I saw another post on here and it explained like heroin or fent overdoes but what is the difference between that and stuff like painkillers? Does it work differently or are they all the same (ODS)?
(IDK whether to tag biology or chem)
In: Chemistry
There isn’t any difference in OD’s as far as prescription pain medicine is concerned, they’re all opiates, and can all be equally dangerous if too much is taken. The cause of the OD is depressed breathing, essentially they pass out and either stop breathing altogether, or don’t breathe enough oxygen to survive till they would’ve regained consciousness.
(Hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, tramadol, heroin, and fentanyl all work the same).
However OD’s from over the counter (OTC) pain meds (Tylenol, ibuprofen, aspirin) are a different story, and can lead to organ failure, as they’re pretty hard on the liver (especially if mixed with alcohol).
The main reason fentanyl is being seen more in overdoses, is due to a couple reasons. First off it’s MUCH more potent, in its pure form it’s roughly 50x-100x as potent as morphine, so it’s easy for dealers to dilute it wrong, or for users to get inconsistent amounts (e.g. new ‘bag’ is 5X more potent).
Additionally, fentanyl tolerance builds up (and falls) much quicker than heroin, so people will very quickly end up taking 10x-30x what they initially took, then after not using (or even just getting weaker stuff) they can OD by taking the same amount they were taking with a higher tolerance.
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