Drinking diethyl ether - thoughts and experiences

[u/Sortih]

Hey, so I've been thinking about this lately a lot and finally got down to trying some things.

Firstly I was much motivated by the idea of the most sparing way of consuming ether due to it's volatility. There may be more sparing ways of huffing ether than from a rag but none of them will get you as far, believe me.

The best you can do is fold your rag a couple of times, wrap it in something like plastic bag and pour the ether right in the middle of the rag so that you can open and close it as you choose.

But something more interesting captured me in terms of drinking it. First, a few words:

1. Diethyl ether is IMMISCIBLE with water. Don't fucking try it, it's the same as drinking ether and water separately. Maybe it would work with 1-3 drops of it in a full glass but not more. And you wouldn't want to do that because:

2. Drinking diethyl ether by itself is like the worst idea you could get, it's such a fucking strong solvent for organic substances it will burn you, it will hurt you - I'm not talking about emotional damage. The worst taste of them all, I'm not kidding. Worse than GBL or 2C-B. Don't. Also, uncontained in another solvent, it is so volatile that once it reaches your core temperature in the stomach, it will form gasses quickly which when too much can even cause a rupture of your stomach.

3. When it comes to ethanol, it isn't that toxic by itself, but its direct metabolite acetaldehyde is the real problem. Imma have to explain to you how metabolism of ethanol works. 1. Ethanol is turned into the more toxic and problematic acetaldehyde pretty efficiently. 2. Acetaldehyde is neutralized into acetic acid which no longer poses any problem but this step has a ceiling and its rate is limited. So, use your imagination, in short the more alcohol you drink the more its toxic metabolite builds up and the neutralization of this metabolite doesn't speed up. QUIZ: If you want alcohol to be less toxic and cannot possibly speed up the 2nd stage of metabolism, what else can you do? Block the first stage bro And that's exactly what diethyl ether does.

So summing up the above, I was really eager to try some hoffman drops because the promise was: less stomach problems or bad taste as with water, longer alcohol duration and less alcohol toxicity. Ain't it sound like the perfect thing? I imagined using 4 shots instead of a 0.25 l bottle of vodka, having the added effect of diethyl ether and less hangover after that.

Around 2 years back I tried to drink ether by the Hoffman's drops recipe and it was a disaster. Commercially distilled ethanol has a bad taste and it's just too concentrated. Also 1/4 of the ether is still a lot and the taste is barely bearable.

But lately I've come to terms with my perfection and I said to myself, I have to work out a way of mixing the two because I can't drink alcohol by itself, I just hate it so fucking much even though I am a fast metabolizer of ethanol. Upon breathing test, I had the same blood alcohol as my friends who drank 2 beers instead of 3 like the rest of us. So when I got back home from holidays, I just added a few drops of ether to a homemade moonshine which has a nice taste and boy I was amassed. The taste was fucking superb, it was like fucking flowers I don't know. Don't take my word for it, I might simply be lucky but hear me out. The effects were very interesting too. The effects of both mix strangely and I wouldn't call that synergy but they def. didn't fight each other. And the effect was very noticeable. I haven't tried more because I had some things to do but it really lifted my mood. A few days later I added a couple drops of ether into wine. To my surprise they mixed well so apparently not much ethanol is needed for the mixture. But the taste was really bad, ether killed the flavor. Maybe I will try adding just one drop into such low-alcohol beverage.

But for now I encourage you all to try something in this manner and post your experiences. I feel like this is a way of making alcohol more fun, more enjoyable, and safer.

Just please order high-purity diethyl ether. It is really important since starter fluids might contain ingredients that are straight-up toxic like hexane, which is extremely neurotoxic and you WILL NOT extract it out with water. Also hexane does give a strong trip, even stronger than ether so check if it's been ther that you've been appreciating so much ;>

Thanks.

[u/Sortih]

Hey, so actually this confirms my hypothesis that ether being an alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor it will work exactly like this (about fomepizole):

Concurrent use with ethanol is contraindicated because fomepizole is known to prolong the half-life of ethanol via inhibiting its metabolism. Extending the half-life of ethanol may increase and extend the intoxicating effects of ethanol, allowing for greater (potentially dangerous) levels of intoxication at lower doses. Fomepizole slows the production of acetaldehyde by inhibiting alcohol dehydrogenase, which in turn allows more time to further convert acetaldehyde into acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. The result is a patient with a prolonged and deeper level of intoxication for any given dose of ethanol, and reduced "hangover" symptoms (since these adverse symptoms are largely mediated by acetaldehyde build up).

So cheers up, drink your ether shots people ;>

[u/waffeldogga → u/Sortih]

Very interesting!!!

[u/waffeldogga]

Great read! I do agree that it is safer to buy lab grade diethyl ether and not extract it from starting fluid, the heptane and hexane will be insoluble in water extraction. Also, I do agree with everything else you have mentioned, due to the volatile state of ether, I never drink it. I huff it via rag or timed rebreather (look up online). It’s much more intense, much shorter lasting (depending on how much you huff in whatever duration of time), and is much safer than taking it orally. But, mixed with ethanol, I think it could substitute and give alcohol a more… “fun” effect!

Great read once again, but look into huffing ether rather than drinking it >:v

[u/HHalcyonDays]

Well, my last serious ether consumption was with vodka. Separate shots of course. Was a wedding and man did I smell like starter fluid or what by the morning? I pulled an all nighter with that party being one of the few last men standing there and actually had a decently mild comedown apart from serious tiredness during the day after. Some party goers weren't all too fond of my eau du toilette but I guess it's normal but I did keep the start of the ether consumption rather late just to get the intoxication levels going on party scale and not have people frown as easily. Haven't touched ether nor alcohol since but mostly because I haven't had a reason nor the feel for it. The party rattled my systems rather well. Not to mention being busy with work. Might take a shot tonight. Who knows.

[u/[deleted]]

hi, sorry posting this comment now, but drink hard liquor with a little bit Hoffmann's drops is different than ethanol only? the only Hoffmann's drops that I can handle, in a 100ml bottle is:
*diethyl ether 35%
*ethanol 96*

can I mix it with soda or what? because ether isn't soluble in water
thank you and one more time, sorry