Understanding Fentanyl Addiction

It seems as if everyone is talking about opiate addiction and the use of medications like oxycodone or oxycontin to fuel this addiction. While these two medications play a significant part in the opiate addiction crisis, many people overlook a more serious opiate that is flooding the market, Fentanyl.

Fentanyl is considered an opiate-based drug because of the reaction that it causes in the body and brain. However, opiates are products that are derived from opium, and Fentanyl is a 100 percent chemical concoction.

What is even worse is that a majority of Fentanyl that is available on the black market is “cooked” in illegal labs. Although the formula is similar to the medication, it is not exact, and the outcome can be deadly.

What Is Fentanyl?

Fentanyl is a strong painkiller initially developed to help medical professionals deliver instant pain relief in trauma situations. Fentanyl helped with pain relief so well that many doctors began to use the drug to treat intense pain immediately after surgery, end-stage cancer, and break-through pain for anyone suffering from intense pain that regular pain medications were not helping.

Fentanyl is available in several forms. It can be given in the form of an injection, as a fast-dissolving pill, as a nasal spray, as a sublingual liquid, or in the form of a lollipop that is placed under the tongue for prolonged absorption.

Depending on the type of Fentanyl used, this pain killer is between 50 and 100 times stronger than a dose of Morphine. In the same manner, the addiction potential is also 50 times greater than other opiates. The pain relief is instant with Fentanyl, and the rush of dopamine into the system is immediate. The length of the high will depend on the type of Fentanyl used.

Potential For Problems Above and Beyond Addiction

Since most of the Fentanyl found on the streets is made in illegal labs, the potential for problems outside of addiction is significant. Dosage amounts are not regulated in any manner, and one batch may be weak, causing people to use more of the drug or so strong that death comes instantly. Higher potency can also cause significant dependency because the nature of addiction always causes the body to need more of a substance to get the same high.

Since Fentanyl can be used by injection, the potential for transmitted diseases is high, and infection rates at the injection sites. The use of Fentanyl can impact your respiration and cause you to stop breathing without warning.

Addiction Recovery Centers Can Help

If you or your loved one has a Fentanyl addiction, there is help available. Drug rehab centers have become more aware of the surge of Fentanyl dependence and have initiated programs that can help overcome Fentanyl addiction.

In an addiction recovery center, you can overcome the physical, emotional, and mental dependence on this dangerous drug. In a rehabilitation center, you can also address other issues that may be affecting your health and well-being so that you can make a full recovery from addiction and enter into a dependence-free lifestyle.

Your substance abuse counselor will work closely with you through the entire recovery process, from the initial physical detox to the emotional and physical detox from this drug. You will receive the medical care you need to have a healthy relationship with yourself so that you can overcome addiction. It has been found that many people suffering from addiction also have a dual diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or a similar disorder that feeds their addiction. Getting help for all of these concerns will help you leave the rehab center feeling better and in control of your life.

Fentanyl addiction is something very serious. It does not take long to become addicted to this potentially fatal drug, and it takes an even shorter time to find yourself needing more and more to get the same high.

Thankfully, there is help. You can enter into a substance abuse program and break the addiction to Fentanyl or any other opiate-based drug. There is help available. Once you begin to go through the rehab process, you will regain control of your life and future, and you will learn how to live that life drug-free.

Recovery is not as hard as you may think. And if you are still not sure, remember, in 2018, Fentanyl was responsible for more overdose deaths in the United States than all other overdose deaths combined.