Fentanyl abuse is one of the fastest-growing drug problems in America.
When made illegally, it’s commonly added to other substances, especially heroin, to increase their potency and lower their cost. But unfortunately, this is when the drug is most deadly. In fact, fentanyl is responsible for more overdoses in the United States than almost any other drug.
With fentanyl, an overdose can happen if a person has overloaded their body with medications, alcohol, illicit drugs, or any combination thereof.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 35,000 people died from synthetic opioid overdose in 2019, and those numbers continue to rise.
If you or someone you love is struggling with a substance use disorder caused by fentanyl, we are here to help.
In this blog, we cover the basics of fentanyl, including fentanyl’s effects on the brain, long-term effects, how fentanyl makes you feel, what it does to your body, and overdose symptoms. Continue reading to learn more.
Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid classified as a narcotic.
It’s a psychoactive drug that helps relieve severe or chronic pain. It depresses the body’s respiratory center, suppresses the cough reflex, and constricts the pupils. It can relieve pain and sedate someone within minutes, although it has a short duration of effect of just 30-90 minutes.
Fentanyl is produced in laboratories and designed to mimic natural opioids like heroin, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine.
It’s a highly potent pain medication that often comes with side effects, including the possibility of forming an addiction. It’s 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and as little as 1-2 grains can be deadly.
In a medical setting, it is typically used to treat symptoms of severe or chronic pain associated with post-surgery or advanced cancer symptoms.
Because of its strength and similarity to other opioids, fentanyl has quickly become a common drug for someone struggling with substance use disorder. It is sometimes sold on the street under names like “China White,” “Jackpot,” and “TNT.”
Most fentanyl prescriptions take one of the following forms:
Considered a Class II drug, it’s sold under the brand names Actiq®, Duragesic®, and Sublimaze®.
If a person has a fentanyl addiction, it may also be prescribed to support a medically supervised drug detox. This unique and carefully managed scenario can help reduce drug cravings and fentanyl addiction symptoms.
Similar to other opioids, fentanyl effects can make you feel:
Fentanyl affects everyone differently. It depends on a person’s size, weight, and overall health.
Side effects also depend on the amount taken, whether it’s combined with other drugs, and whether the person has developed any tolerances.
The more common fentanyl addiction symptoms include:
If someone has taken more than the allowable amount of fentanyl, the risk of overdose increases.
Common signs and symptoms of a fentanyl overdose include:
If you suspect someone is experiencing symptoms of opioid overdose, call 9-1-1 immediately. Ensure the individual has an open airway free of obstructions (e.g., vomit) by laying them on their side.
When people overdose on fentanyl or another opioid, their veins can collapse, which means their bloodstream becomes filled with the drug. This suppresses normal blood flow throughout the body. As a result, oxygen flow also becomes limited, which may lead to permanent brain damage or seizures.
Opioid overdoses can also cause pulmonary edema, a fluid leak that fills the lungs. This fluid can not only make it difficult to breathe, but it can also lead to choking, vomiting, and trouble breathing.
In addition to physical fentanyl addiction symptoms, people who use opioid drugs may also demonstrate behavioral changes.
The most common behavioral signs of fentanyl addiction include:
Other signs may include new friends and acquaintances, a change in appearance or body odor, secretive behavior, and nervousness.
If your loved one demonstrates a significant change in their personality, grooming, and behavior, it might indicate that they are living with a substance use disorder.
As with other opioids, fentanyl binds to opioid receptors throughout the brain and body. This floods your brain’s reward centers with dopamine, an important chemical that influences mood and feelings of reward and motivation.
While dopamine is naturally occurring, the rate at which it’s triggered with fentanyl is much higher.
A fentanyl-induced dopamine rush creates a sense of euphoria and extreme relaxation.
With fentanyl addiction, your brain craves the reward of the substance and, over time, requires larger doses to garner the same result. Long-term addiction can have severe outcomes like brain damage or even death.
Opioids decrease your brain’s natural production of norepinephrine, which depresses the central nervous system. This results in a decreased rate of breathing, reduced heart rate, and loss of consciousness or even death.
It not only reduces functions of the respiratory and cardiac systems, but it also reduces your body’s temperature. A low body temperature may lead to a dangerous medical condition known as hypothermia. This means your body is losing heat faster than it can produce it. Hypothermia is a severe medical emergency that, if left untreated, can lead to brain damage and cardiac failure.
Chronic, long-term fentanyl addiction may deteriorate the white matter in your brain. This can lead to behavioral changes, such as how you experience emotions, react to stress, and make decisions.
While the effects on the brain are dangerous in and of itself, the most dangerous aspect of fentanyl is how small one dose can lead to lethal consequences.
Heroin can be lethal in high enough doses, but fentanyl is much worse. To give you an idea of why fentanyl can be dangerous, we will compare the lethal doses of the two drugs:
A fentanyl addiction is dangerous because the difference between a safe dose and a lethal one is minuscule. Someone unaware of the thin margin between safety and death could easily take too much fentanyl leading to overdose and death.
Long-term fentanyl use often leads to addiction, dependence, and tolerance.
Tolerance exacerbates the addiction and leads to increased drug-seeking behaviors to find and use larger quantities of the drug, like
Increased opioid tolerance acts as a depressant, slowing the body’s natural systems. Over time, this disruption leads to severe circumstances like stroke, heart failure, or even death.
What happens when someone with a fentanyl addiction can’t get the drugs they want? The simple answer is that they will exhibit fentanyl withdrawal symptoms which may include:
Fentanyl withdrawal symptoms usually begin between 12 and 30 hours after the last dose of fentanyl was taken. It may take up to 72 hours if the person uses a fentanyl patch.
Because of fentanyl’s strength, “cold turkey” at-home withdrawal is not recommended. However, if someone can’t access more fentanyl, the withdrawal symptoms may be unavoidable.
Fentanyl withdrawal symptoms are painful, and for that reason, addiction specialists usually recommend tapering fentanyl use. Sometimes patients are given another opioid drug as an interim measure, getting increasingly lower doses as time passes.
It’s your job to keep the ones you love safe. Here are the most important things you need to understand about fentanyl:
You don’t have to live with substance use disorder and the risk of overdose forever.
If you or a loved one is dealing with fentanyl addiction and ready to take the first step toward lasting recovery, learn more about other prescription drugs that can help you detox safely and comfortably by calling Alpine Recovery Lodge at 801-901-8757 .
Our licensed therapists and counselors are skilled and compassionate professionals who provide individualized, effective fentanyl addiction treatment in a safe setting. We use the latest modalities for long-lasting success.
Alpine Recovery Lodge
