Patient was educated on the side effects of using Fentanyl as follows:
- Feeling of high and addiction
- Fentanyl, in the process of altering the perception of pain in the brain, promotes more dopamine in the brain.
- Increased dopamine in the brain produces a feeling of high, by interacting with the brain’s reward circuit.
- This feeling of high, experienced by the individuals on Fentanyl use, becomes highly desirable and thus adds the potential for addiction to Fentanyl.
- This makes Fentanyl one of the most commonly abused drugs.
- Tolerance and addiction
- Individual using Fentanyl at a recommended dose for prolonged time can develop tolerance to the drug and experience blunting of the therapeutic response to Fentanyl at that dose.
- Diminishing therapeutic response prompts an individual to increase the dose of medication intake, to derive the desired effect.
- This sets the cycle for addiction and abuse.
- Withdrawal syndrome
- Reducing your dosage gradually over a period is the preferred way to quit Fentanyl.
- Sudden withdrawal from Fentanyl may induce intense unpleasant sensations, such as, nausea, vomiting, intense muscle aches, sleep disturbances, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.
- Skin rash
- Fentanyl intake can result in mild skin rash and dermatitis.
