Fentanyl Addiction Treatment in Texas

To understand the seriousness of fentanyl addiction, it’s important to know how it’s used. When opioids are abused, the way in which they’re taken is part of the reason they’re so effective. It’s essential to understand how it impacts the brain and physical body.

Fentanyl is sold as a powder, in slow-release patches, tablets, blotting papers, and as a liquid mixed with heroin. It can be injected, smoked, swallowed, or absorbed on the tongue. These opioids are designed to be absorbed through delicate and permeable mucous membranes and fatty tissues, allowing for rapid action.

Production of fentanyl is done in labs all over the world and is considered highly accessible. Although fentanyl is in the same family as other opioids, including morphine, oxycodone, heroin, hydrocodone, and codeine, there is an increasing issue in the drug-trafficking department that suggests what people are buying from drug dealers is actually fentanyl in disguise. What they believe to be basic prescription drugs or injectable heroin are actually the much more potent fentanyl. Users handle the drug as if it were heroin and don’t realize that they’re not dosing at all correctly.

Fentanyl can quickly suppress the body’s ability to breathe, leading to life-threatening respiratory depression and, in many cases, even death. Common signs of a fentanyl overdose include constricted pupils, clammy skin, and dangerously slowed or stopped breathing.

There is a big problem with street drugs sold to addicts with opioid addiction, because the composition of these pills is not standard across all manufacturers. Because of this unpredictability, using fentanyl test strips can be a valuable harm reduction tool to help detect the presence of fentanyl in street drugs.

The presence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply (often mixed with heroin or other drugs) has fueled a surge in overdose deaths involving fentanyl. Naloxone, a life-saving opioid antagonist, can reverse the effects of a fentanyl overdose if administered promptly, but the rapid onset of symptoms makes timely intervention critical. Overdose deaths involving fentanyl have reached unprecedented levels, underscoring the urgent need for prevention and public awareness about the risks of opioid use.

If you have experienced the effects of an opioid painkiller, especially in a hospital setting, you can understand why people would use this drug to reduce pain. There are other ways to reduce chronic pain that don’t involve highly addictive drugs. But it can take time to develop a comprehensive pain management plan, and it’s much easier to take a single substance that can directly address pain. Fentanyl is often used for pain relief when few other remedies have proven effective, and was at times considered a miracle drug for people living with chronic body pain.

Discontinuing use of opioids (especially fentanyl) can be incredibly difficult, due to the intense withdrawal experience that comes with these drugs’ ability to address pain within the body directly. Many people who wish to quit opioid use may keep using them to some extent merely to keep withdrawal symptoms manageable.

This is why treatment centers like Cypress Lake Recovery offer medically assisted detox to provide support during withdrawal symptoms. People struggling to detoxify from opioids will receive support and immediate medical support whenever necessary. This helps the people avoid the immediate negative effects of detoxification and not be tempted to return to drug use to feel better.

If you or someone you care for is addicted to opioids like fentanyl, call Cypress Lake Recovery today to learn more about our addiction treatments. We’ll create an addiction treatment plan that will help them stick to the path of recovery while still taking their health conditions into account.

Addiction to fentanyl can start in many different ways. Opioid addiction can sometimes occur after a surgery where opioids are prescribed for healing. People can become addicted to opioids without even realizing it.

This is where a friend or family member may become concerned, especially if they notice any signs and symptoms. Addiction opioids can spiral out of control very quickly, and it’s essential to be there to help if there is suspicion that someone may be becoming addicted to opioids.