[davidw]

I got a light case of CO poisoning from using a grill outdoors in a space that I guess wasn't really well ventilated. Threw up in the middle of the night (wasn't the food, everyone else was fine and so was I the very next day). I didn't feel any faster after that and it was kind of a miserable experience.

I don't think I would mess around with that stuff.

[Aperocky]

Apparently if you had slightly less CO but more often you might become a faster cyclist!

[klyrs]

Yeah, if I was gonna attempt this, it'd be N2 gas, or even CO2, but CO is stupid.

[davidw]

Nitrogen is apparently pretty dangerous too because, from what I understand, your body doesn't feel like it's not "getting enough air" like it does with high CO2 concentrations? Something like that, I don't recall the specifics...

[matsemann]

It's build up of co2 in your lungs/body that gives you the urge to breathe, yeah. So any messing around with the air composition could kill you without noticing the lack of o2, as long as you keep breathing thus getting rid of the co2.

[klyrs]

Yeah, I think I'd use a mix -- not pure gas, but one with a fixed (nonlethal) ratio of oxygen.

[bobmcnamara]

Joking with some coworkers I once took a big breath of what should've been helium but had accidentally been misfilled with trimix welding shield gas (He/CO2/Ar).

I knew immediately what had happened as I coughed in duck noises.