Sublimaze
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Sublimaze is the brand name for fentanyl injection. The drug is generally used for producing anesthesia for surgery and in the treatment of pain before, during and after surgery. As a narcotic analgesic, Sublimaze works in the brain and nervous system to cause anesthesia and to decrease pain.
Sublimaze is generally administered to a patient as an injection at a doctor’s office, hospital or clinic. This medication contains fentanyl, which relieves pain by blocking the nerves in the brain that recognize pain messages from the body. The medication is similar to morphine, but much more potent.
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Abuses of Sublimaze
Sublimaze offers users an intense euphoric effect and is sometimes used by heroin addicts seeking a fix. The danger in this substitution is Sublimaze is much more potent and addicts tend to use more than necessary to achieve the same effect as heroin. As a result, frequent overdoses occur, which can lead to respiratory depression and death.
Sublimaze is often sought by abusers wishing to achieve that euphoric high. These individuals ingest the contents of the Sublimaze vial. Contents may also be frozen, cut into pieces and placed under the tongue or in the cavity of the cheek to absorb the drug orally.
Effects of Sublimaze
As Sublimaze is an opioid, it can be highly addictive, especially when used outside of a doctor’s care. As a Schedule II controlled substance, Sublimaze can produce drug dependence similar to that of morphine. Tolerance can initially be manifested by a decreased duration of the analgesic effect, followed by decreases in the intensity of analgesia.
An individual using Sublimaze can easily develop an addiction. In addition, a user can also experience liver damage, respiratory depression, severe allergic reaction, constipation, hot flashes, insomnia, loss of appetite and night sweats, especially when use has gone on for a long time.
Ingesting too much Sublimaze can result in the individual experiencing slowed breathing and heartbeat; pinpoint pupils; cold, clammy skin; loss of or change in consciousness; or seizures. If a dependence upon the drug develops due to abusive use, these effects can still occur, but may require higher dosages of the drug.
Withdrawal of Sublimaze
A person who has developed a dependence upon or addiction to Sublimaze will experience withdrawal once the drug is no longer taken. It can take 17 hours or more for a 50 percent decrease in the concentrations of the medication after its last dose. It is highly recommended that a gradual decrease in the dose level take place as abrupt withdrawal can cause severe reactions.
Any and all of the following symptoms can occur in the Sublimaze withdrawal stage:
• Anxiety • Body aches • Diarrhea • Rapid heartbeat • Fever • Runny nose • Sneezing • Chills • Sweating • Yawning • Anorexia • Nausea or vomiting • Nervousness • Irritability • Shivering or trembling • Stomach cramps • Insomnia • Weakness
Treatment of Sublimaze Addiction
As an opiate, Sublimaze addiction can often be very difficult to treat. Individuals develop a long-term mental and physical addiction to the drug, making it that much harder to successfully relieve the patient of an addiction. Detoxification is required to cleanse the body of this drug and must be done under the care of a physician.
A quality treatment center will use a comfortable detox program, complete with withdrawal medications specifically intended for Sublimaze abuse. Such a center will do a full physical on a person and have a board-certified addiction psychiatrist determine the right medications for comfortable detox.
A comfortable detox method in Sublimaze addiction helps to correct the chemical imbalances in the individual and should be combined with psychological evaluations and other medical care to address cravings for the drug. Such a method helps to identify the reason for the addiction, while treating the whole person.
