If 40 minutes is enough, then I don't understand why many reports write about survivors later, I think that the time from detection to the arrival of an ambulance is usually more than 40 minutes. As I understand it, more time is needed, or am I wrong?
Dying is a process even if you might look dead SI and very basic functions of a body might still be working to regain life. I would say to be really sure you need 6h+ This is my own estimation. Actually if I attempted seriously with any method I would not want to be discovered for 24h minimum, to be SURE I don't survive bc of a rescue attempt.
A human body (and especially brain) can survive on a relatively low level of oxygen. I assume this bc in first aid I once learned about the mouth to mouth (nose) resuscitation and chest compressions. That's not a lot of oxygen and blood flow if a person has neither breath nor has heart beat after an accident but it's enough to save that person.
I'm pretty sure if you go with cyanide after 40 mins you're dead 100%. SN is more peaceful but also much slower than people expect it to be.
I was just going by what the Peaceful Pill Handbook (PPH) says, or at least what it said as of the 2022 edition (which is the latest edition I have been able to find online). In it, they list what they call "a typical timeline of an observed death using 25gm of sodium nitrite", and it says death at 40 minutes. I don't know how they determined death (e.g. by visual observation, or by checking for pulse, etc), nor do I know how many deaths they observed, so I don't know how accurate their claim is. But Exit International (publishers of the PPH) are a legitimate, well-regarded organization, and so I don't think they would claim that without being confident in their data.
As far as reports of people surviving longer than that, note that PPH calls it a "typical" timeline. There are always going to be outlying exceptions to every norm. I'm guessing that in a lot of these reported cases it was due to factors such as the SN not being very pure, or not enough was ingested, or most of it was vomited up before it could get into the blood stream.
But again, there are always going to be outliers, so it's a good idea to leave more time just to be sure. That being said, at least as far as PPH is to be trusted, not having 12 hours shouldn't stop one from choosing SN as a method.
