Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid with intense side effects. Fentanyl side effects can cause serious harm, including a higher risk of an overdose and fentanyl addiction.
While the opioid medication can help some with severe, chronic pain, this substance is highly addictive due to its potency and accessibility. Let’s look at some of the common side effects of fentanyl use, the dangers of fentanyl dependency, and the warning signs of fentanyl misuse or abuse.
If you believe that you or someone you love is experiencing fentanyl addiction, help is available. To learn more about fentanyl addiction treatment in North Carolina, Tree House Recovery’s admissions team can help you today.
What Are the Uses of Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid prescribed for chronic severe pain or post-surgical pain management.1 This synthetic opioid is used because it takes a short amount of time to take effect, has minimal provocation of histamine release, and causes less nausea compared to morphine.
Because of its high potency, which is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, fentanyl poses a significant risk of addiction.2
The Risk of Fentanyl Misuse
While prescription fentanyl is used to manage severe pain, illicit fentanyl is synthetically produced in illegal labs and sold on the streets. The illegally manufactured opioid—often found in powder, liquid, or pressed pill form—carries a high risk of overdose.
According to the DEA, counterfeit fentanyl pills can contain anywhere from 0.02 to 5.1 milligrams, which is more than twice the lethal dose. Since there is no way to determine the exact dosage in a single pill, using illicit fentanyl poses an extreme overdose risk.1
However, the fentanyl crisis is mainly driven by dealers unknowingly mixing it with other substances like weed, heroin, and cocaine. Unfortunately, it is impossible to visually detect if a substance has been laced with fentanyl.
Fentanyl Side Effects
Fentanyl short-term and long-term side effects can occur after just one use, regardless of how it is taken—whether through transdermal patches, prescription pills, injections, snorting, or smoking.
Fentanyl side effects can include3:
- Constipation
- Nausea/feeling sick
- Stomach pain
- Feeling tired
- Vertigo/sensation of spinning
- Confusion
- Headaches
- Itching/skin rashes
More serious side effects, like muscle stiffness and signs of low blood pressure, occur in less than 1 in 100 people but require immediate medical attention. Call a doctor or 911 now if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.
One potential fentanyl effect is the development of opioid use disorder (OUD). Fentanyl addiction occurs when someone continues to use the drug despite its damaging effects on their health and life.
Is Fentanyl Overdose Possible?
There is a risk of overdose when using fentanyl. More than 36,000 people in the United States died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.1
Fentanyl overdose is a high risk of illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, as they often contain varying doses, some of which are potent enough to be fatal. However, fentanyl overdose can happen when fentanyl is taken as prescribed by a doctor.
What Are the Symptoms of Fentanyl Overdose?
The “opioid overdose triad” refers to three common signs of fentanyl overdose. These symptoms often appear when someone has used a toxic dose of opioids:
- Small pupils
- Slow or stopped breathing
- Decreased or loss of consciousness
Recognizing these signs of fentanyl overdose and acting quickly can save someone’s life and help them take the next step in their recovery.
Who Is at Risk?
Fentanyl is risky for people who are older than 65 and those with obstructive airway diseases (asthma), liver failure, those who are hypersensitive to or allergic to certain fillers in fentanyl, or low tolerance to opioids.
The substance poses an inherent health risk that could worsen a person’s existing condition because of its ability to depress the respiratory system, which can lead to decreased breathing and death.
As for people who are at risk for misusing fentanyl, studies have shown that younger people from low socio-economic backgrounds that frequently engage in illegal or underground activities are the primary users of illicit fentanyl.4
Even after fentanyl overdose, there is a desensitization and sense of immunity around risk of misusing the substance because of maladaptive strategies, like having naloxone available.4
If you or someone you love is experiencing side effects of fentanyl or are experiencing fentanyl addiction, help is available now. Contact your doctor or speak with our admission team to take the next steps toward a healthy and more fulfilling lifestyle.
Fentanyl Addiction Treatment in North Carolina
Side effects of fentanyl, including overdose, may happen after one use of the synthetic opioid. However, these effects could be part of an opioid addiction or other substance use disorders (SUD).
People experiencing an opioid addiction can benefit from medically supervised detox to manage the dangerous fentanyl withdrawal symptoms. Following the next levels of addiction treatment can address many of the mental and social effects of their addiction.
Fentanyl addiction treatment and opioid use disorder care may consist of:
- Detox
- Inpatient rehab
- Partial hospitalization rehab
- Intensive outpatient rehab
- Outpatient rehab
- Aftercare
To learn more about the different types of treatments for fentanyl addiction, visit our fentanyl addiction treatment page.
Find Fentanyl Rehab in Wilmington, NC
Tree House Recovery understands that addiction is a complex issue, and is here to help you or your loved one take their power back from addiction. Our addiction treatment and fentanyl rehab options are available to help you heal your mind, body, and spirit through holistic, evidence-based therapies.
Our admissions team can answer any questions you have about fentanyl rehab, and help you find the right treatment options to start your path toward recovery.
FAQs for Fentanyl Side Effects
Is Fentanyl an Opioid?
Yes, fentanyl is an opioid. Opioids are a class of drugs that act on opioid receptors to relieve pain. Fentanyl belongs to the same class as morphine and heroin.
What Is Potency?
Potency is the concentration or amount of a drug required to produce an effect. It does not indicate the drug’s overalleffectiveness in humans and cannot be measured in absolute terms.
What Is Stronger? (Fentanyl vs. Morphine vs. Heroin)
Fentanyl is stronger in potency than heroin, which is more potent than morphine.
While morphine and heroin are derived from the same plant, they differ in potency and effects. Heroin is a more potent opioid than morphine, which was a widely used prescription painkiller until the 1970s.
At the time, heroin was believed to be safer because it was injected rather than ingested. Many thought morphine addiction was caused by its taste rather than its effects.6 However, heroin’s higher potency ultimately made it even more addictive than morphine.
To develop a safer and more effective painkiller, scientists created fentanyl — a synthetic opioid designed in a lab using chemical structures similar to natural opioids.2
While fentanyl plays a crucial role in modern pain management, its high potency also carries significant risks, including addiction.
Sources
Facts about fentanyl. DEA. (n.d.). https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl#:~:text=Fentanyl%20is%20a%20synthetic%20opioid,about%20100%20times%20more%20potent.
- NIDA. 2021, June 1. Fentanyl DrugFacts. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/fentanyl/.
NHS. (2023, May 23). Side effects of fentanyl. NHS choices. https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/fentanyl/side-effects-of-fentanyl/.
Caponnetto, P., Triscari, S., Prezzavento, G. C., Farrugio, G., Farrauto, C., Lanzafame, S., Schilirò, G., Uccelli, E., Vitale, N. M., Fakhrou, A., Nagi, K., & Concerto, C. (2024, September 21). Exploring the psychological side of Fentanyl: A scoping review to disclose the psychosocial dimensions of illicitly manufactured fentanyl users: Published in Health Psychology Research. Health Psychology Research. https://healthpsychologyresearch.openmedicalpublishing.org/article/120958-exploring-the-psychological-side-of-fentanyl-a-scoping-review-to-disclose-the-psychosocial-dimensions-of-illicitly-manufactured-fentanyl-users.
Study reveals Fentanyl’s effects on the brain. Massachusetts General Hospital. (n.d.). https://www.massgeneral.org/news/press-release/study-reveals-fentanyl-effects-on-brain.
Vice, crime, and American law. DCL: Vice, Crime, and American Law. (2005). http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/m6/part2.asp.