Nitrite “poppers” are not the same as chicken poppers, pizza poppers, or cheesy corn poppers. While you can still use the latter three for recreation or sexual enhancement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that you should not use nitrite “poppers” for such purposes. That’s because nitrite “poppers” can lead to all sorts of bad health effects, including death. And death, for most people, is not good for sex.
Relaxing your smooth muscles with “poppers” can be hazardous though. After all, your body is more than just your anus or vagina. Dropping your blood pressure can mean that different parts of your body may not get enough blood and oxygen. Alkyl nitrites can lead to methemoglobinemia too. This is where your body produces an abnormal amount of methemoglobin. Methemoglobin is a form of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells (RBCs) that normally picks up oxygen from your lungs, carries it via the bloodstream, and then releases the oxygen to your body tissues. The problem is the methemoglobin form of hemoglobin, in the words of Mariah Carey, can’t let go. It can’t really release the oxygen to your body tissues, effectively starving these tissues of oxygen.
Therefore, it’s not a complete surprise that the FDA has, in their words, “observed an increase in reports of deaths and hospitalizations with issues such as severe headaches, dizziness, increase in body temperature, difficulty breathing, extreme drops in blood pressure, blood oxygen issues (methemoglobinemia) and brain death after ingestion or inhalation of nitrite ‘poppers.’” Death will, of course, really relax your anus and vagina but has other consequences.
The risk of bad effects jumps even higher when you combine poppers with other substances that can also dilate your blood vessels. These substances include blood pressure medications, sildenafil (Viagra), and alcohol. But, of course, no one mixes alcohol or Viagra with sex, right?
The FDA warned specifically about using nitrite “poppers” for recreational purposes or sexual enhancement.
Also see Truth About Poppers