Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

youtube.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 157 posts

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#51

Post by joosters »

kortex wrote: post #23
xkcd-sucks wrote: post #18

Chloroform is great for extractions (if you don't care about the environment) because it sinks to the bottom of a sep funnel, but the thing about it being a knockout gas or sleep aid is complete BS. Based on an unpublished study of about 4 degenerate chemistry undergrads: - It PROBABLY takes several minutes of inhalation through a saturated rag to induce full loss of consciousness, although shorter times do produce n…

> Join us for our continued lecture series, covering topics such as Please share/blog these! I too have several degenerate chemistry undergrad stories. > The poor efficacy of DMSO in assisting drug translocation through skin Yep. During one particularly sleep-deprived finals week, and after recently learning about DMSO's transdermal transportation abilities, my friend and I tried making caffeine skin patches. It work…

But my lab manager did walk in at one point and immediately recoiled from the fumes (which we were nose-deaf to at that point).

I don't know whether it's true or not, but I remember a chemistry lecturer telling me that you don't need to worry about terrible smells in the lab, our noses are sensitive to extremely miniscule levels of chemicals. It's when the levels are so high that they have overpowered our senses and knocked out our sense of smell, that's when you need to worry! A wonderfully paradoxical piece of advice...

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#52

Post by labrador »

cwkoss wrote: post #49
labrador wrote: post #17

I'm a recovering nitrous oxide addict so this is interesting, but people should proceed with caution. I didn't know laughing gas could be addictive for some people until it was too late. In the film Cider House Rules, Michael Caine plays a doctor addicted to ether for sleep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cider_House_Rules_(film) Google result: Is chloroform stronger than ether? Fluothane and chloroform produced si…

Did you have any issues with B12 deficiency? I've always wondered to what extent oral B12 supplementation can mitigate the health risks of chronic nitrous use.

Yes I need to take B-12 liquid orally or by shot, but my grandfather had pernicious anemia and it's hereditary, so I don't know whose fault it is. Other than that I have no major health problems, but I have neuropathic nerve pains that the doctor has never seen before so he blames the nitrous. It's not too bad. I was aware that I needed to take a lot of B-12 at the time. People ask me why I didn't get a tank instead of spending all the money on whippets. Because I would have died with a tank.

Two more cautions. Nitrous is an oxidant. I found out the hard way when I almost set myself on fire smoking and doing nitrous. Also, that whah whah you feel when inhaling is not nitrous. That's hypoxia which can cause serious brain damage. I learned to do nitrous in a continuous stream without the hypoxia like at the dentist office.

Edit: I remembered a third caution: nitrous is a hypnotic like kratom. You lose control, like an alcoholic or benzos blackout. One time after doing a bunch of kratom I "came to" riding my bike in my underwear at 2 am thinking I was going to find a swimming pool to take a swim. Fun times.

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#53

Post by mahathu »

labrador wrote: post #48
hattmall wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So like how much nitrous did you do?

Let's see there's 50 whippets in a box, 12 boxes in a case. I did a couple hundred cases before I finally stopped. My last two binges 5 years apart were 15 cases over a 2 week period and 20 cases over a 10 day period. Once I start cracking whippets I can't stop. It felt almost like an OCD thing.

Probably it would be more efficient to fill up balloons from a larger tank and then inhaling from the balloons. You can continuously breathe in and out from the same balloon multiple times for a few times until all the N2O has been absorbed by the body (hypothetically)

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#54

Post by function_seven »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #50
xkcd-sucks wrote: post #18

Chloroform is great for extractions (if you don't care about the environment) because it sinks to the bottom of a sep funnel, but the thing about it being a knockout gas or sleep aid is complete BS. Based on an unpublished study of about 4 degenerate chemistry undergrads: - It PROBABLY takes several minutes of inhalation through a saturated rag to induce full loss of consciousness, although shorter times do produce n…

> Harm reduction re: consumption of USP 99.9% ethanol According to Ignition! by John Clark, high-purity ethanol used for rocket fuel undergoes a similar phenomenon when in storage tanks near rocket scientists and Navy personnel. Interesting to see that this also occurs in the proximity of undergrads. Study operators claimed that dissolving the ethanol in H2O, or, preferably, lime juice and/or soda water, merits furth…

So far the correlation between personnel proximity and tank depletion is just that: a correlation. All attempts at establishing causality have been met with fuzzy recollections, outright denials, and conflicting reports.

More investigations are warranted.

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#55

Post by spaceguillotine »

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #18

Chloroform is great for extractions (if you don't care about the environment) because it sinks to the bottom of a sep funnel, but the thing about it being a knockout gas or sleep aid is complete BS. Based on an unpublished study of about 4 degenerate chemistry undergrads: - It PROBABLY takes several minutes of inhalation through a saturated rag to induce full loss of consciousness, although shorter times do produce n…

you're telling me that movies LIED to me my entire life, i'm shocked, SHOCKED i tell you!!!!

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#56

Post by ss108 »

isk517 wrote: post #39
xkcd-sucks wrote: post #18

Chloroform is great for extractions (if you don't care about the environment) because it sinks to the bottom of a sep funnel, but the thing about it being a knockout gas or sleep aid is complete BS. Based on an unpublished study of about 4 degenerate chemistry undergrads: - It PROBABLY takes several minutes of inhalation through a saturated rag to induce full loss of consciousness, although shorter times do produce n…

Excuse me sir, but are you implying that in 1993 at WrestleMania 9 when Giant Gonzalez knocked out the Undertaker using a chloroform soaked rag that it was all fake? If so then mister, I think you are full of crap. /s

It was real if it was real to you goddammit

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#57

Post by labrador »

mahathu wrote: post #53
labrador wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's see there's 50 whippets in a box, 12 boxes in a case. I did a couple hundred cases before I finally stopped. My last two binges 5 years apart were 15 cases over a 2 week period and 20 cases over a 10 day period. Once I start cracking whippets I can't stop. It felt almost like an OCD thing.

Probably it would be more efficient to fill up balloons from a larger tank and then inhaling from the balloons. You can continuously breathe in and out from the same balloon multiple times for a few times until all the N2O has been absorbed by the body (hypothetically)

I cracked the whippets into a large plastic bag and then inhaled from that. I stuck with whippets because it was the fail safe option.

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#58

Post by listless »

isk517 wrote: post #39
xkcd-sucks wrote: post #18

Chloroform is great for extractions (if you don't care about the environment) because it sinks to the bottom of a sep funnel, but the thing about it being a knockout gas or sleep aid is complete BS. Based on an unpublished study of about 4 degenerate chemistry undergrads: - It PROBABLY takes several minutes of inhalation through a saturated rag to induce full loss of consciousness, although shorter times do produce n…

Excuse me sir, but are you implying that in 1993 at WrestleMania 9 when Giant Gonzalez knocked out the Undertaker using a chloroform soaked rag that it was all fake? If so then mister, I think you are full of crap. /s

Upvoted despite the Reddit flavoring

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#59

Post by pcthrowaway »

labrador wrote: post #48
hattmall wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So like how much nitrous did you do?

Let's see there's 50 whippets in a box, 12 boxes in a case. I did a couple hundred cases before I finally stopped. My last two binges 5 years apart were 15 cases over a 2 week period and 20 cases over a 10 day period. Once I start cracking whippets I can't stop. It felt almost like an OCD thing.

Was it a physical addiction? Like would you actually go through withdrawals from not being on Nitrous?

I've done a little bit, a long long time ago, but didn't realize this was a possibility.

I didn't really enjoy it personally

Re: Making chloroform so I can sleep better at night [video]

#60

Post by cwkoss »

labrador wrote: post #52
cwkoss wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you have any issues with B12 deficiency? I've always wondered to what extent oral B12 supplementation can mitigate the health risks of chronic nitrous use.

Yes I need to take B-12 liquid orally or by shot, but my grandfather had pernicious anemia and it's hereditary, so I don't know whose fault it is. Other than that I have no major health problems, but I have neuropathic nerve pains that the doctor has never seen before so he blames the nitrous. It's not too bad. I was aware that I needed to take a lot of B-12 at the time. People ask me why I didn't get a tank instead…

Very interesting, thanks for the reply!
Post reply on HN