Like many other opioids, fentanyl is a drug with a mixed history. It is a synthetic substance that was created to help patients with surgery-based pain management. But unfortunately due to its potency and a high potential for abuse, fentanyl is one of the top drugs behind drug-related overdose and death in the United States.
Fentanyl abuse is on the rise, and it’s not just recreational drug users who could end up struggling with fentanyl dependence. If you or your loved one has been prescribed fentanyl by a doctor, it’s important to know the signs of fentanyl addiction and withdrawal before taking the drug. While fentanyl is considered a safe substance when medically supervised, a person can begin experiencing cravings after one dose of the drug.
Read on to learn about fentanyl withdrawal symptoms and how you can seek treatment for fentanyl addiction today.
What Is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a man-made opioid pain medication that has been used by doctors since the 1960s. Pharmaceutical fentanyl can be administered through a patch, lozenge, nose spray, pill, or intravenously. But fentanyl that is made and obtained illegally usually comes in powder form. It is also often mixed with heroin and other illegal drugs, which can make it even more dangerous to use recreationally. A person who uses fentanyl regularly will usually have dilated pupils and may appear tired and disoriented.
Part of why fentanyl is so addictive is because of how it alters a person’s brain chemistry. A doctor might prescribe it to a patient to help with pain management after surgery because it can help a person relax and numb pain receptors throughout the body. Symptoms of fentanyl abuse can end in the same results, as the drug directly impacts a person’s pleasure center in the brain.
But the rush of dopamine from illegal fentanyl use only lasts a few hours, which can cause a person to seek out the high again with more and bigger doses of the substance. Fentanyl is one of the most commonly abused opioids for those struggling with opioid use disorders because it is 50 to 100 times more potent than both morphine and heroin. This is also what makes the likelihood of an overdose and death from fentanyl abuse even more possible than with other illicit drugs on the market today.
How Long Is Fentanyl in Your Body?
As is true with other opioids, fentanyl metabolites can remain in a person’s system for days. That means even after a person no longer feels the effects of using fentanyl, partial fentanyl particles will still remain in the hair, blood, and urine.
Saliva tests are not effective in consistently detecting fentanyl levels, but both blood and urine tests can detect fentanyl use within hours after the last dose. Hair drug tests can detect fentanyl use for up to 90 days after use.
This is especially important to know if you’ve been prescribed fentanyl by a doctor and need to go through drug testing for some reason. Even if a doctor has given you a fentanyl prescription for pain management, you need to prepare to test positive for opioid use during a drug test. Remember, drug testing is usually required by new employers and during legal proceedings. Fentanyl prescriptions are also supervised by medical professionals to help manage doses and avoid overdose.
What Does Fentanyl Withdrawal Look Like?
The effects of fentanyl withdrawal are similar to other opioid withdrawal symptoms. These can include nausea and vomiting, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and flu-like sweats and chills. Fentanyl also directly impacts a person’s brain chemistry, which is why some people may experience anxiety and insomnia during withdrawal.
However, because of the increased potency of fentanyl, the fentanyl withdrawal timeline can begin faster than it might for other opioids. Fentanyl withdrawal symptoms will also happen more quickly and will be more severe in long-term fentanyl users.
Usually, withdrawal from opioid drug abuse is not fatal. But it can be extremely uncomfortable to quit using fentanyl alone. In some extreme cases, a person can suffer from severe dehydration and heart failure as a result of unsupervised detox from fentanyl. Overdose is also much more likely for individuals who have stopped fentanyl use and then begin using again.
Fentanyl Abuse Treatment
Fentanyl withdrawal symptoms can be hard to face alone. But with the support of the right addiction treatment center, you can begin a new sober life today.
Evidence-based fentanyl withdrawal treatment begins with a medical detox. Addiction treatment specialists monitor your withdrawal symptoms to help you avoid discomfort and safely break your cycle of substance abuse. It has also been proven that medical detox decreases the likelihood of relapse and increases a person’s potential for success in drug addiction treatment.
The detox can be completed in both an inpatient and outpatient program setting. The right level of treatment for you will be based on how long you’ve been struggling with fentanyl abuse and whether you’ve been in a substance abuse treatment program before.
Mental health services are also a crucial step in fentanyl addiction treatment. Group therapy and individual therapy options can help you manage any co-occurring mental health issues you might have on top of your struggle with fentanyl use. This step of treatment is also designed to help you better understand what in your life has led to your addictive behaviors and how you can successfully choose life without drug dependence in the future.
The Skypoint Recovery Difference
At Skypoint Recovery Ohio, we will help you escape the noise and chaos of your daily life so you can focus on your individual mental and physical needs. Our main goal of Skypoint Recovery substance abuse treatment is to help you experience all the benefits of sobriety and develop daily practices to help you choose a drug-free life. We guarantee you get the individualized treatment you need to reclaim your desired healthy life.
Contact Skypoint Recovery today to learn how we can best help support you on your journey toward rehabilitation.