If you or someone you love use fentanyl, you must know fentanyl addiction is no small matter. In fact, this drug is up to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is also up to 50 times more powerful than heroin. Although fentanyl serves a clear medical purpose under a doctor’s care, it also kills.
Fentanyl Overdose Death Counts Spiral Upward
Of the 50,000 drug overdoses in America during 2016, opioids caused 9,580. Two years prior, only a little over 5,000 opioid deaths occurred. This includes fentanyl deaths, with the drug leading to 540 percent more fatalities than in 2014.
Fentanyl’s death toll is rising. In 2016, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that fentanyl is responsible for the most significant increase in drug deaths, in comparison to all other drugs that the NIDA monitors.
Although fentanyl has caused problems for several decades, the drug is now used by heroin manufacturers to make their drug more addictive and profitable. Using fentanyl to cut heroin only makes heroin overdoses increase, too.
Where Fentanyl Is Found
Fentanyl does provide much-needed pain relief for people with cancer and other terminal diseases. It also relieves severe pain after surgery. The legally prescribed form of fentanyl goes under the brand names Sublimaze, Actiq, and Duragesic. Patients use fentanyl by lozenge, injectables or patches.
Those selling fentanyl illegally on the street package the doses under names like dance fever, China girl, China, murder, jackpot, TNT, apache, goodfellas, Tango and Cash, and fiend. In Georgia, a 100 mcg fentanyl pill costs only 10 dollars. Fake fentanyl provides a cheaper high with the same risks as a tablet, powder or blotter paper form of fentanyl.
Fentanyl Addiction
Fentanyl continues gaining popularity on the street. Government agencies list the drug as one of the most popular illicit substances on the market today. Fentanyl is stronger than heroin and morphine. It also delivers its high faster.
Fentanyl binds to your brain and body’s opiate receptors. These receptors signal pain, pleasure, and emotions. With this binding, you experience high dopamine levels. This makes you feel euphoric and highly relaxed.
It is your body’s reaction to fentanyl that makes it so highly addictive. Fentanyl addiction occurs because your brain desires the pleasure you feel when taking the drug. You first experience tolerance, where your body adapts to your dose and requires more to feel the same effects. Physical dependence follows, meaning you feel withdrawal effects when you do not use fentanyl.
Fentanyl addiction is a dangerous state. With every dose, you risk death. Trying to quit the drug makes you feel like you will die, pushing you back to another dose just to feel better. This is the trap of fentanyl addiction.
Treatment for Fentanyl Addiction
The only way out of fentanyl addiction is with treatment. This treatment begins at a quality detox center. With the help of these caring professionals, you get through withdrawal from fentanyl and into sobriety.
A licensed fentanyl detox center helps you gain comfort during withdrawal. This comfort lessens the effects of your withdrawal, such as intense pain all over your body, extreme anxiety, and lost appetite. Your caring addiction specialists also keep you safe, secure, well-nourished, hydrated and healthy throughout your detox. Having medical supervision throughout the process gives you peace of mind you cannot have at home.
Serenity House Detox & Recovery in Fort Lauderdale and Jupiter, Florida provides fentanyl and other drug and alcohol detox services. The Joint Commission accredits Serenity House Detox & Recovery for its high quality of treatment, services, facilities and client satisfaction. At Serenity House Detox & Recovery you also gain a variety of therapies needed to launch your recovery.
Programs and therapies at Serenity House Detox & Recovery include:
- A holistic approach to wellness
- Individual, group and family therapy
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Meditation therapy
- Relapse prevention education
If you or your loved one suffer addiction to fentanyl, your physical dependence on this killer drug ends at Serenity House Detox & Recovery. Call Serenity House Detox & Recovery now at 866-294-5306 for more information about available programs. You can gain freedom from fentanyl. You just need the right help from Serenity House Detox & Recovery.