Is it important to you that the world have accurate information about drugs?
Please donate to support Erowid Center's vision!
Nitrous Usage for Life Enhancement
Nitrous Oxide & Cannabis
Citation:   weasel. "Nitrous Usage for Life Enhancement: An Experience with Nitrous Oxide & Cannabis (exp2970)". Erowid.org. Nov 29, 2001. erowid.org/exp/2970

 
BODY WEIGHT: 220 lb
I have used nitrous regularly for about 10 years (via whipped cream cartridges) and have found it very valuable for introspection, clearing out mental cobwebs, and general life strategy planning. When used right, it often provides a profound, unpredictable, and interesting mental experience, in a short period of time with no impairment lasting longer than 30 minutes. Here I recommend some principles which have worked well for me.

Most importantly, I recommend that you set a 'hard limit' for yourself of 4 whippets per day. I have held to this rule for many years, with excellent results, and many highly profound experiences. If nothing interesting has happened after 4 whippets, I do not waste mental energy considering whether to do more, instead I accept that this is not my day for nitrous... I will try again tomorrow. In my experience, if you do more you'll only attain a state similar to drunkenness on ethanol, suitable only for watching crap TV. This is not the point.

Cannabis usage (1-3 tokes) is highly recommended before the nitrous, although not essential. I give the cannabis 10 minutes to come on before using the nitrous.

To do the whippets, I use a whipped cream dispenser. Just omit the cream & sugar, discharge one whippet at a time into the dispenser, and use the lever to dispense gas from the nozzle. Or, you can fill a balloon. Of course, avoid plastic bags or anything that could suffocate you, although this type of usage doesn't involve unconsciousness. I usually do it standing up (because that physical posture leads to a more active mental state). Only once did I ever fall on my ass, and that was a long time ago, before I adopted the 4-whippet limit.

I hold the nitrous in as long as it's comfortable, but breathe air when I feel the need. Oxygen deprivation is not the goal. I usually split a whippet into two inhalations, breathing plenty of room air in between.

Expect some audio and visual 'static' - modulating sounds and patterns across your visual field (not attached to objects, but just spread across the field). When peaking I have often seen explicitly fractal patterns (i.e. a big curve made up of smaller curves which themselves are smaller curves, each with the same shape, at 3 different levels). These large fractals seem to evolve out of the static, suggesting that all the static is fractal patterns, but mostly just too small to see.

More importantly, I often find myself in a distinctly different state of consciousness, in which, when I reflect on various life situations, I find in myself a greater level of wisdom and authority, able to make decisions with confidence. Generally I feel that this was not really induced by the drug, but was already going on at an unconscious level, and the nitrous only brought it out where I could be consciously aware of it. This is hard to explain but you'll know it when you see it.

Another valuable effect is the 'ego death' phenomenon where I momentarily become completely disoriented from my life, then return to it. This process highlights my assumptions about life, and causes me to evaluate them, discard assumptions which seem unjustified, and replace them with assumptions which I can better support with logic and my own wisdom.

I hope this info is useful.
Cheers... weasel

Exp Year: 2000ExpID: 2970
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Nov 29, 2001Views: 67,696
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Nitrous Oxide (40) : Preparation / Recipes (30), Retrospective / Summary (11), Alone (16)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults