- Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid prescribed for severe pain, but it is also widely available illicitly and is frequently mixed into other street drugs without the user’s knowledge.
- Prolonged use leads to tolerance, requiring ever-increasing doses to achieve the same effect and significantly raising the risk of a fatal overdose.
- Psychological addiction can develop after a single dose; physical dependence can set in within days of regular use.
- Withdrawal from fentanyl causes severe physical symptoms — medically supervised detox is strongly recommended to manage side effects safely.
- With the right support, recovery from fentanyl addiction is possible. FHE Health offers medically supervised detox and evidence-based behavioral therapies.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is tasteless, odorless and incredibly addictive. Physicians prescribe fentanyl for severe pain, but it’s also readily available on the streets and some dealers add fentanyl to other illicit drugs as a way of cutting costs. The potency of the drug means it’s easy to overdose on it. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2023 alone, law enforcement seized over 115 million illicit fentanyl pills. The public can’t determine their purity or strength, making these illicit drugs a potential public health risk.
What Is Fentanyl Addiction?
In addition to being a powerful pain reliever, fentanyl also helps people feel relaxed and even euphoric. It’s these effects that can lead to addiction. Doctors sometimes prescribe fentanyl to treat chronic or severe pain, especially for those who have been given other painkillers but found them to be ineffective.
Prolonged use of fentanyl can lead to a person building up a tolerance for the drug, meaning they need to take larger doses to feel euphoric. If a person can’t obtain fentanyl on prescription, they may engage in risky behaviors or purchase the drug from illicit channels to obtain the drug they want. This puts them at risk of overdose, not only because of the high doses they’re taking, but because they cannot be sure what’s in the drugs they’re buying.
Signs of Fentanyl Use
A person who is struggling with fentanyl addiction may show several physical and behavioral signs, depending on the severity of their addiction.
- Struggling to meet family, work or school obligations
- Engaging in risky behaviors to obtain fentanyl
- Becoming increasingly secretive at home
- Isolation from social activities
- Spending time and money on obtaining fentanyl
- Engaging in “doctor shopping” to obtain prescriptions
- Showing signs of depression
- Poor balance or coordination
- Difficulty breathing
- Mood swings or erratic behavior
- Weight gain
- Sleeping all day
- Paranoia
Fentanyl abuse can be dangerous, and if someone is showing signs of a potential overdose, it’s important to seek medical advice for them as quickly as possible.
The Risks of Fentanyl Use
Fentanyl is more powerful than natural opioids, and as the National Institute on Drug Abuse explains, even a small amount of the drug can cause a potentially fatal overdose. In addition, it’s possible to become addicted to the drug quite quickly. The euphoria that people feel after taking the drug can lead to psychological addiction even after just one dose. If someone uses the drug regularly, they might become physically addicted after just a few days.
How Fentanyl Addiction Develops
Fentanyl works by binding to the opioid receptors in the brain. Because it is such a strong drug, it floods those receptors, causing the brain to adapt to it quite quickly. To achieve the same euphoric sensation as they felt from the first dose, a person would need to take increasingly large amounts, putting themselves at risk of respiratory failure and death. If a person stops taking fentanyl suddenly, they will experience painful withdrawal symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, insomnia and muscle aches. It’s these side effects that make it so important for people who have been taking fentanyl to go through medically supervised withdrawal.
Who Is Most at Risk
Fentanyl addiction affects a variety of people, including patients whose doctors have prescribed fentanyl or other opioid medications for chronic pain. It also affects people who use other illicit drugs. In recent years, drug dealers have started mixing fentanyl into cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs to increase their profits, because fentanyl is relatively inexpensive to make.
This practice means even people who don’t deliberately seek out fentanyl are at risk of being exposed to it. Those struggling with co-occurring substance use are also at a greatly increased risk of an overdose, because they cannot control the purity or strength of the drug they’re exposed to.
When to Seek Help
If you or someone close to you is showing signs of fentanyl addiction, or addiction to any other opioid, seek help as soon as possible. Going through a supervised detox helps manage the side effects and ensure a safe withdrawal from the drug.
A fentanyl overdose can be life-threatening, so if someone has taken an unknown drug and is in distress, call the emergency services immediately and seek expert advice.
