Nitrous oxide safety.

[satricion]

Well nitrous oxide isn't neurotoxic. It doesn't actually damage your brain or negatively influence you cognitively or emotionally. I've done a shitload of nitrous and I'm doing a PhD so it can't be that big of a deal. Speed, ecstasy or alcohol are much harder on the brain. Nitrous is just a silly, harmless bit of fun. It's a waste of time but it's enjoyable. That's why I use it.

 

[PsiloSubNaut]

^+1

 

[silverpigeon]

Nitrous is wicked fun, and relatively harmless, but not completely so. Short term side effects are headache, though some people are more sensitive than others. Get a serious bender going and you can theoretically develop peripheral nerve damage - numbness, tingling & reduced sensation in your limbs. This is because nitrous oxide interferes with vitamin B12 and the production of the fatty layers around our nerves. This then interferes with transmission of nerve signals.
Our liver stores roughly a years worth of B12 but if you're doing lots of nangs you will chew through this much faster than usual. This is particularly true for any vegans, who might have low levels to start, as our body must ingest B12 from animal products.

After some epic binges I have had 'funny turns' a few days later not explainable by anything other than the cocktail of fun 48hrs prior. I become dizzy and the environment surreal for a period of around ten seconds. I can't say nangs are to blame for sure but I've never experienced this after a bender that didn't involve shitloads of nitrous.

All in all though nangs are good clean fun, and relatively harmless. And although as expensive as coke if you consider cost vs time gacked, at least nangs add to an MDMA high not trample it

 

[drug_mentor]

Gotta remember to take some B12 supplements if you hit it too hard though, it might not be neurotoxic but as with any drug ignorance and overuse can still be a recipe for disaster.

- Whoops, looks like somebody beat me to it, LOL.

 

[bobbydarren]

i decided that 10 second buzz isnt worth it i guess itd be fun if you have a lot of it but na theres already enough drugs out there that are doing me damage, so im curious why do u use it,
cheers

In my opinion it's a complete waste of money using it by it'self. However it's extremely synergistic or maybe potentiating (not sure of right term) when used with weed, acid, mushrooms, MDMA etc.

Well nitrous oxide isn't neurotoxic. It doesn't actually damage your brain.

Nitrous will destroy your brain deader than death. 50% nitrous, 50% oxygen is not damaging. NItrous without oxygen is very definitely neurotoxic. No oxygen = brain death. This is the reason I think so many people get headaches and even hangovers the next morning. It's why I gave up nitrous. I was sure it was destroying my brain, as I had no way of accurately measuring 50/50 nitrous/oxygen, and remembering a breath of air is only 20% oxygen.
The problem however Is that I feel it sort of destroys the trip. nitrous launches you off into another world for a minute or so, and when you come back you just want to keep doing nitrous to get you back there, and then the trip without the nitrous suddenly feels a lot milder and maybe even dead. (personal opinion)

 

[bobbydarren]

This sounds like a big and complicated effort. And dangerous given the consequences of fucking it up while sober or out of it on nangs. I think it's better just to do bulbs.

Yeah just depends if you happened upon some car nitrous. BTW you can make your own nitrous using a mixture of washed sand and ammonium nitrate heated in glassware and filtered through the same system. I've seen a old $5 vinnies pressure cooker used.

Unfortunately Ammonium nitrate isn't a legal fertiliser anymore so unless you live on a farm or something you won't have any access to it. Point taken though, bulbs are much simpler and really the cost helps you buying too many, so self regulates addiction.

 

[satricion]

There is a technique to breathing properly when doing nitrous. Snatch a quick breath between each breath of nitrous and breath properly after the nang and you're fine.

 

[phase_dancer]

Producing N2O from NH4NO3 is not recommended as explosions are a real possibility. Impurities such as copper and organic materials; hydrocarbons, char etc lower the decomposition and detonation temperatures, so unless you are 100% sure the ammonium nitrate is absolutely pure and your heating vessel spotlessly clean, there is still danger using a pressure cooker. Only for the experts.

 

[bobbydarren]

Yeah, you're right about explosion potential, but that's the purpose of adding the 50% washed river sand. It desensitises the solution.

 

[phase_dancer]

but that's the purpose of adding the 50% washed river sand. It desensitises the solution.

I can't seem to find a reference for this. I would think that if sand does desentitize, whether through reducing concentration or by other means, it should probably be acid washed to remove possible trace metal oxides and organic material.

 

[satricion]

Hmm well there you are. So long term heavy use has cognitive consequences. Are there any studies on short term recreational use?

Do you think your memory problems are connected with nitrous? I mean, lots of drug users have memory issues but I'd say ecstasy for example is much worse than nangs...

 

[puckboy]

I'm also a PhD student and I researched this article since I was beginning to have lapses in my short term memory. The article below may not be in a high impact journal but it's an interesting case nonetheless:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1613/is_4_13/ai_n9745442/

"Cognitive impairment associated with habitual nitrous oxide abuse in a 63-year-old health professional"

This is a study of a man who abused nitrous for 20 years and was forced into rehabilation because he was caught nanging on the job

After reading that article, I'm not sure that is evidence for N2O impacting on someones cognitive abilities considering he is a 63 year old man and cognitive function naturally decreases with age. Was it the nitrous? or is he just getting old? Bit of both maybe?

I'm not saying N2O is perfectly safe, not at all. Just questioning it's potential for such a physiological impact on someone's brain. Though I don't know the extent to which this bloke was inhaling medical-grade N2O on a daily basis.

Marijuana, ecstasy, amphetamines, alcohol and benzos have all impacted on my memory and cognitive functioning when abused. And I've sucked down alot of nangs throughout this drug-haze I still find myself in, so perhaps they have had quite a large impact which I haven't been aware of due to the poly-drug-use. Conclusion: I have no bloody idea, I want to see more research and evidence regarding the abuse of nitrous oxide.

 

[bunt]

Age is definately involved with cognitive impairment. They compared the man to reference groups of people of the same age and of identical medical circumstances to identify any aberrant differences.

 

[drug_mentor]

Much like puckboy I never really considered the impact of nangs when I was using them heavily and when I did I was abusing lots of other drugs, particlarly marijuana and ecstasy. I always thought ecstasy in particular, especially when used during periods of heavy bong smoking, fucked up my memory HEAPS. Perhaps nitrous did have more of an impact than I previously thought..

 

[TechnoNinja]

just a quick one although the cheaper brands claim 8g of nos, they have found to contain as little as 6g. you really do get what you pay for. and check out the inside of your canister after a serious binge to see what you really are putting in your lungs. peacel.

 

[Ekstasis-//7]

There are some main risks of using Nitrous Oxide in actual fact as fas as I know well still don't understand how it prodices the high and anethesia.

Two medically trained people have told me you need to breathe air after 1.5mins. After 2 minutes of no air (such as Nitrous) you will get hypoxia and brain cells will die. Since the buildup of CO2 carbon dioxide usually gives up the responce we need to breath in this is diverted by breathing in another gas like N2O or Helium. Basically advissable take large deap breaths of air befire having some N20 and for your first time set a stop watch going so you know when 1.5 minutes is up and you can turn off the tap or hold the bulloon tight.

More info seems to come forward all the time on the possible harms N20 does to the body. Thre is an Erowid article of an Aussie doctor who no longer uses it for aneathesia becuase he believed patioend recovered quicker and got less nastys likel pneumonia.

One of the worst relatively new theroies is that heavy use can damage use or even use in people with low Vitamin B12. Tingling, numbness in the extremeties or ringing in the ears for longer than a day could be the first signs of this painful condiftion, It can be permanent but also can be treated if treated earlier. Personally from my reading the standard Vitamin B12cyanocobalamin is crap it had to be processes through the liver into anything usable. The only bioalavlbe form I've read doctors say have a whole holst of other benefits including benefiting the eyes is vitaminB12 Methylcobalamin. You can find methylcobalamin on ebay, the talbets are small and if you read the label they are actually sublingual. Held under the tongue until filly dissolved to enter the blood their. 1 doctor was reccomendind 3000micrograms of methylcobalamin per day for suffering perople. My bottle says 1000mics a day for standard health.

I'm glad I've got onto this becuse I am vegetarian (usually low vB12) I've had just a box or two of ISI brand give me tingles, slight numbness in the forarms and finger tips.

Lastly if you've ever wiped out your dispenser after 4-6 boxes of ISI (Austraian) supposedly the best standard grafe bulbs if found it common the see black machine oil in my fingers and tiny flecks of metal.

I buy a pvc pipe jround the around the same diamater ad the mouthpiece (better the PVC a little small than way to big). You may wanna cut off those pointed bits off the plastic mouthpiece as they only pop bulloons and tear holes in filters. Next sew some kind of fairly thick cotton material around the mouthpice.. It could be a small baby sock ect, Now you cut lengths of the pvc pipe around 10cm or whatever you like. You need your N20 Dispenser with the mouthoice tughed oib tight and the fabric filter held (preferebly sewed on). Head one end of a piece of PCV pipe eith a heatgun, or if not available maybe a hot airdyer will do. A toaster definatley works just keep the pvc up and out of the toast slot. Once it's hot you can slife the hot end of the pvc pipe down only the mouthpice that already has the fabric filter. wait till really cool before pulling off.

When working you are only limited by your buloon size. for example get those big party balooonds roll in on the length of PVC the slide the other end of the pvc onto the mouthpiece. Crack a bulb into the machine and it done right you can hold down the handle without even holding the pvc pipe and buloon. Keep cracking more balloons and reasing ito the large baloon eash time. THe most I've put in one baloon so far is 7 and it just starts to look too big and silly to carry around.

 

[Mr Blonde]

Personally from my reading the standard Vitamin B12cyanocobalamin is crap it had to be processes through the liver into anything usable. The only bioalavlbe form I've read doctors say have a whole holst of other benefits including benefiting the eyes is vitaminB12 Methylcobalamin.

Cyanocobalamin is bioavailable, just not very readily. You absorb enough from your diet to get by though. You are right that methylcobalamin is a more bioavailabe vitamer.