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Ether Addiction?

Ham-milton

Ham-milton

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Jul 20, 2007
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Tonight while watching "(the?) Cider House Rules" I started wondering about diethyl ether addiction (I assume that's the 'ether' used by the old doctor) and how it manifested itself- by which I mean, how often would addicts use, was it always by inhaled vapors, or was oral administration common? Were these addicts as highly functioning as it is portrayed, or was it something that developed into heavy ether binges or perhaps constantly daily use?

What happened to the addict? Did they become too brain dead to function eventually? Were there more pressing physical problems?

I can find a decent bit about how choral hydrate addiction presented itself, but ether addiction appears to have been rather scarce or more accepted or I dunno, as I'm having trouble finding anything substantial about it.
 
Perhaps there could be some hepatotoxicity issues with consuming ether (orally) for long periods of time? If it was inhaled it would probably resemble a solvent addiction (binge usage, brain damage etc). I would imagine that if one were to become heavily addicted over years, it would have to be taken orally, for practical reasons.

There are probably some isolated instances of people abusing halogenated ethers or other volatiles, though i cant see it being recreational (neither is propofol, but evidently some people abuse it). When I would administer isoflurane to dogs/cats, it would often times leak out the sides of the mask, and would give me a terrible headache.
 
propofol is entirely unrelated, it's a very potent GABAergic- with proper dosing, it should be very similar to barbs (also has the ease of overdose) though their are halogonated derivatives that are very similar to benzos in action, and likely represent a fairly safe and entirely legal sedative (not to mention the simplicity of synthesis and low cost materials).

There were times when it was being used at 'ether parties' and associated with the upper class, I just can't imagine how the upper class could have allowed such a thing to go on- I mean, an opiate addiction is fairly simple to hide and doesn't neccessarily turn you into a slob, but ether must!
 
Because it dissolves away your lipid membranes (or failing that at least the oils and such which protect your skin from damage) ? Believe me it's none too pleasant to be huffing continuously.
I went on a bit of an ether binge once and my airways didn'tt thank me for it.
 
Hmm, that just seems odd to me. I will take your word for it though. I just can't grasp how ingesting ether is less toxic than huffing it.

Any scholarly sources on ether toxicity or ROA is highly appreciated.
 
I heard about ether being abused, I wonder if people still abuse it? It's easy to find here on most farms, but I think I know of a few more practical uses of it besides drinking or huffing it.
 
Ham-milton said:
propofol is entirely unrelated, it's a very potent GABAergic- with proper dosing, it should be very similar to barbs (also has the ease of overdose) though their are halogonated derivatives that are very similar to benzos in action, and likely represent a fairly safe and entirely legal sedative (not to mention the simplicity of synthesis and low cost materials).
Click to expand...

I just assumed propofol wasn't particularly recreational, but im sure you're right, at sub-anesthetic doses it is probably quite enjoyable. Interesting about the propofol derivatives, and again you are right, some sound benzo like:

Among them, compound 4 showed a rather peculiar profile in the electrophysiological examination with cloned 122 GABAA receptors. Indeed, compared to propofol, it displayed a much greater efficacy at potentiating GABA-elicited chloride currents, but a much lower efficacy at producing a direct activation of the chloride channel in the absence of GABA. This behavior may give to compound 4 pharmacological properties that are more similar to anxiolytic and anticonvulsant drugs than to those of general anesthetics. http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jmcmar/1998/41/i11/abs/jm970681h.html
Click to expand...
 
There is very little hangover to ether, compared with booze, I can't comment about hepatotoxicity, but it certainly has the propensity to make one crave more, I used to do it quite a lot.

Haven't done it in a long time though.
 
I actually quite like the smell, but its certainly pervasive if nothing else, I used to have times when my friends would gauge wether I had got my arse out of bed by wether they could smell ether on the street outside my house.

And it makes bongs taste like utter shite too (smoke outside the house, of course=D) at least it does when inhaled, orally, the smell gets contained a little, but not much, it still reeks to high heaven.
 
This post isn't very advanced, but oh well:

Should I try huffing ether? I love downers: opiates, benzos, other...
I can easily get pure, safe ether from my chem lab. For some reason I never have. Worth it? How long does it last? Is it kind of like nitrous or what?

(someone just say yes so I can have an excuse to do it ;))
 
Should you? probably not, are you going to? probably:P

It has its advantages and disadvantages really, no hangover, at least not during my ether-bingeing days, very fun though, confined in some sort of narrow-necked container and inhaled, 100ml will last for quite a long time, a few hours or so, the effect passes off relatively quickly after inhalation is discontinued, an hour or so at the outermost.

It stinks of course, is flammable as hell, and likes to peroxidise, which is your main worry, bloody sensitive, and really will take your head off should you give it the chance if it is peroxidised.

I could sit (read 'collapse in drooling heap') and chill all night on the stuff, before realising that only an hour and a half had passed, very trippy stuff, I didn't find it visual, but a very introspective trip.

By the ACTUAL time the night had passed, the ether could be smelled halfway down the street, so watch it=D
 
though their are halogonated derivatives that are very similar to benzos in action, and likely represent a fairly safe and entirely legal sedative
Click to expand...

Have you got any examples? I'd be interested in investigating this.
 
johanneschimpo said:
This post isn't very advanced, but oh well:

Should I try huffing ether? I love downers: opiates, benzos, other...
I can easily get pure, safe ether from my chem lab. For some reason I never have. Worth it? How long does it last? Is it kind of like nitrous or what?

(someone just say yes so I can have an excuse to do it ;))
Click to expand...

I find the effect like a cross between benzos and alcohol


watch out cause its easy to go overboard with this stuff and end up wandering around the street with a bottle of ether and a rag
 
BingeBoy said:
watch out cause its easy to go overboard with this stuff and end up wandering around the street with a bottle of ether and a rag
Click to expand...

well that was also part of my plan but it wasn't for dosing myself =D
 
An ether inhaling device can be easily made by putting a stopper on a glass jar, and drilling two holes in the stopper (one for connecting a tube for inhaling, and the other as an intake for fresh air). You put the ether soaked rag in, and inhale. Never enjoyed ether a whole lot, but I did find it psychedelic. Im not sure why I never tried this with isoflurane...
 
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