The drug induces deep sedation and reduced consciousness, causing muscle weakness that makes the body slump forward while the brain becomes unable to signal the body to stand upright. For more information on our programs and services, please visit our website or contact us directly. Together, we can overcome the challenges of addiction and build a healthier, drug-free future.
Fentanyl patches pose a danger to kids who can stick them on their skin or mouths. This can cause death by slowing their breathing and lowering oxygen levels in their blood. Drug enforcers theorize that dyes may help drug traffickers avoid detection with the drugs. They speculate that it may also be a way to tempt teens and young adults to take them. The claim that some of the colors have a stronger effect than others is a myth.
Treating fentanyl addiction
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates more than 258,000 people died from fentanyl overdose between 2013 and 2021. When it’s in powdered form, it looks a lot like other powdered drugs such as cocaine. Powdered fentanyl can also be pressed into pills that look like prescription pills such as Percocet or Xanax. Your doctor might prescribe fentanyl if you have severe pain due to cancer, nerve damage, serious injury, or major surgery.
Side effects of fentanyl
Addiction Resource aims to provide only the most current, accurate information in regards to addiction and addiction treatment, which means we only reference the most credible sources available. One of the most important things you can do is learn how to recognize an overdose and how to use naloxone (Narcan). Narcan is a medication that can reverse an overdose and save someone’s life. You can get it at many pharmacies without a prescription, and many communities offer free training on how to use it.
What Is Fentanyl?
- Research has documented that synthetic opioids trigger severe and widespread muscle rigidity, particularly in the trunk muscles that support the spine and torso.
- This rapid escalation into physical and psychological dependence means individuals are trapped in a relentless cycle of craving, use, and withdrawal.
- Its sedative-like effects are intended to prevent people from abusing it in large quantities.
After a fentanyl treatment, you may have side effects that hinder your thinking and reactions or cause dizziness or drowsiness. Because of this, don’t drive or do activities that require you to be fully alert and awake after your treatment. Dealers may sell it as a standalone drug or as a counterfeit fent lean for another drug (like oxycodone).
- When someone nods off on fentanyl, the sedative effects are so strong that their body shuts down while they’re somewhat awake.
- “It’s a degree of loss of consciousness and a degree of lost muscular control,” Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, a UCSF professor of addiction medicine, told ABC7 San Francisco.
- Today’s Chronicle takes a semi-scientific look into why people slouch over when using fentanyl.
- While more research is needed on the causes of fentanyl fold, it is clear that it is an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous side-effect of fentanyl use.
For instance, there have been reports of purple fentanyl, a form of the drug mixed with other substances that give it a distinctive color. This contamination increases the risk of overdose and other adverse effects because users may not be aware of the potency or the presence of fentanyl in what they consume. People get “fentanyl Alcoholics Anonymous bent over” or “fent lean” due to fentanyl’s powerful effects on the central nervous system, causing profound sedation and muscle weakness.
Prolonged constipation can cause discomfort, bloating, and potential complications such as hemorrhoids. There’s a misconception that codeine is a weaker formula of the same class of medicine as heroin. But the amount of codeine these guys ingest with the syrup is massive https://mymanluigi.store/is-any-amount-of-alcohol-okay-for-your-health/ … it’s just the same as someone being addicted to heroin, except they’re not using needles. She hopes the consistency of her visits will encourage people to get help. When Brandice Josey, another homeless addict, bent down and blew a puff of fentanyl smoke his way in an act of charity, Smith sat up and slowly opened his lip to inhale the vapor as if it was the cure to his problems.
If you can’t tell if they’re breathing or their breathing is very slow and shallow, this confirms they’re having an overdose. “Law enforcement is trying harder and harder to crack down on xylazine,” Singer said. “If the drug trafficking organizations are interested in adding a sedative to their street drug mixes they can always add medetomidine.”
The other common form of lean includes dextromethorphan (usually sold in capsules), a cough suppressant. DXM is an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine present in NyQuil®, Robitussin®, and Theraflu®. It acts on the same brain receptors as dissociative drugs like ketamine or PCP. DXM, like codeine, can increase amounts of dopamine (a pleasure chemical) released by the brain. The dopamine release and reward system is one of the major causes of addiction. Like other opioids, codeine reduces a person’s lung function and slows breathing.
Does the Fenty Fold occur with all Opioid Addictions or just Fentanyl Addiction?
Nodding Off is a strange and often disturbing side effect of heavy opiates, most notably Fentanyl, where the user “bends” or “folds” at the waist. This loss of motor control reflects the powerful and dangerous depressant effects that Fentanyl puts on the body. Supporting someone with addiction also means helping them stay safe while they work toward recovery. This may include helping them get clean needles, fentanyl test strips, or connecting them with substance use treatment programs.
- The fentanyl fold occurs because fentanyl severely depresses the central nervous system while causing muscle rigidity in the trunk, preventing users from maintaining normal posture.
- Simply put “Fentanyl Fold” is caused by the extreme potency the drug affects the body’s central nervous system, exerting a depressant effect.
- This rigidity severely compromises normal respiratory function and profoundly affects an individual’s ability to maintain posture and move freely, culminating in the distinct “fent folding” posture.
- Education and awareness can help people step in and provide help before a dangerous situation becomes fatal.
Treatment Options For Fentanyl Addiction
Deaths related to fentanyl began to rise around 2019, according to the California Department of Health. In the last detailed study in 2022, the CDPH estimated nearly 6,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in California. Social media platforms have circulated images and videos of individuals exhibiting the fentanyl fold, sometimes accompanied by mocking or judgmental commentary.
Risks of fentanyl use
Once you’ve been taking fentanyl for a while, your body gets used to it and stopping can be very hard. Most people need help from a health professional or program to successfully quit. This overdose rate has continued to rise in part because fentanyl is often mixed into or sold as other drugs. Because fentanyl is so strong, it takes only a small dose of the drug to cause death.