Question Title: Nitric Oxide

I'm wondering what the short term and long term affects of doing nitric are on the brain. I've only done it three times, but I'm tempted to do it more. Also, would nitric have any adverse affects in combination with accutane (Isotretinoin)? Thanks.

Kevin,

Here's a question similar to yours which I answered on my Ask DrSteve web site (http://www.drsteve.org):

No Laughing Matter

December 4, 1998

Dear DrSteve,

I dropped out of college last year and now I work as a network technician. I have a question which I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone else so I thought I'd ask you. What are the short-term and long-term effects of inhaling laughing gas (nitrous oxide)from whipping cream chargers? My friend says that it must be safe since doctors and dentists use the stuff for anesthesia.
What's the real story?

No Laughing Matter

Dear N.L.M.,

Great question! Your friend is wrong - just because it's safe for a surgeon to cut you open and replace clogged arteries around your heart doesn't mean that you should try your hand at bypass surgery. People who inhale nitrous oxide (sometimes called whippets) are dying at the rate of one or two a month!

Inhalation of a pressurized gas can cause death in at least 2 different ways. This drug and others like it suppress various brain functions. When people inhale small quantities of it they are after the giddiness and loss of control that result from suppressing the parts of the brain which routinely work to help us keep our inhibitions in check. But when too much of the vapor is inhaled
too deeply, you can shut down the part of the brain that tells your body to breathe. That can kill you.

There's a second reason people suffocate and die from nitrous. If too much of the gas displaces the oxygen in your lungs, you may have trouble getting it out and so you suffocate. Think of it as drowning in a sea of laughing gas.

People who don't use too much may still get in trouble. The combination of poor balance and clouded judgment which occur when you're high leads to all kinds of dangerous accidents. And remember, the more times you repeat a potentially risky
activity, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. With inhalants, that applies both to sudden death and to accidents. Imagine playing Russian Roulette with 2 bullets in the pistol every time you spin the chamber and pull the trigger.

Chronic exposure to low levels of nitrous oxide, once thought to be safe, can also cause serious damage. Medical personnel who work with too much of the stuff develop anemia, nerve damage, fertility problems, and disorders of the immune system and chronic abusers run all of these risks as well.

My advice to you is simple: Quit while you're ahead. For further information, check out the detailed website of the NATIONAL INHALANT PREVENTION COALITION. I hope that you share what you've learned with your friends, and please try not to be embarrassed when it comes to gaining knowledge about something which allows you to make informed decisions on important matters such as this!

DrSteve

Keywords: nitrous oxide, inhalants, inhalant

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