n2o

[comrad]

Is n2o bad for you? I hear that if you dont do it to much, you will be ok. If you do it to much you can die. Does anyone know?

[Xenogias]

Informed opinions on the subject say that N2o or nitrous oxide is a safe to use inhaled anesthetic and has been used as such in the medical profession for a long time. No, it doesn't kill brain cells (the most common assumption) and yes, the effects of the substance on the brain and body increase in intensity with the more you do, unless you begin to develop a tolerance. Everything returns to baseline shortly after usage however. There are cases of neurological and muscular disorders that can develop from prolonged, repeated use (like 400 canisters a week for several months) although no deaths (that I have heard of) have been attributed to some kind of overdose. If you are deficient in vitamin B12 the effects of such overuse can occur much quicker(vegans are more at risk apparently). All of this information was gleaned from reading the hyperreal message board posts available on this site:
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/nitrous/nitrous.shtml

but if you don't want to read through all that, I basically summarized it above. Man I'm bored.

[ZX7891]

it can freeze your lungs IIRC

[mtl_hed]

FYI:

The n2o used for non-medical purposes(such as auto racing) contains additives(usually sulfur) to prevent recreational use.

In other words: DONT INHALE NON MEDICAL GRADE CHEMICALS

I assume most ppl reading this would have already known, or would use common sense, but just in case...

[comrad]

it can freeze your lungs IIRC
Thats only if you do it directly from tanks/chargers without extracting it into balloon/dispenser.

[babalouj]

No its not bad for you but if you plan on inhaling it from the whipcream chargers then I would suggest not to. Most of the whipcream charges have traces of heavy metals (most likely from the container) and other chemicals in them which ARE bad for you if you directly inhale it. So in short, let the doctor give it to you when needed. Some of my friends when growing up were into this crap and it leaves a blackish residue on the transfer container. Word on the street is that there are better chargers that dont do this but if I were you I would not make a habit of this. Huffing stuff is not the cool thing to do.

[Xenogias]

FYI:

The n2o used for non-medical purposes(such as auto racing) contains additives(usually sulfur) to prevent recreational use.

In other words: DONT INHALE NON MEDICAL GRADE CHEMICALS

I assume most ppl reading this would have already known, or would use common sense, but just in case...

The most commonly used form of nitrous for recreational use is designed for pastry making, and as such there are no additives that would dangerous for consumption, although the stuff you buy in your local head shop is certainly less pure than the stuff the dentist uses. I agree with you about the automotive nitrous though-definitely avoid it. One of my friends who did lots of illicit drugs in college reports it to be pretty habit forming, which is probably a psychological addiction so I leave you to gauge that aspect for yourself.

[mtl_hed]

The most commonly used form of nitrous for recreational use is designed for pastry making, and as such there are no additives that would dangerous for consumption, although the stuff you buy in your local head shop is certainly less pure than the stuff the dentist uses. I agree with you about the automotive nitrous though-definitely avoid it. One of my friends who did lots of illicit drugs in college reports it to be pretty habit forming, which is probably a psychological addiction so I leave you to gauge that aspect for yourself.

habit forming ???

I thought inhaling crap like that would surely cause obvious health issues with just a few uses.

Your welcome to correct me if im wrong, I dont plan on testing that.

The only time ive been on n2o was at the oral surgeon's office. My surgeon from india asked my if it "felt like a six pack" in what seemed like a very funny accent at the time.

[Xenogias]

haha, and here i was thinking all doctors didn't know how to be anything but serious medical types.

Well, to the best of my knowledge that information is accurate. N20 is an unusally benign substance for the lung to deal with. From what I understand the effects act on the nerves, kind of like when you get up too fast after laying down for a while or when you hyperventilate. You'd probably be hard pressed to find reports of health issues being caused by after just a few uses. I'm sure there are some exceptions out there, just like I found out recently that my only known food allergy is a severe one to antelope meat of all things.

As far as the habit-forming bit..yeah, people get addicted to anything if they do it enough, so I imagine if you buy yourself a bigass tank and use it for a month you might miss it afterwards.