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Opioids Would you describe this as Cotton Fever?

N

Nocturnal7

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 14, 2010
Messages
6
Twenty minutes after injection she suddenly feel ridiculously cold. Within seconds, she begins to violently shake and just feel cold and clammy and wanna curl up into a ball under the covers. There is no fever, no nauseousness, no puking, etc... Only violently and painfully shaking, she becomes so weak and can't even hold a cigarette. Her teeth just chatter and she shakes. All she knows, is she's just gotta lay there and let this pass through her. It only lasts about 10-20 minutes; she slowly starts to feel calm and then suddenly become overwhelmed by fatigue. Then falls asleep. This is the second time this has happened to her, under the same circumstances. Is this cotton fever?
 
Sounds like it could be. Generally signs will show 10-15 min after injection and could last a few hours to a day. Usually a fever will come on and shortness of breath. If symptoms dont subside, i understand antibiotics help with the cotton fever. If that is what she has. Keep an eye on her. It may be something eles. Check wiki for cotton fever and see if the symptoms list match up.
 
The same thing happened to me last night, so I was also wondering this. This morning around 6:00 am, 20 minutes or so after the last IV use, I started shaking REALLY violently like what you described with your friend. It was so bad that it was making my back hurt, I couldn't hold anything, I would purposely relax my body and make it go away for a few seconds tops and then it would start up again, it was horrible. I wrote it off as being really cold for some reason... although looking back that wasn't really normal for just being cold lol. Then as it subsided, I started having extreme fatigue also. I crawled under my covers and went to sleep almost immediately.

But then I woke up 4 hours later (just now) with a fever. Not a horrible, raging one. Just minor chills, aches, fatigue, some slight nausea but not enough to make me want to puke. When I last took my temperature it was at 101. I googled it and the symptoms seemed to match up, especially the violent shaking, so I'm wondering if this is cotton fever... and if so, how long it will take for it to run it's course? Like I said it's been about 4 hours... the symptoms started around 6 am and it's 10 am now. Any insight would be great if this has ever happened to anyone else.

BTW yes, I was an uber-idiot and used the same piece of cotton to filter a few times... I know this was an incredibly stupid thing to do so please save the lecture, I'm just mentioning it in case it seems to add up to anything. I really have no excuse other than I was tired and not thinking straight, but even then I know that's not really a good excuse... anyway, needless to say I'll definitely never do that shit again hah.
 
If definitely sounds like you just described cotton fever. If you weren't using clean gear to get the drugs into your system, you are putting yourself at risk for cotton fever. If you need help acquiring clean gear, find out where your local needle exchange is. They provide the goods you need to not get cotton fever or any other worse disease.
 
Yes, I concur, cotton fever. Use clean cotton from a Q-Tip every time and do NOT use the cotton from the end of a cigarette.

This fever will pass. The reason for cotton fever is bacteria in the cotton, from my understanding of it.
 
When I have had it in the past in my old injecting days I would shake, very bad headache and pain in kidneys
I found that if I forced myself to drink a lot of water that it would help to get rid of the pains quicker.
I think the water helps to flush out the pain in the kidneys which really seemed to help with all the other symptoms.
Next time you get cotton fever give the drinking water tip a try and see if it helps you as well.
 
Sounds like cotton fever. Whenever I got it, I would start to shake uncontrollably about twenty minutes or less after injections. The symptoms would last a few hours, but generally decreased in intensity after about two. I would also get a head-banging pulsation in my forehead, as well as my neck... Horrible
 
It probably isn't cotten fever specifically, but just some pathogen that got into your blood stream. It could come from the water, the dope, the spoon, or a used needle, or, of course, the cotton.
 
I use fresh needles, but maybe you're right muvo and it's the spoon. I've been using the same one because I didn't know it was bad. Looks like it's time to switch.

Anyway I wrote this yesterday and I'm STILL sick, so I don't know if it's cotton fever after all... not if the symptoms are supposed to subside after a few hours. They've gotten worse, if anything. I started shaking violently again this morning, and again a few hours ago... and I was sitting out in the hot sun. Wtf! My neck and upper back hurt horribly, I have a pounding headache, my fever jumped from 101 to 103, I have horrible fatigue, get out of breath not even walking a few feet, and not even dope is helping with the pain in my neck or the headache or the fatigue; it's THAT bad. Also, I have no appetite, kind dizzy, and I'm getting that "high fever" mind-fuck every once in a while... you know where your head gets really foggy and you feel completely detached from reality? It's like that. My mother said a lot of 103-temp fevers have been going around, so I truly hope that's what it is - the flu or something normal - and not an infection of some sort.
 
Well I don't want to make you paranoid, but the fact that such a bad fever is coinciding with iv use is a bad thing. I would monitor your fever, as if it was a pathogen that got into your blood, it could cause sepsis, cardiac arrest, etc... and you would need to be treated with iv antibiotics. If this doesn't resolve in 6-8 hours, or if your fever goes up, I would consider seeking medical attention.

I thought you were on subs?

As far as the spoon, just clean it every time. I actually prefer to use a shot glass as the surface of a spoon can become pitted and porous over time. Glass does not have this issue. Also, you should be washing everything with soap and water, and swabbing with alcohol, between each shot. If you prepared subsequent shots in the same spoon without doing so, that would explain why you are still sick.

Edit: just read that you used the same cotton for several shots. That's filthy, and absolutely why you are sick.
 
rocketqueen said:
Yes, I concur, cotton fever. Use clean cotton from a Q-Tip every time and do NOT use the cotton from the end of a cigarette.

This fever will pass. The reason for cotton fever is bacteria in the cotton, from my understanding of it.
Click to expand...

As far as i know cotton fever is from a dirty shot. Ive gotten it twice and both times i was using clean rigs but i had to use tap water both times. I'll never forget how bad i felt with that as long as i live. I was shaking so hard the bed felt like it was banging off the wall and my teeth where chattering so hard i thought they where gonna break. Cranberry juice and lot's of water and Gatorade seemed to get it out of my system quicker then what Ive seen most people go through though.
 
rocketqueen said:
Yes, I concur, cotton fever. Use clean cotton from a Q-Tip every time and do NOT use the cotton from the end of a cigarette.

This fever will pass. The reason for cotton fever is bacteria in the cotton, from my understanding of it.
Click to expand...

It is not necessarily bacteria from cotton.. its just bacteria in general. Could be from cotton, from your fingertips, in your dope, on your skin that you push through when you inject etc.. Thats why you wipe with alcohol rigorously before injecting,
 
my version of cotton fever looks like this:

5 minutes after injection, a strange uneasiness can be felt, something that reminds you about opiate withdrawal, even though you shot up enough to get you well and then some.
10 minutes after injection, you can feel your muscles starting to hurt, almost like the onset of a fever. From here, you start to get jittery shakey with tremors from hell, almost like you're in a heavy fever.
about 30 minutes after the injection these effects peak for me, and i feel like i am going to die. Retching hot and cold flashes, goose bumps and a shaking from hell, any activity becomes impossible
30 - 60 minutes after injecting, these effects subside as quickly as they came on, and leave me very tired.
 
Real "cotton fever" is caused by a toxin that's excreted by a particular bacterium that colonizes cotton. That's the kind that starts 10-20 minutes after injection. Other fevers associated with IV use are probably due to bacteremia, which is bacteria in the blood. Be sure to prep with alcohol and use sterile injection equipment and only use everything once.

Best of luck.
 
^Yea, this is true. According to Wikipedia, "Cotton fever" is due to the toxin of the bacteria which live on the cotton. They can still cause bacteremia, however, if the bacteria get into your blood and not just the endotoxin. This can be especially bad, because Enterobacter can attach to your heart valves, causing endocarditis. So always try to be as sterile as possible.
 
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I have to agree. If it has lasted more than a few hours it's not from the toxin and is most likely bacteremia. Monitor your condition, use antipyretics, and if it hasn't gotten better within 24-48hrs I'd seek medical attention. Worst case scenario is sepsis, which is life-threatening. Be honest about non-sterile IV use (we don't care) and they'll take care of you.

Be well.
 
xburtonchic said:
I use fresh needles, but maybe you're right muvo and it's the spoon. I've been using the same one because I didn't know it was bad. Looks like it's time to switch.

Anyway I wrote this yesterday and I'm STILL sick, so I don't know if it's cotton fever after all... not if the symptoms are supposed to subside after a few hours. They've gotten worse, if anything. I started shaking violently again this morning, and again a few hours ago... and I was sitting out in the hot sun. Wtf! My neck and upper back hurt horribly, I have a pounding headache, my fever jumped from 101 to 103, I have horrible fatigue, get out of breath not even walking a few feet, and not even dope is helping with the pain in my neck or the headache or the fatigue; it's THAT bad. Also, I have no appetite, kind dizzy, and I'm getting that "high fever" mind-fuck every once in a while... you know where your head gets really foggy and you feel completely detached from reality? It's like that. My mother said a lot of 103-temp fevers have been going around, so I truly hope that's what it is - the flu or something normal - and not an infection of some sort.
Click to expand...

Like someone just mentioned, using the same piece of cotton to filter over and over is recipe for disaster.

I have to recommend at this point that you go to the hospital. Prolonged high fever can cause brain damage, and if it is cotton fever it should have passed by now. So, in the interest of your health and your life, PLEASE GO NOW.
 
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