Killer drug Fentanyl

A DRUG YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF IS KILLING THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS A YEAR.There is a post that states PRINCE could have died from an overdose of FENTANYL. I was not aware of this OPIATE until i read an article on this death drug.

If you want to understand how bad the opiate epidemic in America has become, look no further than New Hampshire. Presidential candidates are crisscrossing the Granite State and being inundated with questions about addiction and overdoses. For voters in the nation’s first primary election, KILLER NARCOTICS ARE THE NO. 1 CONCERN, above the economy or education.

351 people overdosed fatally on opiates last year in New Hampshire, according to data provided to Fusion by the state’s medical examiner. Twenty-eight of those victims overdosed on heroin but fentanyl was a factor in 253 of the deaths.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin. It’s so potent that an amount the size of three grains of sugar is lethal to an adult.

Well, they say you learn something new every day, so true. Drug traffickers in Mexico started mixing Fentanyl into their heroin before it is shipped across the border into the USA. It is also available in USA by prescription to treat severe cancer patients.interactive.fusion.net...


Mod Edit: All Caps – Please Review This Link.

a reply to: tommo39

Fentanyl very commonly causes overdoses in addicts who think they are buying "heroin" but it's been cut with this synthetic which is way, way more powerful.


I've been personally affected by this, losing a cousin before she was even age 22..

Fentanyl Laced Heroin Worsening Overdose Crisis, Officials Say
www.drugfree.org...

Here's a drug you have heard of: Heroin.

Currently and recently described in the great state of Pennsylvania as an epedimic. Leading cause of death behind ....ugg it escapes me. :/

What pisses me off is, I lost 3 old (party days) friends this year to over dose. All mid-30's and apparently hadn't really changed much since those party days. I know two family members struggling and recently another in-law having the same.

To me, even though I live in the state facing an epedimic, I can't help but correlate this to the dramatic resurrection of poppies production in Afghanistan, post US invasion. Coincidence? Doubt it.

Hope you #ers are at least filling your black budget coffers.

They also give it to people in hospice to "make them comfortable" which is a code word for "suffocate them".

Opiates make it harder to breathe, and if you are weak and dying already, a big enough dose can put you over the edge.

Either you suffocate or just OD. Either way, they use little strips of fentanyl (they look like breath strips). If you know your pharmacology you'd instantly realize what hospice was doing based on the dosages given to those old elderly people.

I remember being in the hospital on morphine and my blood-oxygen level kept dropping to low because my breathing was to shallow. That damned alarm kept beeping every 5 minutes and would wake me up. I was literally in tears after about 18 hours of no sleep and constant beeping.

I can see how sleep deprivation could be a powerful interrogation tool now.

What gets me is that it's 2016. We can't make a drug that targets the opiod receptors but doesn't get you high or cause an addictive cascade effect? Seriously? We custom-tailor all kinds of drugs to fit and stimulate certain receptors and inhibit others...

And yet we can't make a pain killer that only blocks pain without any other side effects?

Really?

Seriously?

We can manufacture DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) inside of people to make them hungry or not hungry ... and we can't make a safe pain medication.

I hate society sometimes. Please for the love of GOD put me in charge of the world for a week.

a reply to: tommo39

Man, this stuff is no joke. Fentanyl being cut into heroin is one of the most common reasons for overdose these days. If someone ever says, "hey only do half of this", you better damn well listen. Really sad stuff man, I've seen it with my own eyes. Don't do heroin, kids.

That's interesting, you usually see it in the culture before hitting the mainstream.

Meth is popular when times are good, heroine spikes when times are bad.

Though I think this is a bit artificially influenced as of recent, with doctors handing out hardcore opiates when they really shouldn't.

a reply to: Rosinitiate

Shame on you, as a Pennsylvanian by birth I thought everyone from there knew it was a COMMONWEALTH, and not a state , according to their own constitution. Sorry for your losses though.

originally posted by: Arizonaguy
a reply to: Rosinitiate

Shame on you, as a Pennsylvanian by birth I thought everyone from there knew it was a COMMONWEALTH, and not a state , according to their own constitution. Sorry for your losses though.

Semantics....and it's Commonwealth position is both a blessing and a curse, being someone who lived here over 7/8's their life. Born Cali bro. thanks for the condolences.

Fentanyl is a great med. You just shouldn't do it on the street, like propofol.

Sufentanil is a lot stronger.

a reply to: tommo39

About 12 years ago my friends and I used to get fentanyl lollipops. They tasted like cherry and made you feel amazing. Luckily, we didn't mess with opiates that much so we never got addicted. But even with my naive outlook at the time it was clear as day to me that these lollipops were deliberately on the market to get people hooked.

As the years went by I started seeing more and more Hispanic illegal immigrant workers with those lollipops in their mouths everywhere. On the bus, at bars, even out with their kids. They would get injured on a job and their boss would just distribute fentanyl in lieu of any medical attention.

It sucks to say but I absolutely believe the heroin epidemic today was directly bc of big pharma irresponsibly fllooding the prescription market with oxycontin and fentanyl. 100%

originally posted by: Sourcery
a reply to: tommo39

Man, this stuff is no joke. Fentanyl being cut into heroin is one of the most common reasons for overdose these days. If someone ever says, "hey only do half of this", you better damn well listen. Really sad stuff man, I've seen it with my own eyes. Don't do heroin, kids.

but heroin isnt the problem its the unregulted dosses that kill people. so why not just supply to people proper regulated dosses? make it legal control it and save lives. people will always use drugs there is no stopping that.

a reply to: Zen64

If you think Heroin isn't a problem, you are sadly and truly well mistaken. Yes, I would agree that controlling doses will save peoples lives, and it does. Sweden has clinics that gives out doses to people. BUT being addicted to heroin is no way to live a life, period. In addition to giving out doses to people, they also provide options for treatment, and getting rid of the habit.

My wife has been on Fentanyl for two years now. Her pain specialist told us that it is the strongest opiate there is. This is not something you take for a minor boo-boo. This is something that no Dr should prescribe unless you have been on morphine for a while and it is no longer controlling your pain. Sad thing is it barely puts a dent in her pain, mostly nerve pain from a very bad back injury.

I am not sure of all the different ways it is made but she gets hers in a transdermal patch that lasts roughly 72 hours like a Nicotine patch.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
They also give it to people in hospice to "make them comfortable" which is a code word for "suffocate them".

Opiates make it harder to breathe, and if you are weak and dying already, a big enough dose can put you over the edge.

I'm not sure where you live or how Hospice operates there as laws and palliative options vary from state to state, but my wife is a hospice case manager who oversees several patients and Fentanyl isn't used very often if at all for end of life palliative. They typically use Roxanol, which is a liquid morphine delivered orally, in conjunction with various pills ranging from hydrocodone to oxycodone and dilaudid. It's easier to give to patients with swallowing problems which are common with a whole host of oral and brain cancers. It also works quicker than a Fentanyl patch or oral strip. Granted, the medication prescribed is entirely dependent on the oncologist or general practitioner overseeing the patient. One thing I can say with a great deal of certainty in my area is that dosages and patient condition are very closely monitored to assure that nobody is playing Dr. Death and none of her patients are being given doses high enough to suffocate them or slow their respiration to a point where it will lead to the patients death prematurely as silly as that sounds.

you suffocate or just OD. Either way, they use little strips of fentanyl (they look like breath strips). If you know your pharmacology you'd instantly realize what hospice was doing based on the dosages given to those old elderly people.

Something important to note is that while you are certainly correct that opiates slow respiration down, morphine is often used on patients who have labored breathing as it relaxes the diaghragm enough for the patient to breath normally and at a more regular pace. It may seem contraindicative but this is a legitimate use and it does in fact work, allows the patient to breath normally and makes them more comfortable and less stressed.

remember being in the hospital on morphine and my blood-oxygen level kept dropping to low because my breathing was to shallow. That damned alarm kept beeping every 5 minutes and would wake me up. I was literally in tears after about 18 hours of no sleep and constant beeping.

I can see how sleep deprivation could be a powerful interrogation tool now.

A big difference between you in the hospital and a hospice patient is that in the majority of hospice patients, they have been on opiates for months and in some cases, years and a dose that would send you into respiratory distress wouldn't touch them and a dose that would kill you would barely touch someone who has over a period of time developed a high tolerance. A personal anecdote, I was hurt during my stint in the Army and have been on and off pain meds for the better part of 2 decades, have just had my hip replaced and need at least 2 spinal surgeries.At one point I was taking 200 mg/day of morphine and another 60 mg of percocet for breakthrough pain. On this amount of medication, I was walking around stone cold sober and more often than not, that level of medication didn't put a dent in my pain. Fast forward a little and I decided to come off of all of my medication(which in and of itself is a heinous process). After a couple of months of living with the pain I had over did it and through the course of basic yard work had wrecked my back pretty badly and was in an insane amount of pain. I had some of my prescriptions left and without thinking, reached for a morphine pill which was a 12 hour controlled release. it took about an hour to start kicking in and then for the next 15 hours I was a drooling zombie who could barely lift their head. The difference in 3 months was massive and had I taken anything else I might have OD'd because my tolerance was non existent when a few months prior I could have driven a car on the same dose with percocet thrown on top like a garnish.

I don't doubt that some Hospices operate the way you describe, but definitely not all of them. Some of them are trying to make the patient as comfortable as possible and allow them to spend their final days in their own home instead of a clinical institution reeking of disinfectant and bodily fluids.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

artificially influenced as of recent, with doctors handing out hardcore opiates when they really shouldn't.

They are well-incentivized by big pharm legal drug dealers, with protection from the law!

a reply to: peter vlar

I'd rather have a DNR or assisted suicide than languish around, drooling on myself with glassy eyes in an opiate induced stupor during my final days. I'd rather face death on my own terms of engagement.

I don't ever want my family members to see me like that, even if I'm not in pain -- I'm certainly not "there" in any sense of the word.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: peter vlar

I'd rather have a DNR or assisted suicide than languish around, drooling on myself with glassy eyes in an opiate induced stupor during my final days. I'd rather face death on my own terms of engagement.

I don't ever want my family members to see me like that, even if I'm not in pain -- I'm certainly not "there" in any sense of the word.

I wholeheartedly agree. Some of the stories my wife has told me, especially concerning elderly couple who have been together for longer than Uve drawn breath where the spouse who isn't on hospice goes to the most ungodly extremes in order to prolong the patients ability to draw breath(because at that point you're not alive, you merely exist) because they just don't know how to let their suffering loved one go. I consider myself very lucky that as a result of her experiences working for Hospice, she has agreed that if I ever get to that point I am to be allowed to decide when enough is enough, say my goodbyes, make my peace with the world and go out on my own terms. And if something occurs that prohibits me from making that choice on my own, I have a DNR in place and she knows what to do to keep whatever husk of a man exists from dwelling in that grey area. And I trust that she will follow my wishes.

My grandmother took a similar route. Found out she had pancreatic cancer and said F# it, I've had a good run. She told almost nobody that she was sick, and when the cancer spread to her kidneys and she needed dialysis to survive, she said the hell with that because all it was going to do was prolong the agony for another 4-6 months. She stopped treatment and while death from renal failure wasn't the most peaceful way to go, it was her choice and that's how she wanted it. I think everyone should have that option.

Between you and I, my opinion is that hospice, in many cases, does the job of keeping the family more comfortable and accepting of what is to come than the actual patient. The really awful ones are when she gets kids and teenagers. She had a 20 year old girl a couple of years back who had bone cancer and had a leg amputated to save her life at 14. At 19 the cancer came back and there wasn't anything they could do but slow its progression slightly. Her only wish was to marry her boyfriend. My wife managed to pull off a pretty amazing wedding for this girl and a ton of local businesses stepped up and donated almost everything this girl needed. Gown, banquet hall, catering, cake... You name it someone probably donated it. It was one of the last times the poor girl was in public. Like happens to many people before they pass away, a few days before hand she got a huge burst of energy, felt really great and wanted to take a walk, eat Ine real food and catch a movie. She didn't understand that it was her neurons firing on all cylinders as her systems were beginning to shut down. She took her walk and she even got some food. She never made it to the movie though. She collapsed walking across the street and was admitted to the hospital and never left. My wife burned the candle at both ends to try to do everything she could to keep this kid comfortable and positive in a scenario where they all knew she had very little time left and all the kid wanted to do was time able to die aT home, with her husband and family at her side. In the end she died in a clinical, institutional setting reekin of al the awful scents floating around every hospital.

I'm not going down like that. I would never in a million years want my wife's job. She's still got some humanity left and she gets attached to some of these patients and a little piece of her dies everytime one of them does.

Fentanyl

According to wiki is

“ ...is approximately 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and roughly 40 to 50 times more potent than pharmaceutical grade (100% pure) heroin.[13][14]

Good God almighty, thank God we didn't have this back in the day...I wouldn't be here!


That's too powerful

I wonder how prince was taking it

Funny story somewhat related

Just to illustrate how powerful these drugs are:

Years ago I was coming home from the dentist after a root canal and stooped at a drug store and got the prescription filled that the dentists gave me. And while ridding home took a pill.

After about 10 minutes I was feeling pretty dam good all of a sudden and didn’t connect it at all to the pill I just popped.

I thought I had entered Paradise. I’m riding down the street, whistling, singing...I mean I FELT GOOD! And finally realized that the doctor must have prescribed me something pretty powerful


I looked and it was Percodan…a drug at the time I was unfamiliar with.


I never took it again


These drugs also are too powerful