What Is Carfentanil?

What Are The Potential Effects of Using Carfentanil?

As a synthetic opioid, carfentanil’s effects mirror those of heroin, including:

Euphoria

Carfentanil is a mu-opioid receptor agonist, which means it triggers mu-opioid receptors to send a cascade of chemical signals in your brain. This ultimately releases dopamine, and lots of it. The flood of dopamine causes both euphoria and the need to repeat the behavior. 

Pain Relief

When used as prescribed, opioids work as powerful pain relievers. Carfentanil is no different. It calms the neurons in certain areas of the brain, leading to pain relief. But because of its potency, no amount of carfentanil has been approved for pain relief. 

Sedation

Carfentanil can calm the brain and nervous system to the point of total sedation. That’s why veterinarians use carfentanil to sedate large animals. 

Overdose

Carfentanil overdoses continue to rise in the US. Just two milligrams of carfentanil could kill you. Anything below that tiny amount would likely cause a non-lethal overdose. 

What Are The Symptoms of Carfentanil Overdose?

Overdosing on carfentanil causes a host of side effects. Even accidental exposure to carfentanil, like getting some of it on your hand or having the powder blow on your face, could cause an overdose. Knowing the signs of an overdose can help save lives. 

Blue Lips And Nails

Look at the nail beds and lips for blue coloration. Carfentanil overdoses can cause low blood pressure and a dangerously slow heart rate, which can lower breathing and oxygen intake. Less oxygen in the blood makes it look blue in areas like the lips and fingertips.

Choking And Gurgling

Overdosing on carfentanil can slow your breathing and dangerously sedate you. Because of this, you may choke on your spit or be too disoriented to remember to swallow it. That can cause choking and gurgly breathing, almost like snoring.

Pin-Point Pupils

A carfentanil overdose often causes tiny pupils. Someone who’s overdosed may have strangely small pupils that don’t dilate in different lighting.

Slowed Breathing

Your breathing may slow to null if you overdose on carfentanil. This can then lead to black outs, blue fingers and lips, and death.

Losing Consciousness

Overdosing on carfentanil could cause you to black out. The reasons for losing consciousness can include sedation/sleepiness, slow breathing, slowed heart rate, and a combination of all 3. 

Hypothermia

Someone who overdosed on carfentanil may feel cold to the touch, shiver, and have a bluish tint. 

Clammy Skin

Carfentanil overdoses also cause clammy skin, or like someone’s slightly sweaty and cold at the same time. 

Heart Failure

Too much carfentanil could cause total heart failure. An overdose can depress your central nervous system enough to stop your heart. Without immediate help, this symptom often leads to death.

Can You Reverse a Carfentanil Overdose?

You can save someone who’s overdosed on carfentanil by immediately using Naloxone. If you administer it fast enough, you can reverse the effects of carfentanil and save their life. Since carfentanil is so potent, you’ll likely need several strong doses of Naloxone. You can inject it intravenously or, if your kit includes a nasal spray, squirt it up their nose.

 If you’re injecting Naloxone (Narcan), be sure to fill the syringe with liquid and not air. Then poke the needle into a large muscle, like a shoulder or thigh muscle. To administer the nasal spray, stick the nozzle into their nose and push up on the plunger. You’ll likely need to spray into each nostril. Narcan takes 2-3 minutes to show effects. 

Once stabilized and physically safe, treatment begins. 

Get Treatment for Opioid Use

Treatment for synthetic drugs like carfentanil includes medical and emotional care. You’ll begin with detox, which safely removes carfentanil from your body. Once carfentanil is out of your system, you and your treatment team will address the thoughts and behaviors leading to your drug use. Then, you’ll work together to learn new coping skills and navigate difficult emotions, cravings, and triggers as they come. 

Your treatment journey may begin in a residential rehab, where you’ll have 24/7 care, 1:1 and group therapies, and a safe space to detox. After residential treatment, you can move into day treatment or an intensive outpatient program, which provides intensive but more independent care.
To start your journey, you can browse our list of rehabs for opioid use to see pricing, photos, reviews, and more.