Cotton Fever from coffee filters?

[lilithcyanide]

This may have been answered 50x over on here already, but I am a complete n00b on this forum so I apologize in advance for not being familiar with navigating this site properly just yet. I tried finding this through the forum search engine & other sites, but pulled nothing up.

SWIM has been using coffee filters (not the 100% cotton eco friendly ones, just the cheap normal crepe paper ones) for CWE purposes with pills like Oxycontin & Percocet.

SWIM used to use cotton balls, but became frustrated with the tiny fibers clogging the needle. Switching to coffee filters made the process much faster & easier. However, while SWIM never experienced Cotton Fever from using cotton balls, she most definitely has after using the filters.

About half an hour after injecting, pure hell ensues. She begins to feel extremely cold, then the headache & muscle aches start, followed by violent convulsions & a fever that rapidly shoots up to about 105°F. This lasts for at least a few hours.

Yes SWIM knows she should just drink the solution after CWE or parachute the pills. But she's a stubborn douche about shooting up being her preferred method.

Question is, what can she do to lower the chances of Cotton Fever? Is that even what's happening here? She knows what an OD feels like & this wasn't it. Obviously bacteria/debris from the filter/something is getting into the needle, despite the fact that she religiously washes her hands & all items used in the process, sterilizes everything with rubbing alcohol & is super diligent about being as clean as possible about it.

Thank you in advance for your time, people that know better.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Hi there, just so you know we don't use SWIM here. It doesn't offer any real protection and just sounds silly and makes posts harder to read.

"Cotton fever" is an immune system reaction to foreign material entering the bloodstream, it can be bacteria (or the toxins they produce), particles, chemicals etc. So you could be getting it from injecting bacteria, fibers of the coffee filter, or perhaps chemicals that the filters are treated with. Or possibly some particles of the pills are getting through and causing a reaction. The best thing you can do is get some micron filters. You can buy them online or get them from some needle exchanges etc. If you can't/won't get micron filters you could try using a different makeshift filter to see if the coffee filters are in fact what's causing the problem. You could use cigarette filters - the ones made for hand-rolling are ideal, or cutting (not tearing) a piece from one on a cigarette - or you could put cotton inside a syringe, back-load your liquid into the syringe and squeeze it through the cotton into a clean spoon or clean syringe. But these options are not as good as micron filters - I seriously recommend anyone injecting pills use a micron filter. Maybe you should also go over your injection prep procedure to see if there are any other ways you can improve it? For example, are you letting the alcohol dry completely before using anything it was applied to?

 

[paranoid android]

Sounds like a dirty shot aka cotton fever for sure. I was shaking so bad that the bed was smacking off the wall and even though i was in bed with 2 pairs of socks, jogging pants, a t-shirt and a hoodie and had my g/f trying to keep me warm as well i could just not get warm. The only 2 times i ever got it was when i used unsterilized water so it had nothing to do with the cotton. Cotton fever is just a name for it.

When you shoot pills using a micron filter reduces your chances of something like this going wrong by quite abit. Trust me your veins will like you alot more of you use micron filters.

 

[sekio]

Insterad of injecting intravenously, squirt the CWE up your butt. Oxycodone etc are well absorbed "down there" and you will still get your warm rush.

 

[effie]

^ That's excellent advice, I've plugged oxycodone before when i've wanted a quick come-up and it worked well! With the high oral/rectal bioavailability of oxycodone, and the lack of a rush in most people, the risk:benefit ratio is not in favour of IVing. Rectal kicks in almost as quickly as IV for me.

I agree with the others that it sounds like cotton fever (a transient inflammatory response to bacteria or foreign material.)

 

[spuninohio]

You definatly don't want to use coffee filters. Or cotten balls. I used to get cotten fever all the time from cotten balls and its a nightmare! switching to cigarette filters (clean ones) work so much better and i hardly ever get cotten fever on the rare occasion i do dope anymore. Just always check the tip to make sure there's no strands or fuzz or anything stuck in it and also make sure nothing is floating in the needle before you shoot it. Micron filters prolly r the best like several people have mentioned but i've never used them just cig filters so theres my 2 cents.

 

[srs1980]

first time i shot up roxis was this week and i used cig filters and i had no problem as far as cotton fever but ive never experienced it because im sure i would of know i did and im sure i wouldve posted it on here. i dont have access to micron filters so i used the cig filters, but the needle is not for me at all.....a couple of times i have a good time and rush from it but i guarantee it wont be a habit with the needle, as of rite now i have no intentions of using the needle ever again. ive never did anything up the rectum so i dont know anything about that but ive heard the ba on alot of meds are way high and the rush is you get from it is unbeatable......from what ive read. some prefer the needle over any and everything and some prefer railing, eating, parachuting(which i dont know how to do) and would love a link to instruct me on how to parachute correctly. but back to topic like i said i was a noobie all weeek and tthe cig filter never gave me a problem but like someone said make sure you have pure liquid in your syringe and no strands of the filter, because you dont want to shoot that shit into your veins.

 

[lilithcyanide]

Thank you a million times over for all the EXTREMELY valuable advice, everyone.
I obviously have tons to learn.
I'm certain it will help me (see, didn't use SWIM ), & anyone else who reads this thread, from going through that heinous reaction again.