7 ms·

A man walked into a meeting with a fent sucker in his mouth treating it like a toothpick and I had to hold back my alarm so that everyone else did not ask why I

by JonDav 9y ago

A man walked into a meeting with a fent sucker in his mouth treating it like a toothpick and I had to hold back my alarm so that everyone else did not ask why I knew exactly what it was. At that time no one outside of post-op, end of life cancer, or major pain management were really aware of this stuff. But to see a guy just stroll in on fentanyl like it was nothing at all was a watershed moment. Now an addict does not need to steal from a ped surgery floor. You can buy fentanyl straight from China in a properly wrapped packet. Dosage is the problem, mixing dry is not easy, hence the street deaths. I carried narcan back in the day because some of my friends were heroin users. But I never came across a fent addict, now I can only imagine how much of this stuff is floating out there. Average people have no idea what this stuff feels like, what the pull is like. In reality you never get away from it; it is always there in the back of your mind but you have to tell yourself that it will destroy you. sorry for the disjoint mess but I am being hit with the thoughts of those I knew who were lost to black. Apparently fent is the new black.

JshWright 9y ago
> I never came across a fent addict At least here in upstate New York, there aren't really 'fent addicts'. There are opioid addicts in general, but even the hardcore users are generally seeking heroin, not fentanyl. People are _really_ scared of fentanyl...
- icantdrive55 9y ago
  And they should be. Two employees at my local hospital died sitting on the can in the bathroom, with a fentanyl Patch lying on the ground. One was a nurse, and the other a janitor. (They took the used patches out of the garbage.). (That said, we should legalize at least bupenorpine, the generic version. Addicts would have an alternative to street drugs, and doctors who just charge too much. Plus--drug education should be taught early in school. And tell the truth. Like for nine months, the drugs will work. Then you will spend years just trying to feel the way you did before you took opiates:; if you're lucky.)
  - GordonS 9y ago
    > bupenorpine, the generic version When talking about drugs, 'generic' refers to a nonpatented version of the same substance; buprenorphine isn't the same substance as fentanyl.
  - JshWright 9y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean by "the generic version". Fentanyl _is_ the generic name (the brand name is Fentora (plus a bunch of brand names for patches). Buprenorphine and fentanyl are _very_ different drugs.
  - _acme 9y ago
    Buprenorphine is not the 'generic' version of fentanyl. Fentanyl is the generic name for various brand-name medications such as Sublimaze. Buprenorphine is the generic name for Suboxone, Butrans, etc., and is an entirely different medication used for different purposes from fentanyl.
  - darpa_escapee 9y ago
    > we should legalize at least bupenorpine, Like many other medications, there is a reason this requires a prescription. It has a half-life of a few days, people die from overdoses like any other opioid and sometimes they make the mistake of having a drink (or a few) while it is in their system, which could kill them as well. Overdoses of buprenorphine require exorbitant amounts of Naloxone to keep a patient breathing because of its half-life. Nalaxone has a half-life of an hour or two in a healthy adult. Right now, a single metered and prepared dose of Nalaxone is roughly $4,500. [1] > doctors who just charge too much I agree. Suboxone is a racket, doctors need special licensing to prescribe it and they know they can charge desperate, dying people enormous amounts of money to treat them. [1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/massive-price-hike-for-lifesaving-opioid-overdose-antidote1/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/massive-price-hik...
    - _acme 9y ago
      Because it's a partial agonist, it is almost impossible to overdose from buprenorphine alone. Narcan can be purchased OTC at many pharmacies for around $100.
nefitty 9y ago
I'm scared I may have to advise close friends to start carrying Narcan. It doesn't really make sense how horrifying opiates are until they start ripping away people you've known for years...
zappo2938 9y ago
I had interventional radiology brain surgery three times. I got a decent medical dose of fentanyl. I was strapped onto a surgery table awake because I had to hold my breath every time they put tools into my brain. I could see the x-ray image of the tools going into my brain in the corner of my eye on the screen above the table. With fentanyl the world was right as rain, however, I didn't feel any desire to have it again after. The feeling wasn't happy, sad, high, speedy, or low. It was just everything was ok.
- sillysaurus3 9y ago
  This is the most unsettling HN comment ever. Thank you for sharing it.
  - zappo2938 9y ago
    The most unsettling moment of the whole situation is when I first had the operation and the doctor handing me the consent form says that the procedure itself kills 1 in 400 people. I said those odds are shitty thinking about the one time I had 4 aces in Texas Hold'em and lost to a royal flush and all the other times I had a bad beat. The doctor said for someone off the street those are bad odds but my odds of surviving without the procedure are probably much worse. I didn't have any family there with me. My friends had no idea that I was in that situation. I was a chef for a long time and said what I would say to the cooks before a busy night. We are all human, we all make mistakes, I just ask you do your personal best. I survived. The feeling I had on fentanyl under those conditions was the same the night I was in the hot baths at Esalon looking at the expansive milky way while the waves crashed on the rocks below. Awe and wonder and it's all ok.
    - blubb-fish 9y ago
      Reminds me of the way too few times I felt during or after meditating.
    - emmelaich 9y ago
      Great comments but > 4 aces in Texas Hold'em and lost to a royal flush is not possible. Maybe four nines? Or a (non-royal) straight flush.
microcolonel 9y ago
> A man walked into a meeting with a fent sucker in his mouth...You can buy fentanyl straight from China in a properly wrapped packet. Talking about OTFC lollipops? You can get those in the mail from China? I'm guessing these are disjoint cases. > Dosage is the problem, mixing dry is not easy, hence the street deaths. I feel like the bad rap it gets is mostly about dosage, ultimately it is the market at work despite the law, producing ever more potent and compact (concealable) fixes as customers demand. If caffeine were a controlled substance, people would buy it more often in the (hazardously potent) powdered form. When booze was prohibited, it was regularly distributed in 180/190 proof. The demand is the part you can improve, the supply is the part you think you can solve.

by JonDav 9y ago

JshWright 9y ago

> I never came across a fent addict At least here in upstate New York, there aren't really 'fent addicts'. There are opioid addicts in general, but even the hardcore users are generally seeking heroin, not fentanyl. People are _really_ scared of fentanyl...

icantdrive55 9y ago
And they should be. Two employees at my local hospital died sitting on the can in the bathroom, with a fentanyl Patch lying on the ground. One was a nurse, and the other a janitor. (They took the used patches out of the garbage.). (That said, we should legalize at least bupenorpine, the generic version. Addicts would have an alternative to street drugs, and doctors who just charge too much. Plus--drug education should be taught early in school. And tell the truth. Like for nine months, the drugs will work. Then you will spend years just trying to feel the way you did before you took opiates:; if you're lucky.)
- GordonS 9y ago
  > bupenorpine, the generic version When talking about drugs, 'generic' refers to a nonpatented version of the same substance; buprenorphine isn't the same substance as fentanyl.
- JshWright 9y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean by "the generic version". Fentanyl _is_ the generic name (the brand name is Fentora (plus a bunch of brand names for patches). Buprenorphine and fentanyl are _very_ different drugs.
- _acme 9y ago
  Buprenorphine is not the 'generic' version of fentanyl. Fentanyl is the generic name for various brand-name medications such as Sublimaze. Buprenorphine is the generic name for Suboxone, Butrans, etc., and is an entirely different medication used for different purposes from fentanyl.
- darpa_escapee 9y ago
  > we should legalize at least bupenorpine, Like many other medications, there is a reason this requires a prescription. It has a half-life of a few days, people die from overdoses like any other opioid and sometimes they make the mistake of having a drink (or a few) while it is in their system, which could kill them as well. Overdoses of buprenorphine require exorbitant amounts of Naloxone to keep a patient breathing because of its half-life. Nalaxone has a half-life of an hour or two in a healthy adult. Right now, a single metered and prepared dose of Nalaxone is roughly $4,500. [1] > doctors who just charge too much I agree. Suboxone is a racket, doctors need special licensing to prescribe it and they know they can charge desperate, dying people enormous amounts of money to treat them. [1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/massive-price-hike-for-lifesaving-opioid-overdose-antidote1/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/massive-price-hik...
  - _acme 9y ago
    Because it's a partial agonist, it is almost impossible to overdose from buprenorphine alone. Narcan can be purchased OTC at many pharmacies for around $100.

nefitty 9y ago

I'm scared I may have to advise close friends to start carrying Narcan. It doesn't really make sense how horrifying opiates are until they start ripping away people you've known for years...

zappo2938 9y ago

I had interventional radiology brain surgery three times. I got a decent medical dose of fentanyl. I was strapped onto a surgery table awake because I had to hold my breath every time they put tools into my brain. I could see the x-ray image of the tools going into my brain in the corner of my eye on the screen above the table. With fentanyl the world was right as rain, however, I didn't feel any desire to have it again after. The feeling wasn't happy, sad, high, speedy, or low. It was just everything was ok.

sillysaurus3 9y ago
This is the most unsettling HN comment ever. Thank you for sharing it.
- zappo2938 9y ago
  The most unsettling moment of the whole situation is when I first had the operation and the doctor handing me the consent form says that the procedure itself kills 1 in 400 people. I said those odds are shitty thinking about the one time I had 4 aces in Texas Hold'em and lost to a royal flush and all the other times I had a bad beat. The doctor said for someone off the street those are bad odds but my odds of surviving without the procedure are probably much worse. I didn't have any family there with me. My friends had no idea that I was in that situation. I was a chef for a long time and said what I would say to the cooks before a busy night. We are all human, we all make mistakes, I just ask you do your personal best. I survived. The feeling I had on fentanyl under those conditions was the same the night I was in the hot baths at Esalon looking at the expansive milky way while the waves crashed on the rocks below. Awe and wonder and it's all ok.
  - blubb-fish 9y ago
    Reminds me of the way too few times I felt during or after meditating.
  - emmelaich 9y ago
    Great comments but > 4 aces in Texas Hold'em and lost to a royal flush is not possible. Maybe four nines? Or a (non-royal) straight flush.

microcolonel 9y ago

> A man walked into a meeting with a fent sucker in his mouth...You can buy fentanyl straight from China in a properly wrapped packet. Talking about OTFC lollipops? You can get those in the mail from China? I'm guessing these are disjoint cases. > Dosage is the problem, mixing dry is not easy, hence the street deaths. I feel like the bad rap it gets is mostly about dosage, ultimately it is the market at work despite the law, producing ever more potent and compact (concealable) fixes as customers demand. If caffeine were a controlled substance, people would buy it more often in the (hazardously potent) powdered form. When booze was prohibited, it was regularly distributed in 180/190 proof. The demand is the part you can improve, the supply is the part you think you can solve.