Bystanders administered naloxone and performed CPR until an ambulance arrived. He was taken to a hospital, where he spent 3 days in the intensive care unit. He went on to recover and was discharged to a rehabilitation program. The pharmaceutical nonprofit Harm Reduction Therapeutics Inc. has already received priority review from the agency to make an inexpensive naloxone nasal spray for use without a prescription.
How does fentanyl affect the brain?
Fentanyl stands out from other opioids due to its extreme potency. It is up to 100 times more powerful than morphine and approximately 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. This high potency means that even a tiny amount can cause serious harm or death, especially when used unknowingly or without medical supervision. It is commonly mixed with drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and made into pills that are made to resemble other prescription opioids. Drugs mixed with fentanyl are extremely dangerous, and many people may be unaware that their drugs contain it. It’s one of the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths.
Who is affected by overdose rates?
A doctor may also choose to prescribe naltrexone, which stops the effect fentanyl has on the body. A person with a substance use disorder might obtain fentanyl by misusing prescribed medication or acquiring the drug from an illegal laboratory. Misuse of fentanyl includes taking it orally, smoking it, snorting it, or injecting it. Fentanyl withdrawal is so painful and unpleasant that it drives people to use even more to get relief.
Why Are Drugs Cut with Fentanyl?
Fentanyl binds to the brain’s opioid receptors, decreasing feelings of pain or discomfort. While it’s doing that, it’s also working to create feelings of well-being, relaxation, or even euphoria. If you’re living with past trauma or any kind of mental distress, those feelings are going to be a relief. Into Action Recovery Centers provides an abstinence-based program, and all of our staff members have a strong understanding of the recovery process through personal experience. Sharing the process involved in living a drug and alcohol-free life is something we are passionate about. We offer free aftercare for the men who complete our program and have a strong alumni network that remains active in the community.
He also urges everyone to carry naloxone (Narcan) and know how to use it. This lifesaving drug—given as a nasal spray to someone who has overdosed on fentanyl or another opioid—can reverse an overdose. “But because fentanyl is so powerful, it typically takes multiple doses to fully reverse an overdose,” says Dr. Trahan.
If the end user isn’t aware that the drug they bought has been adulterated, this could easily lead to an overdose. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that was originally developed as an analgesic – or painkiller – for surgery. It has a specific chemical structure with multiple areas that can be modified, often illicitly, to form related compounds with marked differences in potency.
What to Do if You Think Someone Has Overdosed
- Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while using this medication.
- People who are high may display slurred speech or seem dazed, but still be able to respond to a loud noise or someone lightly shaking them, the group says.
- It’s also commonly misused by people for its powerful opioid high.
- For the last seven years, fentanyl has been the top drug taking American lives.
- Overdose rates were higher in areas with more opioid-treatment programs than average, a finding that the study’s authors said demonstrated other barriers to access for some people.
The unique characteristics and how long does fentanyl stay in your system methods of use make it far easier to overdose on compared to other opioids. The combination of unpredictable dosing, contamination with other substances, and lack of cross-tolerance dramatically increases the risk—often with little to no warning. The large number of overdose deaths involving fentanyl highlights the need to ensure people most at risk can access care, as well as the need to expand prevention and response activities.
Older Black men are disproportionately affected by the overdose crisis
Lastly, fentanyl use can extend to the treatment of epilepsy. That is, in combination with certain neuroleptic medications as part of therapeutic neuroleptanalgesia. Fentanyl is an extremely powerful synthetic opioid, used as a prescription painkiller in alcohol rehab hospital settings for the treatment of severe pain. It is used predominantly in cancer patients or individuals suffering from chronic pain.