Fentanyl Addiction, Side Effects, & Rehab Options
What Is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is an extremely strong synthetic (made in a lab) opioid. Fentanyl, which was created as a prescription medication, is also made and sold illegally.1 Illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) is gaining popularity as both a drug of use and as an adulterant added to other illicit drugs or counterfeit pills and has played a major role in the country’s opioid overdose epidemic.2
What Is Prescription Fentanyl Used For?
Prescription fentanyl is mainly utilized for the management of severe pain, such as pain associated with surgical procedures, or for chronic pain in patients who have become tolerant to alternative opioid painkillers.4
Fentanyl is sold and prescribed in several forms (e.g., lozenges, patches or injections) and under many brand names such as:5
- Duragesic.
- Sublimaze.
- Subsys.
- Actiq.
- Fentora.
Fentanyl Misuse
As a very powerful prescription opioid, fentanyl does have a high potential for misuse, which can mean:6
- Taking fentanyl in a way or dose other than prescribed.
- Taking someone else’s fentanyl.
- Taking fentanyl with the primary intention of getting high.
Prescription fentanyl may be diverted for illicit use by those seeking it for its euphoric effects, but the major growing problem in the U.S. is fentanyl and fentanyl analogues (chemicals that are structurally similar to fentanyl and have similar effects) that are manufactured illegally and then added to other street drugs such as heroin, meth, cocaine, or MDMA to increase their potency. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is also increasingly being found in counterfeit pills sold on the streets, such as counterfeit Xanax, OxyContin, and Adderall. Drug users with little to no tolerance for fentanyl who unknowingly use fentanyl-laced substances can easily overdose and die.5
Beginning in 2013, the U.S. began to see a steep rise in overdose deaths involving both prescription and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a trend that is not letting up. The rate of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2021 was 22 times the rate in 2013.1 Nearly 71,000 opioid overdoses in 2021 involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.1
How Long Does Fentanyl Stay in Your System?
Generally, fentanyl may be detected on urine tests for up to 3 days; however, detection times vary by test type and other factors.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid painkiller that is used to treat severe pain or postsurgical pain. It is between 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
Fentanyl is used in hospital settings as an injectable solution, but it may also be prescribed as an orally dissolving tablet, a spray, a transmucosal lozenge, or in extended-release transdermal patch formulations. But on the street, illicit fentanyl may be encountered as a powder, spiked on blotter paper, combined with or substituted for heroin, or sold as tablets that resemble other opioids.
How Long Fentanyl Shows Up on a Drug Test
Detection times vary; however, depending on the test, fentanyl may be detected in:
- Urine for up to 3 days.
- Blood for up to 48 hours.
- Hair for up to 3 months.
Saliva tests are not reliable detectors of fentanyl.
There is no way to tell exactly how long fentanyl will be detectable in your system. The only way to pass a drug test is to stop using drugs. Treatment can help. Give us a call to learn more about your options at 702-747-8264.
Factors That Impact How Long Fentanyl Stays in Your System
How long a drug will stay in a person’s system is impacted by its half-life (which will vary by the kind of drug and the specific form) and by how quickly a person metabolizes the drug.
Fentanyl Half-Life
A drug’s half-life is the period it takes for its concentration in the blood to drop by 50%. Fentanyl’s half-life can vary depending on how it is administered or misused.
- Intravenous fentanyl: The half-life is between 2 and 4 hours, depending on the size of the dose.
- Transdermal fentanyl: Often administered via patches, the half-life of the drug when taken in this manner is about 17 hours.
- Transmucosal fentanyl: When fentanyl is orally consumed, often in the form of lozenges, it has a half-life of anywhere from 5 to 14 hours, depending on the specific transmucosal formulation.
Fentanyl Metabolism
Drug metabolism refers to several biochemical alterations of drugs to facilitate their elimination from the body. Many variables can play into a person’s ability to metabolize a drug. These include:
- Age.
- Gender.
- Body mass.
- Body fat percentage.
- Hydration status.
- Liver function.
- Genetics.
How Do Drug Tests Detect Fentanyl?
- Urine test: Fentanyl is usually not tested on routine drug screenings. Fentanyl-specific toxicology must be specially requested. Studies have shown that fentanyl can show up in urine for up to 24 hours, but is not likely to be detectable beyond 72 hours. Norfentanyl, a metabolite of fentanyl that is produced as the body breaks down the drug, may be detectable for up to 96 hours on some tests.
- Blood test: One study of post-surgical blood measurements suggests that fentanyl may be detectable in the blood for 5-48 hours depending on the dose (2000 micrograms vs 5000 micrograms). Norfentanyl can remain in the blood for 4 hours.8
- Hair test: Hair tests can detect drugs such as fentanyl for up to 3 months.
- Saliva test: Even when fentanyl is consumed in lozenge form, it is difficult to detect in the saliva, so this type of drug test is unreliable.
Effects of Fentanyl
While a valuable medication for those with severe, chronic pain,1 fentanyl is extremely potent and may be misused by people who seek its euphoric effects. They may steal it, forge prescriptions, or get it through patients, physicians, and pharmacists.
In other cases, it may be inadvertently used as an adulterant of heroin. Much of the current fentanyl misuse and opioid overdose epidemic involves illegally manufactured fentanyl.
Fentanyl’s potency greatly increases the risk of drug overdose. It acts on areas of the brain that control breathing, which can lead to pronounced respiratory depression and death. People may not be aware that they are using fentanyl, since illicit forms of the drug are sometimes found mixed with heroin or cocaine.
Fentanyl Addiction Treatment in Nevada
If you’re misusing opioids, the likelihood of addiction or fatal overdose is very high. You can prevent overdosing on fentanyl by seeking treatment for opioid addiction.
If you or someone you care about are struggling with fentanyl or other drugs, call 702-747-8264 to learn more about our inpatient rehab in Las Vegas or outpatient rehab. Admissions navigators can help you start the admissions process today, explore ways to pay for rehab like using insurance to cover addiction treatment, or go over the different levels of rehab offered at Desert Hope.
What Is Prescription Fentanyl Used For?
Prescription fentanyl is mainly utilized for the management of severe pain, such as pain associated with surgical procedures, or for chronic pain in patients who have become tolerant to alternative opioid painkillers.4
Fentanyl is sold and prescribed in several forms (e.g., lozenges, patches or injections) and under many brand names such as:
- Duragesic.
- Sublimaze.
- Subsys.
- Actiq.
- Fentora.
Just a tiny amount of fentanyl is enough to cause a fatal overdose.3 An opioid overdose is a potentially fatal emergency that requires immediate medical attention. If you see someone experience the signs of an opioid overdose (below), call 911 immediately.
Signs of Fentanyl Overdose
Anyone who uses fentanyl, or who is close to someone who does, should be prepared for an emergency and made aware of the overdose symptoms, even if the fentanyl is being taken by prescription for legitimate medical reasons.
Signs of an opioid overdose include:
- Loss of consciousness.
- Pinpoint (very small) pupils.
- Slow, difficult, or stopped breathing.
- Choking or gurgling noises.
- Bluish or ashen tint to the skin (bluish in lighter skin and grayish/ashen in darker skin).
- Limp body.
- Slow or irregular pulse.
Knowing the fentanyl overdose signs and acting quickly may save someone’s life in the event of a fentanyl overdose.
What to Do if Someone Overdoses on Fentanyl
If you witness an opioid overdose, you should immediately:
- Call 911.
- Administer Narcan (naloxone) if it is available. Due to the high potency of fentanyl, multiple doses of naloxone, spaced 2 to 3 minutes apart may be needed.
- Support the patient’s breathing. Make sure their airway is clear, begin rescue breathing, and apply chest compressions.
- Roll the individual onto their side and bend their top knee to prevent them from choking on vomit.
- Wait for emergency responders to arrive. Medical support is still needed even if the patient becomes responsive after receiving naloxone.
If an individual is addicted to fentanyl, they are at an ever-present risk of overdose. The only way to truly prevent an overdose is to stop misusing fentanyl. It may seem impossible to stop when you’re living in active addiction, but treatment can work. With professional help, you can enter recovery and reduce your risk of overdose and other serious health complications associated with opioid misuse.
Narcan for Overdose
Narcan is an over-the-counter nasal spray containing naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdose, buying critical time for emergency services to arrive. Someone with little or no training can administer it and it will not affect someone who has not taken opioids.
Nevada’s Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act also provides legal protection for minor drug offenses to individuals who act to help someone in an overdose situation, for example by administering naloxone.10,11 This means that if you’ve been using drugs with someone and they overdose or you have small amounts of drugs or paraphernalia on you, you do not have to fear arrest for calling 911 while staying with the individual who overdosed.
Where Can I Get Narcan?
Naloxone is available in Nevada without a prescription. It may be sold at many pharmacies and retail stores.
Many community harm reduction programs, like needle exchanges, distribute Narcan for free. The National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC) provides a map with locations distributing naloxone and other resources.
Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl
Fentanyl is considered a prescription opioid, however much of the fentanyl sold illegally is manufactured in clandestine labs.
Any opioid—even when used for legitimate medical purposes—carries the risk of overdose. However, misusing opioids, especially illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) greatly increases the danger.12 IMF may be sold in several forms:
- IMF may be sold on the street in white powder form. It may also be added to other street drugs. In fact, one of the leading causes of overdose death in the last decade has been the addition of IMF to heroin. IMF powder has now begun to appear in other drugs users may not expect to contain opioids, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA.
- Liquid: IMF may be dropped onto blotter paper or put into nasal spray.
- Fake prescription pills: It is unlikely that a person will receive IMF instead of a prescription pill if their prescription is filled at a legitimate pharmacy. However, pills bought illegally may contain little to none of the medication advertised and may contain deadly amounts of fentanyl. IMF has been detected in many counterfeit prescription pills that are sold as other medications, such as opioid medications (e.g., oxycodone or hydrocodone) or benzodiazepines (e.g., Xanax).14,15 The DEA recently reported that 26% of counterfeit prescription pills seized and tested contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl (at least 2 milligrams).
While some people intentionally purchase fentanyl, many people who come into contact with the drug do so accidentally. Among people who purchase drugs on the black market, their accidental exposure to fentanyl often leads to overdose. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that cocaine was involved in nearly 22% of synthetic opioid overdoses in 2016.
Fentanyl Addiction Treatment in Las Vegas, NV
Fentanyl misuse is highly dangerous, but fentanyl addiction is treatable. Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), behavioral therapy, peer support, and other evidence-based interventions can help someone get sober and remain in long-term recovery.
If you or someone you care about are struggling with Fentanyl addiction, call 702-747-8264 to learn more about our inpatient rehab in Las Vegas or outpatient drug rehab. Admissions navigators can help you start the admissions process today, explore ways to pay for rehab like using insurance to cover addiction treatment, or go over the different levels of rehab offered at Desert Hope.
NOTE: It’s extremely important that if you witness an overdose, you call 911, even if administer naloxone. While naloxone will reverse overdose effects for 30-90 minutes, fentanyl will stay in the body for longer and the person may re-experience the effects of overdose if they don’t get medical help.
Effects & Dangers of Fentanyl Addiction
The epidemic of illicit fentanyl and street drugs laced with fentanyl poses dangerous and potentially life-threatening risks. By itself, illicit fentanyl can pose serious health risks, and these can be increased if a person also uses other substances along with fentanyl.
Keep reading to learn more about fentanyl effects, including the impact of different routes of administration, other fentanyl risks and risks associated with fentanyl-laced drugs, and how to find treatment.
Effects of Fentanyl Use
Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine. Its potency carries numerous fentanyl health risks, including increased addiction potential.
Immediate fentanyl side effects include:
- Drowsiness.
- Confusion.
- Profound sedation.
- Nausea.
- Constipation.
- Breathing difficulties.
- Loss of consciousness.
Fentanyl is most often used in combination with other drugs, like heroin, and may be smoked, snorted, or injected. These routes of use carry their own health risks.
Smoking Fentanyl Effects
People may smoke fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs because they feel it is safer than injecting the drug5 and provides a more rapid onset of the short-term effects of fentanyl and/or the substances it is mixed with.4 Smoking fentanyl, or substances laced with fentanyl, is associated with numerous pulmonary effects as well as other adverse health effects.
The risks of smoking fentanyl-laced drugs include:
- Respiratory illness.
- Lung damage.
- Airway complications, such as pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum.
- Opioid-induced spongiform leukoencephalopathy, a rare neurological condition.
- Pulmonary bullous changes, resulting in lung damage.
- Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs.
- Pulmonary hemorrhage.
- Depressed immunity.
- An increased risk of developing infectious diseases.
- Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, a rare condition causing hemoptysis, acute anemia, diffuse lung infiltration, and acute respiratory failure.
Snorting Fentanyl Effects
Someone may inadvertently snort fentanyl when they are using a drug like cocaine that is laced with fentanyl. Additionally, people may use fentanyl and/or fentanyl-laced drugs intranasally because it can produce a quicker onset of effects, but this method of use is also associated with several fentanyl health risks.
The dangers of snorting fentanyl can include:
- Respiratory arrest.
- Coma.
- An increased risk of addiction.
- Perforated septum.
- Nasal tissue damage and necrosis, or tissue death.
- Sinus necrosis.
- Soft palate necrosis.
- Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema.
- Pulmonary hemorrhage.
- Depressed immunity.
Injecting Fentanyl Effects
Injecting fentanyl means people use it intravenously or via a method known as skin popping, where a person injects the drug subcutaneously (just below the skin). These methods of use are associated with numerous fentanyl dangers.
The risks of injecting fentanyl include:
- Respiratory arrest.
- Coma.
- An increased risk of addiction.
- Risk of infectious diseases like HIV or hepatitis B and C.
- An increased risk of overdose.
- Abscesses.
- Endocarditis, or inflammation of the lining of the heart.
- Septic emboli, a type of embolism that is infected with bacteria.
- Vocal cord paralysis.
- Muscle rigidity.
- Granulomatous changes.
- Necrotizing fasciitis, a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection.
Other Risks of Fentanyl Use
The primary fentanyl dangers and long-term effects of fentanyl are dependence, addiction, and an increased risk of overdose.
When someone is dependent on a substance, their body has adapted to the presence of the drug and needs it to feel or function normally. When use is abruptly slowed or stopped, withdrawal symptoms emerge.
Addiction is marked by the continued compulsive use of a substance despite adverse consequences. Fentanyl addiction is diagnosed as an opioid use disorder (OUD).9 People with OUD continue to use opioids like fentanyl despite the negative consequences.
Fentanyl Overdose
A fentanyl overdose is a potentially life-threatening emergency.
Someone who is overdosing may display the following signs:
- Unconsciousness or inability to awaken.
- Slow or shallow breathing or difficulty breathing such as choking sounds or a gurgling/snoring noise from someone who cannot be awakened.
- Fingernails or lips turning blue/purple.
- Pinpointed pupils or pupils that don’t react to light.
If you suspect that someone is overdosing, you should:
- Call 911 right away, making sure to following their instructions.
- Try to wake the person up by calling their name or rubbing your knuckles on their upper lip or chest.
- Administer naloxone (Narcan, Klaxxado), if you have access to it.
- Put the person in the recovery position (on their side with their top leg bent).
- Do not leave the person alone. Wait for emergency medical services to arrive.
Risks of Fentanyl-Laced Drugs
Fentanyl is increasingly mixed with other street drugs, often unbeknownst to the user, which can increase the risk of potentially fatal overdose because people may be using a much more potent opioid than they are used to.
Polysubstance use can occur when people intentionally mix fentanyl with other substances, or unintentionally use it, such as when they don’t know they are using a substance that is laced with fentanyl. When someone uses fentanyl in combination with other substances, such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methamphetamine, or prescription opioids, it is particularly hazardous because it can increase the risk of overdose and death.
Dangers of Heroin Cut with Fentanyl
Fentanyl is often found as an adulterant in other illegal drugs because it is cheap and easy to produce. About 500,000 counterfeit pills can be manufactured from a kilogram of fentanyl, and synthesizing this drug is not difficult for clandestine laboratories.
It has been recently mixed into heroin or cocaine, or sometimes sold instead of heroin. Since fentanyl has a higher potency than heroin, it greatly increases the risk of overdose for users who are unaware that their dose contains the drug.
People who struggle with heroin addiction and consume fentanyl instead of heroin are likely to take more fentanyl because they think they are taking heroin, and this can be deadly.
Fentanyl overdoses have increased over time. There were 730 deaths involving synthetic opioids (a category that is mostly fentanyl) in 1999. By 2015, that number had risen to 9,580. Between 2016 and 2017, overdose deaths rose from 19,413 to 29,406 (provisional number).
In 2016, 44% of the more than 1,300 overdose deaths in New York City involved fentanyl, and 37% of total overdose deaths involved cocaine and fentanyl without heroin, which was an 11% increase from 2015.5
China is a major source of illicit fentanyl. The country began to regulate fentanyl and its derivatives after pressure from the U.S. But regulation is difficult. Labs evade authorities by listing fake addresses, and chemists can make modifications to the drugs that mean they are no longer one of the compounds listed as scheduled drugs.
Fentanyl Withdrawal
People who use fentanyl chronically will likely develop a physiological dependence, meaning they will suffer uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms when they attempt to quit or reduce their use. Fentanyl withdrawal symptoms include:
- Bone and muscle pain.
- Shivering and goosebumps.
- Restless legs.
- Insomnia and/or poor sleep.
- Diarrhea.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Strong opioid cravings.
Fentanyl Addiction Signs
Someone who has lost control of their fentanyl use may exhibit the signs of an opioid use disorder, which include:15
- Using opioids in higher amounts or for longer than intended.
- Trying and failing to quit or cut back on opioids.
- Spending a large percentage of one’s time in obtaining, using, or recovering from opioids.
- Failing to attend to one’s personal obligations at home, school or work due to opioid use.
- Cravings for opioids.
- Giving up important activities and hobbies in favor of opioid use.
- Using opioids when doing so can be physically dangerous, such as before using heavy machines or prior to getting behind the wheel.
- Continuing to use opioids even when it is clearly causing or worsening social/relationship problems or physical or psychological heath issues.
- Needing more opioids to feel their effects.
- Having to take opioids to avoid withdrawal or feeling withdrawal symptoms upon cutting back.
All of these are representative of a compulsion to use opioids despite the resulting harm. Without treatment, consequences of this compulsive may continue to grow in severity. Fortunately, treatment for opioid use disorder is effective, and it has helped many people recover from addiction.15
Fentanyl Addiction Treatment in Las Vegas, NV
Recovery from fentanyl addiction is possible through evidence-based addiction treatment. This often entails behavioral therapy, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), peer support, and more.16
At Desert Hope, we offer multiple levels of addiction treatment including:
- Medical detox.
- Residential treatment.
- Partial hospitalization program (PHP).
- Intensive outpatient program (IOP).
- Standard outpatient treatment.
- Sober living.
We can talk you through your recovery options when you call us at . We can also help you instantly check your insurance benefits with our quick online benefits check.