Drug Fentanyl in Birmingham Alabama

The drug fentanyl belongs to the most powerful opioid painkiller group in the world. It is also about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Doctors prescribe fentanyl to treat patients experiencing severe pain or to cope with pain after surgery.

Fentanyl comes in different types like nasal spray, lozenges, tablets and transdermal patches. During operation, doctors use the IV form of fentanyl to eleviate pain.

Branded Market Names

Market brand names of fentanyl sold as Actiq®, Duragesic®, and Sublimaze®.

Street names For Fentanyl

Apache
China girl,
Dance Fever,
Goodfella,
Jackpot
Murder 8.

History of Fentanyl

In 1959, Paul Janssen first developed fentanyl from the structural analogs of pethidine or Demerol. The drug was patented under Janssen’s pharmaceutical company, Janssen Pharmaceutica.

A combination of fentanyl and citric acid called Sublimaze made its way during the 1960s. Sublimaze is the intravenous anesthetic form of fentanyl. Soon after, pharmaceutical companies created several drugs patterned from fentanyl analogs like alfentanil, lofentanil, remifentanil and sufentanil.

How Fentanyl is abused

Because of the powerful effects of fentanyl, it becomes as the most abused prescription in the US. Fentanyl is included to the list of recreational drugs, which caused deaths to thousands of people from 2000 to 2017 because of overdose. Fentanyl deaths amount to 1,000 deaths in the US for the years 2005 to 2007, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration of DEA.

The availability and the cheap cost of fentanyl make it accessible to abuse the drug. Also, the effect of fentanyl to the user is shorter than heroin. Uncontrolled medication and the effects of fentanyl created a deeper craving for the user.

Opioids such as fentanyl affect the body’s receptor that controls emotion and pain, based on the study of NIH. The drug offers relaxation and a state of euphoria which makes it susceptible to abuse. Users seek this experience time and again.

Furthermore, the hospital uses fentanyl regularly and people have can easily buy the drug. In a study of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Journal or AANA, nurses and anesthesiologist develop an increased chance of the substance abuse. One main reason is that these medical practitioners have an easier access to the drug. Patients can also develop a dependency on fentanyl because doctors prescribed the drug easily.

Signs of fentanyl addiction:

Depression

Dry mouth

Fainting

Headache

Hallucinations

Itching, scratching or hives

Loss of appetite

Muscle Stiffness

Nausea and vomiting

Severe constipation

Shaking

Sleepiness

Strain breathing

Slurred speech

Suppressed breathing

Sweating

Troubled walking

Weight loss

Long term abuse of fentanyl can cause severe complication in both physical and mental health. The signs and symptoms include:

Physical effects of fentanyl

weakened immune system

severe gastrointestinal problems (bowel obstruction and perforation)

seizures

Effects of fentanyl on the mental well-being

lack of motivation/ decreased pleasure in activities

personality changes

socially isolated

paranoia

In serious cases, fentanyl addiction can cause respiratory problems, coma, and death. Substance abuse needs to be addressed immediately.

Treatment for Fentanyl

Detox

Detox is the first step of a long-term treatment and usual take several days. Detoxification process involves the flushing out of all fentanyl traces from the body. Patients who undergo detox may experience withdrawal symptoms. Fentanyl, as a powerful opioid affects several body systems and detox process can be difficult. Call us to get help for fentanyl detox and rehab.

Since withdrawal symptoms can cause severe distress to the patient, health care center may prescribe medication to ease the discomfort. The medication can also shorten the time for the detox process.

As a powerful opioid fentanyl withdrawal symptoms may include:

abdominal pain

anxiety

diarrhea

insomnia

muscle cramps/pain

excessive sweating

Rehabilitation

Health care specialist will assess the source of the substance abuse and the patient’s physical and mental health issues. They can also identify the best course of treatment. Honesty plays a vital role in the assessment as well as in the recovery.

After the initial assessment and detox process, the patient will begin the proper addiction treatment for fentanyl. The treatment program can last for 30, 60, 90 and in some instances 180 days. Health care specialist may also recommend longer treatment process because of the powerful opioid properties of fentanyl. This treatment will make the most of the support and care the patient need for their overall recovery.

About Birmingham

Birmingham ( BUR-ming-ham) is a city in the north central region of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2022 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 196,910, down 2% from the 2020 census, making it Alabama's third-most populous city after Huntsville and Montgomery. The broader Birmingham metropolitan area had a 2020 population of 1,115,289, and is the largest metropolitan area in Alabama as well as the 50th-most populous in the United States. Birmingham serves as an important regional hub and is associated with the Deep South, Piedmont, and Appalachian regions of the nation. Birmingham was founded in 1871, during the post–Civil War Reconstruction period, through the merger of three pre-existing farm towns, notably, Elyton. It grew from there, annexing many more of its smaller neighbors, into an industrial and railroad transportation center with a focus on mining, the iron and steel industry, and railroading. Birmingham was named after Birmingham, England, one of the UK's major industrial cities. Most of the original settlers who founded Birmingham were of English ancestry. The city may have been planned as a place where cheap, non-unionized, and often African-American labor from rural Alabama could be employed in the city's steel mills and blast furnaces, giving it a competitive advantage over industrial cities in the Midwest and Northeast. From its founding through the end of the 1960s, Birmingham was a primary industrial center of the South. The pace of Birmingham's growth during the period from 1881 through 1920 earned its nicknames The Magic City and The Pittsburgh of the South. Much like Pittsburgh, Birmingham's major industries were iron and steel production, plus a major component of the railroading industry, where rails and railroad cars were both manufactured in Birmingham. In the field of railroading, the two primary hubs of railroading in the Deep South were nearby Atlanta and Birmingham, beginning in the 1860s and continuing through to the present day. The economy diversified during the later half of the twentieth century. Though the manufacturing industry maintains a strong presence in Birmingham, other businesses and industries such as banking, telecommunications, transportation, electrical power transmission, medical care, college education, and insurance have risen in stature. Mining in the Birmingham area is no longer a major industry with the exception of coal mining. Birmingham ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States and is also one of the largest banking centers in the United States. In addition, the Birmingham area serves as headquarters to two Fortune 500 companies: Regions Financial and Vulcan Materials Company, along with multiple other Fortune 1000 companies. In higher education, Birmingham has been the location of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine (formerly the Medical College of Alabama) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry since 1947. In 1969 the University of Alabama at Birmingham was established, one of three main campuses of the University of Alabama System. Birmingham is also home to three private institutions: Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College, and Miles College. Between these colleges and universities, the Birmingham area has major colleges of medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, law, engineering, and nursing. Birmingham is also the headquarters of the Southeastern Conference, one of the major U.S. collegiate athletic conferences.

Source Wikipedia

Rehab Treatments In Birmingham Alabama

About Alabama

Alabama ( AL-ə-BAM-ə) is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama is the 30th largest by area and the 24th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie" and the "Cotton State". The state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. Alabama's capital is Montgomery, and its largest city by population and area is Huntsville. Its oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists (Alabama Creoles) in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. Greater Birmingham is Alabama's largest metropolitan area and its economic center. Originally home to many native tribes, present-day Alabama was a Spanish territory beginning in the sixteenth century until the French acquired it in the early eighteenth century. The British won the territory in 1763 until losing it in the American Revolutionary War. Spain held Mobile as part of Spanish West Florida until 1813. In December 1819, Alabama was recognized as a state. During the antebellum period, Alabama was a major producer of cotton, and widely used African American slave labor. In 1861, the state seceded from the United States to become part of the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery acting as its first capital, and rejoined the Union in 1868. Following the American Civil War, Alabama would suffer decades of economic hardship, in part due to agriculture and a few cash crops being the main driver of the state's economy. Similar to other former slave states, Alabamian legislators employed Jim Crow laws from the late 19th century up until the 1960s. High-profile events such as the Selma to Montgomery march made the state a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. During and after World War II, Alabama grew as the state's economy diversified with new industries. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville would help Alabama's economic growth in the mid-to-late 20th century, by developing an aerospace industry. Alabama's economy in the 21st century is based on automotive, finance, tourism, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, and technology. The state has diverse geography, with the north dominated by the mountainous Tennessee Valley and the south by Mobile Bay, a historically significant port. Politically, as part of the Deep South, Alabama is predominantly a conservative state, and is known for its Southern culture. Within Alabama, American football, particularly at the college level, plays a major part of the state's culture.