenever I see them here and there, 30mg Roxycodone, IR Opana, and very occasionally my Suboxone film strips. Also how effective is a regular piece of cotton at grabbing binders and such within these drugs? I searched and found a thread that lists what gets through a micron filter, but found no such thread about what gets through a standard piece of cotton.

Also, if there are no alternatives, would a larger piece of cotton grab more than a smaller piece? I typically use cotton balls or the end of a Q-tip that are about the size of a pea. Would making them larger be more beneficial to me or does it really not matter at that point?

 

[sekio]

No. Cotton is a shitty filter and strokes/infections are very costly compared to microns.
There is really nothing else you should be using other than filters designed for syringes..

 

[andrikos1977]

im from Greece and i honestly dont know what a micro filter is.
i use H and i shoot it for almost 15 years now using only clean cigarette filters cause over here everyone uses them and only them.from my experience and from exchanging views with many other people who use cigarette filters i can say that cotton fever is almost absent if u use a piece of filter that is brand new.i cut the core of the filter cause the outside can easily catch particles while you have your cigs in your pocket or just sitting in the table.

also have in mind this.sometimes its not the filters fault.
when you boil some stuff that is cut with this and that place the filter inside the spoon very gently and NEVER-ever touch with your hands the side of the filter that you are going to put your spike on.now if your spoon is totally filled with cooked product and you place your filter in the middle(where the spoon is deeper and the liquid more),the filter will naturally sink in the bottom of the spoon and any cut substance will cover it and it will leave all kinds of litle garbage tiny-tiny things on top.so when you place your spike on your filter its almost certain that some crap will enter your syringe and eventually your system.
i place my filter to the side of the spoon makin sure that some part of it rises/stays above the surface of my cooked product.your filter will drain the smack but the surface(which is where you place your spike) will remain without any particles.

 

[BrokedownPalace]

Cotton will not do a very good job filtering out binders/fillers and bacteria. Cotton can only catch stuff that is larger than 50 microns.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Cotton will not do a very good job filtering out binders/fillers and bacteria. Cotton can only catch stuff that is larger than 50 microns.

This is true. Compacted cotton can filter out 50um particles and larger. Non compacted cotton is going to be even less effective.

If you have done 1,000 injections, yes, you should begin buying micron filtering equipment.

You don't have to be a frequent user to get good usage out of them. Let's say you only want to use once every 3 days for a month. You can easily prepare ten shots at once using a micron filter, the bac. water vial, a vial told the solution in, a luer lock syringe and needle tips.

 

[AuraLee]

I would suggest getting some micron filters (or a kit, dk what a micron kit is). It's not just a matter of avoiding cotton fever or dirty hits. The particles (and bacteria) that result from injecting pills (or street stuff) build up in your system and can lead to veins stuffing up quicker, poor vein health, bacterial endocarditis (this can be acute OR chronic so bacteria can build up over time on your heart valves and one day BAM you end up in hospital, this is more common than people realise) and probably many other side effects from particles and bacteria as well.

I used to get dirty hits quite a lot (at it's worst it could be a couple times in one week) when injecting methadone liquid. But since I started using micron filters, it's maybe once a year.

One thing to note, you need to use 5.0 um filters to filter pill particles or the filter will block up. However, if you want to extract all bacteria from the dose, only the 0.2um filters will reliably get all bacteria out. I used to use 0.45um filters and still got the odd dirty hit; these only reliably filter fungi.

I don't know what kind of 'kit' they sell where you're from. I get the single wheel filters, draw up the liquid to be filtered in a 10ml, attach the wheel filter then a drawing up needle on the end, open another 10ml to full capacity, insert the needle in the hole on the syringe (where you usually attach the needle tip) and push through the liquid into the empty 10 ml.

It is easier to push through than to draw up.

I like Captain Heroin's idea of filtering many doses at once however you want to make sure the receiving container is sterile. You could alternatively use sterile syringes as the receiving vessel and push any air out of them as this prevents/reduces bacterial growth.

Edit: Check out the micron filtering megathread linked in captain heroin's signature for more info including how particles can lodge in the lungs.

 

[mrflowers00]

i've injected over 10,000 times and i only use cotton and i am fine

 

[comatoserct]

^^^yes, but how do your arms look?

You really should invest in micron filtering devices. If you have a needle addiction, you just need to transfer it from heroin and pills to suboxone. Just calculate your normal daily suboxone dose, multiply it by 30, and work it out. The first time I did it, I had 2 micron filters and a 30ml vial of bacteriostatic water. I took 8 suboxone strips, as well as 1600mg diphenhydramine. I first filtered the benadryl, then used the same liquid to filter the suboxone. Once I was done, I had a very clean solution of suboxone combined with a well-known potentiate. ~$25 for a months worth of injections? To me it's a no-brainer.

 

[amapola]

I'm not sure on the exact definition of "micron filter" but cotton could be considered one as it is able to filter particles up to 30microns in diameter. Unfortunately many particles are smaller than that and using cotton does not eliminate them and there are much safer products availble.

Sterifilt are single use filters which remove up to 10 microns or so I believe. This is enough to filter out most particle but not all.

You can get up to 0.2-0.4 micron filters which pretty much remove all bacteria in the shot as well as all particles leaving only viruses and are your safest but most expensive bet.

As this is an old thread I'm going to close it now and ask that any further questions be directed here.
Micron Filtering Mega Thread and FAQ

This threads contain relevant information as well.
Pill injection research into filters
Inactive Ingredients A to Z