Misc Instead of using old cottons with IV for a fix, try this method instead!

[JPaz79]

I'm sure I am not the only one who has thought of this, however, I've never seen nor read about anyone doing this. I am posting this because of my last run with cotton fever yesterday and it's time to never have it happen again from old cottons, so I want to share what I have been doing and hopefully help some people out with this.

I am apparently very sensitive to cotton fever since I've gotten it over a dozen times from even half dried cottons just about every single time. I don't like it at all, but seriously who does? :-( anyways, I've learned to do this instead and I feel a hell of a lot safer, and confident that this will prevent cotton fever by over 90 percent of the time, excluding when a fiber sneaks into the tip so watch out for that, check it every time!

1. Prep shot of whatever substance you're doing (abusing) In my case, it was cocaine since I kicked my heroin habit a couple months ago, woohoo!! Leave cotton in cooker, cap, etc.
2. Inject shot and grab a new, sterile syringe and squirt some water over the cotton you just used (For cocaine I recommend about 40 units, for heroin, probably no more than 20)
3. Smash the cotton around in whatever you are using to get all the goodies out.
4. After drawing it up, save it in syringe and store in a safe place where you can access it for after your next shot.
5. Now, you're obviously going to do another shot at some point, so this is taking the bacteria infested old cottons out of the equation completely after you do your shot! Feel free to discard the cotton you just used. Actually, make sure you discard the cotton.
6. Keep repeating steps 1 through 5, reusing the new syringe with the same beautiful drug filled water inside until all of your fun is gone and you will have one more shot left over and I find it to be very helpful in dire situations. Especially when you're running low on cash with a dope habit, and the risk of getting cotton fever from irrational thinking is reduced drastically. Isn't it just the worst when you have your last bag and you try to get the most out of it, but end up getting cotton fever not even an hour later and then ride that out till you're in withdrawals? Ugh, I'm cringing just thinking about it.

I've wondered why nobody ever brings this up, but it seems pretty logical to me, especially when I was shooting dope I had that one last shot in the morning to get up for work and it was glorious.

I hope this helps somebody out there who is like me, and gets cotton fever at the snap of a finger. Just please do be careful if you do this with cocaine, as you have no idea how much is being left in your cotton after each shot, and will vary based on how much you are doing. I've never accumulated more than a grams worth of cottons into one last fix, and it really is almost guaranteed to be an amazing night or morning cap to satisfy that one last shot jonesin' =P at least until that wears off and you're stuck at square one again . I use a scale for each shot of cocaine (roughly 60-90mg for a bell ringer each time; it's amazing stuff). It is why I prefer to be extra cautious since I violently vomited the first time I tried it because it looked like what I was used to doing, and had no idea cocaine could be this good haha. I highly recommend as well that you get a scale. I named mine Sandra and she comes everywhere with me. So friggin useful! Just pick up one of the cheaper models; it will be accurate enough (make sure to the 0.001g accuracy) for most of your purposes if you cant get the more expensive ones. I've never had a problem with mine and have had it for over 2 years now. Message me if you want to know which one, since I don't think its allowed in discussion for price, brand, site ordered, etc. If it is I'll gladly post it.

When I did this with dope, I could gauge it by how dark the shot was, since every time I smashed the cotton it would get a little darker and darker until it was a legit full bags worth shot just sitting in my syringe from just about 5 to 7 cottons at most of pretty high quality dope mixed with the scrapings at the bottom of the bags when I ran out. A blessing I tell you! I would even sometimes just mix that last shot with my last bag if I was feeling extra bag, or the shot wasn't dark enough for my liking, and get a good rush and not be sick for a while without having to worry about that goddamn cotton fever; can you tell I hate it?

Please be safe out there!
-JPaz79

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

It's important to keep your cottons, if you are going to pound them out, (which it's a lot safer and healthier to just not bother but I know how it is especially when you're sick), in a very cool dry environment so they don't foster bacteria. It's also better to pound them out right away with your shot and then just throw them away.

I've only gotten cotton fever when I stupidly pounded out the same cottons multiple times, totally fiending or dope sick and desperate. There's not anything left anyway to make any difference after the first rinse.

 

[JPaz79]

It's important to keep your cottons, if you are going to pound them out, (which it's a lot safer and healthier to just not bother but I know how it is especially when you're sick), in a very cool dry environment so they don't foster bacteria. It's also better to pound them out right away with your shot and then just throw them away.

I've only gotten cotton fever when I stupidly pounded out the same cottons multiple times, totally fiending or dope sick and desperate. There's not anything left anyway to make any difference after the first rinse.

That's why I'm saying to immediately rinse your cotton just once after you do your shot so you don't have to worry about the bacteria forming.

After you have that wash, you keep reusing that wash which you store in a rig. With each shot you do, you're going to use a new cotton, and then wash that with your saved water until a lot has accumulated, get what I'm saying? The cottons are generally safe since they havent had any time to dry

 

[dopemaster]

How much do you think you get with that method? I usually break hard down for IV cuz it seems cleaner than soft (due to cut). I use about 30 mgs of vinegar and then do a water rinse so I end up with about 70 mgs in my rig altogether. Im pretty sure that Ive already beat my dope out the cotton at that point.

Do you think in my case that would work? Also since Im using vinegar would it keep or not? Do you store it in the fridge?

I know vinegar probly doesn't belong in the bloodstream but neither does blow or smack.

 

[opiatekrzy]

cotton fever is horrible, i have had it many times, and i oddly i went thru it even when i used brand new cotton (perhaps there was bacteria on my hands, or on the spoon or cap?) the feeling I GET from cotton fever is where all my muscles and bones ache, i can hardly walk, my chest heart is pounding, i get a weird tingling crwling sensation all over my head and back, so weak, muscle cramps, then it fades away in 1 hr..is this cotton fever? cuz i got this plenty of times when i used brand new cotton, brand new needle, maybe i didnt sterilize the spoon or cap or whatever i was using, or maybe whatever surface i used to crush the drugs up on has bacteria in it?

 

[opiatekrzy]

^for me, when i do save cottons, i put all of the cottons in a sandwich bag, and get all the air out of it , and tie it up, or a ziplock bag...

 

[opi8]

I always put my cottons in foil then in the freezer straight after using them. Then once I've run out I'll gather them all and do a wash, sometimes I even feel it slightly!

 

[DubiousDoctor]

So people actually call any contaminated filter that results in problems cotton fever and not just a contaminated filter? I always assumed cotton fever was only in reference to the bacteria present on the freshly picked cotton as literature presents it as.

edit:

i oddly i went thru it even when i used brand new cotton (perhaps there was bacteria on my hands, or on the spoon or cap?)

That's not odd. That is what cotton fever is. Enterobacteria from the fields still on the cotton. It's why cotton isn't recommended as a filter...

 

[knidsrok]

This is commonly called "washing" the cotton, and it really is way more sanitary. I've been preaching this method for a while now, with a few minor differences.

First off, I recommend doing the wash *before* you take your hit, if you can help it. The degree of difficulty increased exponentially with a good nod coming on. Next, a helpful trick I've learned is to use a pair of pliers to pull the needle out of one of your syringes, and use that one to do all your washes. (Make sure you've pulled the whole needle out, root and stem, and not just broken the tip off.) A needle-less syringe won't clog, and is generally easier to work with. With the needle-less syringe, you can draw the water in and out of the cooker, making sure the cottone gets a nice thorough washing.

Additionally, I've found it easier to store the wash solution in something innocuous, like a contact lens case or eye/ear drop bottle. Not only is it more rugged/durable than a syringe, if I'm forced to shoot in public, I prefer to use an entirely disposable kit, so I can walk out of the dark alley (ok, fine, Starbucks bathroom) without anything on me that the cops could use to justify a full search.

Also, you should always prepare the wash solution the same way you'd prepare a shot. If you're using anything that requires heating, you need to re-cook. And even if you don't have to, you should still re-filter the hit, as the remaining particulate left over from the dope's cut or pill's filler is where anything nasty growing in the solution will cling to.

 

[dopemaster]

I had cotton fever once only. My gf had dropped my filter on the floor and stuck in back in the cooker like a dumbass. I still used a new filter but the shit was already contaminated. Im not one to save cottons but just do a wash. If its opies I stick it in my mouth after the wash and try to absorb whats left that way. I just save drugs for when Im sick. I will put a small amount in another place and wait till Im sick as fuck to touch that.

 

[knidsrok]

Cotton fever, while misleading, is way catchier than "benign febrile syndrome of indeterminate pathology common to intravenous drug users. "

 

[DubiousDoctor]

I get that and am generally on board for the changing current usage of language, but I don't like when words/terms which are the only way to efficiently communicate a meaning are changed. Call it 'old filter fever' or something instead. With the double meaning there is rampant confusion and the only way to convey the original meaning of having cotton fever is overly explicit. Hell the important discovery behind cotton fever is even lost to most people from what I can see.

 

[knidsrok]

Oh, and I've found that taking a dose of aspirin and a dose of benadryl or other strong antihistamine can head off some of the worst of a bout of cotton fever.

I tried out the benadryl, figuring that, since the symptoms of cotton fever are caused by an over-reaction of the immune system, it makes some sense that antihistamine might keep it from getting worse. Of course, it could just be placebo, I don't know.

 

[DubiousDoctor]

^Wait what? How is your body fighting an infection an over-reaction of the immune system regardless of if you mean bacteria on fresh cotton or reusing a contaminated cotton?

 

[knidsrok]

I suppose, but then again, a) enterobacter agglomerans is found all over nature, not just cotton, b) cotton is harvested and ginned by machine, now, so we don't have a bunch of cotton farm hands coming down with it, and c) the cotton balls and q-tips used for IV drug use, while not sterile by the time they reach the user, are sterilized at some point during processing, so the fever-causing contaminant in IV user's cotton fever is most likely something else entirely. So calling Enterobacter agglomerans infection 'Cotton Fever' isn't really any less misleading.

 

[dankJ]

I don't understand why someone would re-use a cotton filter in the first place. I will assume the majority of folks on here use the same as I do...the top of a Q-tip. After I suck up all the liquid from the spoon...I squeeze the cotton between 2 fingers to get the rest of the liquid "goodies", which usually nets me another few units in my tool. After I'm done, I just pop the filter into my mouth and suck on it for a minute or 2 to get the last drop or 2 then throw it out. Because I squeeze the filter (I always thoroughly wash my hands prior), i get probably 99% of the liquid into my tool. I don't waste or lose any of the dope behind in the filter. And the cost, being a fraction of a penny is obviously a non-issue...so i just do not see any reason at all to re-use a cotton filter.

 

[knidsrok]

Cotton Fever isn't an infection -- nothing's taken hold and started growing anywhere. And nothing will take hold, because there's no lack of blood supply to bring the necessary white blood cells along. Phlebitis requires some sort of hindered blood movement, like from vein damage or immobility, a disruption in lymph draining, or some sort of vein-adjacent infection that continuously spills bacteria into the blood, like an infected catheter, 2nd or 3rd degree burn, or skin abscess.

 

[thesameoldfears]

I always put my cottons in foil then in the freezer straight after using them. Then once I've run out I'll gather them all and do a wash, sometimes I even feel it slightly!

I keep mine in the freezer too. I use big cottons and don't suck them dry so I have a nice fat shot when I finally use those cottons. I haven't gotten cotton fever since I started keeping them in the freezer except one time where I rewashed them again and I kind of deserved it for being so stupid. I immediately put the cotton in a container in the freezer (pilll bottle etc) and then when I wash them I use a big barreled needleless syringe to mash them and then squeeze all the liquid out with that.

 

[dopemaster]

Cotton fever is also called a dirty hit. Bacteria is the problem, not the cotton or filter. It really has nothing to do with the cotton. Maybe Q-tips were not as clean back in the day. So I guess the term dirty hit would be more appropriate.

 

[DubiousDoctor]

Cotton fever is also called a dirty hit. Bacteria is the problem, not the cotton or filter. It really has nothing to do with the cotton. Maybe Q-tips were not as clean back in the day. So I guess the term dirty hit would be more appropriate.

But this is incorrect. Yes some people consider 'cotton fever' as the name for any dirty hit, but - while yes bacteria is the problem regardless - it is bacteria naturally occurring in the cotton itself that lead to the term 'cotton fever'. "Dirty hit" would be more appropriate for what people mistakenly use "cotton fever" as, but "cotton fever" is originally the name for bacteria which naturally occurs in fresh grown cotton and that infects people when they use fresh cotton as a filters.

edit: If I'm unclear just google "cotton fever" and everything will become clear.