Fentanyl is an opioid narcotic used as a pain relieving mediation and is often used by medical professionals in conjunction with other drugs as an anesthesia. Fentanyl is also used as a recreational drug. It is a popular drug to mix with cocaine or heroin.
Fentanyl is a fast acting and short lasting opioid that can be taken in many different ways:
- By mouth
- In an injection
- Internalized by a patch on the skin
- Sniffed in a nasal spray
What are Fentanyl’s most common side effects?
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Dry mouth
- Somnolence
- Confusion
- Asthenia or weakness
- Sweating
- Abdominal pain
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Dizziness
- Nervousness
- Hallucinations
- Anxiety
- Anorexia
- Depression
- Flu-like symptoms
- Dyspepsia or indigestions
- Shortness of breath
- Hypoventilation
- Apnea
- Urinary Retention
- Aphasia
So why might a patient get prescribed Fentanyl?
In spite of nausea being a possible side effect, Fentanyl does not induce as much nausea as other drugs in the opioid family. It also makes a patient’s histamine levels to react less, therefore they cause a patient to be less itchy than many opioids do.
Even though Fentanyl gives medical professionals a good reason to prefer it over other opioids, Fentanyl is still a dangerous and very addictive opioid. Too much Fentanyl can cause the functions of the respiratory and cardiac systems to be slowed down and depending on the dose the user has taken, can stop the halt the work of the cardiac and respiratory functions all together.
Fentanyl has been in the news a lot in the last few years because of the number of accidental overdoses we have seen from people in the spotlight. In 2016 the world broke down over the heartache of losing Prince, a legend and role model to many young people. Prince died as a result of many overlapping medications including Fentanyl. Lil Peep, an American rapper also overdosed with Fentanyl. In 2017 the world found out that Tom Petty died, also from an overdose of many medications, one of which was indeed Fentanyl.
An untreated addiction to Fentanyl can be fatal. Please seek help with your doctor and at our Florida drug treatment facility.
