Harm Reduction Micron Filtering Mega Thread and FAQ

[cire113]

so im confused is the bacteriostatic water just used to store a solution long term? When you shoot up do you just take a syrince and suck out the bacteriostatic water with the solution and shoot it?

If im prepping roxicodone 1 shot at a time.. then there is no need for bacteriostatic water ?...

BUt i assume the reason you use the bacteriostatic water is to keep from using a micron filter for each shot?

 

[vonchampz]

so im confused is the bacteriostatic water just used to store a solution long term? When you shoot up do you just take a syrince and suck out the bacteriostatic water with the solution and shoot it?

If im prepping roxicodone 1 shot at a time.. then there is no need for bacteriostatic water ?...

BUt i assume the reason you use the bacteriostatic water is to keep from using a micron filter for each shot?

CH is using bacteriostatic water because he preps a large solution and stores it. No you don't need it, just sterile water for one shot.

And yes OpiatesR, you can and it definitely wouldn't hurt to use micron filters with street drugs.

 

[Oxymorphone]

You can micron filter a single shot, it's not unheard of.

If you're not going to be injecting often, then an additional $5 is almost nothing extra.

Since I get 300 shots out of one use of a $5 micron filter, it only costs me < 2 cents per shot to micron filter. I don't see how you can get much cheaper than 2 cents extra per shot.

Most people are only going to shoot one or two shots at a time so $5 IS a lot. There are less than 5 people on here who utilize/will utilize the full benefits of investing in a mini lab for making long term solution like you do.

For the average user a $5 luer lock micron plus special luer syringes and needles is definitely not worth it and I can't imagine most people spending $10 to filter a $5-$30 pill.

These offer real utility for every IV user and would be great if someone invested in buying a couple thousand people could buy packs of 25, 50, or 100 from them. They might be able to make a little money for their investment/effort and it would offer great harm reduction supplies that are truly useful.

http://www.exchangesupplies.org/needle_exchange_supplies/sterifilt/sterifilt_intro.html

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Anyways, don't shoot benzos....unless you have ampules made specifically for injection. If you are, midazolam and one other which escapes my memory is water soluble, but use a micron filter anyway....

Hope that helps someone out....

Midazolam and flurazepam are great for IV with just water. They should be micron filtered but people have shot them w/o micron filtering.

Loprazolam can also be IV'd, but I have never seen that in the states. I've only heard about its use in Europe.

I personally prefer IV buprenorphine+hydroxyzine and oral benzos. Unless I had midazolam, then I would IV all 3. Flurazepam lasts a lot longer when taken orally.

so im confused is the bacteriostatic water just used to store a solution long term? When you shoot up do you just take a syrince and suck out the bacteriostatic water with the solution and shoot it?

If im prepping roxicodone 1 shot at a time.. then there is no need for bacteriostatic water ?...

BUt i assume the reason you use the bacteriostatic water is to keep from using a micron filter for each shot?

The bacteriostatic water is so that my use of micron filters can be effective (one micron filter lasts me 2-4 weeks) instead of micron filtering each shot.

Plus, a preservative like benzyl alcohol is necessary to prevent bacterial growth in your solution (if you prepare more than one shot at a time).

I use a larger gauge syringe to retrieve 1mL of the solution at a time to use over the course of a day or longer. Sometimes I use less, sometimes I use more.

I wouldn't use the same needle as the one that's been through the stopper just so because I wouldn't want to use a dull needle.

Can this filter be used for street drugs?

Yes, most street drugs can be used in the same way just as I did with Suboxone.

However, the problem with *specifically* heroin, is that it hydrolyzes back into morphine when introduced to water. So, with heroin, you would just want to prep individual shots of it when you're ready. At that stage, micron filtering isn't reasonable (unless you have a lot of $), so without a good dope connection, I would stick to snorting heroin. Heroin is better snorted (longer peak and duration) and it doesn't increase your tolerance as much.

Most people are only going to shoot one or two shots at a time so $5 IS a lot. There are less than 5 people on here who utilize/will utilize the full benefits of investing in a mini lab for making long term solution like you do.

For the average user a $5 luer lock micron plus special luer syringes and needles is definitely not worth it and I can't imagine most people spending $10 to filter a $5-$30 pill.

If you aren't a frequent IV user and don't want to invest in the extra money to ensure safer injections, that's the risk you take on yourself. That's a decision you make in your life for yourself, I'm just putting this out here in case you'd like to change your mind.

Thanks for including a different filter system (sterifilts) as an alternative to Whatman micron filters. If anyone else has used a different filtering system (I have heard of a few others out there), or have tried out Whatman PES filters on water-soluble drugs (like midazolam, buprenorphine, hydroxyzine) I'd love to hear about it.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Ah, I see, was just curious. And I agree withonly snorting.
I guess I'm like one of those second teachers who sits in the back of the kids classroom and asks questions to the teacher simply to make a point to the students clearly and effectively.

->> Your FILTERED Suboxone solution is still orange in the finished vial. Does this mean the colorant is still going in your veins? Is it harmful?
(again, I'm curious, don't know the answer, and will not need this answer, but I hope this helps answer questions for others)

Well I'm glad you asked man. Because it would suck to do my method on some heroin and have it hydrolyze and all of the sudden it lacks the "oomph" heroin gives you - you know? I'd be pissed too. But I'm not using heroin anymore so I won't have that problem

Yes, it is still orange in the vial. Yes, it means it is still getting into my veins. Is it harmful? Who knows? Want to find out with me?

If it was harmful, I don't think they would have stopped with just a color. Most food coloring/coloring agents are USP anyways, I suspect they'd be fine.

I can't say 100% for sure though.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Who is "they"? What do you mean "wouldn't stop with just a color"?

They is the drug manufacturers. A lot of pills (think about OC's, generic dilaudid, ritalin, lots of pills) have either talc, microcrystalline cellulose, magesium stearate, or another "inactive harmful to IV ingredient" if you will. It doesn't prevent EVERYONE from IVing the pills, just some people. That's the flaw they didn't see coming about IDU's. Not all of them are the smartest when it comes to judging what to shoot with and without what kind of filter, etc. It's OK to try stuff once without a filter, but exposing a lot of talc to your body intravenously can't be that great in the long run. If you have the extra money, micron filtering can save your health when it comes to the long run. If you aren't sure if you're going to quit IVing before you'd have problems from the length of time you'd be exposed to inactives, then it's best to micron filter until you/I do (if we do) decide to quit.

That's just how I feel about it.

But what I meant about "they wouldn't stop w/ just a color" is that Suboxone has nearly no harmful anything in it. Magnesium stearate is in it, but it's not water soluble. It doesn't get absorbed in the solution if you don't filter if I'm not mistaken (that's what being negligibly water soluble means), but now that I micron filter it has no possibility of being in the solution (even if the 1% or less of it does absorb), and anything else like cornstarch (which I'm sure isn't good for your either if you continuously IV'd it).

 

[daddysgone]

Once you make a bulk solution of whatever pill you are filtering, and have it in a small bottle of bacteriostatic solution, do you need to refrigerate this, or will it stay sterile at room temperature due to the benzyl alcohol?-DG

 

[oliphill]

CAn u give me a rough cost of everything I'd need (say with everything X5).

ALso how much of the water solution are adding to how much subutex?

I'm really considering investing in some of this kit, and creating a solution out of my months worth of subutex each month.

Thanks

 

[Oxymorphone]

This thread has not even started getting to the amount of views it should be at...
I don't shoot, and I link to this thread when I see somebody asking about filtering or shooting dirty.

LINK TO THIS THREAD! It'll save arms, legs, dicks, and most importantly, lives. Lives of sons, daughters, mothers and fathers.

The problem is that wheel micron filters are expensive and single use only, so it get really expensive to use them unless you are filtering a large batch to make an injectable solution that can be stored in a vial and last a week or two or you just have a lot of spare cash, in which case you would probably have a lot of pills to filter anyway making wheel filters right for you. When it comes down to it most people would rather buy more drugs than spend it on filters and $60-$100 total in other gear which only includes like 5-10 microns with the rest being bacteriostatic water, large luer lock syringes and needles plus storage vials.

Now if the micron single use filters I posted on the last page were readily available and people could buy 50 packs for like $10 that would be worth it and more people would get some use out of them. Otherwise people should use the filtering through a syringe barrel stuffed with cotton. It gets anything that isn't fully dissolved in the solution. It is worlds better compared to drawing up through a cotton, you would have to repeat that process 30 times to match the efficiency of back loading the milky pill solution into a syringe then pushing it through resulting in a nice clear liquid. It's not perfect, but for the pills that are more safe than other to shoot and lack the dangerous fillers of others this method is very good- such as for Dillaudid and Suboxone which are known as friendly pills to IV without a micron. It doesn't take care of the crazy small harmful binder and fillers some pills contain but it has it's uses and is better than nothing.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Once you make a bulk solution of whatever pill you are filtering, and have it in a small bottle of bacteriostatic solution, do you need to refrigerate this, or will it stay sterile at room temperature due to the benzyl alcohol?-DG

I've kept it in my refrigerator, for no other reason really other than that's where I know it'll stay safe, and out of the way.

I think it is recommended to refrigerate but I am unsure.

This thread has not even started getting to the amount of views it should be at...
I don't shoot, and I link to this thread when I see somebody asking about filtering or shooting dirty.

LINK TO THIS THREAD! It'll save arms, legs, dicks, and most importantly, lives. Lives of sons, daughters, mothers and fathers.

lol! Thanks for the support Opiatesrarely!

Even if you don't shoot this can be a beneficial thread for you. You might be wondering, how, Captain Heroin?

Well, some people are allergic to inactive ingredients in tablets/formulations. You would have to do research to see how small they are, but if it can be filtered out with micron filtering, this would be cheaper than getting the pure version.

For example I was reading on Bluelight about how someone is allergic to one of the inactive ingredients in Vyvanse, so they had to get pure Vyvanse powder as a prescription. They did this until they ran out of health insurance, as the pure powder was much more expensive than the Vyvanse capsules.

I don't know if whatever they are allergic to can be filtered out with micron filtering at all, but I have a feeling at least some of the inactive ingredients people are allergic to could be filtered out this way.

Then you just liquid-measure what you want with an oral syringe (out of a media bottle, so you don't need a needle to get it out) and you can put it in a drink and drink it.

 

[xxl]

Micron filter should be 0.2 microns

May be it would be a good idea to point out unter "What can get through" than micron filters with the smallest possible pore size should be used. Otherwise the things you want to keep out can get through. Micron filters with greater pore size are often cheaper but they are no the ones to buy. I don't know what they are for, maybe for selective filtering in biology.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

May be it would be a good idea to point out unter "What can get through" than micron filters with the smallest possible pore size should be used. Otherwise the things you want to keep out can get through. Micron filters with greater pore size are often cheaper but they are no the ones to buy. I don't know what they are for, maybe for selective filtering in biology.

They are for solutions where using a 0.2 by itself might clog it.

If I had the money, I would get a few of the larger pore ones to filter some pills which tend to clog the 0.2 filter (if done in a large batch).

You're right though, I would always go for 0.2 (as that's the smallest most websites stock).

 

[DangerChamber]

I wish i could get some dillies to do this with

How long does the solution stay for?

 

[Captain.Heroin]

How long does the solution stay for?

I'm not sure. I have used a batch for up to 3 weeks before, I wouldn't attempt anything longer than 1 month.

 

[toastedpanda]

The problem is that wheel micron filters are expensive and single use only, so it get really expensive to use them unless you are filtering a large batch to make an injectable solution that can be stored in a vial and last a week or two or you just have a lot of spare cash, in which case you would probably have a lot of pills to filter anyway making wheel filters right for you. When it comes down to it most people would rather buy more drugs than spend it on filters and $60-$100 total in other gear which only includes like 5-10 microns with the rest being bacteriostatic water, large luer lock syringes and needles plus storage vials.

Now if the micron single use filters I posted on the last page were readily available and people could buy 50 packs for like $10 that would be worth it and more people would get some use out of them. Otherwise people should use the filtering through a syringe barrel stuffed with cotton. It gets anything that isn't fully dissolved in the solution. It is worlds better compared to drawing up through a cotton, you would have to repeat that process 30 times to match the efficiency of back loading the milky pill solution into a syringe then pushing it through resulting in a nice clear liquid. It's not perfect, but for the pills that are more safe than other to shoot and lack the dangerous fillers of others this method is very good- such as for Dillaudid and Suboxone which are known as friendly pills to IV without a micron. It doesn't take care of the crazy small harmful binder and fillers some pills contain but it has it's uses and is better than nothing.

I really don't think packing a syringe full of cotton can compare to using a micron filter, what about all that cotton you got to handle and the amount of time the plunger is sitting out of the syringe. I would at least use some micron PAPER out of a PAPR filter or something.

IDK man when it comes to something like conduiting drugs straight to your bloodstream I'd rather go without for a bit to get the right supplies.

Just my opinion.

 

[negrogesic]

I would actually prefilter the solution with cotton (forcing the solution through a 5cc syringe packed with cotton up to 1-2cc). Then this filtered solution I would run through the micron. This way, the micron filters are much less likely to clog.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^i tend to agree, this is what i usually do as well.

might be worth something adding CH

Can this filter be used for street drugs?

most encouraged

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I really don't think packing a syringe full of cotton can compare to using a micron filter, what about all that cotton you got to handle and the amount of time the plunger is sitting out of the syringe. I would at least use some micron PAPER out of a PAPR filter or something.

IDK man when it comes to something like conduiting drugs straight to your bloodstream I'd rather go without for a bit to get the right supplies.

Just my opinion.

Agreed.

I would actually prefilter the solution with cotton (forcing the solution through a 5cc syringe packed with cotton up to 1-2cc). Then this filtered solution I would run through the micron. This way, the micron filters are much less likely to clog.

Depending on what you're micron filtering, this can be a good first step. It depends on the pill and what's in it.

^i tend to agree, this is what i usually do as well.

might be worth something adding CH

I thought I already added in something like that, but I didn't. I'll add in the optional step of pre-filtering in order to get the most out of each filter.

I checked, and I did.

3) Replace the needle tip with a micron filter. Shake the syringe until the pills have dissolved. *

...

* Depending on what pills you are using, you might want to pre-crush/split/filter them before this step. I must note, unless you are micron filtering Subutex or Suboxone, it is strongly recommended you pre-crush your pills. This method with backloading un-crushed pills will take some time for other, much smaller, harder to dissolve in water whole pills. It may take up to 15-20 minutes, or even longer. Some pills are designed this way, so to save you the frustration, just crush them up if you're not absolutely sure shaking them in water will help them dissolve in a few minutes. You can also wait to replace the needle with the micron filter until after the pills have dissolved, but I would be careful shaking about a large gauge needle in the air. Or, you can re-cap the needle with the plastic guard so as to protect the sterility of everything. These are all great ideas.

I already did.

If I ever come across some pills that require pre-filtering with a cotton (Dormicum might be one of these), I'll make an alternative step to account for this with pictures and everything. But so far, I haven't needed to pre-filter.

 

[Cloud_9]

Would 0.5um micron filters be adequate for filtering the oxycontin 40mg pills I have lying around? While I have been able to prepare a couple pills and get a clear solution I remember that this size may not prevent some bacterial contamination. While I know any micron filter is better than just plain old cotton swabs but I would like to know if the talc is still getting through? Those damn talc particles are stupidly small and almost impossible to get rid of without a micron it seems.

Also, I almost shit myself when I thought you were preparing a 50ml IV solution with those suboxone tablets. Any pill that isn't as water soluable as suboxone though, like oxycontin, needs to be pulverized before preparation, and I have made it a habit to sanitize all the surfaces that come in contact with the agent.

 

[Fatkid paramedic]

Hey captian thanks for this guide.. I like visuals.. this really helps me understand the hole process..