Poppers were poisoning my body.

I just got back from the doctors office today. I was having low oxygen in my blood. It seems that poppers are the culprit. I've used them for years and have been aware that they could cause problems but not to this extent. They were affecting my lungs and the ability for my blood to carry oxygen.

My body is detoxing now from them and things are back to normal. I was a moderate user, but it seems that even small amounts of inhilation start a chain of events that damage the lungs. I just want everyone to know that there are consequences when you use them that are very real.

A lot of people seem to be under the woefully wrong impression that poppers are a harmless substance. Their being freely available at adult bookstores, used so openly in public, and given benign little names (referred to as video head cleaner and what not, as well) and advertised openly all contribute to this.

It wasn't long ago that major gay publications like The Advocate and other regional and metropolitan gay publications were jampacked full of ads and editorials for poppers that suggested the stuff contributed to virility, masculinity, and fun.

One whiff of the stuff should clue someone in to otherwise, though. It's hard to find anything out there that smells more blatantly chemical and unnatural. Nitrates such as poppers are anything but harmless and most definitely not healthy.

In fact, a National Institutes of Health study done in the late 80's examined extensive evidence of a link between poppers and Kaposis Sarcoma (cancer of the blood vessels oft characterized by splotches on the hands, around the nostrils and mouth and on the chests... remember them being represented in movies like And the Band Played On and Philadelphia?), one of the AIDS-defining illnesses. They also cause t-cell suppression and immune system destruction.

Interesting read: http://www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/83.pdf

The wreak havoc on the respiratory, circulatory, and immune systems. And it's tragic to see them being used so often and see so many people go about unaware of just how harmful and debilitating - and even deadly - they are.

Just because they're sold openly and (using various tricks to sidestep the law) legally, doesn't mean they're harmless.

HuskyHunks, I'm happy to hear you found out early just how bad for you they are and that you've eliminated them from your life before suffering from any irreversible and even fatal effects.

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Originally Posted by CorbinFisher_BD

Their being freely available at adult bookstores

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Not just adult bookstores. The Sam Goody music store near me has a display of them right up by the register with some other little trinket items.

I noticed this after a kid who was 14 or 15 at best grabbed for two bottles of them.

I worked in a adult bookstore about a year ago and we would sell a load of that shit. It always was a cheap buzz to me and I didn't like it because it gives me a raging headache. But some people would come in just to by them and we're talking 2 bottles a week.

:bomb:

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Originally Posted by Matt 26z

Not just adult bookstores. The Sam Goody music store near me has a display of them right up by the register with some other little trinket items.

I noticed this after a kid who was 14 or 15 at best grabbed for two bottles of them.

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and it has to be sold as some sort of "developing fluid" or "silver cleaner" or some sort of crap like that?

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

I just got back from the doctors office today. I was having low oxygen in my blood. It seems that poppers are the culprit. I've used them for years and have been aware that they could cause problems but not to this extent.
My body is detoxing now from them and things are back to normal.

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Huskyhunks

Go buy a juicer for $99 ... .either online or at a department store like Foleys. Then make and drink a pint of carrot juice several times a week. Also in the morning, juice fruit, that will help detoxify your body significantly. I've been juicing pineapple and oranges all week to expel the toxins of Las Vegas.

Do it consistently, and you will feel and look better.

Steve :center:

Hi guys, thanks for you replies and information.

CB-Brian, I read that whole article and although some of what they talked about was over my head, most I could understand. If people only knew how bad they are for the body, they would never touch them. I bought into the notion that as long as you did them in moderation, they wouldn't affect your health. Obviously, that is very wrong. I'm glad that my doctor is very thorough and I can talk to her about anything. Also, I appreciate your concern :) Thanks for the article !

Matt 26z, I can't believe they are selling them like that. Kids, adults, no one really should have access to them but a physician. That is sort of unbelievable that they are selling them at Sam Goody.

Krusher, I was never a two bottle person, more like on every month or two and look what it did to me. I can't imagine what happens to your body with 2 bottles a week. That's truly scary.

Slade, common sense should tell anyone not to sniff a cleaning fluid or head cleaner or any other chemical regardless of name. I have no idea where my common sense went.

Desslock, thank you for the advice. I feel my body slowly getting rid of the burden of these chemicals and I can breathe freely. It's funny that you mention looking better, because I looked like shit and I could tell that something bad was happening to my body. I've switched from soda to juices but I will probably get a juicer because I'm a vegetarian and alot of what i eat is fruit and it's just makes sense to have one around. Until then, I will pick up some fresh carrot juice from wild oats, I only live a block away so that helps. I just feel so much better now that this crap is leaving my body. Thanks again for the concern and advice - sounds like somebody had a great time in Vegas !

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

Matt 26z, I can't believe they are selling them like that. Kids, adults, no one really should have access to them but a physician. That is sort of unbelievable that they are selling them at Sam Goody.

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The bottles were for VHS head cleaner. I don't know enough about them to say if poppers and head cleaner are the exact same thing or not though.

All I know is VHS head cleaner doesn't belong next to the register when most people have moved to DVD and hardly anyone cleans their own heads anyway. So either it could be used as Poppers, or someone put it there who thought it could.

Matt26z, those are definitely poppers and no one ever uses them to clean their video heads. Their defense is that no one should ever inhale them but we all know what they are for.

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Originally Posted by desslock

Huskyhunks

Go buy a juicer for $99 ... .either online or at a department store like Foleys. Then make and drink a pint of carrot juice several times a week. Also in the morning, juice fruit, that will help detoxify your body significantly. I've been juicing pineapple and oranges all week to expel the toxins of Las Vegas.

Do it consistently, and you will feel and look better.

Steve :center:

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and probably a good idea to buy the veggies at a farmers market or whole foods

If your going to use drugs, use real drugs LOL. Popper are just for 14 year olds man, like whip-its. Has Colorado not legalized 420 now is small amounts, about 5 drinks and some coke is not bad too :angel:

Hi Jigg, wild oats is like whole foods, it's all organic and probably a little more on the hippie side than whole foods. the prices aren't bad either.

Nomad, that's what I thought but tell that to my mutant extra large red blood cells. Poppers are so 70's, studio 54ish. Why couldn't i do a designer drug like tina at least I'd be socially acceptable. I don't know what 420 is.

70's poppers were the real thing - amyl nitrate. unbelievably intense drug experience and requiring a prescription. book store poppers are a pale imitation without the level of rush and also more prone to giving a headache.

on the other hand, when i was a kid doing drugs the amyl nitrate experience was scary even while it was happening because i knew how dangerous it was.

Hi basschick,

I remember the real deal, it was so much stronger. The problem with the newer stuff is that it's weaker which makes people do it longer to get the high. The new stuff also has alot more impurities which cause alot of the health problems. My doctor says all the impurities line the lungs, like talc with i.v. drugs, or tar with cigarette smoking.

that makes sense since it isn't medical quality or manufactured in a quality humans should use regularly. butyl is a strong chemical anyway - i would think it should only be used once in a while or your kidneys and lungs won't be very happy.

i'm glad you caught it before it got worse. plenty of carrot juice, perhaps? that always helps me when i have lung problems.

feel better!

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

Hi basschick,

I remember the real deal, it was so much stronger. The problem with the newer stuff is that it's weaker which makes people do it longer to get the high. The new stuff also has alot more impurities which cause alot of the health problems. My doctor says all the impurities line the lungs, like talc with i.v. drugs, or tar with cigarette smoking.

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Just a little history lesson from an old guy ...

Pre-AIDS poppers were indeed amyl nitrate and it's a medication that's used for people with heart problems, I believe. Before AIDS was AIDS, in the very beginning, it was called Gay Related Immune Disorder (GRID). At that time, the scientific community was looking for a link between gay men and this disease. Poppers seemed a natural link. So, in order to stop the spread of the disease many governments banned the sale of amyl nitrate. The manufacturers of the stuff just rejigged the chemical configuration so that they weren't selling amyl nitrate but perhaps butal amyl nitrate. And so the game of cat and mouse went. God knows what the chemical configuration of the stuff is now.

Cheers,
Michael

amyl nitrate is a powerful heart stimulant, and was never sold over the counter from 1970 (before that, i don't know). i have never heard that it was banned here and as far as i know, it has never stopped being available to people whose doctors prescribe it.

amyl isn't as frequently used now because it is very rough on the body.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...di/202034.html

after reading this thread, i checked butyl nitrate on google. i was amazed because more than anything i had seen till now, there are long lists of listings (many cautionary) with massively incorrect information. it seems that butyl has spawned a series of urban myths.

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

Hi Jigg, wild oats is like whole foods, it's all organic and probably a little more on the hippie side than whole foods. the prices aren't bad either.

Nomad, that's what I thought but tell that to my mutant extra large red blood cells. Poppers are so 70's, studio 54ish. Why couldn't i do a designer drug like tina at least I'd be socially acceptable. I don't know what 420 is.

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420=marijuana :D

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Originally Posted by nomad0023

420=marijuana :D

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Oh god... to be 18 again! ;)

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Originally Posted by Xstr8guy

Oh god... to be 18 again! ;)

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its just net lingo, like WTF or BRB you would not say that in the “real world”

a friend of ours works in an adult bookstore that sells "video head cleaner". He said that he actually tried to use it for its intended purpose once, and it was really shitty at doing the job. So clearly the stuff is not ever used as intended.

Huskyhunks, congratulations on having the guts to say "I've been doing something that wasn't intelligent, it hurt me, and I want others to know the risks". Not many people are willing to stand up and admit that sort of thing.

Desslock: I had no idea you were a closet juice therapy person! We should talk sometime, I have a strong background in that area, my favorites are carrot/apple and green leafy veggies plus apple.

I love body cleanser juice: carrot, beets, apple, celery, spinach, parsley. Yum ... I adore it.

Michael

Look what you've done Charles! Now the juicin' geeks are coming out of the closet. ;)

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Originally Posted by boyfunk

Desslock: I had no idea you were a closet juice therapy person! We should talk sometime, I have a strong background in that area, my favorites are carrot/apple and green leafy veggies plus apple.

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Oh sure, Chip!

Back.... oh geez... twelve years ago... my boyfriend bought the infamous Fit for Life book by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. We got all into that. Well after all these years I still eat fruit in the morning, salads whenever possible and I try to juice once a day. If I am feeling guilty about, say, a long weekend of debauchery, or just if I'm feeling off kilter, I will juice twice a day.

It's a wonderful habit I've developed, and I'm convinced after all these years that is it beneficial.

Steve

Ever the follower, perhaps I should get in to this juicing thing. I just have real problems getting motivated about an intake that doesn't taste good.

So, all you hardcore juicers, what do you think would be a good daily juice regimen? That'd taste yummy. For no particular goal other than "all around". Sort of like a multivitamin juice - not targeting any specific aim but just helpin' me feel yummy and happy? :)

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

Hi Jigg, wild oats is like whole foods, it's all organic and probably a little more on the hippie side than whole foods. the prices aren't bad either.

Nomad, that's what I thought but tell that to my mutant extra large red blood cells. Poppers are so 70's, studio 54ish. Why couldn't i do a designer drug like tina at least I'd be socially acceptable. I don't know what 420 is.

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WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP, YOUNG MAN! LOL! :)

You better not turn out to be one of those tweakers who uses Tina. That shit is KILLING the gay community. Besides, anyone who needs to use ANY kind of a drug in order to give themselves permission to have sex or be "uninhibited" (sexually I mean, in the traditional sense, not the bareback one) is a weak, sorry soul. Nobody should need any kind of a crutch when it comes to sex, and that includes leather, BDSM and/or role-playing.

Now, those things are fine to incorporate into your sexuality every now and then (I always say that there's nothing wrong with anything in moderation), but when they become requirements for sexual activity to occur, then you've got a problem, and you need to see somebody to work thru what are obviously intimacy issues.

Whatever happened to two guys just getting together, getting naked and getting nasty without the aid of chemicals, leather or anything else? Seems this community is becoming more and more disconnected each and every day. As far as I'm concerned, sex in the gay community is at an all-time low, and it's b/cuz people just don't know how to deal with intimacy anymore.

Cowards.

That's my soapbox rhetoric for the day, and I stand behind it. :)

It's funny how you forgave yourself for fucking bareback. I'd rather do poppers til the cows come home before I take it up the ass bareback. At least I can stop and clear my body. Once you're infected with hiv, you can't go back and clean it out of your system.

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Originally Posted by CorbinFisher_BD

Ever the follower, perhaps I should get in to this juicing thing. I just have real problems getting motivated about an intake that doesn't taste good.

So, all you hardcore juicers, what do you think would be a good daily juice regimen? That'd taste yummy.

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Brian:

When I started I just drank the fruit juices. The vegetable juices can take a bit to adjust to. Some of those can be weird and unpalatable... but just regular carrot and apple actually taste pretty good. If you ween yourself off refined sugar sweets, and eat natually sweet things, they will eventually taste more "normal" to you.

As a rule, I always make easy juices. The point to to just get into a habit, so keep it convenient and easy. If you buy a juicer that really hard to clean, and you juice these complex combinations, you'll stop.

I can suggest what I did: Juice one pint of fruit juice every morning, shortly after waking up. Right now because it is winter I can buy bags of Texas grapefruit for $4. Texas Rio Star grapefruit are the product of genetic cross agri-science by Aggies to be much sweeter than your standard tart grapefruit.

You can make combinations like 1 grapefruit and 1 or 2 oranges. You can throw in a handful of strawberries with a grapefruit, or oranges. In our post-NAFTA economy, pineapples are available year round and quite inexpensive. You cut of the top, and slice off two rings of pineapple, and then add an orange or some strawberries. That should make you a pint of juice.

Those combinations are all good, and taste fine. If you get hungry in an hour eat a banana. When your lunch hour hits, just eat whatever. You have disciplined yourself at the beginning of the day to start off healthily, and you can already had a full regimen of vitamin c and potasseum.

I've never splurged on buying organic.

And if you are buying a juicer, I suggest that you avoid the real expensive metal ones; they have lots of extra parts. I use a Breville juicer every day, which costs about a hundred dollars. I used a small Braun juicer every single day for five years, and I think it's on Amazon for $69.

Drink your fruit juice in the morning, on an empty stomach. Fresh fruit juice at night will not mix well with that Taco Bell burrito you had for dinner. Kiss goodbye to morning coffee. If you think you need it, you really don't, its just another addiction. Save your stimulents for the afternoon or evening.

Steve

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

It's funny how you forgave yourself for fucking bareback. I'd rather do poppers til the cows come home before I take it up the ass bareback. At least I can stop and clear my body. Once you're infected with hiv, you can't go back and clean it out of your system.

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Huh? Where did I say in this thread that it was OK to bareback? I think you misread my statement.

Ken, you just lumped everyone together, every fetish together, like everyone's supposed to have sex the same way. That is such a simplistic, closeminded thing to think.

I don't do tina, i never have. You went off on some tangent about meth. I was joking with the other guy and poking fun of myself.

You seem to love controversy without adding new ideas or anything constructive. You take the counter idea, but only for the sake of writing more words. You seem to need to have the last word on everything. You seem to think that your opinion is so much more relevant than everyone else around here. I don't really understand why you need to have the spotlight, but i guess you do.

odd how only hiv is considered to be a dangerous std. you can now live for many years with hiv, but many people don't respond to drugs for hep c at all and less people get tested for it, so it has a lot of potential to spread :(

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

Ken, you just lumped everyone together, every fetish together, like everyone's supposed to have sex the same way. That is such a simplistic, closeminded thing to think.

I don't do tina, i never have. You went off on some tangent about meth. I was joking with the other guy and poking fun of myself.

You seem to love controversy without adding new ideas or anything constructive. You take the counter idea, but only for the sake of writing more words. You seem to need to have the last word on everything. You seem to think that your opinion is so much more relevant than everyone else around here. I don't really understand why you need to have the spotlight, but i guess you do.

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This is a message board, where opinions are supposed to be encouraged, and I merely posted those that are mine and mine alone. If I happen to state them confidently, that's because I believe them confidently. And also b/cuz I'm a writer, so I write with that experience behind me. If that rubs you the wrong way, my friend, well, the only thing I can really say to that is... I'm sorry. But in the end, you are responsible for the things you read and how they affect you. If you want to personally attack someone, that's your perogative. I'm not going to let it affect me.

I won't bother responding to the other things you accuse me of, since it's obvious you don't know me very well at all.

Respectfully,
Ken

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Originally Posted by basschick

odd how only hiv is considered to be a dangerous std. you can now live for many years with hiv, but many people don't respond to drugs for hep c at all and less people get tested for it, so it has a lot of potential to spread :(

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Basschick, thank you for posting that ! I needed to get my hep vaccine and forgot. Well, I guess i better play it safe until then. I probably came off harsh on my statement about bareback and hiv. I was a little ruffled when i wrote than. I believe that one can live much longer with hiv then ruined lungs and blood by poppers. That's just a fact. But so many hiv and hiv- guys are doing meth, and poppers, and mixing it all up.

I didn't make the initial post for sympathy. I made it to warn the millions of gay/bi men and (everyone really) that the health affects of poppers on the body are very real. Maybe if one or two of you uses me as an example, we can save some people from ruining their health. Hep C is very serious. I've had a couple of friends get it and they were absolutely floored. It takes months to get back to normalcy.

Maybe Ken is right about the chem side of sex, it probably should never be used to enhance the experience.

I really hate to see the mean spirit alot of negative guys use against positive men. It hurts me to see it. Alot of times I feel as though I relate alot more to hiv positive men than guys who are negative.

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

I really hate to see the mean spirit alot of negative guys use against positive men. It hurts me to see it. Alot of times I feel as though I relate alot more to hiv positive men than guys who are negative.

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I agree with you on this, at least. My ex is Poz, and many of my friends are Poz. I love them all dearly. I certainly understand how people come to be Poz (low self-esteem leading to lack of prevention-taking, poor judgment in the moment, etc. etc.), so I don't judge them for being Poz. God only knows I should have seroconverted long ago, based on my own sexual history. Somehow I have been lucky through the years. I guess that someone up there/out there/wherever is looking out for me. Consequently, it's helped me to be much more discerning about who I have sex with and what I will do in bed with someone I don't know very well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Huskyhunks

Maybe Ken is right about the chem side of sex, it probably should never be used to enhance the experience.

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That was my point. It's proven that drug use leads to lowered inhibitions, which in turns leads many to engage in unsafe sex. But apart from that, I think it's a shame that anyone has to resort to drugs in order to "free themselves up" enough to have sex in the first place. There are many men online who will not hook up unless they can party, and many who waste their days and nights looking for a fix so they can have sex for hours, often without release. It angers me that this is happening in the community.

My bigger point, however, was that over-reliance on ANYTHING -- whether it be a chemical substance, leather, role-playing, or anything -- indicates that there is a problem going on with the person who insists on having those things be a part of their every sexual experience. I think leather and BDSM and role-playing are all very healthy, sex-positive things to do, but again, if you CAN'T (or simply WON'T) have sex unless you can do them, I think that indicates a problem with intimacy, almost as if to say, "I can't be intimate with you unless we do SO AND SO."

That's what I was trying to say.

Anyway...

Hmmmm... anyone ever wonder what would happen if we all started telephoning each other:


fuckface.wav


-Steve, being silly :center:

OMG, i love serial mom. My ex and I always say that to each other. I like being dottie hinkle, he loves to be serial mom.