What is fentanyl? Uses, misuse, and side effects

Do not crush, split, suck, or chew fentanyl tablets, or swallow the tablets whole. You will get less relief for your breakthrough cancer pain. Fatal side effects can occur if you use this medicine with alcohol, or with other drugs that cause how long does fentanyl stay in your system drowsiness or slow your breathing. Dealers may sell it as a standalone drug or as a counterfeit for another drug (like oxycodone). It’s also used as a low-cost additive to other drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, molly, and ecstasy.

What may interact with this medication?

A doctor might prescribe fentanyl if you have severe pain due to cancer, nerve damage, serious injury, or major surgery. As with any opiate, there is a risk of dependency, tolerance, misuse, and addiction with fentanyl. Physical dependence results in withdrawal symptoms when individuals suddenly stop taking the drug. Doctors will only prescribe the fentanyl patch to people who are already tolerant of opioid therapy that is similar in strength.

Serious fentanyl side effects

High-potency opioids such as fentanyl, oxycodone (Oxycontin, Roxicodone) and methadone (Methadose, Methadone HCl Intensol) typically have more-serious risks. Do not let children see you apply the patch and do not apply it where children can see it. Do not call the patch a sticker, tattoo, or bandage, as this could encourage the child to mimic your actions. Children or pets can have serious side effects or die from putting used patches in their mouth or on their bodies. Along with relieving pain, other ways fentanyl affects the body include slowing down breathing and the respiratory system. When you take higher doses of fentanyl than therapeutically recommended, or if you abuse the drug in any way, you may experience a rush of euphoria when it’s taken.

What side effects may I notice from receiving this medication?

Sometimes, fentanyl is mixed with other illegal drugs. However, people may not always know fentanyl is present. The medication will reverse the effects of fentanyl and block future effects. However, naloxone only stays in the body for a short time.

How does fentanyl affect the brain?

• Additionally, other compounds exist that are similar to fentanyl, but not identical, called analogues.
• After a fentanyl treatment, you may have side effects that hinder your thinking and reactions or cause dizziness or drowsiness.
• What fentanyl does to your body and how fentanyl affects the body are directly related to the fact that it’s an opioid.

With fentanyl, a dose that’s as small as 2 milligrams can be fatal. A person with opioid use disorder has an increased risk of overdose. Carrying naloxone can provide them with an extra layer of protection from overdose.

• Discarded fentanyl patches may still contain significant amounts of the drug.
• While we have some information about the effect of fentanyl on the body, experts are still working to understand its full effects and how to prevent situations of overdose.
• I​n addition to these monitoring methods, researchers also monitored participants’ sedation, loss of consciousness levels, and reaction time.
• Naloxone is an emergency medication used for an opioid overdose.

What is this medication?

The drug is produced by criminal drug networks in China and Mexico. NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann joins https://ecosoberhouse.com/ us now, Hi, Brian. If you or someone you know is misusing fentanyl or other opioids, help is available.

• Prescription fentanyl is dosed in micrograms, designated by the abbreviation “mcg”.
• The drug interacts with receptors in your brain to create feelings of pain relief, relaxation, contentment, and pleasure.
• Fentanyl is a prescription opioid used to treat moderate to severe pain, but it can be misused, abused, and cause overdose deaths when obtained illegally.
• Researchers discovered that as concentration levels of fentanyl increased, there was also a distinct EEG oscillation.

Ask your healthcare provider where you can get these strips. Opioids are pain killers that people sometimes use recreationally for their euphoria and relaxation effects. Fentanyl has medical uses, primarily to control severe pain after surgery and in advanced-stage cancer treatment. Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products.

Fentanyl patches can take up to a day or 2 to start working but they’ll last longer. This is to make sure that you have pain relief from the tablets until the patches start to work. For example, according to the National Harm Reduction Coalition, one of the most harmful myths about fentanyl is that you can overdose by touching the drug.