How Does Nitrous Oxide Change Your Mood

Nitrous oxide is a colourless gas that doctors and dentists have used for a long time as part of pain relief and sedation during medical and dental care. In that setting it is given in a controlled way, mixed with oxygen, by trained staff who watch the patient closely. Outside a clinic, some people breathe it in for a very short feeling of lightness, giggling and floating, and that is where most of the harm to mood begins. The feeling lasts only a minute or two, but the effect on mood does not end when the lightness wears off. Many people notice that they feel flat, tearful, edgy or strangely empty afterwards, and when the gas is used again and again, those changes can settle in and start to shape ordinary days.

Mood is not one single feeling. It is the background tone of a day: how easy it is to get up, to enjoy a meal, to talk to family, to cope with a small problem without it feeling huge. Nitrous oxide disturbs that background tone in several ways at once. It briefly changes how the brain handles signals between nerve cells, it cuts down the oxygen reaching the brain for a short time, and with repeated use it interferes with vitamin B12, a vitamin the nerves need to work properly. None of those effects is a small detail. Together they explain why a substance that can make a person laugh for a minute can also leave them low, nervous and short-tempered for hours, and why heavy use over weeks or months is linked with depression, anxiety and a loss of interest in things that used to matter.

This article explains those mood changes in plain words: what happens in the first minutes, why the lift fades so fast, how low mood and irritability build up, what anxiety has to do with it, and when a change in mood should be taken as a warning sign. It is general information only, not individual medical advice. If your mood has changed, or if you find it hard to stop using, a qualified health professional is the right person to talk to.

What Happens in the First Minutes

The first thing most people notice is speed. The gas reaches the brain very quickly, and the change in feeling is sudden rather than gradual. A person may feel light-headed, as though the room has tilted slightly, and sounds may seem distant or odd. Some people giggle or laugh without knowing quite why. Others feel warm, relaxed and far away from their worries for a minute or so. That is the part people remember, and it is the part that makes the gas seem harmless. What is easy to miss is that this pleasant minute is happening while the brain is getting less oxygen than usual, because the gas fills the lungs in place of air, and while the normal signalling between brain cells is being disturbed.

The pleasant feeling is also very short. Within a couple of minutes the lightness fades, and the ordinary world comes back, often feeling duller than it did before. A person who expected to feel relaxed can feel slightly confused instead, or a little unsteady on their feet. Some people feel sick, or get a headache. The contrast matters, because the brain notices it. It has just had a sudden lift, and then the lift is gone, and the feeling that follows can seem worse than the mood before the gas was used at all. That swing, from light to flat in a few minutes, is the first way the gas teaches the brain to expect a quick change in feeling, and quick changes are hard for mood to absorb.

It helps to understand that the laughter and lightness are not signs that the brain is working well. They are signs that it is working differently for a moment, and not in a good way. The brain runs on a careful balance of chemical signals, and the gas pushes that balance off centre. When the gas leaves the body, which happens quickly, the balance has to settle again, and that settling is often felt as a dip in mood. A person may feel a little down, a little empty, or simply not themselves for a while afterwards. For a single, brief exposure in a clinic, with oxygen given as well, this dip is usually small. For repeated breathing of the gas outside a clinic, where there is no oxygen mixed in and no one watching, the dip can be stronger and more frequent, and that is where the trouble starts.

Why the Lift Feels Good and Then Fades

The lift feels good partly because it is a break from normal feeling. Worries, tiredness and tension are still there, but for a minute they seem far away, as though they belong to someone else. That distance can feel like relief, especially to a person who is stressed, tired or unhappy. But it is not real relief. Nothing has been solved, nothing has been rested, and the body has not been given what it needs. The gas simply turns the volume down on feeling for a short time, and when the volume comes back up, everything that was there before is still there, sometimes louder because the body is now also dealing with less oxygen and a disturbed brain.

The other reason the lift fades so fast is that the body clears the gas quickly. It does not stay in the blood the way some other substances do. It comes in fast and goes out fast, and that speed creates a pattern: a sharp rise, then a sharp fall. Mood does not like sharp falls. A slow, steady improvement in mood, from a good night of sleep or a walk or a proper meal, lasts because the body has genuinely recovered a little. A sharp lift followed by a sharp fall leaves the person chasing the lift again, because the fall feels unpleasant and the memory of the lift is still fresh. That chase is not about pleasure alone. It is about escaping the flat feeling that follows, and each time the cycle repeats, the flat feeling can become a little more familiar.

Over time, this pattern can change what a person expects from their own feelings. Ordinary pleasures, like a joke with a friend, a favourite meal or a quiet evening, start to seem slow and dull compared with the sudden lift of the gas. That is not because those pleasures have changed. It is because the brain has learned to expect a fast, strong change and has become less sensitive to slow, gentle ones. When that happens, a person may say they feel bored most of the time, or that nothing is fun any more, even though the things around them have not changed. The change is in how the brain responds, and it is one of the quieter harms of repeated use.

When Mood Turns Low, Flat or Tearful

Low mood after nitrous oxide can take several forms, and it is worth knowing them, because people often blame the wrong thing. Some people feel sad without a clear reason, as though a grey cloud has settled over the day. Others feel flat, which is different from sad: nothing feels good, nothing feels bad, everything feels distant and grey. A person who feels flat may sit for a long time without doing anything, not because they are lazy, but because nothing seems worth the effort. Others become tearful over small things, a kind word, a small mistake, a song on the radio, and they do not understand why they are crying.

These changes are not just a matter of attitude. The brain chemicals that help to keep mood steady are disturbed by the gas, and the nerves themselves can be harmed when use is heavy or repeated, because the gas stops vitamin B12 from doing its job. B12 is needed to protect the nerves and to help the brain make the chemicals that support mood. When B12 stops working properly, the nerves send weaker and more confused signals, and mood can become low, unstable and hard to predict. That is why low mood linked to this gas can feel different from ordinary sadness: it can come with tingling in the hands and feet, weakness, unsteadiness and trouble thinking clearly, and those physical signs are a clue that the nerves are involved.

Low mood can also build up slowly, so slowly that the person does not notice the change until someone else points it out. A partner may notice that the person laughs less, or that they no longer want to go out, or that they seem tired all the time. The person may think they are simply stressed or getting older, when in fact their mood has been sinking over weeks. That slow build-up is dangerous, because it is easy to explain away. Each bad day can be blamed on poor sleep or a hard week at work, and the pattern underneath is missed. Adding the days up is important. If most days feel low, flat or tearful, and that has gone on for weeks, that is not a passing mood. It is a change worth taking seriously, and worth talking about with a health professional.

Irritability, Anger and a Short Temper

Irritability is one of the most common mood changes linked to repeated use, and it is also one of the most damaging to relationships. A person who was once patient may start to snap at small things: a question asked twice, a plate left in the wrong place, a child being noisy. The anger often feels sudden, even to the person feeling it, and afterwards they may feel ashamed and confused about why they reacted so strongly. That shame can make them withdraw, which makes the next outburst more likely, because they are now carrying guilt as well as irritability.

There are several reasons for this short temper. One is that the brain is tired. Poor sleep, low oxygen during use, and disturbed nerve signals all make the brain less able to handle frustration. When the brain is tired, small problems feel bigger, and the part of the brain that helps a person pause before reacting works less well. Another reason is the cycle of lift and fall. When the lift wears off, the person feels flat and restless, and restlessness often comes out as irritability. A third reason is that the person may be using the gas to cope with stress, and when the coping fails, the stress is still there, now joined by the after-effects of the gas.

The effect on family life can be serious. A partner may feel that they are walking on eggshells, never knowing which version of the person will appear. Children may learn to stay quiet, or to avoid the person, because they do not know when a small thing will cause an angry reaction. Friends may stop calling, not because they do not care, but because every conversation seems to end badly. None of this means the person is a bad person. It means their mood has become unstable, and unstable mood makes every relationship harder. If a person notices that they are angrier than they used to be, and that the anger is happening most days, that is useful information, not a reason for blame. It is a sign that something has changed in the brain and the body, and that help is needed.

Anxiety, Nervousness and Feeling on Edge

Anxiety is another common change, and it can be confusing because it feels like the opposite of the relaxed feeling the gas first gives. A person may feel nervous for no clear reason, with a tight chest, a fast heartbeat, or a sense that something bad is about to happen. They may worry about things they never worried about before, or find that ordinary worries grow much larger than they should be. Some people feel on edge all day, as though they are waiting for bad news. Others have sudden waves of panic, where the fear arrives all at once and feels overwhelming, even though nothing dangerous is happening.

Part of the reason is that the brain’s alarm system becomes more sensitive when it is repeatedly disturbed. The gas changes how nerve cells signal to each other, and when the effect wears off, the brain can overreact to small stresses, as though it is trying to make up for the quiet minute by being extra alert afterwards. Poor sleep makes this worse, because a tired brain is a worried brain, and so does the damage to B12 and the nerves, which can make the body feel strange, with tingling, numbness or weakness, and that strangeness itself can be frightening. A person who feels tingling in their hands may worry that something is seriously wrong, and that worry adds to the anxiety, even though the worry is understandable.

Anxiety can also come from the situation around the use. A person may worry about being found out, about running out of the gas, about money, or about what will happen if they cannot stop. Those worries are real, and they add to the general feeling of being on edge. Over time, anxiety can start to limit a person’s life: they avoid going out, they avoid people, they avoid anything that might make the nervous feeling worse. That avoidance feels safer in the moment, but it makes the world smaller, and a smaller world gives the person fewer good experiences to balance the anxiety. Breaking that pattern usually needs support, not willpower alone, and a health professional can help to plan the first steps.

How Repeated Use Changes Mood Over Time

A single brief exposure in a clinic is very different from repeated use over weeks or months, and the difference matters for mood. With repeated use, the changes stop being a short dip after each use and start to become the person’s usual mood. The lift gets weaker, because the brain adapts to the gas, and the low that follows gets stronger and lasts longer. A person may need to use more often to get the same brief lift, and each use adds to the strain on the nerves and on B12. That is the pattern that leads to lasting low mood, lasting anxiety, and a loss of interest in ordinary life.

One of the saddest changes is the loss of interest itself. Things that once gave pleasure, like music, food, sport, prayer, or time with family, start to seem pointless. The person may still do them, but they do not enjoy them, and after a while they stop trying. That loss of interest is not laziness, and it is not a choice. It is a sign that the brain’s reward system, the part that helps a person feel pleasure and motivation, has been disturbed. When nothing feels rewarding, it is very hard to get up in the morning, to work, or to care for oneself, and that makes the low mood worse. It is a loop: low mood reduces interest, reduced interest reduces the good experiences that could lift mood, and the loop tightens.

Over months, this can look like depression, and health guidance treats it seriously for that reason. The person may sleep too much or too little, eat too much or too little, feel worthless or guilty, and find it hard to concentrate. They may think about harming themselves, and if that happens, help should be sought straight away, from a doctor, a mental health service, or an emergency service, depending on where the person lives. It is important to say this plainly, because low mood linked to substance use is still low mood, and it deserves the same care and urgency as low mood from any other cause. Stopping the gas is part of the answer, but it is not the whole answer. The mood needs care too, and that care should come from professionals who understand both the substance and the mood.

Mood, Sleep, Energy and Daily Life

Mood does not change on its own. It is tied to sleep, energy and appetite, and nitrous oxide disturbs all of them. Sleep often becomes lighter and more broken, so the person wakes up tired even after a full night in bed. A tired brain is more likely to feel low, nervous and irritable, and less likely to enjoy anything. Energy falls too, partly because of poor sleep and partly because the nerves and blood are not working as they should. A person may feel heavy, slow and unwilling to move, and that lack of movement makes mood worse again, because the body needs gentle movement, daylight and fresh air to keep mood steady.

Appetite can change in either direction. Some people eat less, because they feel sick or because they have lost interest in food, and that leaves the body short of the nutrients it needs, including B12, which makes the nerve problem worse. Others eat more, reaching for sweet or starchy food for quick comfort, and then feel worse afterwards because their blood sugar rises and falls quickly. Either way, the body is not getting steady, balanced fuel, and mood suffers. The link between the stomach and the brain is real: when the body feels unwell, the mind feels unwell too, and when the mind feels low, the body often follows.

Daily life shows all of this in small, practical ways. Work becomes harder, because concentration is weaker and temper is shorter. Study becomes harder, because new information does not stick. Conversations become harder, because the person is either too flat to respond or too irritable to listen. Money becomes tighter, because the gas costs money and because work suffers. Each of these small problems adds stress, and stress makes mood worse, so the person may turn to the gas again for a minute of relief, and the cycle goes around once more. Seeing the cycle clearly is the first step to breaking it, because it shows that the gas is not solving any of these problems. It is adding to all of them.

When Mood Changes Are a Warning Sign

Not every low day is a warning sign, but some changes should always be taken seriously. If mood stays low for most of the day, nearly every day, for two weeks or more, that is a sign to seek help. If a person has lost interest in almost everything, sleeps far too much or far too little, feels worthless or guilty most of the time, or cannot concentrate at all, those are signs too. If mood changes come with tingling, numbness, weakness, unsteadiness, or trouble walking, that is a strong warning that the nerves are being harmed, and help should be sought promptly. Nerve damage from B12 problems can become lasting if it is left too long, so early help matters more than most people realise.

Sudden, severe changes need urgent help. If a person feels they might act on thoughts of harming themselves, they should contact a health professional or an emergency service straight away, and tell someone close to them. If a person faints, has a fit, cannot breathe properly, or becomes very confused after using the gas, that is an emergency too, because the brain has been starved of oxygen. It is also a warning if the person cannot stop using even though they want to, or if they are using in risky places, like while driving, near water, or alone, where a faint or a fall could be dangerous. A faint that seems harmless in a chair can be very dangerous on stairs, on a road, or beside water.

It is also worth seeking help if mood changes are affecting work, study, family or health, even if they do not seem severe yet. A health professional can check B12 levels, ask about nerve symptoms, and talk about mood in a way that is private and without judgement. They can also talk about support for stopping, which may include counselling, support groups, and help with sleep and mood. The earlier that conversation happens, the more options there are, and the better the chance that mood will recover. Waiting until things are much worse only makes the recovery longer and harder, and it puts the nerves at greater risk.

My Take:

I think the mood story of nitrous oxide is the part that people most often miss, and that bothers me, because mood is the thing that shapes every day. People talk about the giggling, the lightness, the funny minute, as though that were the whole story. It is not. The whole story includes the flat hour afterwards, the short temper the next morning, the low week that follows a month of use, and the slow loss of interest in a life that used to feel worth living. A minute of laughter is a poor trade for weeks of feeling grey, and I think that trade needs to be said out loud, because the gas is often sold as harmless fun, and harmless fun does not leave a person crying over nothing and snapping at their own children.

What strikes me most is how quickly the mood changes can look like a personal failing. A person who is low, irritable and uninterested is easily judged as lazy, selfish or difficult, by others and by themselves. That judgement is wrong, and it is cruel, because the change has a cause in the brain and the nerves, not in the person’s character. I have no patience for the idea that a person should simply cheer up or try harder when their brain chemistry has been disturbed and their nerves are struggling. Trying harder does not fix a B12 problem. It does not repair a nerve. It only adds guilt to a problem that already carries enough weight. The honest response is to name the cause, get it checked, and give the person proper help.

I also think the short temper deserves more honesty than it usually gets. Anger is not a small side effect. It is the thing that breaks trust in a home. A child who learns to be quiet because a parent might shout is learning a lesson that will stay with them for years. A partner who learns to hide their feelings because honesty causes a row is losing the closeness that a relationship needs. I do not say this to blame the person who is angry, because the anger is a symptom, not a choice. I say it because the people around them are paying a price too, and they deserve to be counted in the story. If a person notices that they are angrier than they used to be, I would ask them to listen to that anger as information, not as proof that they are a bad person, but as a sign that something in their body needs attention.

The loss of interest is the change that worries me most, because it is so quiet. A person does not wake up one day and decide that nothing matters. They stop enjoying one thing, then another, and they tell themselves they are just tired, or busy, or getting older. Then one day they realise they have not laughed properly in weeks, and they cannot remember the last time they looked forward to something. That is a serious place to be, and it is also a place where help can still make a real difference. I think the right response is not to wait for the person to hit a crisis, but to notice the quiet fading early, while there is still something left to enjoy, and to act on it.

Anxiety linked to this gas is often misunderstood, and I want to be clear about why. People expect anxiety to have a reason, a bill, a deadline, a danger, and when there is no clear reason they assume the person is worrying about nothing. But anxiety after repeated use often does not have a neat reason. It is the brain’s alarm system firing too easily, because it has been disturbed, and because the body feels strange with tingling and weakness. Telling a person in that state not to worry is useless. It is like telling a smoke alarm to be quiet while the house is full of smoke. The alarm is not the problem. The thing setting it off is the problem, and until that is dealt with, the alarm will keep ringing.

I think it is important to say that stopping is not a single moment of willpower, and that the idea of a single moment is one of the reasons people fail and then blame themselves. Stopping is a process, spread over days and weeks, and it is harder when mood is low, because low mood makes everything feel pointless. That is why support matters so much. A person who is low and anxious needs someone to talk to, a plan for the hard hours, and help with sleep and mood, not just a lecture about the gas. I would urge anyone in that position to talk to a doctor, not because a doctor has a magic answer, but because a doctor can check the things that need checking, like B12 and nerve symptoms, and can help to make a plan that fits a real life, not an ideal one.

The B12 and nerve damage is the part I find hardest to accept, because it is so preventable and so often missed. A vitamin problem sounds small, and a tingling hand sounds like a minor complaint, but together they can mean that the nerves carrying signals from the brain to the body are being harmed, and nerve harm can become lasting. I think every person who has used this gas repeatedly and notices tingling, numbness, weakness or unsteadiness should have that checked promptly, without embarrassment and without delay. It is not a small thing, and it is not something to wait and see about. The body gives warnings for a reason, and this is one of them.

I am also honest about the fact that mood does not recover overnight after stopping. The first days and weeks can feel worse, because the brain is adjusting, and because the person is now feeling, without the gas to turn the volume down, all the feelings they have been avoiding. That is painful, and it is also a sign that the brain is starting to work properly again. Sleep usually improves first, then energy, then interest, and mood follows more slowly, over weeks and months. I think people need to hear that timeline honestly, so they do not give up in the first week and decide that stopping has made things worse. It has not. It has simply taken away the cover, and the real healing is underneath, slow but genuine.

Friends and family have a role here that is often overlooked, and I want to name it plainly. A friend who laughs along and offers the gas is not being kind, even if they think they are. A friend who says, honestly, that they have noticed the low mood, the temper, the lost interest, and that they are worried, is being kind, even if the conversation is uncomfortable. Kindness is not always comfortable. Sometimes it is the hard truth, said gently, at the right time. If you are that friend, your words may be the first time the person has heard their own change described out loud, and that can be the moment that starts a change.

Children deserve a special mention, because they notice mood changes long before adults admit them. A child does not need to understand the gas to understand that a parent is suddenly angry, or suddenly absent, or suddenly uninterested in playing. Children adapt, and their adaptation often looks like being quiet, or being extra good, or taking care of themselves too early. Those are not signs that the child is fine. They are signs that the child is coping, and coping is not the same as thriving. If a parent reads this and recognises themselves, I would ask them to think about their child, not with guilt, but with the knowledge that children notice recovery too, and that a steadier, kinder parent is one of the best gifts a child can receive.

Money is part of the mood story too, and I do not think it should be left out. The gas costs money, and when mood is low and work is suffering, money gets tighter, and tighter money adds stress, and stress adds to low mood. It is a loop, and it is worth naming, because breaking the loop often starts with seeing it clearly. A person who stops using does not just get their mood back. They get their money back, week by week, and that money can go to food, to rent, to their children, to the small pleasures that make a day feel worth living. That is not a small thing. It is a real, practical measure of recovery, and it is one a person can see in their own pocket.

I want to end by being clear about what I am not saying. I am not saying that everyone who has ever breathed this gas will become depressed or anxious. I am not saying that low mood is always caused by the gas, because low mood has many causes, and a proper assessment matters. I am saying that the link is real, that it is stronger with repeated use, and that it is worth taking seriously. The risks are wider than the giggling minute suggests, and they reach into the parts of life that matter most: how a person feels when they wake up, how they treat the people they love, and whether they still enjoy being alive. Those are not small things, and they deserve honest attention.

If you have noticed your own mood changing, I would ask you to trust what you have noticed. You know your own mood better than anyone else, and if most days feel low, flat, nervous or angry, and that is new, that is information worth acting on. Talk to a health professional, tell someone close to you, and do not wait for the change to become a crisis. Help exists, recovery is possible, and the steadier mood that comes with it is worth the effort, not because life becomes easy, but because it becomes yours again, predictable enough to plan, calm enough to enjoy, and kind enough to live in.

Talking to a doctor about mood is often the hardest step, and I think it is worth saying why it should not be. A doctor has heard this story before, many times, from people of every age and background, and there is nothing in it that will shock them. They will ask about sleep, appetite, mood, and about the gas, not to judge, but to understand what needs checking. That check may include questions about tingling and weakness, and a blood test, because the B12 problem is something a doctor can measure, not something to guess about. I think the fear of being judged keeps too many people away from that conversation, and the fear is almost always worse than the conversation itself. A short, honest talk can open the door to help that a person has been needing for months.

The people around a person who is struggling also need practical advice, not just sympathy. The most useful thing a partner or a parent can do is to notice the pattern and to name it gently, at a calm moment, not in the middle of a row. Saying that you have noticed the low mood, the temper, the lost interest, and that you are worried, is very different from saying that the person is difficult or selfish. The first is care. The second is blame, and blame closes doors. Practical help matters too: keeping the home calm, sharing the work that feels too much, and being there on the hard days without demanding instant change. Recovery is slow, and the people who stay, quietly and patiently, are often the reason it happens at all.

I also think it is worth talking about the risky moments, because mood and safety are linked. A person who feels low, confused or unsteady after using the gas should not drive, climb, swim, or work with dangerous tools, because a faint or a fall in those places can cause serious harm. The gas can make a person feel fine for a minute and then dizzy the next, and that sudden change is dangerous on stairs, on a road, or near water. Being alone makes it worse, because there is no one to help if something goes wrong. I do not say this to frighten anyone. I say it because the harm from a fall or a crash is real, and it is preventable, and a person who knows the risk can choose to stay away from those situations.

Rebuilding a steady mood is mostly made of small, ordinary things, and I think that is good news, because small things are possible even on a hard day. A regular time to sleep and to wake, a walk in daylight, a proper meal, a conversation with someone trusted, these do not sound like treatment, but they are the conditions that a tired brain needs to recover. They work slowly, and they work together, and they are worth doing even when they do not feel like they are working yet. The brain notices them, even when the person does not, and over weeks they add up to a steadier day. That is not a quick fix. It is a real one, and it is available to anyone, starting today, without money or special equipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main side effects of nitrous oxide on mood?

The main mood effects are a brief lift or giggling that lasts a minute or two, followed by feeling flat, low, tearful or empty. With repeated use, people may notice lasting low mood, loss of interest in things they used to enjoy, irritability and anxiety. The changes can build up slowly, so they are easy to miss at first, and they tend to get worse the more often the gas is used.

How quickly can nitrous oxide affect mood?

The first change can appear within seconds, as a sudden feeling of lightness or laughter, and it usually fades within a couple of minutes. The low or flat feeling that follows can last for hours. Longer-term mood changes, such as persistent low mood or anxiety, build up over weeks or months of repeated use, and they do not appear after a single brief medical use in the same way.

Can the harm nitrous oxide causes to mood be reversed?

Mood often improves after use stops, but it usually takes weeks or months, not days. Sleep and energy tend to recover first, and interest and mood follow more slowly. Some changes may last longer, especially after heavy or long use, and nerve damage linked to vitamin B12 problems needs to be checked promptly, because it can become lasting if it is left too long. A health professional can advise on what to expect.

Why does nitrous oxide affect mood?

It affects mood in three linked ways: it briefly disturbs the chemical signals between brain cells, it reduces the oxygen reaching the brain while it is being breathed in, and with repeated use it stops vitamin B12 from working properly, which harms the nerves that carry signals for mood, feeling and movement. Together, those effects make mood unstable, low and anxious, rather than steady.

When should someone seek help about nitrous oxide and mood?

Seek help if low, flat, tearful, anxious or irritable mood lasts most days for two weeks or more, if you have lost interest in almost everything, or if mood changes come with tingling, numbness, weakness or unsteadiness. Seek help urgently if you have thoughts of harming yourself, or if you faint, have a fit, or become very confused. A doctor or mental health professional is the right person to talk to.

Where can I learn more about nitrous oxide and mood?

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, the NHS, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each publish general guidance on nitrous oxide; their links are in Sources below. For personal questions about your mood, a qualified health professional is the right person to ask.

Sources

This article is general information only. It is not individual medical advice. If you are worried about your health, talk to a qualified health professional.