The author says nitrous use doesn’t occupy any cultural space but for me I associate it with Aleister Crowley and the many “magick” things that he influenced- it was used before a lot of rituals they did. William James was a big early influence for him. But also he did a lot of other drugs too.
Looking the mechanism of action - that it replaces oxygen in the brain - it’s pretty obvious why long term use can be so damaging to your brain. It might also contribute to how crazy Crowley gets in his later years.
I don't think replacing oxygen in the brain is the main mechanism of action (in medical settings they mix nitrous and oxygen and it's still effective without risking hypoxia). Looking at Wikipedia it says the mechanism of action isn't fully understood but it says the effects "are likely caused mainly via inhibition of NMDA receptor-mediated currents".
I've been under the impression that biggest risk of long term use of nitrous is that it causes b12 deficiency which is really bad for your nervous system. Wikipedia also mentions that NMDA receptor antagonist in general are neurotoxic and studies in mice suggest that nitrous has this neurotoxicity.
Zappos founder Tony Hsieh was addicted to nitrous. It sounded real bad! He ended up dying in a house fire while locked in a basement, in a situation that had "bizarre suicide" written all over it.
I've certainly enjoyed a huff or two in my day, but learning someone could become dependent was news to me. And then last year a close friend had to go into residential rehab for nitrous issues. Who knew?
There's another psychoactive gas : Xenon. Apparently it's a truly amazing high. I can only speculate tho because it's also truly expensive. Like $300 a dose.
I’ve used and enjoyed laughing gas a few times, and while I can strongly relate to the euphoria, I can’t relate at all to any kind of altered thinking. I wouldn’t be safe to drive a car in the 3-5 minutes the effect holds I’m sure, but also no kind of insight or altered thinking, and the effects wear off very quickly. I am in fact very avoidant of substances other than alcohol that’s alter my thoughts, and laughing gas absolutely doesn’t feel that way for me. Perhaps the copious alcohol that’s always preceded such events has confounded it.
Oh, it's absofuckinglutely mind altering. There's just a threshold you haven't crossed yet. Were you huffing the gas out of whipped cream cans, or discharging tiny little whippet cartridges into balloons, or did you have a four-and-a-half foot industrial G cylinder and Hefty Contractor Load & Carry Extra Large Garbage Bags?
There's a point where you "pass in" instead of passing out. Just don't try it standing up. You'll try to brush something off your shoulder, then come to the profound realization that it's the floor.
Here's a classic book all about it, "Laughing Gas: Nitrous Oxide" ("HILK HILK"), which goes into much more detail than the article:
Friendly reminder to everyone that too much of the good stuff can and will displace oxygen, and that hypoxia is very a bad thing which can lead to among other things, permanent brain injury.
Good point. Definitely don't put your head in garbage bags or fill the room or not breath enough. Also it's much safer to use a regulator on the tank instead of just rocketing it out at full pressure through a hose. Balloons are relatively safe and self regulating, since you let go of them when you pass out and they zoom hilariously around the room giving everyone another thing to laugh uproariously about, but totally bumming out the dismayed fool who just lost their whole balloon, which at the moment was their most important possession.
The author says nitrous use doesn’t occupy any cultural space but for me I associate it with Aleister Crowley and the many “magick” things that he influenced- it was used before a lot of rituals they did. William James was a big early influence for him. But also he did a lot of other drugs too.
Looking the mechanism of action - that it replaces oxygen in the brain - it’s pretty obvious why long term use can be so damaging to your brain. It might also contribute to how crazy Crowley gets in his later years.
I don't think replacing oxygen in the brain is the main mechanism of action (in medical settings they mix nitrous and oxygen and it's still effective without risking hypoxia). Looking at Wikipedia it says the mechanism of action isn't fully understood but it says the effects "are likely caused mainly via inhibition of NMDA receptor-mediated currents".
I've been under the impression that biggest risk of long term use of nitrous is that it causes b12 deficiency which is really bad for your nervous system. Wikipedia also mentions that NMDA receptor antagonist in general are neurotoxic and studies in mice suggest that nitrous has this neurotoxicity.
Zappos founder Tony Hsieh was addicted to nitrous. It sounded real bad! He ended up dying in a house fire while locked in a basement, in a situation that had "bizarre suicide" written all over it.
I've certainly enjoyed a huff or two in my day, but learning someone could become dependent was news to me. And then last year a close friend had to go into residential rehab for nitrous issues. Who knew?
There's another psychoactive gas : Xenon. Apparently it's a truly amazing high. I can only speculate tho because it's also truly expensive. Like $300 a dose.
I imagine it must be something like the Heavy Metal Cat Urine scene in South Park.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZl347vlnig
I’ve used and enjoyed laughing gas a few times, and while I can strongly relate to the euphoria, I can’t relate at all to any kind of altered thinking. I wouldn’t be safe to drive a car in the 3-5 minutes the effect holds I’m sure, but also no kind of insight or altered thinking, and the effects wear off very quickly. I am in fact very avoidant of substances other than alcohol that’s alter my thoughts, and laughing gas absolutely doesn’t feel that way for me. Perhaps the copious alcohol that’s always preceded such events has confounded it.
Oh, it's absofuckinglutely mind altering. There's just a threshold you haven't crossed yet. Were you huffing the gas out of whipped cream cans, or discharging tiny little whippet cartridges into balloons, or did you have a four-and-a-half foot industrial G cylinder and Hefty Contractor Load & Carry Extra Large Garbage Bags?
There's a point where you "pass in" instead of passing out. Just don't try it standing up. You'll try to brush something off your shoulder, then come to the profound realization that it's the floor.
Here's a classic book all about it, "Laughing Gas: Nitrous Oxide" ("HILK HILK"), which goes into much more detail than the article:
https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780914171522
Look for the hissing U-Haul in the parking lot of a Grateful Dead concert.
There's a reason it's called "Hippie Crack".
Friendly reminder to everyone that too much of the good stuff can and will displace oxygen, and that hypoxia is very a bad thing which can lead to among other things, permanent brain injury.
Good point. Definitely don't put your head in garbage bags or fill the room or not breath enough. Also it's much safer to use a regulator on the tank instead of just rocketing it out at full pressure through a hose. Balloons are relatively safe and self regulating, since you let go of them when you pass out and they zoom hilariously around the room giving everyone another thing to laugh uproariously about, but totally bumming out the dismayed fool who just lost their whole balloon, which at the moment was their most important possession.
That was such an amazing description!
That's a very good point. Also, those balloons are not edible. Do not chew or swallow.