Opioids IV'ing oxymorphone IR dangerous even with Micron Filtering?

[romealone]

Hi
I recently got some generic oxymorphone IR pills and was planning on trying them via IV. I always micron filter my pills for the sake of harm reduction, but I noticed an ingredient in these pills that concerns me.

One of the inactives is Pregelatinized Starch. I assumed starch was not water soluble and would thus be filtered out by my micron, but apparently Pregelatinized starch is a type of starch that is quite water soluble. So my concern is that even with micron filtering, the starch would still make it into the solution and into my blood,candi have no idea as to the safety of injecting this type of starch.

Does anyone have any ideas or info on this? Thanks

 

[sekio]

Starch isn't very soluble in cold water and will be removed by micron filtering

If it's so water soluble that it manages to pass a 0.2micron filter then there's a good chance your body will excrete it naturally anyway

 

[tricomb]

IIRC, It's not so important whether it's soluble or not, it's how large the particles are. If it's smaller than 0.2um then most micron filters can only filter out everything that's 0.2um and larger. Still, much better than compressed cotton which struggles to filter out particles 50um and larger, allowing everything smaller to pass through the filter into your shot.

Basically, micron filtering is absolutely essential if you're shooting up pills of any kind, however oxymorphone is one of those drugs where it's even more important because it's got tons of nasty binders/fillers/contaminates.

However, even when you micron filter your shots, that doesn't make IVing oxymorphone safe, it just greatly reduces the harm you're going to do to yourself in the long term.

 

[romealone]

Starch isn't very soluble in cold water and will be removed by micron filtering

If it's so water soluble that it manages to pass a 0.2micron filter then there's a good chance your body will excrete it naturally anyway

Well according to several sources, while regular starch is insoluble, Pregelatinized starch, which is what's in the pills, is soluble in cold water. With that in mind, you don't think this should be a concern if I micron filter with 0.2 micron?

 

[sekio]

Starch becomes soluble in water when heated. The granules swell and burst, the semi-crystalline structure is lost and the smaller amylose molecules start leaching out of the granule, forming a network that holds water and increasing the mixture's viscosity. This process is called starch gelatinization. [...]
The enzymes that break down or hydrolyze starch into the constituent sugars are known as amylases

Given that starch is naturally broken down into sugars in your body I would say that a little bit won't hurt you.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I am wondering about this in general too, if something is water soluble, will it actually be filtered out by a micron filter? Because when something dissolves, its crystal lattice breaks down into individual ions, atoms or molecules, allowing the substance to form a homogenous solution in the water. So wouldn't the original particle size not matter?

Pregelatinized starch is just starch that has been treated with heat. Unlike non-treated starch, it thickens/gels when you put it in water, even without adding heat. So that's a potential problem.

So I wouldn't really consider it "water soluble" in the technical sense: a gel is not a solution. If I understand correctly, this kind of gel would be a colloid. Injecting it as-is would be a bad idea. I'm not sure whether you could effectively micron filter it, it might clog the filter, especially if there is a lot of it in the pill.

Wikipedia has this to say on the subject of solutions vs colloids:

If a colloid consists of a solid phase dispersed in a liquid, the solid particles will not diffuse through a membrane, whereas with a true solution the dissolved ions or molecules will diffuse through a membrane. Because of the size exclusion, the colloidal particles are unable to pass through the pores of an ultrafiltration membrane with a size smaller than their own dimension. The smaller the size of the pore of the ultrafiltration membrane, the lower the concentration of the dispersed colloidal particules remaining in the ultrafiltred liquid.

To me, that sounds like if something is dissolved in water, it will pass through a micron filter, and if something is a colloid it will get filtered out (assuming it is larger than the pore size of your filter and does not clog the filter). You might have to use extra water for something that is prone to gelling. Please feel free anyone to correct me if I'm wrong about any of this . Might be useful for the Micron Filtering Megathread, since we always seem to go by original particle size and not whether or not the substance is soluble in cold water.

EDIT: Sorry this is so long, but thought I should add, there is a type of starch that is sometimes injected in a medical setting, called Hydroxyethyl Starch, for plasma volume expansion in patients who are in shock. It comes with the following warnings, so I would definitely not inject starch and would definitely use a micron filter.

May alter coagulation and bleeding and clotting times. Adverse Reactions: CNS effects. Headache. Dermatologic. Itching. EENT. Submaxillary and parotid glandular enlargement. GI. Vomiting. Anaphylactoid reactions (eg, periorbital edema, urticaria, intense itching lasting for as long as one year, wheezing; mild temperature elevation); chills; mild influenza-like symptoms; muscle pain; peripheral edema of lower extremities; bradycardia, tachycardia, bronchospasm and non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Increased rates of acute renal failure and need for renal replacement therapy. Increased mortality.

Not to totally freak you out - it's probably being injected in much higher quantities, and is not exactly the same kind of starch, but still.