Harm Reduction Repeated "cotton fever" despite micron filtering

[romealone]

I'm a bit confused.
About once every 2-3 months I get what appears to be cotton fever. What's odd about this is that i don't use any cotton to filter, I only use .2 micron filterns and use extremely antiseptic techniques.

Here is my technique:
I place dilaudid pills in a clean syringe and draw up fresh bacteriosatic water. After dissolving, I filter the solution thru a .2 micron filter (sterile), and store this solution in a sterile, stoppered, media bottle.
When it comes time to inject I first clean my arm thoroughly with soap and water and then swipe vigorously with alcohol swabs. I then swap the top of the media bottle, draw up my solution and inject, then put pressure on injection site with clean cotton.

I feel as though my technique is as sterile as possible, and yet every few months I will get fever, intense chills and shakes shortly after injecting. The symptoms go away within a few hours.

So does anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? Again, I don't use any cotton to filter and between the micron filtering and the almost paranoid attempt to clean and disinfect the injection site....how the hell am I still somehow injecting something into my system that is causing this immune reaction?

 

[sekio]

Sounds like an overdose reaction to me. Do you maintain a regular habit with a steady tolerance or is usage on-and-off?

 

[romealone]

Sounds like an overdose reaction to me. Do you maintain a regular habit with a steady tolerance or is usage on-and-off?

I really don't think it's an overdose reaction. I take a small daily dose of bupe for maintenance (.5mg), and a few days a week I will take dilaudid. It's always the same smallish dose (6mg). 99% of the time I'm fine but every once in awhile I get this reaction of fever, chills, shakes shortly after injecting.

Any other ideas? I just don't see what could be settin off this immune response given my technique

 

[muvolution]

When you swab with alcohol, do you go back and forth and really get after it, or just do one quick swab?

 

[romealone]

When you swab with alcohol, do you go back and forth and really get after it, or just do one quick swab?

Well I do both. First I wash the site with soap and water. Then I take an alcohol swab and rub back no forth pretty hard. I then get a new swab and do a final, single swab to wipe clean the area I just scrubbed.

I really feel like I go above and beyond what most do as far as clean technique, which is why I'm surprised I get these reactions from time to time.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I'm a bit confused.
About once every 2-3 months I get what appears to be cotton fever. What's odd about this is that i don't use any cotton to filter, I only use .2 micron filterns and use extremely antiseptic techniques.

Here is my technique:
I place dilaudid pills in a clean syringe and draw up fresh bacteriosatic water. After dissolving, I filter the solution thru a .2 micron filter (sterile), and store this solution in a sterile, stoppered, media bottle.
When it comes time to inject I first clean my arm thoroughly with soap and water and then swipe vigorously with alcohol swabs. I then swap the top of the media bottle, draw up my solution and inject, then put pressure on injection site with clean cotton.

I feel as though my technique is as sterile as possible, and yet every few months I will get fever, intense chills and shakes shortly after injecting. The symptoms go away within a few hours.

So does anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? Again, I don't use any cotton to filter and between the micron filtering and the almost paranoid attempt to clean and disinfect the injection site....how the hell am I still somehow injecting something into my system that is causing this immune reaction?

Interesting. Cotton "fever" is an immune reaction to bacteria, it doesn't have to come from cotton. So the 2 possibilities are that you are getting some contamination somewhere, or your symptoms are not caused by "cotton fever"/bacteria.
The things I can think of from your posts are, in order of likelihood:
1. The bottle. How long are you leaving the solution in the bottle? Are you using the same bottle over and over? How are you sterilizing the bottle?
2. The alcohol swabs. Are you letting the alcohol completely dry off your skin before injecting? Is any of the alcohol getting into the bottle? You could be getting some of the alcohol into your bloodstream.
3. Your hands. Are you thoroughly washing your hands before touching everything?
4. It's some sort of allergic reaction or something, although that seems unlikely if you are injecting the same thing every time and this only happens once in a while.
5. The symptoms could be psychological - for example, are you having anxiety or anything?
6. The syringe. Are you using a fresh syringe to inject or are you using the one you had the crushed pills in? Are you using the same type of syringes every time?

 

[romealone]

Interesting. Cotton "fever" is an immune reaction to bacteria, it doesn't have to come from cotton. So the 2 possibilities are that you are getting some contamination somewhere, or your symptoms are not caused by "cotton fever"/bacteria.
The things I can think of from your posts are, in order of likelihood:
1. The bottle. How long are you leaving the solution in the bottle? Are you using the same bottle over and over? How are you sterilizing the bottle?
2. The alcohol swabs. Are you letting the alcohol completely dry off your skin before injecting? Is any of the alcohol getting into the bottle? You could be getting some of the alcohol into your bloodstream.
3. Your hands. Are you thoroughly washing your hands before touching everything?
4. It's some sort of allergic reaction or something, although that seems unlikely if you are injecting the same thing every time and this only happens once in a while.
5. The symptoms could be psychological - for example, are you having anxiety or anything?
6. The syringe. Are you using a fresh syringe to inject or are you using the one you had the crushed pills in? Are you using the same type of syringes every time?

Thanks for the thoughtful response.
1-I use a pre-sterilized, stoppered media bottle to store the solution. I swab it vigorously with alcohol every time I use it and keep the solution in it for 3 weeks or so. The solution is made with bacteriosatic water and I was under the impression it should keep sterile for at least a month.
2-I suppose sometimes the alcohol doesn't completely evap off my skin before injecting, but I highly doubt the minuscule amount that might make it into my system would cause this reaction.
3- I thoroughly wash my hands
4- as you said, I doutpbt it's an allergy since it only happens once every few months.
5- psychological seems very unlikely especially considering that I actually spike a fever, it's not just subjective symptoms.
6- always always use a fresh syringe and never would use the syringe I use to dissolve the pills to do injecting.

Again, given my technique how the hell do I get these immune reactions every few months.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Thanks for the thoughtful response.
1-I use a pre-sterilized, stoppered media bottle to store the solution. I swab it vigorously with alcohol every time I use it and keep the solution in it for 3 weeks or so. The solution is made with bacteriosatic water and I was under the impression it should keep sterile for at least a month.
2-I suppose sometimes the alcohol doesn't completely evap off my skin before injecting, but I highly doubt the minuscule amount that might make it into my system would cause this reaction.
3- I thoroughly wash my hands
4- as you said, I doutpbt it's an allergy since it only happens once every few months.
5- psychological seems very unlikely especially considering that I actually spike a fever, it's not just subjective symptoms.
6- always always use a fresh syringe and never would use the syringe I use to dissolve the pills to do injecting.

Again, given my technique how the hell do I get these immune reactions every few months.

It's so weird. It really doesn't make a lot of sense since you are being so careful. I guess the only possibilities I can still think of given the info you've provided is that it has something to do with keeping the solution being stored that long, or something to do with the alcohol. Bacteriostatic water should inhibit bacteria growth for 3 weeks. But if you are using the same bottle of bacteriostatic water for longer than 3 weeks (like say you have a bottle that you use for making your solution, which you used up after 3 weeks, then you used the same bottle of bacteriostatic water to make your next batch), then the water could no longer be bacteriostatic. Once opened, you should use up bacteriostatic water in less than 27 days. Then if even one miniscule bacteria somehow gets in then it can start breeding because the bacteriostatic agent in the water is no longer working.

The other possibility is the alcohol. I know that a nurse to me that is is extremely important to make sure the alcohol has evaporated off your skin and any other surfaces that you are using to prepare drugs before injecting, so I would advise you try doing that as well. If I recall correctly it was because some people have bad reactions to getting a tiny amount of the alcohol in their bloodstream and it is also bad for your injection sites.

Psychological issues can actually cause physical symptoms, but if you are not feeling especially anxious at the times this happens then I would agree that it is pretty unlikely.

I'm sorry you are having this problem even though you are being so careful!

 

[blakmike]

When I get cotton fever it's usually after an hour at least maybe a couple hours after the dirty shot....

 

[J.D.]

I've only had cotton fever a couple of times - and it happens right after my shot. Within minutes. And it sucks....but it's so random and rare, I have no idea what causes it.

If you come across any more info, let us know! Good luck, and stay safe.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Thought you might like to know, people in another thread suggested a hot bath as a treatment to help with cotton fever. I know it doesn't help with preventing it, but maybe it's a good suggestion if you do get it again. I think the theory is that it raises up your body temperature and helps your immune system fight off the bacteria faster. I've never tried it but people say it really helps.

 

[tricomb]

I prefer a hot shower to get out some toxins, But I suppose it's a matter of preference.

 

[mareseatoats]

Or maybe you should just stop shooting pills...

 

[chase_in_56ace]

Not sure if anyones suggested.this, but serious infections in the body (endocarditis, blood infections,etc.) Can cause symptoms that mimick cotton fever. Every time you shoot you may be aggrevating it. I advise not shooting for a few days to see if anything happens

 

[blakmike]

When I get cotton fever it's usually after an hour at least maybe a couple hours after the dirty shot....

Yah, scratch that, I'm was in no remembering form when I got it, sorry.......

 

[spunkitteh]

wow, crazy - despite great technique, you're getting far it more often than I or my junky friends have with grody street black tar junkie technique. the only thing i can think of is that you might be contaminating the bottle with the syringe you draw up with. even with bacteriostatic water, this is an issue with stored multi-dose pharma vials. you could try either using a stronger preservative like chlorobutanol or benzyl alcohol, or preparing single-dose vials w/ septa. and, of course, always making sure the preparation syringes are fresh and sterile; and swiping the surface of bottles/caps/septa with alcohol.

 

[Badstones]

Any chance it could be a small precipitated withdrawal from the subs ? The fever doesn't really fit, but everything else does.. I have gone into Prec. WD's 2 times, and both times it was several hours after I used. I don't see that being the case because you would have to dose the bupe after your shot, but on the off chance you forgot.. I dunno.. GL

-Sunshine.

 

[tpd01883]

Was just reading this thread, and I wanted to point out that a couple people said cotton fever or dirty hit syndrom comes from an immune reaction to bacteria. However thats not completely true. It is an immune response but it's not directly from bacteria. It is from an endotoxin produced by a bacteria that commonly grows on cotton.

The way your body identifies attackers is through the use of antibodies. Antibodies 'tag' attackers so lymphocytes can come through and consume them, or envelope them to neutralize said attackers. The antibodies however only interact with smaller protein molecules located on the outside of bacteria though, rather than the whole bacteria itself, so my guess is that the endotoxin this bacteria produces is probably similar to a protein used to identify many other bacteria and although it's harmless, your body freaks out thinking it's being invaded by a bunch of bacteria, when really it is just the small endotoxin protein.

Also still just guessing here, but this protein is more than likely small enough to float on through a micron filter unmolested, while bacteria themselves cannot. Hence why some still get the reaction even when micron filtering.

Lastly, the reason I was seraching for dirty hit information is because after an injection I got immense joint pain and a headache... I thought i was dieing. This came on immediately after injecting, maybe like 30 seconds peaking after 5 mins. It felt like every joint i had was in a vice grip but especially my lower back and neck. After another hit at another time I determined it was the Q-tips I was using... "Swissper's" brand. I suspect something that they use to bind the cotton to the plastic tip causes the reaction. So anyway, not to hijack the thread but I thought I would post what info I had.

 

[InHerOwnWrite]

Thanks for the thoughtful response.
1-I use a pre-sterilized, stoppered media bottle to store the solution. I swab it vigorously with alcohol every time I use it and keep the solution in it for 3 weeks or so. The solution is made with bacteriosatic water and I was under the impression it should keep sterile for at least a month.
2-I suppose sometimes the alcohol doesn't completely evap off my skin before injecting, but I highly doubt the minuscule amount that might make it into my system would cause this reaction.
3- I thoroughly wash my hands
4- as you said, I doutpbt it's an allergy since it only happens once every few months.
5- psychological seems very unlikely especially considering that I actually spike a fever, it's not just subjective symptoms.
6- always always use a fresh syringe and never would use the syringe I use to dissolve the pills to do injecting.

Again, given my technique how the hell do I get these immune reactions every few months.

Maybe i'm misunderstanding something but why are you making a solution and then storing it for as long as 3 weeks? It doesn't make sense to me why you wouldn't just prep the solution directly before you intended to ingest it. Sorryyou're having problems and I don't mean to he insulting but I bet you wouldn't have these reactions if you eliminated the weeks of storing the liquid, and I just don't see the reason for it.

 

[DooMMooD]

Because some people cannot afford tons of micron filters, and so they use bacteriostatic water, as one of the points of that specific water is that it allows solutions to be stored for much longer periods of time. Other people just do it for the convenience.

Let us say you can only afford 5 micron filters. That means you can filter solutions 5 different occasions. If you want to get high more than 5 times safely, you prep more than 1 shot with 1 filter. Meaning, you'd prep lets say 10 suboxones with 1 micron filter in a solution of consistent potency. So then you can instead of filtering every time, already have suboxone solution filtered and ready to go, and simply draw up the amount that you need to get high. Almost like having an ampule of a drug from a legit source.

All prepped and ready to go, no filtering or further preparation required. Simply draw and shoot!