Dear Forumers,

I am writing here because my friends and I are quite regular users of this particular drug and my musings about this chemical have reached a point where I would like to find possible answers to my questions about it.

When I started using this I would generally just laugh and laugh for a few moments at either nothing or something that I would instantly forget, therefor seeming like nothing. This was when I tended to have them at raves where you would purchase one for a few quid and do it there with your mates. One of my friends would however report some seriously intense sounding psychedelic experiences sometimes which I'm sure he, let alone I, would fail to recall now as it was years ago. The main point was though, psychedelically the most I would ever get was a slight boost or enhancement of the visuals I was getting from the drug or drugs I was on when I did it, usually acid and/or mdma and/or ketamine.

Currently, years later, I have done countless more balloons, and often my friends and I buy a few boxes and do them at our house parties. What I am wondering about though is that nearly all my friends seem to get massive highs off them compared to me and completely different experiences where I seem to be the only person who has experienced them like me.

I'll start with my experiences. Now, I generally get a body buzz off them with no laughter. The buzz is very pleasant, varyingly so and lasts a few seconds and fades without a comedown. I don't giggle at "nothing" but do still enjoy them. I still get the short enhancement of psychedelic visuals if I am on stuff. Strangely, occasionally, maybe 2 or 3 times a years at the moment I get a buzz where I feel "all my balloons have come at once" where I laugh manically, proper manically for almost maybe a minute or so where it gets so intense, I literally feel like my head is going to explode from laughter or my friends all start to look at me like "WTF, is this guy crazy or what?!". Also once or twice if at a festival or there's many people around I get a delay unit effect where its like the world is being run through a delay unit. I do also do double balloons to not much more effect, except once when apparently I had a small seizure after talking about some entities I had seen. I say apparently because I blacked out and did not remember this.

This leads me neatly onto my next point which is that at least one of my friends constantly meets entities, leads other lives and generally had SERIOUS psychedelic experiences from just one balloon, let alone double ones. Most of my friends seem to have much much much much more hallucinations and experiences with them, including what I mentioned before and even time travel or deja-vu on some serious level.

I am a layman in neuroscience and psychology and often when confronted with differences in effects of drugs on different people understand there could be tolerance both physiologically and psychologically, both inherent and built up at varying levels in different people. Also obviously everyone's neurotransmitter levels, neural connections and generally psychology can add to these different effects too.

I guess I am just wondering whether I am the only one with such a weird difference to everyone else? Whether I am normal and my mates are weird!!? And generally how this damned weird drug works!?

Thanks,

One weird ballooner,

5D.

Nitrous is weird and interesting stuff. It always makes me feel like I have been transported to a different physical location. A location that feels familiar somehow, but always different from the place I just was before blast off. Sounds are different in this new realm, gravity feels a bit different as well, perhaps heavier. My hands and head feel the heaviest there. There is always a distinct sound in the air in this realm, a carrier signal or wave or something and the peaks and valleys of this sound are clear as it oscillates. I have heard of other people who have had experiences similar to your friends - like the places in Journeys Out of the Body by Robert Monroe.

Is this one friend accustomized to psychelics or his he only a ballooner?

Nitrous might seem psychedelic to many people because of the visual effects it has.
But those are mostly Phosphenes, Blue entoptic phenomenon and visual noise.

Now I know that nitrous can increase effects of other drugs by a magnitude. For me on LSD it made all the trees bend up towards the sky and made my vision drop like a painting from a wall.

But alone I never heard of any effects as strong as yours. Not any persons I shared the nitrous with had effects like yours.

I broke down into manical laughter once too on nitrous but that was combined with salvia.
Are you really sure that your mates know the definition of real visuals and real psychedelic entities?

Also these overly strong effects could be because of a rather long time of abuse. Make sure that you dont overdo it.

With the right technique I find nitrous reliably assists me to see god in that I experience the essence of my awareness emanating at its source. This class of experience is undeniably psychedelic. Note that I seldom engage in this practice for a number of reasons, these being:

*Nitrous oxide depletes vitamin B12 in the body which can lead to severe health complications.
*Prolonged inhalation of nitrous oxide can cause brain damage through hypoxia (lack of oxygen).
*The brevity of the experience tends to lead to repeat administrations, exacerbating these first two problems.
*Nitrous oxide is a very potent greenhouse gas.

So, you may ask, what is the "right" technique? Much as I recall,it's best to select a large, stout balloon such that you can comfortably fit 3 normal cartouches worth of gas in. Stretch the balloon a few times by inflating it well, to make sure it won't pop. Then fill the balloon nicely with as much nitrous as you can comfortably fit into it. Take a few deep breaths (of air!) then exhale as far as possible, then inhale as much nitrous as possible and hold it in for as long as possible.

Some people huff in and out of the balloon but I've found this diminishes the experience. Rather hold it in there and if you want more, breathe deeply as before,exhale and take a fresh lungful from the balloon. This way you get to have a top up of that most essential element, oxygen...

You might want to spark up a bowl of good herb immediately before having the nitrous as this seems to aid recollection of the experience by piggybacking a short-acting substance on top of a longer-acting one, with the effects of the two substances coming on almost simultaneously.

Thanks for your feedback. I guess what you guys wrote solidified my opinion that everyone is different in the old brain and mind and this leads to the varied subjective effects of not only Nitrous but all different psychoactive chemicals.

I really enjoy N2O and find that even alone, with proper technique, it can be a visionary substance.

But from a sober baseline, it takes about 9 full 8 oz. canisters for me to reliably trip on it, and even with nine of them I have to use a similar style as downwardsfromzero describes, and really it helps immensely to have somebody there "coaching" you through it and making sure that you remember to keep doing them (I usually slow down the pace accidentally whenever I get to about three or four canisters cause I start to trip, but it still takes continuing breaths for me to "break-through" into the nitrous space.

I have read lots of material on nitrous, and there seems to be a "lucky one-fifth" of people who try it who have more "visionary" or "dissociative-psychedelic" effects... For these people they only need like 2-3 breaths or so and they are off to the races, unlike the rest of us who need eight or nine breaths to get to the same space. When using N2O, it is best to be in total darkness for the visuals, of which there ARE actually quite vivid and interesting ones, but like the other Dissociative Psychedelics, they are best experienced in the dark.

Also, I have found that N20's best application in the world of psychedelics is as a mixer and enhancer par excellence. When mixing with most psychedelics, it seems to at least double my visuals, in quantity and in quality. There is a certain addition to the whole gestalt from the N2O but mostly I think it just doubles the inherent visuals of the psychedelic in question. I find this works most obviously with LSD, and least with Cactus. For some reason, both times I have mixed it with Cactus, the Cactus seemed offended and I didn't get any big increase in visuals (And actually the second and last time I did this mix I had the only frightening cactus experience I've ever had - It was an attack by a Mountain Lion Spirit, who ravaged me and momentarily possessed me - but just as a warning, that the Achuma is not to be trifled with by this ever-neutral gas.
But that was the only bad mix. A few weeks ago, I had a mixed LSD-Mushroom experience, and when I added N2O to the mix, I swear it was almost like a DMT trip! It expanded the visuals to the point that I almost couldn't see through them with my eyes open, and with my eyes closed it became a full 3-D world of very distinct, non-Euclidean geometry, all curves and folds, and squiggled lines, BRIGHT technicolor CEV's - but the most DMT-like part of it was that, for only the second time in all my experience with the stuff, there were Distinct Entities! They were really quite different looking from the DMT-entities, they weren't made of the same stuff as the world they existed in, they were almost human-looking, like what I'd actually imagine a tall elf to look like, and they were partially transparent, and they kept running around the space and encircling my head, getting right up in my face and looking at me, but in a fast-forward kind of motion.
They seemed entirely neutral, just curious about me. This experience was only slightly scary, because it almost didn't matter if my eyes were opened or closed, I could see them either way, and with my eyes open I swear I could ALMOST see them the rest of the night just with my eyes open.


So yeah man, if you want to really trip out on Nitrous Oxide, definitely MIX it with other psychoactives. For the visionary effects try your damnedest to breathe 9 of them within like 2 minutes. It really shines when mixed with other psychedelics, and it also is great to boost other dissociatives, for example DXM becomes highly visual with the addition of N2O. For a nice expansion of the "high" Pot works really good and can boost the visionary effects too, as well as opioids and kratom mix nicely for the euphoric and anxiolytic effects.

I thought I had replied to this thread but I must have drafted it and lost the draft.

I'd be very cautious if you are building tolerance to nitrous. It's not a good sign in my experience. It was the first indication that I was overdoing it. If you need 8 canisters then alarm bells should be ringing.

If you start to feel pins and needles in your extremities get to hospital.

I spent a month almost completely paralysed by transverse myelitis as a result of nitrous abuse. Admittedly I had undiagnosed B12 deficiency but too much nitrous can render the B12 in your system inactive and the sheath protecting your nerves start to deteriorate.

I'm sure I wrote this before , did it get deleted or did I just imagine it?

In any case, I'm still recovering and I've been out of hospital since end of May.

This really is a nice compound and it definitely takes you deep but ultimately you're chasing your tail.

I would recommend saving it for special occasions I.e combined with other psychedelics. I'm genuinely concerned by some of the posts here as some of you are describing signs that could maybe be the start of more serious complications.

Moderation is definitely key with this one.

Sorry if that sounds preachy but I wouldn't wish my experience on any one. Please don't discount it, nitrous abuse can lead to terrifying results. It nearly killed me, and I'm not exaggerating there. I'm lucky to still be here trying to piece my life back together. I lost my job, my home, my ability to walk unaided but thankfully have a supportive family who have taken me in.

I say all of this out of genuine concern. Please be safe with this stuff, it's fun until suddenly it isn't.

I think you did reply to this when you wasn't a full member asking for membership to post to this particular thread. It looks like no one had moved your comments or advice over here at that time.

Thanks for the warnings


Peace

Ah ok cool, that all makes sense now. Thanks for clarifying for me. When I'm due a B12 injection my thinking gets muddled.

Hopefully the words of caution are helpful.

Be safe!

So, as someone who has experienced the B12 deficiency associated side effects of N2O, do you know if supplementing oral vitamin b12 has any efficacy in warding off these effects?

Thank you for the warning. It can be easy to go overboard and some can easily become psychologically addicted. But it seems clear - habitual use can have dire consequences .

I'm more concerned recently with the refrigerant found in some NO2 canisters.
The one in dust-off for example, diflouroethane, as reported by wikipedia:
"has been linked in humans to the development of coronary disease and angina."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,1-Difluoroethane

Im not sure what to make of the experience of nitrous, I have an interesting story and not sure if anyone can relate:

Some years back me and the significant other had taken nitrous together. We did it while lying down on my couch together, with each of us lying at the opposite end. I took a balloon, quickly followed by another, bathed in that slow warble-y tone, I didn't get much further aside from lying there feeling the effects of the nitrous. Im sure I'm missing out on some of the details, though heres where it gets odd:

My significant other takes a balloon, quickly followed by another in short succession. I'm watching her from the other end of the couch, she lies back on her end of the couch, eyes closed. I'm lying back on my end of the couch, carefully watching her. All of a sudden as I'm watching her - she sits up very abruptly, the look in her eyes [open eyes] looking almost like noone was home. She looks directly at me in this state of shock, then looks around the room, with her head quickly darting to the window, as if someone were outside [though noone was, was also late at night, 12am]. She started shuffling around on the couch, acting as if we had to get up and get the place cleaned up for some reason. I kept repeating her name to her softly, eventually going over and hugging her, with her eventually lying back on the couch, eyes closed.

Several minutes later she sits up and laughs, explaining that as soon as she went under with the nitrous, she heard a car at what seemed to be outside my house. She then sits up, finding out that there were headlights shining through the window on the wall of the room, she had then gotten startled and turned her head around partially to see that there had been a car outside, with what appeared to be her father waiting for her. She explained that the sounds, the car, her father, the lights, all were plain and [visually] as real as anything else. She had said that it was like pieces of another reality/life were coming through, temporarily manifesting in those moments. Shortly after I had tried to intervene, she had recognized what I was doing and ended up lying back. It almost seemed like she had been dreaming awake partially somehow?

I quickly wrote this, so apologies if it's not too well written, this was also 7 or so years ago. That experience she had with the nitrous was the first I'd ever seen in terms of someone actually seeing/experiencing things that weren't readily there. Can anyone else relate? I've never experienced anything like that with nitrous, even when I have done multiple hits consecutively, close together.

I've always been worried about the B-12 side effects. I usually supplement with B-complex for several days after good nitrous session. nut from what I;ve read, daily use is extremely dangerous due to the blocking of b-12 metabolism for some amount of time afterwards and I would had to either have it happen to me or someone I love or anyone for that matter cause the b-21 deficiency is no joke

There's a lot of drugs that destroy B-vitamins in the system. Alcohol is one. I think GHB is another. I wouldn't imagine it would be that bad, as nitrous is just compressed air, but I take a B-complex pretty much daily, and it's one of the few vitamins I seem to feel a bit better from, and also the B's are involved/helpful to a lot of energy/metabolic processes. I kind of assume different drugs/highs effects/metabolism use/drain different vitamins/minerals.

People have laughed at the irony that I would use drugs and smoke tobacco cigarettes, yet be vegetarian and go to the gym. Well yeah, some balance; I'm not retarded.

Nitrous oxide specifically disrupts vit B12 metabolism. This is established as scientific fact. The cases of B12 deficiency related neuropathy among individuals who have overindulged in nitrous oxide are very real.

No it isn't. It's a compound of nitrogen and oxygen, not a simple mixture of the two gases.


(Yes, other drugs can deplete vitamins as well.)

Here's an important reference:

Whippits, nitrous oxide and the dangers of legal highs

Super intense drug, but also super boring at the same time. I don't get it - psychedelic effects? In my experience a very very short "flash" with maybe some sound distortions. But appart from that, nothing happens. Maybe i need more than one capsule? Also quite expensive for a boring, 20 second high.

There are techniques which will increase the usefulness of the experience, as I mentioned above.

It's not something I do even infrequently, might I add. But given the right circumstances

Have a look at CosmicLion's harm reduction tips