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I had written a long post for a board way back when on PIP. I’m not inclined to argue over what is and isn’t. Below is a fix for problem oil injectables due to pyrogens. It works, I’ve used it 20+ times, and it’s based on pharmacy compounding guidelines. Go do the research if you want, I’m not hunting down references and so on. So, if the following sounds like your issue try it, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Pyrogens:
Pyrogens are in essence the guts of dead bacteria. When a cell dies its wall degrades and its insides are released. When the body detects these compounds it recognizes that it is under attack by foreign bodies and so begins the immune response. In people with severe bacterial infections medical professionals must manage the administration of antibiotics as the sudden death of all infectious bacteria at once would release so many pyrogens that the person would go into shock and die. Pyrogens are a serious thing.
Pyrogens in you gear come from dead bacteria. When the bacteria die they break down. When forced through a filter they break down. When using heat sterilization they die and break down. These cell components are smaller than the cell itself and are NOT removed by a .02 micron filter. To make matters worse, these compounds are NOT destroyed by standard sterilization techniques as they are far more heat resistant.
Your gear can be 100% sterile and loaded with pyrogens. This is usually not the case but it can be. More often there are just enough pyrogens of a given type to affect those who are sensitive to these compounds while everyone else is fine. This is why you get two friends using the same source and one has problems while the other doesn’t. I am very sensitive to several types of pyrogens and have struggled to find sources that didn’t cause me fever aches 4 hours after injecting or cause the injection site to swell for 36 hours. This is not a test flu or virgin muscle issue and doesn't go away in time. In the end I researched, experimented, and came up with this solution. If you are the type of person where the common cold kicks your ass every time you get sick and are regularly suffering flu symptoms or swelling 30 minutes to 6 hours after injection this is likely a solution worth trying. You're probably sensitive to pyrogens.
*Please note: I’m not talking about immediate injection pain or burning sensations here. These symptoms come on like an immune response, slow and progressive.
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So, the solution is fairly straightforward but tedious: Heat you gear in a controlled oil bath for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees Celsius. That’s it. That’s the temperature that will destroy the pyrogens while not affecting your gear and of course since the temp is so much higher it’s still a sterile product. There are however a few caveats.
You should replace the stopper with a silicone stopper that you’ll need to order. You don’t have to but I find the butyl rubber stoppers release something that makes the gear foul smelling and possibly burn on injection. The silicon stoppers are highly heat resistant and don’t do this. They're quite cheap so order 25 to have on hand. You can reuse the crimps or buy new. If you buy new crimps consider the non-flip top style. I know, not as cool.
The stopper should be unpunctured to prevent boiling off the BA while heating. Alternatively you can order BA and replace it.
You should refrigerate the result in case you blew the BA with a punctured stopper or loose seal. Also, recapping in your home allowed a small but significant amount of humidity into the vial. This moisture, theoretically, can promote growth once you’ve introduced a needle and broken the seal.
Depending on the carrier oil used you will likely polymerize(thicken and darken) it just a bit. Also, while I’ve never had this problem, some oils have very low smoke points. There is a risk that you could ruin the carrier oil at 180c and render the vial useless. So, if your willing to suffer the issue then keep injecting. If you’ve decided you can’t use what you have then there’s no harm in trying this. That said, all most all carrier oils typically used have a smoke point over 200c. I just don’t want anyone crying at me.
I use a chemplate with a rheostat. You can make one (that you should use outdoors) by buying a hotplate, removing the thermostat, and buying a rheostat to plug it into. Short of a real chem plate this would provide a fixed output burner. The other alternative is your stove. Your stove uses a thermostat so the heat fluctuates. This is not the end of the world for this process because you are using an oil bath which will buffer the fluctuations a bit. However, if using a stove you’ll need the oil temperature to stay between 170c and 190c with 180c being the middle of the range and you should heat you gear for 2 hours to be sure. This is time consuming. Expect to spend an hour or two getting your oil bath temp correct.
You need a thermometer. I use the “Digital Lcd Probe Food Meat Thermometer Timer Oven Cooking Kitchen BBQ Grill C/F” from Walmart for $12.60. It has a remote lead and an temperature alarm. It’s perfect. You’ll have to figure out how to hold it in the bath. I’d use a piece of house wiring twisted around the pot handle and arched over the oil. If you have a chem stand all the better.
You’ll need to suspend the vial(s) in the oil. I used a coat hanger and pliers to create a rack that holds five vials at a time while keeping their bottoms off of the bottom of the pot. Only the aluminum caps are out of the oil. This has never been an issue for me. I've got faith you can bend up something that works for you.
If the vial(s) are room temperature you can place the in the heated oil bath without fear of them cracking from thermal shock. If they’re colder than that warm them in hot water and dry them off. Remove any labels as it just makes a mess. Also, if they’re plastic flip top vials remove the flip tops so they don’t melt.
I’ll edit in any thing else I think of. As I said, I've fixed both gear that was a problem on arrival and old gear that was becoming a problem this way.
Pyrogens:
Pyrogens are in essence the guts of dead bacteria. When a cell dies its wall degrades and its insides are released. When the body detects these compounds it recognizes that it is under attack by foreign bodies and so begins the immune response. In people with severe bacterial infections medical professionals must manage the administration of antibiotics as the sudden death of all infectious bacteria at once would release so many pyrogens that the person would go into shock and die. Pyrogens are a serious thing.
Pyrogens in you gear come from dead bacteria. When the bacteria die they break down. When forced through a filter they break down. When using heat sterilization they die and break down. These cell components are smaller than the cell itself and are NOT removed by a .02 micron filter. To make matters worse, these compounds are NOT destroyed by standard sterilization techniques as they are far more heat resistant.
Your gear can be 100% sterile and loaded with pyrogens. This is usually not the case but it can be. More often there are just enough pyrogens of a given type to affect those who are sensitive to these compounds while everyone else is fine. This is why you get two friends using the same source and one has problems while the other doesn’t. I am very sensitive to several types of pyrogens and have struggled to find sources that didn’t cause me fever aches 4 hours after injecting or cause the injection site to swell for 36 hours. This is not a test flu or virgin muscle issue and doesn't go away in time. In the end I researched, experimented, and came up with this solution. If you are the type of person where the common cold kicks your ass every time you get sick and are regularly suffering flu symptoms or swelling 30 minutes to 6 hours after injection this is likely a solution worth trying. You're probably sensitive to pyrogens.
*Please note: I’m not talking about immediate injection pain or burning sensations here. These symptoms come on like an immune response, slow and progressive.
---------------------------
So, the solution is fairly straightforward but tedious: Heat you gear in a controlled oil bath for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees Celsius. That’s it. That’s the temperature that will destroy the pyrogens while not affecting your gear and of course since the temp is so much higher it’s still a sterile product. There are however a few caveats.
You should replace the stopper with a silicone stopper that you’ll need to order. You don’t have to but I find the butyl rubber stoppers release something that makes the gear foul smelling and possibly burn on injection. The silicon stoppers are highly heat resistant and don’t do this. They're quite cheap so order 25 to have on hand. You can reuse the crimps or buy new. If you buy new crimps consider the non-flip top style. I know, not as cool.
The stopper should be unpunctured to prevent boiling off the BA while heating. Alternatively you can order BA and replace it.
You should refrigerate the result in case you blew the BA with a punctured stopper or loose seal. Also, recapping in your home allowed a small but significant amount of humidity into the vial. This moisture, theoretically, can promote growth once you’ve introduced a needle and broken the seal.
Depending on the carrier oil used you will likely polymerize(thicken and darken) it just a bit. Also, while I’ve never had this problem, some oils have very low smoke points. There is a risk that you could ruin the carrier oil at 180c and render the vial useless. So, if your willing to suffer the issue then keep injecting. If you’ve decided you can’t use what you have then there’s no harm in trying this. That said, all most all carrier oils typically used have a smoke point over 200c. I just don’t want anyone crying at me.
I use a chemplate with a rheostat. You can make one (that you should use outdoors) by buying a hotplate, removing the thermostat, and buying a rheostat to plug it into. Short of a real chem plate this would provide a fixed output burner. The other alternative is your stove. Your stove uses a thermostat so the heat fluctuates. This is not the end of the world for this process because you are using an oil bath which will buffer the fluctuations a bit. However, if using a stove you’ll need the oil temperature to stay between 170c and 190c with 180c being the middle of the range and you should heat you gear for 2 hours to be sure. This is time consuming. Expect to spend an hour or two getting your oil bath temp correct.
You need a thermometer. I use the “Digital Lcd Probe Food Meat Thermometer Timer Oven Cooking Kitchen BBQ Grill C/F” from Walmart for $12.60. It has a remote lead and an temperature alarm. It’s perfect. You’ll have to figure out how to hold it in the bath. I’d use a piece of house wiring twisted around the pot handle and arched over the oil. If you have a chem stand all the better.
You’ll need to suspend the vial(s) in the oil. I used a coat hanger and pliers to create a rack that holds five vials at a time while keeping their bottoms off of the bottom of the pot. Only the aluminum caps are out of the oil. This has never been an issue for me. I've got faith you can bend up something that works for you.
If the vial(s) are room temperature you can place the in the heated oil bath without fear of them cracking from thermal shock. If they’re colder than that warm them in hot water and dry them off. Remove any labels as it just makes a mess. Also, if they’re plastic flip top vials remove the flip tops so they don’t melt.
I’ll edit in any thing else I think of. As I said, I've fixed both gear that was a problem on arrival and old gear that was becoming a problem this way.
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