Inhalants

Inhalants

Inhalants are various products easily bought and found in the home or workplace—such as spray paints, markers, glues, and cleaning fluids. They contain dangerous substances that have psychoactive (mind-altering) properties when inhaled. People don't typically think of these products as drugs because they're not intended for getting high, but some people use them for that purpose. When these substances are used for getting high, they are called inhalants. 

People who use inhalants breathe in the fumes through their nose or mouth, usually by sniffing, snorting, bagging, or huffing. It’s called different names depending on the substance and equipment they use.

Although the high that inhalants produce usually lasts just a few minutes, people often try to make it last by continuing to inhale again and again over several hours.

Health Effects of Inhalants

Most inhalants affect the central nervous system and slow down brain activity.

Short-term effects are similar to alcohol and include:

• slurred or distorted speech
• lack of coordination (control of body movement)
• euphoria (feeling high)
• dizziness

People may also feel light-headed or have hallucinations (images/sensations that seem real but aren't) or delusions (false beliefs). With repeated inhalations, many people feel less self-conscious and less in control. Some may start vomiting, feel drowsy for several hours, or have a headache that lasts a while. 

Long-term effects of inhalant use may include:

• liver and kidney damage
• hearing loss
• bone marrow damage
• loss of coordination and limb spasms (from nerve damage)
• delayed behavioral development (from brain problems)
• brain damage (from cut-off oxygen flow to the brain) 

Overdose

An overdose occurs when a person uses too much of a drug and has a toxic reaction that results in serious, harmful symptoms or death.

These symptoms can cause seizures and coma. They can even be deadly. Many solvents and aerosol sprays are highly concentrated, meaning they contain a large amount of chemicals with a lot of active ingredients. Sniffing these products can cause the heart to stop within minutes. This condition, known as sudden sniffing death, can happen to otherwise healthy young people the first time they use an inhalant. Using inhalants with a paper or plastic bag or in a closed area may cause death from suffocation (being unable to breathe).

Because inhalant overdose can lead to seizures or heart failure, emergency treatment is focused on stopping the seizures and attempting to restart the heart.