They found people who were purchasing for personal use — including seven who overdosed and died — as well as the people buying to set up their own distribution network in America. It comes in both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical forms. Here is what you need to know about fentanyl, what it’s used for, what it does to you, side effects, drug interactions, withdrawal symptoms and why fentanyl is so dangerous.
Doctors will only prescribe the fentanyl patch to people who are already tolerant of opioid therapy that is similar in strength. Fentanyl can continue to be effective after removing the patch, as the skin has already absorbed the drug. However, the amount of time it remains effective depends on the individual. As with other opioid drugs, fentanyl binds to the receptors in the brain that affect pain and emotion.
Therapeutic Effects
To prevent accidental fentanyl overdoses, you can use fentanyl test strips to ensure other drugs don’t contain the opioid. You can get them free through some outreach programs, such as needle exchanges or overdose prevention programs. Fentanyl can be illegally mixed into other substances, including heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamine (NIDA, 2021).
An opioid drug antagonist such as naloxone can help to correct OIRD symptoms. Thus, the therapeutic approach should continue until a normal respiratory rate coincides with appropriate oxygen saturation levels. Fentanyl is typically administered intravenously (IV), intramuscularly (IM), transdermally (TD) as skin patches, intranasally (IN) in the form of a volatile nasal spray, and intrathecally (IT).
How Can I Find Out If My Drugs Or Pills Contain Fentanyl?
- The citrate salt, fentanyl citrate, is administered by injection, either intramuscularly or intravenously, sometimes in combination with a potent tranquilizer.
- Fentanyl can be pressed into pill form so it appears as a standard prescription opioid or sold as a powder.
- If a person has a susceptibility to addiction, then it is a situation where the person is more likely to develop a substance use disorder.
- Illicit fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs like heroin, cocaine, xylazine, counterfeit prescription pills, or legitimate prescriptions.
- Your doctor might prescribe fentanyl if you have severe pain due to cancer, nerve damage, serious injury, or major surgery.
Naloxone can help prevent fentanyl-related deaths when it is given within a short period of time after an overdose. The nasal spray form of naloxone does not require a prescription and can be obtained from pharmacies. Naloxone acts quickly to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, but opioids last much longer than naloxone. Additional doses of naloxone are therefore sometimes necessary. People who receive naloxone still require an emergency medical evaluation, as overdose symptoms can return. If someone who has overdosed does not have a pulse, start CPR.
Resources For Those Using Or Abusing Opioids
People making illegal fentanyl often do this because it’s less expensive to use fentanyl than other drugs. Figure 2 shows the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose. If someone has experienced an overdose from an opioid, including fentanyl, call and administer naloxone. It is safe to touch the person and items that may have fentanyl on them (like a doorknob) because fentanyl cannot be absorbed through the skin with casual use (Connolly, 2022). Opioid medication enters the brain and binds to opioid receptors, restricting pain signals and causing relaxation (Oesterle, 2021). Low doses of opioids can make a person sleepy, but larger doses can cause heart rate and breathing to slow down significantly, resulting in unconsciousness.
Why Do People Take Fentanyl?
To novice users or long-term users alike, this could be fatal. But more than 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the U.S. The province already has prescription heroin and fentanyl replacement programs for people who are addicted to opioids. Some drug users told VICE World News that because fentanyl is the dominant street opioid, prescription heroin and other medical alternatives are not enough to keep their withdrawal and cravings at bay. Potent benzodiazepines, or tranquilizers, are now further contaminating the illicit fentanyl supply, causing more complicated overdoses. Illegal drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, are sometimes mixed with fentanyl, which makes the drugs more potent.
The Surprising Ease Of Buying Fentanyl Online
Fentanyl is a potent opioid that offers pain relief to those who live with severe acute or chronic pain conditions. A healthcare professional may prescribe it to treat severe pain. A person taking prescribed fentanyl can experience dependence, meaning they have withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking the drug. Fentanyl is synthetic, which means it is made entirely in laboratories and has no natural ingredients.
Professional Services & Capabilities
Do not take more of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor. Naloxone — also known by the brand names such as Narcan and Kloxxado — is a prescription medication that reverses an opioid overdose. While it works quickly, naloxone is a temporary solution that works for 30 to 90 minutes. It’s available both for those who have been prescribed fentanyl and those who are misusing fentanyl.
MORE: Social Media Being Used To Sell Pills Laced With Fentanyl, Reports Say
Fact sheet with facts about fentanyl, including types and forms of fentanyl and signs of overdose with tips on overdose. A couple purchased some marijuana and smoked it on their couch. The woman woke up on the floor several hours later and found her partner unresponsive. She called EMS, and they were brought to an emergency room. Her partner was pronounced dead, and his autopsy also showed fentanyl in his blood. Fentanyl can last for a few hours when taken orally or when snorted, smoked, or injected.
- It remains one of the most commonly used opioids in controlled medical settings or advanced cancer pain.
- Its impact on overdose deaths and prevalence in street drugs other than opioids (i.e., stimulants) has led many in the field to refer to fentanyl as the Fourth Wave of the Opioid Epidemic.
- People use fentanyl because it is cheap to manufacture and a small amount goes a long way.
- He has advised numerous international organizations, public and private sector entities on emerging crime trends and prevention measures.
- If using fentanyl under a doctor’s care, communicate openly with them about any concerns.
Common Forms Of Fentanyl
Your doctor may need to adjust the dose of your other pain medication(s) to better control your pain. Fentanyl may cause serious harm or death if used accidentally by a child or by an adult who has not been prescribed the medication. Even partially used fentanyl may contain enough medication to cause serious harm or death to children or other adults. Dispose of partially used lozenges according to the manufacturer’s directions immediately after you remove them from your mouth. If fentanyl is used by a child or an adult who has not been prescribed the medication, try to remove the medication from the person’s mouth and get emergency medical help. Fentanyl and similar compounds like carfentanil are powerful synthetic opioids 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
In some cases, these illicit formulations of fentanyl are made to look like other prescription opioid tablets. If used correctly, fentanyl test strips can detect the presence of the most common types of fentanyl in street drugs and pills. These strips can be a useful harm reduction tool for people who drugs.
Using a drug that has been contaminated with or replaced by fentanyl can greatly increase the risk of a life-threatening overdose. However, an emergency medicine called naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose related to fentanyl. Initial reports of fentanyl abuse were linked to prescription products, but in recent years, illicit fentanyl has become the most commonly abused form. In fact, most fentanyl-related deaths are from fentanyl made in illegal laboratories. Fentanyl is heavily trafficked into the US from other countries and sold as pills or powders, and it has largely replaced heroin in the drug supply.
Take the same steps as you would with any suspected opioid overdose. Fentanyl analogs, which are similar in nature to fentanyl and include substances like acetylfentanyl, furanylfentanyl, and carfentanil, have also been found in the US drug supply. ORE is a central collection of communication materials and educational resources about opioid misuse, addiction, treatment, and overdose prevention. An injection of naloxone can reverse the effects of the drug if given soon enough. A Narcan nasal spray is available over-the-counter and anyone can administer it.
