I first paid attention to the word—FENTANYL—when a relative was often taken to the hospital with symptoms that resembled highly progressed rheumatoid arthritis and then sometimes placed in the ICU and seemed to languish there for days at a time. I heard periodically about this situation, but then was relieved to finally hear that the person had been released to go home and was doing better and had been “taken off” a drug that I thought was pronounced “F E N T N A W L.”
I later learned that it is pronounced, “F E N T A N Y L” and is a very, very potent drug when used in even tiny doses! And, I learned also that there are very valid medical uses for this drug but that the patients need to be very closely monitored!
Pharmaceutical or medical fentanyl is an old, wellunderstood synthetic opioid, made in licensed and regulated labs, and used every day to treat severe surgery or late cancer pain— administered through a shot, patch on the skin, or lozenge.
Illicit or “street” fentanyl is made in clandestine labs, not under medical conditions, and most associated with overdose deaths, and it is often sold as powder, pill, or nasal spray.
As time has passed, I have learned that, as a speaker said on the news one day, “Fentanyl is a Savior and a Scourge!” Some things I have read or heard follow. FENTANYL…..
1) is a Synthetic Opioid that is Potent and can be Lethal—Much confusing information abounds, some true, some sort of true, and some downright false and dangerous!
2) causes a mass number of, if not the majority of, United States overdoses! (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) (CDC) 3) Unintentional exposures to fentanyl do not cause overdoses, whether encountered in powder or pill form. Reputable toxicology reports state it is “HIGHLY UNLIKELY” that skin exposure to fentanyl powder or tablets would cause SIGNIFICANT OPIOID TOXICITY! *Fentanyl is not absorbed well by the skin; it must enter the bloodstream. It is very hard to get fentanyl into the human body without snorting it through the nose, injecting it with a needle, or directly drinking it!* Finally, health care workers would be “overdosing” often if the “absorbed through skin” scare were valid. Fentanyl does not easily vaporize. So, unintentionally breathing it in and overdosing is also not a need for alarm! 4) Just as a person cannot get nicotine into the bloodstream by touching it or rubbing it onto the skin, so also can a person not get fentanyl into the blood by touching it or rubbing it on! And, yes, there are nicotine patches and fentanyl patches, but fentanyl is not easily or quickly absorbed—and medical fentanyl must be “applied” over a course of hours.
5) What dose of fentanyl is “deadly?” A dose as small as 2 milligrams can kill an adult, but there is some dependency upon weight and height and past usage. No matter what, the high potency is what makes it so, so extremely dangerous!
6) When we hear reports that enough fentanyl has been taken from criminals in one year to kill all Americans, that is true, with the following additions: person’s size, weight, and past usage and how potent the doses captured are. So, ALL Americans do not have the same chance of dying from this drug, just as all Americans do not have the same chance of drowning!
7) Reports say Fentanyl is killing five Texans per day.
8) Reports say a Dallas couple’s son bought five Percocet pills (as sleeping pills) from an “online” seller and “died before he could climb into bed.”
9) A story emerged about a person who bought a “sleeping pill” (actually fentanyl) (not from a reputable source) and died with his first dose.
10) Aother story emerged about a stressed person who contacted an “old” dealer and sniffed what he thought was cocaine but turned out to be “deadly” pure fentanyl, according to his mourning mother.
11) is reported to be fifty times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine….. the amount equal to a few grains of salt or the tip of a pencil is considered a lethal dose!
12) six out of ten fentanyllaced ILLICIT prescription drugs contain lethal doses! It is not usually a “longterm” killer but an instant one!
13) is odorless and tasteless!
Naloxone (Narcan) if used correctly and quickly enough can reverse an opioid overdose for only thirty to ninety minutes…..BUT/ SO…..emergency care after Naloxone treatments needs to be sought immediately, even if it seems unnecessary at first!
Much/most illicit fentanyl is smuggled in from Mexico, too often by our own citizens, but it also reaches our citizens by commercial planes/jets, passenger and other boats, mail, big cargo ships, package delivery, drones, and “you name it.”
I am no expert or doctor, but the above information seems to be from valid sources. Take care and be wise, my friends!
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