Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that is used as a pain medication and can be mixed with other medication for anesthesia. It can also be made illegally and is typically mixed with cocaine or heroin. Side effects of use include constipation, nausea, confusion, fatigue, and sweating. More serious symptoms can include dizziness, weight loss, anxiety, depression, flu-like symptoms, and nervousness. This drug is becoming more and more available, which means that overdose deaths are rising. With the death rate rising, it means that Orange County fentanyl rehab is even more important.
How Is Fentanyl Used in Medicine?
Fentanyl does have its uses in medicines. When a doctor prescribes this, it is usually provided as a shot, a lozenge you will suck on, or a patch you add to your skin. Like other opioids, it will bind to the receptors in the brain that control pain and emotions.
What Makes Fentanyl So Dangerous?
The high overdose potential is the reason why it’s so dangerous. It’s part of the opioid epidemic, showing the need for fentanyl rehab. Even if you take it exactly as it is prescribed by your doctor, you can still become dependent and it can cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it. It is important to note that dependence can form even if you aren’t addicted. However, dependence can sometimes be tied to addiction.
It’s a potent drug. It’s 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and about 25 to 50 times more portent then heroin. Just a very small increase in dosage can lead to an overdose. This is what sets it apart from other opioids. Since it’s so potent it puts those who are struggling with an opioid addiction at a higher risk of death. In the purest form, it resembles table salt and comes as a white powder. Many street drugs are laced with some other substances and many drug makers are starting to use fentanyl when they make heroin. This causes someone to overdose accidentally since they don’t even realize the heroin they just took can have a lethal amount of fentanyl in it.
It’s highly addictive for a number of reasons. It’s a strong opioid. It also affects your nervous system to a much more substantial degree than some other drugs. It causes high amounts of dopamine flooding and alters the brain over time. Since it changes the brain it’s easy to become dependent on it. Once you start to develop a tolerance, you need to depend on it more in order to feel like your normal self. This requires you to take more and more of the drug. The stronger the drug, the faster you become addicted. Since fentanyl is so strong, it’s easy to become addicted.
With so many dangers associated with fentanyl use, if you or someone you love is dependent then an Orange County fentanyl rehab can help.
