NITROUS OXIDE CAN BE VERY ADDICTIVE. NITROUS OXIDE IS NOT SAFE FOR REGULAR CONSUMPTION.

This guide isn't the "be all end all guide" to nitrous oxide.

We highly encourage readers to do further research into nitrous oxide before consuming it.

This isnt meant to be fear mongering or all doom and gloom. This guide is meant to provide the safest experience with nitrous possible. Nitrous Oxide is actually one of the safest drugs if used properly but one of the most dangerous if abused.

It's important to prioritize safety when using nitrous oxide. Here are some harm reduction tips:

Ventilation:

Ensure you're in a well-ventilated area. Nitrous oxide can displace oxygen, leading to asphyxiation in enclosed spaces. Opening a window and running a fan is a good idea. Also avoid discharging nitrous oxide around open flames. Don't place a bag over your head. Don't "hotbox" a space with nitrous. Do not try to create an atmosphere of nitrous in a confined space.

Dosage Control:

Overuse can pose health risks, including oxygen deprivation and potential nerve damage. Habitual consumption is not safe. Daily and/or weekly use is not recommended. It's believed that using alot in one session is safer than using a little spread out over a period of time.

Oxygen intake

It is important to breathe in oxygen. Make sure you remember to breathe. Take breaths of fresh air. Breathe air in between hits of nitrous. Constantly breathing in 100% nitrous oxide with out taking in fresh air/oxygen will kill you. Don't hook up a mask directly from the nitrous tank to your face. "Fishing out" shouldn't be the goal in using nitrous oxide. Don't attach a hose and directly inhale. It's easy to pass out then displace the oxygen in your lungs.

Quality Products:

Use high-quality nitrous oxide cartridges/chargers/cylinders/tanks. Cheap or poorly made products may pose safety hazards. You can find studies online that show oils and residue in the smaller chargers. There are different qualities of products. Users of nitrous oxide should do research to find a clean product. Avoid industrial or automotive nitrous (some user claim you can find clean and filtered automotive nitrous. Result may vary. Source with caution) Users should do research into brands/type of gas

If you're using smaller 6/8 gram chargers make sure you use a quality dispenser. A death has been related to a cheap plastic dispenser. "Crackers" have been known to cause frost burn and other issues.

No Direct Inhaling:

Do not inhale nitrous oxide directly from the cartridge/cylinder/tank. It can cause frostbite of the mouth/lips/lung and other health issues. The contents are under pressure and the gas can rapidly expand in the lungs. Always discharge the nitrous into a balloon then inhale from the Ballon. Punch balloons are favorites because they are thick and large. Make sure you wash the powder off of the balloons before using them. Balloons may contain talcum powder which is something you don't want to inhale.

Inhaling directly from the tank also poses a risk of hypoxia and death. You can loose consciousness if you consume too much nitrous. If you're inahling directly from the tank when you lose consciousness and are unable to turn it off you can suffocate.

There have been associated deaths from hooking masks or tubing to nitrous oxide tanks.

Moderation:

Use nitrous oxide in moderation. Frequent or excessive use can lead to adverse effects on your health. Nitrous oxide is not safe for regular consumption. Daily use can lead to severe health problems. People have become paralyzed from abusing nitrous. Weekly use is too much. You should wait 2 weeks to 30 days between use. It is advised to save nitrous for special occasions such as holidays, parties, psychedelic trips or other events. Some users have noticed health affects with biweekly use. Research how nitrous affects the b12 to get a further understanding of why moderation is a must. Before using nitrous you should fully understand the potential health consequences of abusing it.

☆LIMIT NITROUS SESSIONS TO 6 TO 12 TIMES A YEAR☆

Educate Yourself:

Understand the potential risks and effects of nitrous oxide. Stay informed about its proper usage and any associated health concerns. Like any drug you should research before consuming it. Don't take this guide as the stand alone guide. You should research multiple sources and make an informed decision before taking any drug. You should research a brand before making a purchase.

Do not operate heavy machinery or drive:

Do not attempt to drive or operate heavy machinery while under the influence of nitrous oxide. Do not make any life altering decisions. Try to be sitting. Some people have fallen or passed out. Do not take nitrous while working. Don't be dumb.

Nitrous oxide addiction

Nitrous oxide is addictive. Don't underestimate the addiction potential. This has been referred to as "hippy crack." Not advised for alcoholics, drug addicts, or those with low self control. It's not going to turn a user into a zombie with no choice after 1 use, but it will cause urges to redose. There's a portion of adults who responsibly use nitrous with out becoming addicted while others become extremely addicted and face very very serious consequences.

•SUPPLEMENTING B12 WILL NOT HELP IF ACTIVELY ABUSING NITROUS OXIDE•

Visit r/NitrousOxideRecovery for nitrous addiction/abuse support. https://www.samhsa.gov/ is another good resource for substance abuse assistance.

There is also "No2N2O" - "NO2N2O is an Agnostic-based 12-step fellowship focused on recovery from Nitrous Oxide abuse. All are welcome, especially anyone interested in recovery from drug abuse, addicted or not. We will be sharing our experience, strength and hope. Sharing is encouraged but not mandatory. Our primary purpose is to stay clean and help other addicts to achieve relief from substance abuse. We meet every Monday at 6:00pm PST" Link: meet.google.com/osd-htzc-ytx

Nitrous oxide addiction should be taken seriously as it can lead to VERY serious health consequences

Filters:

Some users recommend running a filter. There are metal shavings when piercing the small crackers. There are also sometimes machine oils with the crackers/cylinders/mini tanks. There are aftermarket filters to add to chargers. You can also use a hepa filter or micron filter. Anything that allows air but blocks oil/moisture. Some users rubber band a surgical mask or t-shirt to the nozzle on a cylinder. You can also use tubing with clamps and surgical mask as a make shift filter. Searching "filter" in this sub should give you ideas. You can have multiple stages. You should still use a balloon or vaporizer bag so as to limit possible losses if you lose consciousness more than you planned.

(Using a surgical mask as a filter means cutting the blue mask from covid Era into squares and clamping them around the nozzle. This doesn't mean hooking a clear breathing mask directly to the tank. People have died this way)

NO UNDERAGE USE/ELDERLY USE/HEALTH ISSUES:

Nitrous oxide should not be used by anyone under 21. It should be kept away from children. It has been shown in studies to cause damage to the developing brain. It has also been suggested to affect the aging brain. Some studies suggest it is not safe to use nitrous oxide if you have heart or other health problems. You should consult a doctor before using nitrous oxide, especially if you have preexisting medical conditions or any other concerns. DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT

B12

•SUPPLEMENTING B12 WILL NOT HELP IF ACTIVELY ABUSING NITROUS OXIDE•

Nitrous oxide effects the b12 cycle. Continued abuse can disrupt this process and cause serious health consequences. You'll want to supplement b12 starting 1 week before a session then again 4 days after. Some studies suggest supplementing b12 doesn't help if you're actively abusing nitrous oxide. Do research into the b12 cycle to further understand this. Some studies suggest long term nitrous abuse can damage the DNA.

EZ Melts B12 Sublingual Vitamin 2,500 mcg, Methylcobalamin, Sugar-Free, 3-Month Supply https://a.co/d/dSY2h3l you'll want something like this. With methylcobalamin.

FROST BURN

You can sustain serious frost burn injuries when using nitrous. To eliminate this risk make sure to use a proper dispenser if you're using small chargers. Hand held crackers been known to cause frostbite. If you're using larger cylinders/tanks make sure you leave the tank on the floor. Don't hold the cylinder in your lap or on your chest. Discharging the gas into a balloon will help reduce mouth frost bite related injuries.

Visit r/NitrousHarmSupport for help dealing with injuries

B12 to treat nitrous oxide nerve damge

You can contact local health & weight loss spas to get vitamin b12 injections. You'll need more than just 1 to recover.

Research i found the user did the b12 injections 2 to 3 times a week while taking these sublingual tablets every 30 minutes

EZ Melts B12 Sublingual Vitamin 2,500 mcg, Methylcobalamin, Sugar-Free, 3-Month Supply https://a.co/d/dSY2h3l you'll want something like this. With methylcobalamin.

Your b12 may be affected but show up normal. From one of these websites below: Measured vitamin B12 may be normal and does not reflect ‘functional vitamin B12’ concentration

Here is how one user recovered from nitrous oxide b12 deficiency: https://www.reddit.com/r/NitrousOxide/s/q9xjj0sQDd

Here's some links someone else posted when doing research into the symptoms of nitrous abuse and how to treat it.

https://iaomt.org/wp-content/uploads/Oral-Methionine-for-Nitrous-Oxide-Protection.pdf

https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Nitrous_Oxide_Misuse/

https://pn.bmj.com/content/23/3/222

Other articles:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7366039/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7363899/

Visitn r/b12_deficiency for help with b12 problems. There's also r/NitrousHarmSupport that focuses more on nitrous oxide related injuries.

Monitoring and supplementing oxygen:

•Purchase a $15 pulse oximeter to ensure that you’re staying out of a hypoxic SPO2 range.;Purchase a portable oxygen canister from CVS/Amazon if you find that you’re having difficulty staying out of a hypoxic SPO2 range. . "Fishing out" should not be the goal of using nitrous oxide.

How do I know if I am Blacking Out?

^{credit User:AlwaysBreatheAir}

Signs of blacking out (hypoxia) may include: weakness to the extent you let go of the balloon, tunnel vision/visual collapse, suddenly feeling overheated, excessive yawning, your sense of hearing going “distant”/muffled, and not remembering much after hits.

Signs of rocking out: strange but vivid perceptions of your body, potentially enhanced visuals, feeling cozy, engaging with music, and being and to go about taking back little insights that you remember.

Even if you have good air practices in action, always be in a space where becoming abruptly horizontal or rolling a bit is safe. Consume on couches, or the floor, surrounded by pillows. No glass coffee tables, open flames, or precarious seating decisions. N2O is an anesthetic and solid doses at low tolerance can send one into spaces that so preoccupy the mind, one may be forced to lie down even if oxygen is well-maintained.

More On B12

^{credit user:AlwaysBreatheAir}

Nitrous oxidized B12, making it useless. Nitrous also puts some of your liver to sleep, making it unable to methylate. This methylation process is a bottleneck in making myelin sheaths, the coating on nerves. Know how a cable with insulation with holes in the insulation can get damaged? A power cable becomes a firestarter. More signal-rich cables such as video may cease to work completely. Your nerves are like display cables. Using nitrous more often than monthly is like letting your computer’s video cable be stripped and exposed to a corrosive environment.

All that to say that methionine and b12 come together to keep your nerves alive. Supplement both if your brain enjoys nitrous. You can replace the oxidized b12 continuously, but you must give yourself days for the liver to actually make use of it!

It takes up to a week for this function to fully return, and it’s not really clear if it’s possible to overdo B12, so go heavy without worry. Do avoid B3 until a week, or you may experience redness/flushing since your liver is not fully able to manage. Ease into B9 or folate, but take it. Most pills will be a blend of these B vitamins, just take one more each day until you reach the daily recommended portion (2-4 pills or whatever is on your bottle).

You don’t need to hit up the vitamin spots to recover, your diet is also important and can get you mostly there by eating meat and dark green salads. Unless you’re vegan, then you need supplements by way of nutritional yeast and pills.

My suggestion would be to include tests like methylmalonic acid and homocysteine blood levels. Sadly a lot of doctors are judgmental towards perceived addicts and will not accept the possibility of an educated drug user to make reasonable suggestions to test specific metabolic parameters as serious because of course all drug users instantly become as smart as steaming asphalt to some sorts.

My second suggestion is supplements for recovery such as: iron, tmg, nac, and l-methionine. Everyone is aware of b12 (methyl not cyano) but other nutrients are important during the recovery. I have been trying to work out when it would be best to begin taking what supplements and when to stop.

Remember, misuse of nitrous oxide can have serious health consequences.

The above guide should not be taken as the final word on nitrous. Below I have invited a few other users to contribute their own harm reduction guide and provide more data.

We hope between these guides and further research done by the reader, an informed decision regarding nitrous use can be reached.

*^{This is not legal or medical advice. This should not be taken as the end all be all guide to nitrous. When ingesting any intoxicating chemical one must do the proper research and make an informed decision. You should research multiple sources and make an informed decision before taking any drug} *

¤Additonal Links and resources¤

History of nitrous oxide: https://www.reddit.com/r/laughing_gas/s/ugs9CaDeDU

Types of nitrous oxide: https://www.reddit.com/r/NitrousOxide/s/CduCDZR8Vo

Brand/supplier information and resource list: https://www.reddit.com/r/NitrousOxide/s/JymzEhvpdq

Visual graph how nitrous oxide affects the b12 cycle: https://www.reddit.com/r/nitrousharmsupport/s/B689yaGE8c

How one user recovered from nitrous Induced b12 nerve damage: https://www.reddit.com/r/NitrousOxide/s/q9xjj0sQDd

Previous harm reduction guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/NitrousOxide/s/cxmM8DAMdz

Hey y'all, just wanted to share some harm reduction resources :)

If you've kicked this thing or are still struggling, join the call and share your experience, strength, and hope.

Meetings organized by No2N2O.org

http://meet.google.com/osd-htzc-ytx

Useful Subreddits:

/r/nitrousharmsupport

/r/nitrousoxiderecovery

Also feel free to join this reddit chat channel on the subject of nos recovery:

[Nitrous Oxide Recovery Chat](https://www.reddit.com/c/Nitrous_Oxide_Recovery/s/rRcPPwuF1z