BODY WEIGHT:

71 kg

Through downright accident, I've discovered that through the inhalation of common air (ie. the type we breathe everyday, NOT pure 'oxygen' or any other related gases) I am able to induce an incredibly intense, albeit very short lasting, 'high'.

Method:
1) Exhale completely and deprive your lungs of any oxygen for a few seconds..
2) Rapidly inhale as *deeply* as you can while expanding your ribcage and pushing the air as deep in to your lungs as is physically possible. NOTE: You need to be in a rigid position, not slumped, and you must stick out your chest while expanding your lungs. It may be easier to do this standing up, but obviously more dangerous..
3) Hold this oxygen in your lungs until you start to feel any effects, keep holding throughout the effects or naturally exhale if they become to overwhelming.

Effects: A few seconds after holding the air inside my lungs I start to feel like I'm blacking out (very similar to what it feels like suddenly standing up after sitting down for a long time). My eyesight dims, and my hearing fades. If there is a constant sound (say the running of water, or the buzz of my computer fans) I will actually 'hear' this constant ambient noise getting dimmer and dimmer till it fades completely. By the stage sound has faded out completely, so has my vision (perhaps I'm just closing my eyes though if I am, it's definitely not a conscious decision). My face and insides of my mouth in particular feel numb and prickly, yet warm - even burning. Sensation of touch diminishes greatly however does not fade all together and uncontrollable body twitches occur - in short, I feel like Jelly. Conscious thought becomes dim and then in a number of seconds it's all over. I suddenly fade back into reality, feeling a bit shaky in the following minutes but with no other after effects.

Note that the described effects are NOT in any chronological order, they all roughly begin at the same time and build with the same intensity, with the point of total auditory/vision loss lasting for perhaps only half a second and then the rapid come-down is experienced.

I have NO idea why this happens to me. I've had a couple of friends to try it but with little success, though I believe if anything, it's in the breathing technique. Also, this may seem stupid but I seem to build a tolerance. While I've only repeated this experiment on maybe 5 separate, randomly spaced, days since I discovered it had this effect on me (about 6 months ago), any consecutive tries within the space of a few hours would produce a weaker and weaker effect. Physical inactivity may also have something to do with the experiment as I seem to have experienced really strong effects after taking a bath or sitting down for an extended period of time (though I'm not a very active person so it may just be coincidence).

I'd be very interested in knowing just what is going on and if it does any harm. While it's not the sort of high that is recreationally fun or personally rewarding in any way, it is none the less intriguing and I'd love to know why it's happening. At present I've come up with a few crackpot theories that hold NO scientific weight; namely that my blood is absorbing an unusually large amount of oxygen and/or carbon dioxide and flooding my brain with it - causing the odd effects.

Anyway, peace out.

-ted

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 33519
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jul 19, 2013	Views: 3,538
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Breathing (470) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Alone (16)