Fentanyl Death from Eating the Gel?
Duragesic and other Fentanyl patches contain Fentanyl suspended
in a gel solution, which is delivered transdermally over a 2-3 day
period to the patient. Since it's a timed-release drug, cutting the
patch and eating the gel bypasses the timed-release function and
instantly gives the person a massive dose of Fentanyl, which even
for highly opiate tolerant patients like myself, can be extremely
dangerous or fatal. For most who are on high doses, the effects are
usually confusion or delirium; for those who aren't opiate tolerant
or use drugs like Cocaine or Heroin, the effects are usually fatal,
since Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than Morphine.
Fentanyl users have the drug in their systems 24/7, and as such,
build up a very high tolerance to its effects. Patient who start
using it have already used other opiates for some time, and already
have a high tolerance before using it. Those who aren't regular
users and aren't tolerant to the effects usually die of respiratory
or cardiac arrest, or a combination of both. The most common cause
of death though is ignorance and a lack of respect for how powerful
an opiate Fentanyl is.