Finding the ether reports on Erowid a bit disappointing, I wanted to share a bit of my own experience. My employment gives me access to unlimited amounts of reagent grade diethyl ether. It is powerful stuff! Taking (inhaling) it at baseline is the most fun.
Ether
Limited data
Limited data
Sparse data. Doses and effects may be unreliable or untested.
- 2 corroborating sources
- no dose data
- 29 combo interactions documented
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki, PubChem)
- classified Tentative
Limited data
Sparse data. Doses and effects may be unreliable or untested.
- 2 corroborating sources
- no dose data
- 29 combo interactions documented
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki, PubChem)
- classified Tentative
Aliases: Sweet vitriol, diethyl-ether, Diethyl ether
Summary
An industrial solvent which is sometimes used recreationally as a dissociative anaesthetic, with a short length of action. Effects are similar to alcohol. Leaves one's breath tasting and smelling strongly of ether for much longer than the experience lasts.
Dose Information
Effect Profile
54 reportsScores (0–10) curated from multiple sources:
- Effect keyword matching from PsychonautWiki catalog
- Validated against 54 Erowid trip reports
- Weighted by importance: core (×3), major (×2), minor (×1)
Dissociative
1.6
Light
2/10
Low dissociative depth with strong mania, low motor impairment
Dissociative Depth
×3
1
Mania / Compulsion
×1
10
compulsive redosing
restlessness
disinhibition
stimulation
euphoria
Insight / Novel Thought
×2
0
Motor / Sensory Impairment
×1
2
Based on reports from:
Tolerance
Build-up
develops over 1–4 weeks of regular use
Reset
Falls after you stop, at a rate that varies from person to person. If you've been using regularly, cut down gradually with medical help rather than stopping suddenly.
No tolerance chart. Our decay curves for these drugs were estimates, and a curve can make tolerance look longer-lasting than it is, which is the dangerous direction.
How fast tolerance to these drugs fades after a break has not been measured well enough to draw, so don't count on a dose you used to take still being safe: after time off, start with a much smaller amount and don't use alone. Mixing sedatives with each other, with alcohol or with opioids sharply raises the risk of a fatal overdose. If you've been using regularly, don't stop suddenly: withdrawal from benzodiazepines, alcohol or GHB/GBL can cause seizures or delirium, so get medical help to cut down gradually.
Sources: FRANK: benzodiazepines · Alcohol and Drug Foundation: GHB · FDA 2020: benzodiazepine boxed warning · FDA 2019: gabapentinoids and breathing · NHS: alcohol use disorder
Effects
Aggregated from 54 single-substance Erowid experience reports; 18 Erowid reports where another drug was taken too are left out
Each bar shows the share of analyzed reports whose text mentions that effect — a mention is not always a first-hand experience (fear of an effect or something witnessed can count). Mentions saying the effect did not happen are left out; that check reads keywords, so it can miss some. The shaded band on a bar, and the small range after its number, is the 95% interval: where the share could plausibly be with other reports of the same kind. Fewer reports, wider band. Tap or hover any number for details. The second value is the Bluelight extractor's per-effect confidence; a dash means the row is Erowid-derived, which has no confidence measurement.
Effect glossary — · full glossary
Positive Effects 7
20.4% (95% interval 12 to 33 percent)
–
13.0% (95% interval 6 to 24 percent)
–
13.0% (95% interval 6 to 24 percent)
–
11.1% (95% interval 5 to 22 percent)
–
9.3% (95% interval 4 to 20 percent)
–
7.4% (95% interval 3 to 18 percent)
–
5.6% (95% interval 2 to 15 percent)
–
Adverse Effects 6
37.0% (95% interval 25 to 50 percent)
–
20.4% (95% interval 12 to 33 percent)
–
9.3% (95% interval 4 to 20 percent)
–
9.3% (95% interval 4 to 20 percent)
–
7.4% (95% interval 3 to 18 percent)
–
5.6% (95% interval 2 to 15 percent)
–
Combinations
Cross-Check Ether with another substanceCommunity Trip Reports
Anecdotal first-person accounts from Reddit, Erowid, Bluelight, and Dose.wiki. Click a source to expand. Reports are harm-reduction context, not medical guidance. Tags summarise each author's own verdict — how reports are classified.
Erowid 8 reports 3 positive 3 neutral 2 cautionary visit
The following is a retrospective account of a 12 month + intensive exploration of the effects of Diethyl Ether largely stimulated by Aleister Crowley's 1922 essay "Ethyl Oxide".
It was about 1996 and I was about 16 years of age when I was flipping through some sort of chemical book at school and I came across a paragraph on diethyl ether. It said that it was a relatively non toxic anaesthetic.
[Erowid Note: The "water extraction" method is ineffective in separating diethyl ether from the volatile hydrocarbon liquids/gases in "starter fluid". Our understanding of the literature is that there is no such thing as safe use of volatile hydrocarbon gases: their psychoactive effects are inseparable from nerve and o...
[Erowid Note: Our understanding of the literature is that there is no such thing as safe recreational use of volatile solvents, aerosols and other street inhalants : their psychoactive effects are inseparable from nerve and organ damage.
[Erowid Note: The "water extraction" method is ineffective in separating diethyl ether from the volatile hydrocarbon liquids/gases in "starter fluid". Our understanding of the literature is that there is no such thing as safe use of volatile hydrocarbon gases: their psychoactive effects are inseparable from nerve and o...
[Erowid Warning: The water extraction method is ineffective in separating diethyl ether from the volatile hydrocarbon liquids/gases in starter fluid. Our understanding of the literature is that there is no such thing as safe use of volatile hydrocarbon gases: their psychoactive effects are inseparable from nerve an...
Before this ether experience, I had been sober for about 2 months prior, not counting the one time I took about 2 knockout doses of tetrazepam (separately throughout the night) in order to help me sleep before a major exam.
Bluelight 3 threads 1 positive 2 neutral visit
lab ether- experienced- realizing infinity [note, this was written about 7-8 months ago, i had just misplaced it until now, things in brackets were added today, oct. 13, 2001] I had acquired 3 quarts of lab grade diethyl ether, which i had divided equally among 20 ounce bottles.
Me and two friends were bored tonight, so we went to Walmart and bought a can of Prestone starter fluid. We sprayed it into a bottle, mixed in one part water, shook it for a while, then seperated the heptane from the ethyl ether.
WARNING!! THE METHOD DESCRIBED IN THIS REPORT DOES NOT RESULT IN DIETHYL ETHER!! INSTEAD IT GIVES YOU SEVERAL BRAIN-DAMAGING INHALANTS, AND THIS METHOD COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS BRAIN INJURY OR DEATH!!! Nothing to do, I pick up a can of starter fluid from a gas station, get a bottle of water, spray it in, pour in water e...
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Ether Source: SubstanceSearch (substancesearch.com) Oral duration: after-effects 6h Note: ranges are harm-reduction guidance, not a prescription. Start low, go slow, and test your substances.
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