NOS, good, bad, dangerous??

[MrsMercurio]

DS 15 seems very keen I'm trying NOS and his friends seem to have tried it.

Give me the facts please? How common is it? How dangerous?? Is it the thin end of the wedge?? Where do they get it from??

TIA

InThHeatOfLisbon thank you for your helpful advice. Will find some more 'scare stories' but as you and all the sensible people ( and probs the parents of teens ) say, if they want to do it they will!!

Good point about making sure they know they can call, no matter what, if they need help and anything goes wrong.

Just to clarify I'm still not saying I approve!!

CIT80 that's all very sad but helpful info.

Tragic as the sad stories of lost kids are, we can at least use them to encourage the next lot of kids to say no.

MrsMercurio it's a feckin minefield isn't it? I was horrified by the "legal highs" available which are catastrophically harmful!!

I've made it clear to DSDs that we don't approve of any kind of drug use. I've also made it clear that whatever happens, at any stage of their lives, if they need help or there's an emergency that we are there to support them.

For what it's worth, I think you sound like a good mum, a realistic mum, who is trying to guide her son to adulthood with the tools and strategies he needs to make sensible decisions. After all, isn't that our job as parents?

Just saying "don't do it" and banging a gavel shuts down communication and doesn't give children this in my opinion. It certainly didn't when my parents did it!

Hell there were things I got up to that my mother only found out about when she was dying of cancer and we had full and frank conversations about life. She did her best, for all the right reasons, but I'm just aware that trust and honesty are always the best way.

InTheHeatOfLisbon I think it sounds like we are trying to be similar types of parents.

My poor old Mum had no idea either and I got myself into some scary scrapes!

Thank you

Ps Lisbon is also my favourite city in the world. Bizarrely the drug laws in Lisbon are non existent and I have seen people shooting up heroin in the street!!

MrsMercurio oh really? I've never been, I have to confess my username is related to a football song about the team I support (winning the European Cup in Lisbon in 1967)

I'm personally for legalisation and regulation of drugs. Not because I think they're a good thing, but that it would loosen the stranglehold that dealers/gangsters get over whole areas and groups of people. It would also lessen the risk to users if regulated. I guess living where I live I've seen too many people lose their lives, or live in fear because of thugs and gangsters taking over estates.

I loved my Mum dearly, I always will. But I'm hyper aware that keeping trust and lines of communication open for my own kids is crucially important, for their own welfare.

Maybe tell him it's shit and does nothing (it is, it lasts about a nano second).

We only used to do it in clubs when we were high on pills (maybe don't tell him that bit).

Also doing it straight from the canister can result in huge gross freezer burns that look like herpes.

Thank you thisnamechanger that is the sort of info I was going for. The real life stuff

I had a patient recently who did so many NOS canisters he was hospitalised with a severe neurological disease we couldn't actually diagnose initially. It turned out to be severe vitamin b12 deficiency to a level you cannot reach by just not each b12. He couldn't walk. He had no sensation in his feet. He was in his early 20s and he could.not.walk.

It was frightening. And certainly not an isolated case by any means

I'm not saying it's not dangerous btw...I just know as a teen I'd probably have been more put off by being told it's shit than it's dangerous. Being dangerous makes it seem cooler.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21739392/

Another few cases of it recorded here. The neurological disease it causes is called Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord.

Aware this may not stop teens but I think being aware of the serious side effects is at least a start!

"Inventing ourselves " by Sarah-Jayne Blackmore gives a pretty good description on why teens engage in risky behaviour. They can be the most sensible, lovely, intelligent, worldly teen but can capitulate under peer pressure in a minute. Great read if you are raising teens

Thanks littleBillie I have ordered the books.

Thanks again for all the sensible advice.

I think you're doing a wonderful thing if you are giving your teens the right info to make INFORMED DECISIONS.

Lots of judgey people but telling teens to not do it clearly doesn't work. Drugs are everywhere and there is not escaping them. I personally would rather my child have the right information at hand and be sensible than be completely in the dark and make massive errors in judgement that could cost him his life.

I’ve spoken to my teens - similar ages- about drugs. I know they have been around weed and they are quite anti-drugs so that is good. They have seen the ‘damage’ drugs have done to a family member and that has also put them off.
If they wanted to know about a specific drug I’d do my research and say that there is a risk of dying, etc. I didn’t go any more than a bit of weed back in the day as was too scared of being out of control, so that is another angle to take.
My two have both drunk, but agsin it’s not a regular thing and we talk about sensible levels of drinking.,

Good for you OP

Teen-agers have been taking drugs since ...since forever.. Human culture since the dawn of time has involved experimenting with altered states through mushrooms or home brewed alcohol.

I am 41 and when I was a teenager Inthe 90s drug use was widespread and normal. Not something dull like nox but LSD ecstasy speed and ketamine.

Be respectful of teens wish to expreiment and face the reality that drugs are hugely fun and enjoyable.

If you go in talking about death and danger and nothing else you will alienate them it will not match the reality they see around them

Inform them of the risks and accept that you won't be there with them all the time and soon they will be adults making their own decisions.

Hello all,

Yes, its true these whipped cream canisters have been used for substance abuse, referred to by teens and frequent users sometimes as Whipits. Though this is not technically classified as an illegal drug in the US, its far from innocuous.

Many of the young people experimenting with these canisters are unaware of the long term health affects that nitrous oxide can have. Just to give you a few examples, frequent use can develop more serious side effects like brain, heart, liver, lung, or nerve damage, bone marrow or spinal cord degeneration, or even hypoxia (fatal deprivation of oxygen in the body).

If you have a loved one that is expirimenting with Whippets, I'd strongly suggest calmly sitting them down to talk about seeking help.

Haven't tried it myself but my ex used to do it and watching him heaving for breath and feeling his heart working overtime after inhaling a balloon of it was really distressing for me to be honest.

I'd imagine if you had a heart or lung condition it's a seriously bad idea and it might not be something you know you have until it's too late.

There will be loads online about the dangers of NOS, you don't really need anyones personal experiences to make it more real.

There is no safe way to take NOS, or any other illegal substance. It is Russian roulette and you are either lucky or not. All you can do is explain to him the dangers in graphic details, the consequences if caught by school or police, the consequences of being there when someone else overdoes it, the consequences if he bought/supplied it, the worst of the serious consequences - death or life changing physical or mental issues. Don't do anything to enable it, never condone it, make sure he knows how disappointed you will be in him. Then hope he either makes the right decision at the time, or is one of the lucky ones.

Make sure he knows if he ever gets out his depth you are there to help and to never ever think twice about calling/taking to you, police and ambulance are there to save lives, if he or a friend needs them don't think twice or waste precious seconds, call them and worry about the consequences later.

I think you are talking and discouraging strongly and it is good he is talking to you - if people haven’t been in the position they think it is easy to lay down the law - I would have thought so to before last few years with my son. My story is that my beautiful son got in with a crowd at school started trying drugs 13-14 - we went ballistic, grounded him, contacted all their parents, tried to get him counselling, screamed and yelled - we were shocked and terrified. This went on and on as he became more and more devious and at 6 foot tall couldn’t physically restrain him - no amount of laying down the law, phoning the police, reporting him made the slightest difference and along the way he also started to hate us. I wish I had done things differently at the beginning - I now never judge anyone. You are trying to be mature and keep your son safe

I'd be speaking to his boarding school about why so many of the pupils in their charge seem to be using illegal drugs.

Not having cosy chats with your DS about the best ways of going about it