Fentanyl addiction can develop within weeks. Because of its extreme potency, the gap between first use and severe addiction is often shorter than with other opioids. Here are the 10 key warning signs.
Needing progressively higher doses. Due to fentanyl's potency, tolerance can escalate to doses lethal to non-users within months.
Using fentanyl not to get high but to feel normal, to prevent the devastating withdrawal symptoms that begin hours after the last dose.
Sincere efforts to quit that fail, often because withdrawal is too severe without medical support.
Visiting multiple physicians for prescriptions, or purchasing fentanyl illegally, often counterfeit pills containing illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF).
Continuing use even after personal overdose experiences or witnessing overdoses in others, a sign of severe compulsive use.
Significant money problems from purchasing illicit fentanyl, which is expensive. May involve borrowing, theft, or selling possessions.
Concealing the extent of use from family, friends, and physicians. Behavioral secrecy, unexplained absences, locked rooms.
Withdrawal from family, friends, and prior social connections. Gravitating toward others who use. Abandonment of former interests.
Job loss, academic failure, parenting neglect, and abandonment of personal obligations as fentanyl becomes the primary priority.
Pinpoint pupils, extreme sedation, slowed breathing, significant weight loss, poor hygiene, and repeated emergency room visits.
Physical dependence within days to weeks of regular use. Psychological addiction within weeks to months. The extreme potency makes the window to severe addiction shorter than other opioids.
Slow/stopped breathing, blue lips, gurgling sounds, unresponsive to stimulation. Call 911 immediately and give naloxone. Multiple doses may be needed for fentanyl.
Yes. Long-term therapeutic use creates physical dependence and can create addiction. Work with a physician rather than stopping abruptly.
Get naloxone now. Call SAMHSA's helpline (1-800-662-4357). Have a compassionate conversation. Compassionate consistency, not enabling or ultimatums, is most effective.
As Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) using DSM-5 criteria. 6+ of 11 criteria = severe. A physician or addiction specialist conducts the assessment.
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