Written by fr0st Byte
After being around opiate users for many years I think this is the most misunderstood thing involving opiate use. Even people I thought were seasoned vets still think this.
99% of the people I meet that I hear talk about cotton fever think for some reason this aliment is caused by a piece of cotton going into your vein. I guess this got started because of the name people gave this problem, cotton being in the term that is. This is completely untrue.
Think about it, do you really think a piece of cotton is going to be able to go into your vein, or even into a small gauge needle? I have had cotton go into a needle and it completely clogs it.
Cotton fever is caused by people saving their wet cottons up and using them to make another shot when the desired amount of cottons are reached. They save these wet cottons which are pretty much the perfect environment to harbour and grow bacteria. Once again, think about it… What causes a fever? An infection. What causes an infection? Bacteria.
So to avoid cotton fever. First off, don’t save cottons. But if you do want to save your cottons: make sure you separate them and set them out in open air on a dry non-porous surface. The idea is to let them dry out.
If you do get cotton fever, take some APAP and drink plenty of water. Just keep telling yourself it will go away within 4-12 hours. You do need to monitor your temperature though. Because it it does get past 103F you need to go to the doctor. I hope that part is common sense.
I hoped this helped anyone that may have been mistaken.
