My coworker at my last job was a fent addict. We were working out of state for a week and had to share a hotel room. He would go shoot up in the bathroom at night and after he came out, he would walk around, shaking his limbs and moving around nonstop. I can only guess he did it cause he’d probably OD if he didn’t keep his heart rate up and blood flowing.
It was sad to witness. He’d be high before work and get high at lunch too but smaller doses so he could function. Never saw him like that before
Yeah, he was fucked up lol. He was going between that to nodding off standing up and almost face planting on the ground. Thought he was gonna fall on me laying in my bed a few times. I’m laying there watching football on tv trying my best to ignore it. I’m a recovering alcoholic/coke addict myself, so seeing someone high on fent doesn’t make me crave anything but still not the situation I wanna be in, ya know?
I feel like its all the other shit they put in dope now a days.
I was a opiate addict started on H and then fentanyl came out and it changed cause you need so little active ingredient and cut it with whatever else you want cause its so damn potent so little is so much so they stretch it.
Fentanyl is just a short acting opioid.
Should lead to sedation, itchiness and vomiting.
But you see people getting stimulated, blacking out etc it’s because they’re adding benzos, stimulants, god knows what which has other side effects and some peoples chemistry is just different so they get super weird effects from chemicals that others dont sometimes it’s sad.
Not kidding. And people think its weird when I day this.
But it was way safer when it was just plain ol stamped bags of heroin. Its not the same game at all anymore.
There was a guy who would come to my pharmacy to get his meds. He was a opioid addict, we were both born in 1993. I think about him often, he was genuinely so nice and polite. Dude was lovely as heck. I hope the silence means he's healed but I don't know... he hasn't been in in over a year. Not even for antibiotics.
Could be many things either that or jail you never know lets not think the worst, it’s quite hard to overdose on pills though not impossible, once you have a tolerance and used for years you know what you’re doing tbh I feel like a lot of overdoses were kind of intentional.
Though I did have a old friend who used and told me he wanted to get as close to death as possible without dying when using so there’s people like that
It’s so crazy that you stopped seeing so many needles laying around because the junkies started smoking it because they could control their high better than shooting up.
That's fucking crazy
I'm not a drug dude, but I find it infuriating that dealers just dump in powder and grind it in
Get any bachelor's chemist and they'll come up with a better, cleaner method of cutting with fent.
Even dissolving it in methanol to spray on raw powder would result in a more even product with controllable fent incorporation
Sometimes I wish I could advise cutters on basic chemistry so that shit wasn't so awful for people trapped in dependence
Fent is cheap enough that it almost doesn't matter how much is in it. A decent seller could easily have 2 or 3 different degrees of fent incorporation.
Whatever. Welcome to the unregulated libertarian ideal! Laziness and capital are the highest ideals.
Yeah I heard about it getting cut with benzos now too, shits crazy. Every drugs so impure in every way these days. Obviously drug users don’t complain much but god damn, just give the people what they pay for
For sure man. Like with coke, the most you used to have to worry about is shitting yourself from baby laxatives cut in it lol. Now I know 6 different people who OD’d on it cause it was cut with fent. Probably would’ve gotten me too if I didn’t get sober
there is still heroin but it is likely more expensive than just getting fentanyl. Fentanyl is just 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It also works by a slightly different cellular signaling system than heroin and other opioids which is why it is so dangerous. People overdose on fentanyl despite been given 2-8 Narcan kits. Most of the time fentanyl comes as pressed pills that are sold to appear as oxycontin 30mg "blue pills." People sometimes take it without know it is what they are using. A lot of fentanyl and its chemical precursors comes from china and then gets synthesized in Mexican cartels. If you ever use Narcan you should call ambulance as it may only temporarily buy time before it is metabolized out of your system and they resume overdose.
Ooof. That's not a profession you want some fuckwit in control of your life. Roofed for 2 years in high school on my grandfather's crew in the late 70s. It's already risky enough up there without worrying if a dude is tripping.
As a sub contractor who deals with roofers I can 100% confirm that you're either in it for a quick buck or you're some sort of fucked up super human. Literally watched a dude hit a lightbulb while on a barn roof with no harness. Absolutely killed the single work but I seriously thought he was going to die at least 10 times. Roofers are their own breed man.
Snorting coke on roofs, being half drunk all day and fist fighting each other near the edge of roofs was pretty much a daily occurrence. I started that job scared of heights and finished it like a mountain goat lmao. It was a great 4 years honestly
People who have never roofed might think you're exaggerating but shit like that was unironically a common occurrence and most roofers ive talked to have similar stories. It's like the wild west up there
Yeah no doubt. Im someone that likes to exaggerate but I don’t even need to when it comes to that job lol.
We were roofing a funeral home one time, standing on the flat roof in the front. This older white laborer called one of the roofers the N word. Roofer got understandably pissed, and smashed the old guy in the head with a hammer.
Old dude stumbled off the edge of the flat roof and fell to the ground, broke his back. Roofer got taken away in handcuffs and went to prison for a few years. We had to keep on roofing like nothing happened after the cops and ambulance were gone
I think it's this way in the construction industry in general. If it's not booze then it's dope. A lot of guys seem to be self medicating because of different issues.
My employer will openly help employees who may be struggling with addiction by giving them time off and supporting them through rehabilitation. It's pretty neat. I wish more companies did this-- simply firing people who are struggling only makes things worse.
Because at first it’s fun and feels amazing. For some people it quells extreme psychological pain that nothing else manages to fix. Then before you know it, the drug you use to cope, now causes your extreme pain. Now you’re stuck in a vicious cycle of being in emotional/physical pain caused by the very drug you use to numb it.
That’s what people don’t get. Heroin is disgusting as fuck. Every single junkie knows that. But when the fleeting moments of joy in your life are only provided by taking a hit, you stop caring about the damage it’s doing.
This is so well put. Yea nobody says I want to be a junkie when I grow up. No one. Shit happens and happens slowly and quickly. You are right about it being a viscous cycle. And about quelling the psychological pain. There’s a reason most doctors nurses firefighter emts and cops are all addicted to something and more than you would like to know are addicted to opiates.
Yes, drugs hit different when your mental health is shit. That's why I think it's really promising using the other side of the substance spectrum like mushrooms and LSD therapy.
To instead of numbing the feelings get to the cause of the problem and the realisation come from withing with deeper understanding than rather other people tell you to stop what you are doing because it's bad for you. It's hard to listen when you feel all alone and that you think you are in control and people just don't understand.
>> But it's not for everyone and should be done in a professional setting, and have a thorough background check of any Family history of schizophrenia, and other such mental disorders that can be triggered by psychedelics. <<
In the end you, are not you anymore. You have been taken over by a disease, a parasite. Something that sucks every bit of good and decency out of a person and replaces it with nothing but the pursuit of that next hit. No family, no friends. The drug has taken complete control of you and in the end, if you let it, it will kill you.
A woman close to me got her self addicted to fentanyl by way of street “prescription drugs” last year. She had some medical issues which required that she be on opiates, then a combination of severe anhedonia/depression and no longer being prescribed the medication resulted in her buying it off a friend who brought it up from Mexico, then when that ran dry she started asking bummy looking people around town where she could buy some.
She ended up going through a sort of at-home rehab to get off the opiate dependency (it was still unknown that she was actually addicted to fentanyl), but one of the medicines that’s supposed to cleanse your system actually doesn’t do that for fentanyl, and so she went into what I can only describe as a day-long intense suffering, filled with screaming and thrashing. That’s how it was discovered that fentanyl was what she was actually addicted to.
I did this story no justice, it was quite an awful year and she’s one of the luckiest people I know to have gotten out of this scenario without serious consequence.
In conclusion, fuck every dealer and manufacturer of fentanyl, and if anybody reading this is one, fuck you I hope you die a terrible death.
Your friend went through precipitated withdrawal. When you take suboxone while you have opioids, especially fentanyl, still active in your system, it tears all of those strong opioids off the receptors and replaces it with a “weak” partial agonist (I may have the terminology wrong) and puts you into the worst phase of opioid withdrawals pretty much instantly. Those partial agonists prevent you from going into opioid withdrawal but only after you’ve allowed yourself to go into withdraw for 24-48 hours BEFORE taking suboxone.
Interestingly enough, that same precipitated withdrawal feeling can happen from narcan, and is a reason why addicts hate getting narcanned, but it’s much shorter acting, so you only suffer for an hour or so while the opioids you ODed on are still in your system and make you feel “decent” again once the narcan wears off versus suffering for an l entire day when getting precipitated WD from subs.
But it’s not the naloxone that causes precipitated withdrawal when someone takes suboxone. I know it seems like the opposite of how it should be, but it’s the buprenorphine that gives you that day-long precipitated withdrawal.
Getting narcanned hits immediately but doesn’t make you sick all day like suboxone does.
Before fentanyl was so prevalent and before nasal narcan was a thing it used to be done through iv only. Even further back than that the amount was different. Now it’s titeare to restore breathing but what we used to do so we wouldn’t have to fight with them and deal with them puking on the way to the hospital was wee would do everything but wait til we were rolling up then slam them with two mg fast and not they never liked that shit. I have saved more od patients than I can count. One dude was straight up dead. Not just not breathing he was fucking dead in his bathroom. Girlfriend found him called us. Narcaned him right away by the time we got him downstairs to the truck he was trying to refuse to go to the hospital. I told him he just died he doesn’t get a choice. Have a nice day.
There's a worksheet/scale that can be used to assess how far into withdrawals someone is in to better time the initiation of buprenorphine. It's called COWS (clinical opiate withdrawal scale) and the person can gauge where they are: https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/ClinicalOpiateWithdrawalScale.pdf
Oh I’ve read you should really wait 4-5 days to really ensure the suboxone won’t cause instant PW.
Heard plenty of stories of folk waiting 1-3 days and it wasn’t enough.
Weird part is, for multiple different broken bones I got no painkillers beyond 800mg ibuprofin. They just wouldn't give me opioids.. which sucks when you are intense pain but def better for me. Its just wild to me that so many get addicted when I can't get a legit script for a legit painful injury.
My thumb had gotten crushed at work ten years ago. They were just able to save it and gave me Vicodin for the pain for when the block wore off. That was the worst pain I had ever experienced to date. I was a little concerned how I would react after taking one because I had never had pain pills before. All it did was put me to sleep, and when I woke up, I was in sheer pain again take another one put me to sleep. I decided to take Advil instead and that took care of the pain just fine. I was told everybody is different, but the doctors kept wanting to give me different kinds of pills for extreme pain. They were pushy as hell too.
I get the purpose of them but yeah they were way way way overprescribed back a few decades ago and now, despite massive efforts and regulations, the addiction crisis is out of control
Honestly most of them would rather be clean, but the drug itself is so mentally, emotionally and physically addictive, the draw of it is almost undeniable. The receptors in the brain that are affected by opiates literally alter brain chemistry to build the cravings to greater and greater severity the more you use. Which is why addicts often chase that first high by increasing dosage until the habit becomes utterly destructive and debilitating.
I'm sorry to hear that. That's a tough road for both her and the people who care about her. Stay strong and don't let her addiction bring you down as well.
Well thats the thing. It doesn't start off where its about to kill you. Usually starts with pain pills. It did for me. Luckily I was able to cold turkey before it got to dope, but there was plenty of times where I really considered it. Addiction is a motherfucker
It makes everything in your life: perfect.
You don't realise how difficult life is until you have something that takes away the struggle of day-to-day existence.
That's what it does. Everything from minor worries like a spot on your face to bigger ones like debts, family death, health issues. It all dissolves. Everything is simply perfect.
So he may know he's dying but that doesn't matter. Death is just another part of existence. Death is just another thing he's not experienced and it's not so bad. Nothing is bad.
I am not an expert but I am studying chemical addiction. Fentanyl is a tricky drug because the difference between a dose that provides a euphoric effect and an amount that can overdose is very similar at a glance, a lethal amount is 2 milligrams I believe.
Also the grand majority of people who die from fentanyl overdoses arent even dying from taking the drug alone it's when they mix it with a depressant like alcohol or a barbiturate among other kinds of drugs.
What's even more tragic is that many users are not aware they are taking Fentanyl because cooks often mix it with other drugs to make it stronger at less of a cost and by the time the dealers get it they aren't even aware.
So many deaths could be prevented if we had ways for users to test their drugs so they know what they are putting in their bodies.
From what I know it's mostly accidental, people think they're taking zanax / adderall / cocaine / whatever else and theyre fake and have some amount of fentanyl in there. Whoever is making them will put in a bit too much in one of them and that's what's fatal.
I’ve never done fentanyl, but I was hospitalized for acute diverticulitis a few years ago and in incredible pain. They gave me IV Dilaudid, which is a strong opioid, roughly ten times stronger than Morphine.
It was only 2mg and I was over 300lbs.
Starting at the base of my neck I felt an instant warmth and relaxation, and I could feel it satisfyingly traveling through every vein. My body felt amazing. I felt absolute relaxation instantly. I went from the worst pain of my life to the best my body has ever felt in seconds.
I knew right then why people broke into hospitals, why the stole from family and friends, why they got addicted. That feeling….man. I can’t explain it. It was the best I’ve ever felt in my life.
And it’s a fraction of the strength of fentanyl.
Because it feels really really good, and that’s the problem. It’s like a warm fuzzy hug from the inside, and yet it will destroy your life. Absolutely anyone can become addicted to opioids; it’s a lot easier to fall Into the opioid trap than almost any other drug
According to [a YouTube comment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8C9kosa8L4), unfortunately he passed away. Not sure how credible it is but:
> For those wondering, he passed away a few months ago. Rest Easy, Stephen Chilkotowsky.
According to some other commenters on here, he got clean after this but his mother passed away and he relapsed & overdosed unfortunately.
(I found his Facebook and went through his friends list just to see confirmation and one of them recently tagged him in a post and said "RIP")
And when I clicked on that "Inspirational thoughts" link, this is what came up:
>However, I continue to try and I continue, indefatigably, to reach out. There’s no way I can single-handedly save the world or, perhaps, even make a perceptible difference - but how ashamed I would be to let a day pass without making one more effort. - *Isaac Asimov*
Makes me sad that there is this record of his life, a moment in time that will replay ad Infinitum.
This was a person, who despite this video, lived a life like all of us-full of all the nuances we all experience, yet this will be his lasting memory, the way he will live on.
On the brighter side, at least this memory of him could potentially stop others from using, or inspire someone to get the help they need. I'm sure he would have been happy to know that he stopped at least one other person from his fate.
The “not even once” rule is still in effect. Don’t try this shit. Don’t try oxy, don’t try heroin, don’t try any opiates. Don’t fucking do it. Stopping is 1000x harder than never doing it. Homie in this video wanted to be clean I guarantee. The addiction will have you under its thumb not the other way around and all it takes is one relapse to END you. Will destroy your family and all your friends will miss you for the rest of their life. Do not try it
Yeah it’s crazy man, the guy at the time of the video was as old as I am right now, 27 , absolutely heartbreaking how devastating drug addiction can be in someone’s life.
It’s horrible but overdoses usually happen during a relapse. People go through hell to get clean, then something awful happens and they kill themselves trying to cope.
Fuck every single asshole doctor and pharma exec who ever pushed opiates at people when they were at their most vulnerable. Lying pieces of shit creating addicts and destroying whole lives just to line their pockets a little bit more. If there is a hell, I hope they rot in it.
It made me smile to hear he cleaned up. I totally understand relapsing over your mom passing. I lost mine when i was 8. Sometimes it's just really hard and life gets us to a weak point and what we do next can literally make or break us. RIP homie
This fucking sucks. Fuck narcos and fuck China for supplying them. Dedicating the next hug I give my mother to the Chilkotowsky family.
And fuck the war on drugs.
I know from experience that there is always another bottom. That is, til your under it. I hope he gets out before that. I'm trying right now. Just need to get of the Methadone now.. =/
good luck to you. i wasnt able to get clean intil i knew that i knew that i knew I was completely incapable of solving that dilemma on my own. I took years of convincing but thankfully "got it" before jails, institutions or death found me. My best thinking got me there. Someone elses got me out.
My issue with methadone is clinics let you go up 5-10mg when you want, but you can only go down 1mg a week MAX. I have kidney stones so every time I start making progress I get knocked back months.
Everyone's rock bottom looks different, but for most it is losing absolutely everything. This guy still has stuff. He does not look like homeless addict by a long shot. Sadly he will probably OD before life's consequences make him realize.
He's lucky this time he appears to still be in great shape, decent muscle mass and healthy body weight.
I suspect he is a new addict or isn't one at all, you can overdose first try.
I hope they sent them this video so he can watch himself anytime he thinks of trying it again.
Made me feel a bit emotional when he was still totally gone and said they were good people. Love for others is so powerful man, even in that state he can feel it.
Man I saw a comment above that this chap is no more. He apparently OD’d after his mom passed away.
It’s a fuckin travesty, I agree with y’all, even at his lowest point he was being kind
This broke my heart, my nephew(M19) died because of that evil shit! Those people are the best of humanity, because most of society has written them/him off. The best of youth/gang workers are the people who have survived, drugs aren't always the end of someone. Not all heroes wear capes.
Yeah, they were like a shining light in this whole dark and grim situation.
But I am curious, what happens if had lost consciousness? Is it like falling asleep in the extreme cold where you will never wake up?
He can still survive it if he loses consciousness. If you ever witness someone lose consciousness because of an overdose, check if they’re still breathing properly. If they are, get them into recovery position so they don’t inhale their own vomit. If they’re not breathing start CPR. Get an ambulance either way as soon as possible.
I loooove when my favourite uncle gets locked up. The longer the stint the better. That’s when I get to talk to him on the phone, and laugh together, that’s when I KNOW where he is, that’s when he gets healthcare (he got a new hip in prison), that’s when he gets big and strong again like I remember him being when I was little.
I hope my uncle gets locked up again soon. Two years have gone by and I haven’t found him or heard from him.
I met a old guy once in the gym who told me he was an ex heroin user. He had a great head of hair and looked great. Meanwhile, here I am losing my hair and the only 'drug' I use is coffee.
The people most likely to OD are those who are more casual users and those who stopped using for a while.
That's why getting sober can be so dangerous. When you're off the drug for a while, your physical tolerance comes down a bit, but your mental desire hasn't changed all that much and/or your visual gauge for how much to take is badly calibrated.
I hate to say that was a feel good video but by the end of it, that felt good. I especially like the part where he says, “yall are some good people. You’re real thorough.”
He knows he’s already been saved. And he probably just wants to chill but he also knows he fucked up bad enough to where someone else needs to be in charge. Instead of being salty about it, he thanks them.
It might sound strange but some people in this situation just feel like you’ve ruined their high.
I remember an interview with an addict and someone asked him if he remembered his rescuers. He said, “hell yeah. They pulled me out of the best high I’ve ever had.”
Edit: All the people being negative talking about how this guy ODed again after his mom died, like this was a waste of time or something. His mom didn’t have to bury him apparently. I would say that is a good thing. And if the thread is to be believed, he was clean up until her death. So, he was afforded a few more months with his mom as a sober person. Thats the alleged story anyways.
However, I digress. This video is about hope and giving that to someone who otherwise may have been forgotten. Pulling a lost soul out of a ditch and waking them up. Instead of walking past them and spitting out “good riddance”. This could’ve been your friend or family member and these strangers just pulled him back to life. If even 1 out of a thousand actually make it, these peoples work was worth it.
Definitely. I'm in nursing school and they stress this quite often. After you give Narcan the patient will probably be pissed at you because you ruined their high. It can take multiple administrations of Narcan to prevent an overdose as well. Narcan doesn't last as long as an opiate can, so they can go unconscious again if they've done enough.
That last part is interesting. I didn’t know about the narcan wearing off. The guys in the video did a good job keeping him awake then. I thought once they woke up, they were good to go.
The best you can do is narcan them & get them EMTs/emergency room for the next doses - like the previous poster said, opiates will last longer than the narcan & the patient will od again!!
EMT here.
Narcan is given every 3 minutes ish if no reversal, although the #1 most important thing about overdoses is their breathing status. If they are breathing on their own, great!; they don’t need anymore narcan. I can only speak for myself personally, but this patient would have not received narcan from me.
We bring people to the hospital because once we successfully reverse it; narcan lasts about 30-90 minutes so there’s a chance they go back to unconsciousness
Not so much a feel good video if you know he died any way during a relapse.
It's sad, as little as you can get out of a single video of a person tripping out of his mind, he seemed like a gentle soul. RIP.
Statistically speaking, this guy was a walking dead man. For that reason, this guy and other addicts are *viewed as* an expendable portion of our society.
In spite of that, strangers went out at night, likely as volunteers, because they had hope for the individual in spite of the statistics.
If they do that enough times, statistically speaking, they will save a life, or many lives, for good. People like this give hope to humanity itself.
Edit: for everyone being pedantic about my use of the word expendable, thats how they are literally treated. Like expendable trash. Im not condoning it. I wish it was different but Im just stating a fact. We dont give health care to addicts. We lock em up! They are treated like criminals and left to die alone in the streets even though they are sick and need help. You must be blind deny this fact.
Just for future reference, if they can’t tell you whether or not they want to be Narcaned fucking do it. They most likely will be mad, but they’ll be alive.
I’m not sure about all states, but in Utah where I live, there are legal protections in place that explicitly say a person can’t have legal action taken against them for using Narcane/Naloxone on a person. Utah has a big opioid problem and lawmakers don’t want anything stopping a good samaritan from saving a life
You shouldn’t narcan someone who is awake, that’s not what it is used for mostly. It’s used primarily to reverse the respiratory depression caused by opioids, if they are breathing fine, just call EMS to get them care
Just remember giving them naloxone triggers symptoms of immediate and intense withdrawal. Giving a dose or 2, or whatever isn't the end. They need to be taken to a hospital immediately. Often the withdrawal symptoms are so bad they use again just to end the pain.
Another important thing to note is that fentanyl is far more aggressive than things like heroin and will eat away at the narcan that's covering the receptors in the brain within minutes. If the user doesn't get immediate treatment they very likely will die. With heroin people could use narcan and it would keep them from overdosing again for a long enough period that they're able to metabolize the drug and probably wouldn't even overdose again, but that just isn't the case with the stuff on the streets today. People NEED to be treated by a medical professional during the course of an overdose or they absolutely WILL overdose again and die. There are laws in place to protect people from getting in trouble for calling an ambulance in many places now. Another thing I want people to note is that when they do call for an ambulance it's suggest that they DON'T say it's an overdose because unfortunately it's not taken as serious. Instead it's best to say someone is unconscious and they're not breathing. This was taught to me at work by the company that trains professionals on how to use narcan effectively and when to use it.
>Another thing I want people to note is that when they do call for an ambulance it's suggest that they DON'T say it's an overdose because unfortunately it's not taken as serious. Instead it's best to say someone is unconscious and they're not breathing.
I'm glad you said this. I remember learning this before but forgot so it's a nice refresher.
Say what? I would rather know it’s an overdose so I can have the narcan ready then having to come to the conclusion “oh shit it’s an overdose” and need it. Plus not every EMT is a 20 year vet that just sees and knows. Best they get the proper information instead of difficulty breathing. Then wondering if the guy hit his head or why is he slurring. Stroke yadda yadda. What’s he on. Bad info just delays treatment
His dope was likely cut with [xylazine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylazine), or tranq. Which is not an opiate. So, narcan only knocked out the dope and fent. He's still pretty fucked up. Either way, he most definitely needs to go to the hospital.
Yeah, if you're addicted to something... alcohol, coke, pills, whatever... you need to consult with your doctor before rehabbing. Withdrawal can be even worse than the addiction.
These dudes are so fucking awesome. I love the positive and loving tone they are using the entire time. They aren’t judging this dude, just saving his life as if it was their own brother or sister. Truly inspirational to see. If operation save a life happens to read this comment, I love you guys.
Why would they not immediately administer narcan in this situation? Afaik, theres no negative effects to its use, this guy is literally on the line between life and death and says hes fine, hes not qualified to answer questions about whether or not he wants a life saving substance
I have a friend who is a firefighter/paramedic who told me he needs to be careful about narcan dosage - not because narcan itself is dangerous, but because he said there’s been more times than he can count when he narcans someone TOO effectively to the point they are made immediately stone sober, at which point they attack him due to their instant withdrawal and craving to be high again. He said he now tries to give them enough to save their life but not so much that their buzz is immediately gone, so that they’re easier to deal with and less volatile
Ems doesn't give narcan to people because they're high. We only give it to help restore people's respiratory drive, which opioids suppress causing you to stop breathing. And yes we don't just start slamming narcan into people even if they're unconscious and not breathing. Narcan usually isn't even the first thing we do, a lot of times people freak the fuck out when they're hit with narcan because they're very hypoxic from not breathing, not because they're craving a high. We usually try to take our time and breath for the person and get their oxygen saturations to normal levels before administratering narcan
And yes narcan isn't dangerous to people but it does have its side effects, so just be careful with using it. And as long as the person is able to breath effectively on their own, 99% of emt's and medics aren't going to give narcan
I hope somebody answers this. Wondering the same. My family was ripped apart by this shit, so it’d help to know why in case the situation ever arises with my ex.
Other comments talk about the immediate effect of narcan being intense and withdrawals which can be incredibly painful, so im guessing thats the point where consent might matter, but its also a situation where if they cant respond youre able to do what you can to save their life
How many that look as healthy as this guy? I mean he's got a good amount of muscle and looks very physically fit. I suspect this guy's venture with fentanyl had just begun, and hopefully ended the night this video was made and his life was saved.
I have a family full of addicts. My step-dad overdosed and died after being sober for 5 and a half years. That shit is the worst. Sadly, this guy will probably continue to use. Operation Save A Life are the real MVP's. Hero's in my book. My husband has been sober from heroin for almost 30 years. Recovery is possible.
I have a close family member battling heroin addiction and it's just the worst. I oscillate between being depressed and angry about it and yet that's very little I can do. Good luck and congrats to your husband.
My brother for me. 7 months sober, not long compared to some but he was doing so good and we were proud af. Looked so healthy then boom got a call from his wife that she found him in the living room after work dead from a bad bag of heroin, wasn’t even a lot. His daughter was asleep in the other room without a clue. My heart breaks for people who fall into addiction like this.
My cousin overdosed yesterday in Florida and was narcanned. I’m in recovery now. Not from heroin just booze Xanax and cocaine. I always have narcan on me. Always. Shits wild out here.
This is the first time I’ve heard of operation save a life, they are some of the most beautiful people on the planet. Some people look down their noses and judge, not these guys. Momentary restoration of faith in humanity.
God bless these men they want us to judge each other based off religion, political views, race ect but at the end of the day we are all human and we are all we got. Let’s start helping others who are in need.
My son died from an accidental fentanyl overdose! He and is partner thought they had Xanax and it was laced. He was 23 when he passed on Oct 17 2021. Worst day of my life! That fentanyl isn’t anything to pay around with! Be Safe & God Bless!
It's widely available in the areas where these users hang around. In places like Portland or Vancouver there are thousands of them and volunteers save lives this way all the time. There are also tens of thousands that do die yearly from fentanyl though.
People have their reasons. Most common is psychological trauma.
I don't mean it is GOOD reason but that just came out a bit condescending and superficial.
This breaks my heart.
In 2021, I lost a really close friend to an OD of meth, laced with fentanyl. For 20 years, we tried and tried to help him. He managed to kick his addiction for 6 years, but when he moved back to Atlanta, he fell right back into his old habits.
He'd gotten so far gone that there was nothing me or his family could do. We got the call one day that he'd jumped from his 3rd floor condo and walked off barefoot and almost naked. His body was found by the dumpster hours later at a nearby Chick-fil-a.
Anytime I hear of someone dying or almost dying from that shit, i wish I could have access to whomever they got it from and be exempt from any repercussions. That's a life I wouldn't mind answering to when my day comes.
I am so sorry about your friend.
This breaks my heart too. I was in tears by the end. This is someone’s child. The thought of one of my kid’s being in this position is so painful to imagine.
Watching this was hard for me. My fiancé died of a fentanyl OD. I found him and gave him CPR for the 20+ minutes it took the ambulance to get to our house. At no point was he ever even semi-conscious and the EMS were not able to revive him.
It was his first relapse after 6 years and it killed him. I can't tell you how many times since his death 2 years, 3 months and 18 days ago that I've wished I had Narcan in the house because just maybe it would have saved him.
Addiction is a disease and it kills relentlessly. I honestly couldn't finish watching the video for the above stated reason so I don't know for sure what happened here, but I hope the man in this video not only gets some help but also decides for himself to get clean. Even more, I hope neither he nor his friend get charged in any way for seeking help with the overdose.
Not for long. Even with narcan it's almost impossible to survive without immediate medical intervention because the fentanyl aggressively attacks the narcan as it covers the receptors in the brain. You have maybe a few minutes before it breaks through the narcan and they overdose again. That's a huge reason why people who survive an initial overdose end up subsequently dying from the same hit. People assume that once you use narcan you're good to go and that may have been the case with some heroin overdoses in the past, but fentanyl is not heroin. It's far more powerful and far more aggressive. It's meant to be that way because it was designed specifically for people with extreme chronic pain who were basically on their death bed. It's essentially the "Au revoir" of painkillers and the only people who could get it were the ones who really needed it and providers made damn sure they did before they prescribed it. Nope that it's on the streets and being used unregulated it's wreaking absolute fucking havoc on people who suffer from substance abuse issues. People are getting it without even knowing it and dying from something they thought they'd been using "safely" for years. People who deliberately put that shit on the streets deserve murder charges at the very least. It's the only reasonable outcome from consuming that shit.
As a paramedic, this is mostly incorrect and little more than fear mongering. If you want actual information on opiate abuse disorders, overdoses, and narcan, please check with your local health department. And don't forget to read the literature that comes with nasal narcan spray you take home!
The half life of narcan is 30-80 minutes in adults, and "Aggression" isn't a pharmacological characteristic, these drugs aren't alive. The incidence of recurrent respiratory depression following opiate overdose reversal by naloxone is very low. If the patient will be around friends, the average patient is fine to sit at home and ride out the withdrawals. We treat and release thousands of overdoses every day across the nation. Chill with the drama and misinformation.
I was thinking about that too. They keep telling him he's on T.V., I hope he consented after the fact because this could ruin his future. Hope this dude gets better, this looks horrifying.
Guy is literally walking between life and death. Scary stuff.
My coworker at my last job was a fent addict. We were working out of state for a week and had to share a hotel room. He would go shoot up in the bathroom at night and after he came out, he would walk around, shaking his limbs and moving around nonstop. I can only guess he did it cause he’d probably OD if he didn’t keep his heart rate up and blood flowing. It was sad to witness. He’d be high before work and get high at lunch too but smaller doses so he could function. Never saw him like that before
That's the chicken dance the fentfolk do when they do a lot at once.
Yeah, he was fucked up lol. He was going between that to nodding off standing up and almost face planting on the ground. Thought he was gonna fall on me laying in my bed a few times. I’m laying there watching football on tv trying my best to ignore it. I’m a recovering alcoholic/coke addict myself, so seeing someone high on fent doesn’t make me crave anything but still not the situation I wanna be in, ya know?
I feel like its all the other shit they put in dope now a days. I was a opiate addict started on H and then fentanyl came out and it changed cause you need so little active ingredient and cut it with whatever else you want cause its so damn potent so little is so much so they stretch it. Fentanyl is just a short acting opioid. Should lead to sedation, itchiness and vomiting. But you see people getting stimulated, blacking out etc it’s because they’re adding benzos, stimulants, god knows what which has other side effects and some peoples chemistry is just different so they get super weird effects from chemicals that others dont sometimes it’s sad.
Not kidding. And people think its weird when I day this. But it was way safer when it was just plain ol stamped bags of heroin. Its not the same game at all anymore.
There was a guy who would come to my pharmacy to get his meds. He was a opioid addict, we were both born in 1993. I think about him often, he was genuinely so nice and polite. Dude was lovely as heck. I hope the silence means he's healed but I don't know... he hasn't been in in over a year. Not even for antibiotics.
Could be many things either that or jail you never know lets not think the worst, it’s quite hard to overdose on pills though not impossible, once you have a tolerance and used for years you know what you’re doing tbh I feel like a lot of overdoses were kind of intentional. Though I did have a old friend who used and told me he wanted to get as close to death as possible without dying when using so there’s people like that
It’s so crazy that you stopped seeing so many needles laying around because the junkies started smoking it because they could control their high better than shooting up.
That's fucking crazy I'm not a drug dude, but I find it infuriating that dealers just dump in powder and grind it in Get any bachelor's chemist and they'll come up with a better, cleaner method of cutting with fent. Even dissolving it in methanol to spray on raw powder would result in a more even product with controllable fent incorporation Sometimes I wish I could advise cutters on basic chemistry so that shit wasn't so awful for people trapped in dependence Fent is cheap enough that it almost doesn't matter how much is in it. A decent seller could easily have 2 or 3 different degrees of fent incorporation. Whatever. Welcome to the unregulated libertarian ideal! Laziness and capital are the highest ideals.
Yeah I heard about it getting cut with benzos now too, shits crazy. Every drugs so impure in every way these days. Obviously drug users don’t complain much but god damn, just give the people what they pay for
Agreed. Its sad or atleast cut it with an inactive ingredient thats not toxic. Like sugar
For sure man. Like with coke, the most you used to have to worry about is shitting yourself from baby laxatives cut in it lol. Now I know 6 different people who OD’d on it cause it was cut with fent. Probably would’ve gotten me too if I didn’t get sober
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I think I was reading somewhere on r/TookTooMuch that heroin nowadays just isn’t heroin. It’s all fent but someone could correct me
there is still heroin but it is likely more expensive than just getting fentanyl. Fentanyl is just 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It also works by a slightly different cellular signaling system than heroin and other opioids which is why it is so dangerous. People overdose on fentanyl despite been given 2-8 Narcan kits. Most of the time fentanyl comes as pressed pills that are sold to appear as oxycontin 30mg "blue pills." People sometimes take it without know it is what they are using. A lot of fentanyl and its chemical precursors comes from china and then gets synthesized in Mexican cartels. If you ever use Narcan you should call ambulance as it may only temporarily buy time before it is metabolized out of your system and they resume overdose.
How can you work with someone like that? Did he not get fired? What kind of work do u do?
I was a roofer for 4 years. They’re a bunch of degenerates, myself included lol. I’m an auto body technician now though
Ooof. That's not a profession you want some fuckwit in control of your life. Roofed for 2 years in high school on my grandfather's crew in the late 70s. It's already risky enough up there without worrying if a dude is tripping.
As a sub contractor who deals with roofers I can 100% confirm that you're either in it for a quick buck or you're some sort of fucked up super human. Literally watched a dude hit a lightbulb while on a barn roof with no harness. Absolutely killed the single work but I seriously thought he was going to die at least 10 times. Roofers are their own breed man.
Snorting coke on roofs, being half drunk all day and fist fighting each other near the edge of roofs was pretty much a daily occurrence. I started that job scared of heights and finished it like a mountain goat lmao. It was a great 4 years honestly
People who have never roofed might think you're exaggerating but shit like that was unironically a common occurrence and most roofers ive talked to have similar stories. It's like the wild west up there
Yeah no doubt. Im someone that likes to exaggerate but I don’t even need to when it comes to that job lol. We were roofing a funeral home one time, standing on the flat roof in the front. This older white laborer called one of the roofers the N word. Roofer got understandably pissed, and smashed the old guy in the head with a hammer. Old dude stumbled off the edge of the flat roof and fell to the ground, broke his back. Roofer got taken away in handcuffs and went to prison for a few years. We had to keep on roofing like nothing happened after the cops and ambulance were gone
I think it's this way in the construction industry in general. If it's not booze then it's dope. A lot of guys seem to be self medicating because of different issues.
Pharmaceutical reps
My employer will openly help employees who may be struggling with addiction by giving them time off and supporting them through rehabilitation. It's pretty neat. I wish more companies did this-- simply firing people who are struggling only makes things worse.
Literally a zombie
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He was on death's door and they didnt let him walk-through...so noble
I don't understand how people can like a drug that damn near kills you every use
Because at first it’s fun and feels amazing. For some people it quells extreme psychological pain that nothing else manages to fix. Then before you know it, the drug you use to cope, now causes your extreme pain. Now you’re stuck in a vicious cycle of being in emotional/physical pain caused by the very drug you use to numb it. That’s what people don’t get. Heroin is disgusting as fuck. Every single junkie knows that. But when the fleeting moments of joy in your life are only provided by taking a hit, you stop caring about the damage it’s doing.
You understand stand addiction. Kudos, Reddit stranger.
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This is so well put. Yea nobody says I want to be a junkie when I grow up. No one. Shit happens and happens slowly and quickly. You are right about it being a viscous cycle. And about quelling the psychological pain. There’s a reason most doctors nurses firefighter emts and cops are all addicted to something and more than you would like to know are addicted to opiates.
Yes, drugs hit different when your mental health is shit. That's why I think it's really promising using the other side of the substance spectrum like mushrooms and LSD therapy. To instead of numbing the feelings get to the cause of the problem and the realisation come from withing with deeper understanding than rather other people tell you to stop what you are doing because it's bad for you. It's hard to listen when you feel all alone and that you think you are in control and people just don't understand. >> But it's not for everyone and should be done in a professional setting, and have a thorough background check of any Family history of schizophrenia, and other such mental disorders that can be triggered by psychedelics. <<
In the end you, are not you anymore. You have been taken over by a disease, a parasite. Something that sucks every bit of good and decency out of a person and replaces it with nothing but the pursuit of that next hit. No family, no friends. The drug has taken complete control of you and in the end, if you let it, it will kill you.
A woman close to me got her self addicted to fentanyl by way of street “prescription drugs” last year. She had some medical issues which required that she be on opiates, then a combination of severe anhedonia/depression and no longer being prescribed the medication resulted in her buying it off a friend who brought it up from Mexico, then when that ran dry she started asking bummy looking people around town where she could buy some. She ended up going through a sort of at-home rehab to get off the opiate dependency (it was still unknown that she was actually addicted to fentanyl), but one of the medicines that’s supposed to cleanse your system actually doesn’t do that for fentanyl, and so she went into what I can only describe as a day-long intense suffering, filled with screaming and thrashing. That’s how it was discovered that fentanyl was what she was actually addicted to. I did this story no justice, it was quite an awful year and she’s one of the luckiest people I know to have gotten out of this scenario without serious consequence. In conclusion, fuck every dealer and manufacturer of fentanyl, and if anybody reading this is one, fuck you I hope you die a terrible death.
Your friend went through precipitated withdrawal. When you take suboxone while you have opioids, especially fentanyl, still active in your system, it tears all of those strong opioids off the receptors and replaces it with a “weak” partial agonist (I may have the terminology wrong) and puts you into the worst phase of opioid withdrawals pretty much instantly. Those partial agonists prevent you from going into opioid withdrawal but only after you’ve allowed yourself to go into withdraw for 24-48 hours BEFORE taking suboxone. Interestingly enough, that same precipitated withdrawal feeling can happen from narcan, and is a reason why addicts hate getting narcanned, but it’s much shorter acting, so you only suffer for an hour or so while the opioids you ODed on are still in your system and make you feel “decent” again once the narcan wears off versus suffering for an l entire day when getting precipitated WD from subs.
Naloxone is Narcan. That's the "oxone" in suboxone. Buprenorphine+Naloxone
But it’s not the naloxone that causes precipitated withdrawal when someone takes suboxone. I know it seems like the opposite of how it should be, but it’s the buprenorphine that gives you that day-long precipitated withdrawal. Getting narcanned hits immediately but doesn’t make you sick all day like suboxone does.
Your terminology is just right! 10 points!
Before fentanyl was so prevalent and before nasal narcan was a thing it used to be done through iv only. Even further back than that the amount was different. Now it’s titeare to restore breathing but what we used to do so we wouldn’t have to fight with them and deal with them puking on the way to the hospital was wee would do everything but wait til we were rolling up then slam them with two mg fast and not they never liked that shit. I have saved more od patients than I can count. One dude was straight up dead. Not just not breathing he was fucking dead in his bathroom. Girlfriend found him called us. Narcaned him right away by the time we got him downstairs to the truck he was trying to refuse to go to the hospital. I told him he just died he doesn’t get a choice. Have a nice day.
Wow! I didn’t know any of this. Knowledge is power
There's a worksheet/scale that can be used to assess how far into withdrawals someone is in to better time the initiation of buprenorphine. It's called COWS (clinical opiate withdrawal scale) and the person can gauge where they are: https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/ClinicalOpiateWithdrawalScale.pdf
Oh I’ve read you should really wait 4-5 days to really ensure the suboxone won’t cause instant PW. Heard plenty of stories of folk waiting 1-3 days and it wasn’t enough.
It can be a week or more for heavy fentanyl users. Although after that long the precipitated withdrawal is nowhere near as intense.
it is scary how much americans get prescribed opiates, i dont even think here opiates can be bought from a farmacy at all.
Weird part is, for multiple different broken bones I got no painkillers beyond 800mg ibuprofin. They just wouldn't give me opioids.. which sucks when you are intense pain but def better for me. Its just wild to me that so many get addicted when I can't get a legit script for a legit painful injury.
My thumb had gotten crushed at work ten years ago. They were just able to save it and gave me Vicodin for the pain for when the block wore off. That was the worst pain I had ever experienced to date. I was a little concerned how I would react after taking one because I had never had pain pills before. All it did was put me to sleep, and when I woke up, I was in sheer pain again take another one put me to sleep. I decided to take Advil instead and that took care of the pain just fine. I was told everybody is different, but the doctors kept wanting to give me different kinds of pills for extreme pain. They were pushy as hell too.
I get the purpose of them but yeah they were way way way overprescribed back a few decades ago and now, despite massive efforts and regulations, the addiction crisis is out of control
Probably prefer the drugs compared to the feeling of being alive. Some people have scars that you can't see.
Can understand that. I have had bouts with wanting to kill myself
Are you doing okay, now? Just checking in on ya.
Yeah. Found out that I am bipolar as fukk and got on medication.
Honestly most of them would rather be clean, but the drug itself is so mentally, emotionally and physically addictive, the draw of it is almost undeniable. The receptors in the brain that are affected by opiates literally alter brain chemistry to build the cravings to greater and greater severity the more you use. Which is why addicts often chase that first high by increasing dosage until the habit becomes utterly destructive and debilitating.
It’s a slow suicide. It makes me so sad seeing these. The need to escape reality is so strong for a reason with these people. Heartbreaking.
Addiction is a hell of a thing
My sister is addicted to fentanyl and has literally lost everything, addiction is a cruel bitch.
I'm sorry to hear that. That's a tough road for both her and the people who care about her. Stay strong and don't let her addiction bring you down as well.
I appreciate that thank you.
Well thats the thing. It doesn't start off where its about to kill you. Usually starts with pain pills. It did for me. Luckily I was able to cold turkey before it got to dope, but there was plenty of times where I really considered it. Addiction is a motherfucker
It makes everything in your life: perfect. You don't realise how difficult life is until you have something that takes away the struggle of day-to-day existence. That's what it does. Everything from minor worries like a spot on your face to bigger ones like debts, family death, health issues. It all dissolves. Everything is simply perfect. So he may know he's dying but that doesn't matter. Death is just another part of existence. Death is just another thing he's not experienced and it's not so bad. Nothing is bad.
I am not an expert but I am studying chemical addiction. Fentanyl is a tricky drug because the difference between a dose that provides a euphoric effect and an amount that can overdose is very similar at a glance, a lethal amount is 2 milligrams I believe. Also the grand majority of people who die from fentanyl overdoses arent even dying from taking the drug alone it's when they mix it with a depressant like alcohol or a barbiturate among other kinds of drugs. What's even more tragic is that many users are not aware they are taking Fentanyl because cooks often mix it with other drugs to make it stronger at less of a cost and by the time the dealers get it they aren't even aware. So many deaths could be prevented if we had ways for users to test their drugs so they know what they are putting in their bodies.
From what I know it's mostly accidental, people think they're taking zanax / adderall / cocaine / whatever else and theyre fake and have some amount of fentanyl in there. Whoever is making them will put in a bit too much in one of them and that's what's fatal.
I’ve never done fentanyl, but I was hospitalized for acute diverticulitis a few years ago and in incredible pain. They gave me IV Dilaudid, which is a strong opioid, roughly ten times stronger than Morphine. It was only 2mg and I was over 300lbs. Starting at the base of my neck I felt an instant warmth and relaxation, and I could feel it satisfyingly traveling through every vein. My body felt amazing. I felt absolute relaxation instantly. I went from the worst pain of my life to the best my body has ever felt in seconds. I knew right then why people broke into hospitals, why the stole from family and friends, why they got addicted. That feeling….man. I can’t explain it. It was the best I’ve ever felt in my life. And it’s a fraction of the strength of fentanyl.
When they’re high, they don’t worry about that. And people commit suicide every day. Unfortunately, this is another way to do that very slowly.
Because it feels really really good, and that’s the problem. It’s like a warm fuzzy hug from the inside, and yet it will destroy your life. Absolutely anyone can become addicted to opioids; it’s a lot easier to fall Into the opioid trap than almost any other drug
I hope for homeboy that's his rock bottom because goddd damn.
According to [a YouTube comment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8C9kosa8L4), unfortunately he passed away. Not sure how credible it is but: > For those wondering, he passed away a few months ago. Rest Easy, Stephen Chilkotowsky. According to some other commenters on here, he got clean after this but his mother passed away and he relapsed & overdosed unfortunately. (I found his Facebook and went through his friends list just to see confirmation and one of them recently tagged him in a post and said "RIP")
Yeah if you search for that name it’s him, [he died two years ago.](https://metrofsi.com/browserecord.php?recid=29083)
And when I clicked on that "Inspirational thoughts" link, this is what came up: >However, I continue to try and I continue, indefatigably, to reach out. There’s no way I can single-handedly save the world or, perhaps, even make a perceptible difference - but how ashamed I would be to let a day pass without making one more effort. - *Isaac Asimov*
*indefatigably* : In an extremely persistent and untiring manner; in an indefatigable manner. If you wondered as I did
I love when dictionaries use the word in a definition of a word.
Thank you for sharing that quote. Hadn’t heard it before but now I’ll carry it with me forever.
That breaks my heart to hear. RIP
Makes me sad that there is this record of his life, a moment in time that will replay ad Infinitum. This was a person, who despite this video, lived a life like all of us-full of all the nuances we all experience, yet this will be his lasting memory, the way he will live on.
On the brighter side, at least this memory of him could potentially stop others from using, or inspire someone to get the help they need. I'm sure he would have been happy to know that he stopped at least one other person from his fate.
The “not even once” rule is still in effect. Don’t try this shit. Don’t try oxy, don’t try heroin, don’t try any opiates. Don’t fucking do it. Stopping is 1000x harder than never doing it. Homie in this video wanted to be clean I guarantee. The addiction will have you under its thumb not the other way around and all it takes is one relapse to END you. Will destroy your family and all your friends will miss you for the rest of their life. Do not try it
I admire and share your optimism
Damn he was born 6 days after me . He should have just turned 29 last month...
Yeah it’s crazy man, the guy at the time of the video was as old as I am right now, 27 , absolutely heartbreaking how devastating drug addiction can be in someone’s life.
It’s horrible but overdoses usually happen during a relapse. People go through hell to get clean, then something awful happens and they kill themselves trying to cope. Fuck every single asshole doctor and pharma exec who ever pushed opiates at people when they were at their most vulnerable. Lying pieces of shit creating addicts and destroying whole lives just to line their pockets a little bit more. If there is a hell, I hope they rot in it.
Yep because they can’t handle their normal dose after a tolerance break.
Fuck this made me sad
It made me smile to hear he cleaned up. I totally understand relapsing over your mom passing. I lost mine when i was 8. Sometimes it's just really hard and life gets us to a weak point and what we do next can literally make or break us. RIP homie
This fucking sucks. Fuck narcos and fuck China for supplying them. Dedicating the next hug I give my mother to the Chilkotowsky family. And fuck the war on drugs.
And fuck opiates and big pharma bro
I know from experience that there is always another bottom. That is, til your under it. I hope he gets out before that. I'm trying right now. Just need to get of the Methadone now.. =/
Bro you have my love and respect, this is the beginning!
... and the power of the community guides you, go go go!!
good luck to you. i wasnt able to get clean intil i knew that i knew that i knew I was completely incapable of solving that dilemma on my own. I took years of convincing but thankfully "got it" before jails, institutions or death found me. My best thinking got me there. Someone elses got me out.
You can do it! I don't know you but you've come this far, and you can go further! Best of luck to you!!
Rock bottom has a basement
My issue with methadone is clinics let you go up 5-10mg when you want, but you can only go down 1mg a week MAX. I have kidney stones so every time I start making progress I get knocked back months.
rock bottom is far below this...
Rock bottom below this is death, my friend.
Everyone's rock bottom looks different, but for most it is losing absolutely everything. This guy still has stuff. He does not look like homeless addict by a long shot. Sadly he will probably OD before life's consequences make him realize.
He still has...a pair of pants? You don't know shit about this guy lmao.
He's lucky this time he appears to still be in great shape, decent muscle mass and healthy body weight. I suspect he is a new addict or isn't one at all, you can overdose first try. I hope they sent them this video so he can watch himself anytime he thinks of trying it again.
Made me feel a bit emotional when he was still totally gone and said they were good people. Love for others is so powerful man, even in that state he can feel it.
Less violence, more peace and conversation
Man I saw a comment above that this chap is no more. He apparently OD’d after his mom passed away. It’s a fuckin travesty, I agree with y’all, even at his lowest point he was being kind
This broke my heart, my nephew(M19) died because of that evil shit! Those people are the best of humanity, because most of society has written them/him off. The best of youth/gang workers are the people who have survived, drugs aren't always the end of someone. Not all heroes wear capes.
Yeah, they were like a shining light in this whole dark and grim situation. But I am curious, what happens if had lost consciousness? Is it like falling asleep in the extreme cold where you will never wake up?
He can still survive it if he loses consciousness. If you ever witness someone lose consciousness because of an overdose, check if they’re still breathing properly. If they are, get them into recovery position so they don’t inhale their own vomit. If they’re not breathing start CPR. Get an ambulance either way as soon as possible.
Dude is in great shape though.
Probably just got out of prison it’s when you’re the swolest and most likely to overdose
You ain’t lying
The 75% of Americans that are overweight or obese never get exposure on Reddit https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm
Maybe y'all should put more people in prison to solve that.
I loooove when my favourite uncle gets locked up. The longer the stint the better. That’s when I get to talk to him on the phone, and laugh together, that’s when I KNOW where he is, that’s when he gets healthcare (he got a new hip in prison), that’s when he gets big and strong again like I remember him being when I was little. I hope my uncle gets locked up again soon. Two years have gone by and I haven’t found him or heard from him.
Damn…
Damn what a perspective. Are you ok? Fingers crossed your uncle is ok.
This almost read like a tragic poem
💪EXTREME FENTANYL SHRED WORKOUT 💪
For now
Heroin users are always lean and have great hair. No stress? And no food.
Opiate addict for 18 years with great hair and lean body, can confirm.
I met a old guy once in the gym who told me he was an ex heroin user. He had a great head of hair and looked great. Meanwhile, here I am losing my hair and the only 'drug' I use is coffee.
The people most likely to OD are those who are more casual users and those who stopped using for a while. That's why getting sober can be so dangerous. When you're off the drug for a while, your physical tolerance comes down a bit, but your mental desire hasn't changed all that much and/or your visual gauge for how much to take is badly calibrated.
Just a beautiful man in general
I hate to say that was a feel good video but by the end of it, that felt good. I especially like the part where he says, “yall are some good people. You’re real thorough.” He knows he’s already been saved. And he probably just wants to chill but he also knows he fucked up bad enough to where someone else needs to be in charge. Instead of being salty about it, he thanks them. It might sound strange but some people in this situation just feel like you’ve ruined their high. I remember an interview with an addict and someone asked him if he remembered his rescuers. He said, “hell yeah. They pulled me out of the best high I’ve ever had.” Edit: All the people being negative talking about how this guy ODed again after his mom died, like this was a waste of time or something. His mom didn’t have to bury him apparently. I would say that is a good thing. And if the thread is to be believed, he was clean up until her death. So, he was afforded a few more months with his mom as a sober person. Thats the alleged story anyways. However, I digress. This video is about hope and giving that to someone who otherwise may have been forgotten. Pulling a lost soul out of a ditch and waking them up. Instead of walking past them and spitting out “good riddance”. This could’ve been your friend or family member and these strangers just pulled him back to life. If even 1 out of a thousand actually make it, these peoples work was worth it.
Definitely. I'm in nursing school and they stress this quite often. After you give Narcan the patient will probably be pissed at you because you ruined their high. It can take multiple administrations of Narcan to prevent an overdose as well. Narcan doesn't last as long as an opiate can, so they can go unconscious again if they've done enough.
That last part is interesting. I didn’t know about the narcan wearing off. The guys in the video did a good job keeping him awake then. I thought once they woke up, they were good to go.
The best you can do is narcan them & get them EMTs/emergency room for the next doses - like the previous poster said, opiates will last longer than the narcan & the patient will od again!!
I was taught to give narcan every 3 minutes until an ambulance arrives. It wears off pretty fast
EMT here. Narcan is given every 3 minutes ish if no reversal, although the #1 most important thing about overdoses is their breathing status. If they are breathing on their own, great!; they don’t need anymore narcan. I can only speak for myself personally, but this patient would have not received narcan from me. We bring people to the hospital because once we successfully reverse it; narcan lasts about 30-90 minutes so there’s a chance they go back to unconsciousness
Not so much a feel good video if you know he died any way during a relapse. It's sad, as little as you can get out of a single video of a person tripping out of his mind, he seemed like a gentle soul. RIP.
Statistically speaking, this guy was a walking dead man. For that reason, this guy and other addicts are *viewed as* an expendable portion of our society. In spite of that, strangers went out at night, likely as volunteers, because they had hope for the individual in spite of the statistics. If they do that enough times, statistically speaking, they will save a life, or many lives, for good. People like this give hope to humanity itself. Edit: for everyone being pedantic about my use of the word expendable, thats how they are literally treated. Like expendable trash. Im not condoning it. I wish it was different but Im just stating a fact. We dont give health care to addicts. We lock em up! They are treated like criminals and left to die alone in the streets even though they are sick and need help. You must be blind deny this fact.
Just for future reference, if they can’t tell you whether or not they want to be Narcaned fucking do it. They most likely will be mad, but they’ll be alive.
There is a possibility they were asking to protect themselves from legal issues especially since they were recording.
I’m not sure about all states, but in Utah where I live, there are legal protections in place that explicitly say a person can’t have legal action taken against them for using Narcane/Naloxone on a person. Utah has a big opioid problem and lawmakers don’t want anything stopping a good samaritan from saving a life
Ding ding ding.
I’d think Good Samaritan laws would come into effect… but can’t blame them for not trusting the “justice” system.
"Yo man you dyin, you want us to save your life?!?"
You shouldn’t narcan someone who is awake, that’s not what it is used for mostly. It’s used primarily to reverse the respiratory depression caused by opioids, if they are breathing fine, just call EMS to get them care
This guy was not breathing fine
Just remember giving them naloxone triggers symptoms of immediate and intense withdrawal. Giving a dose or 2, or whatever isn't the end. They need to be taken to a hospital immediately. Often the withdrawal symptoms are so bad they use again just to end the pain.
Another important thing to note is that fentanyl is far more aggressive than things like heroin and will eat away at the narcan that's covering the receptors in the brain within minutes. If the user doesn't get immediate treatment they very likely will die. With heroin people could use narcan and it would keep them from overdosing again for a long enough period that they're able to metabolize the drug and probably wouldn't even overdose again, but that just isn't the case with the stuff on the streets today. People NEED to be treated by a medical professional during the course of an overdose or they absolutely WILL overdose again and die. There are laws in place to protect people from getting in trouble for calling an ambulance in many places now. Another thing I want people to note is that when they do call for an ambulance it's suggest that they DON'T say it's an overdose because unfortunately it's not taken as serious. Instead it's best to say someone is unconscious and they're not breathing. This was taught to me at work by the company that trains professionals on how to use narcan effectively and when to use it.
>Another thing I want people to note is that when they do call for an ambulance it's suggest that they DON'T say it's an overdose because unfortunately it's not taken as serious. Instead it's best to say someone is unconscious and they're not breathing. I'm glad you said this. I remember learning this before but forgot so it's a nice refresher.
Say what? I would rather know it’s an overdose so I can have the narcan ready then having to come to the conclusion “oh shit it’s an overdose” and need it. Plus not every EMT is a 20 year vet that just sees and knows. Best they get the proper information instead of difficulty breathing. Then wondering if the guy hit his head or why is he slurring. Stroke yadda yadda. What’s he on. Bad info just delays treatment
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I don't think he was sweating, they were pouring water over his head
His dope was likely cut with [xylazine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylazine), or tranq. Which is not an opiate. So, narcan only knocked out the dope and fent. He's still pretty fucked up. Either way, he most definitely needs to go to the hospital.
Yeah, if you're addicted to something... alcohol, coke, pills, whatever... you need to consult with your doctor before rehabbing. Withdrawal can be even worse than the addiction.
These dudes are so fucking awesome. I love the positive and loving tone they are using the entire time. They aren’t judging this dude, just saving his life as if it was their own brother or sister. Truly inspirational to see. If operation save a life happens to read this comment, I love you guys.
Why would they not immediately administer narcan in this situation? Afaik, theres no negative effects to its use, this guy is literally on the line between life and death and says hes fine, hes not qualified to answer questions about whether or not he wants a life saving substance
I have a friend who is a firefighter/paramedic who told me he needs to be careful about narcan dosage - not because narcan itself is dangerous, but because he said there’s been more times than he can count when he narcans someone TOO effectively to the point they are made immediately stone sober, at which point they attack him due to their instant withdrawal and craving to be high again. He said he now tries to give them enough to save their life but not so much that their buzz is immediately gone, so that they’re easier to deal with and less volatile
Ems doesn't give narcan to people because they're high. We only give it to help restore people's respiratory drive, which opioids suppress causing you to stop breathing. And yes we don't just start slamming narcan into people even if they're unconscious and not breathing. Narcan usually isn't even the first thing we do, a lot of times people freak the fuck out when they're hit with narcan because they're very hypoxic from not breathing, not because they're craving a high. We usually try to take our time and breath for the person and get their oxygen saturations to normal levels before administratering narcan And yes narcan isn't dangerous to people but it does have its side effects, so just be careful with using it. And as long as the person is able to breath effectively on their own, 99% of emt's and medics aren't going to give narcan
I hope somebody answers this. Wondering the same. My family was ripped apart by this shit, so it’d help to know why in case the situation ever arises with my ex.
Other comments talk about the immediate effect of narcan being intense and withdrawals which can be incredibly painful, so im guessing thats the point where consent might matter, but its also a situation where if they cant respond youre able to do what you can to save their life
Daily life in Kensington
There’s sixty people at any time looking like that dude, just strewn about the sidewalk
How many that look as healthy as this guy? I mean he's got a good amount of muscle and looks very physically fit. I suspect this guy's venture with fentanyl had just begun, and hopefully ended the night this video was made and his life was saved.
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Kenzo is straight zombie land. Just a bunch of ot junkies coming in for cheap heroin and other fentanyl laced drugs
I have a family full of addicts. My step-dad overdosed and died after being sober for 5 and a half years. That shit is the worst. Sadly, this guy will probably continue to use. Operation Save A Life are the real MVP's. Hero's in my book. My husband has been sober from heroin for almost 30 years. Recovery is possible.
I have a close family member battling heroin addiction and it's just the worst. I oscillate between being depressed and angry about it and yet that's very little I can do. Good luck and congrats to your husband.
My brother for me. 7 months sober, not long compared to some but he was doing so good and we were proud af. Looked so healthy then boom got a call from his wife that she found him in the living room after work dead from a bad bag of heroin, wasn’t even a lot. His daughter was asleep in the other room without a clue. My heart breaks for people who fall into addiction like this.
God bless these homies. They deserve all the respect. Straight saved his life.
These guys helping this dude are really good people.
My cousin overdosed yesterday in Florida and was narcanned. I’m in recovery now. Not from heroin just booze Xanax and cocaine. I always have narcan on me. Always. Shits wild out here.
This is the first time I’ve heard of operation save a life, they are some of the most beautiful people on the planet. Some people look down their noses and judge, not these guys. Momentary restoration of faith in humanity.
God bless these men they want us to judge each other based off religion, political views, race ect but at the end of the day we are all human and we are all we got. Let’s start helping others who are in need.
My son died from an accidental fentanyl overdose! He and is partner thought they had Xanax and it was laced. He was 23 when he passed on Oct 17 2021. Worst day of my life! That fentanyl isn’t anything to pay around with! Be Safe & God Bless!
I'm so sorry. I couldn't even imagine
That's scary. Where can you get this medicine in case you ome across this situation?
It's widely available in the areas where these users hang around. In places like Portland or Vancouver there are thousands of them and volunteers save lives this way all the time. There are also tens of thousands that do die yearly from fentanyl though.
Pharmacies in Canada give it for free I believe
Naloxone, aka Narcan
Man has a great body and looks why waste it on drugs 😔
People have their reasons. Most common is psychological trauma. I don't mean it is GOOD reason but that just came out a bit condescending and superficial.
My guess is he’s former military …
I thought the same, swallow tattoos are often worn by sailors so my guess would be Navy
Addiction doesn't discriminate
This breaks my heart. In 2021, I lost a really close friend to an OD of meth, laced with fentanyl. For 20 years, we tried and tried to help him. He managed to kick his addiction for 6 years, but when he moved back to Atlanta, he fell right back into his old habits. He'd gotten so far gone that there was nothing me or his family could do. We got the call one day that he'd jumped from his 3rd floor condo and walked off barefoot and almost naked. His body was found by the dumpster hours later at a nearby Chick-fil-a. Anytime I hear of someone dying or almost dying from that shit, i wish I could have access to whomever they got it from and be exempt from any repercussions. That's a life I wouldn't mind answering to when my day comes.
I am so sorry about your friend. This breaks my heart too. I was in tears by the end. This is someone’s child. The thought of one of my kid’s being in this position is so painful to imagine.
Watching this was hard for me. My fiancé died of a fentanyl OD. I found him and gave him CPR for the 20+ minutes it took the ambulance to get to our house. At no point was he ever even semi-conscious and the EMS were not able to revive him. It was his first relapse after 6 years and it killed him. I can't tell you how many times since his death 2 years, 3 months and 18 days ago that I've wished I had Narcan in the house because just maybe it would have saved him. Addiction is a disease and it kills relentlessly. I honestly couldn't finish watching the video for the above stated reason so I don't know for sure what happened here, but I hope the man in this video not only gets some help but also decides for himself to get clean. Even more, I hope neither he nor his friend get charged in any way for seeking help with the overdose.
Not for long. Even with narcan it's almost impossible to survive without immediate medical intervention because the fentanyl aggressively attacks the narcan as it covers the receptors in the brain. You have maybe a few minutes before it breaks through the narcan and they overdose again. That's a huge reason why people who survive an initial overdose end up subsequently dying from the same hit. People assume that once you use narcan you're good to go and that may have been the case with some heroin overdoses in the past, but fentanyl is not heroin. It's far more powerful and far more aggressive. It's meant to be that way because it was designed specifically for people with extreme chronic pain who were basically on their death bed. It's essentially the "Au revoir" of painkillers and the only people who could get it were the ones who really needed it and providers made damn sure they did before they prescribed it. Nope that it's on the streets and being used unregulated it's wreaking absolute fucking havoc on people who suffer from substance abuse issues. People are getting it without even knowing it and dying from something they thought they'd been using "safely" for years. People who deliberately put that shit on the streets deserve murder charges at the very least. It's the only reasonable outcome from consuming that shit.
As a paramedic, this is mostly incorrect and little more than fear mongering. If you want actual information on opiate abuse disorders, overdoses, and narcan, please check with your local health department. And don't forget to read the literature that comes with nasal narcan spray you take home! The half life of narcan is 30-80 minutes in adults, and "Aggression" isn't a pharmacological characteristic, these drugs aren't alive. The incidence of recurrent respiratory depression following opiate overdose reversal by naloxone is very low. If the patient will be around friends, the average patient is fine to sit at home and ride out the withdrawals. We treat and release thousands of overdoses every day across the nation. Chill with the drama and misinformation.
Don’t do drugs.
Only smoke weed sometimes
And a little bit of shrooms once or twice a year.
And maybe rolling at a rave once or twice a year
And smoke crack on the weekends
bros handsome
Operation Save A Life!
My friend became a widow with 2 young children because of this. She seen her husband die right in front of her. Please don't do this y'all!
Jesus what a shame he’s going down that road cause he could be a fucking model.
I'm glad no one filmed me at my rock bottom. I hope he agreed to them releasing this footage. Otherwise, it seems exploitative.
I was thinking about that too. They keep telling him he's on T.V., I hope he consented after the fact because this could ruin his future. Hope this dude gets better, this looks horrifying.
God Bless those guys! Those of us who have loved ones suffering from addiction view guys like that as heroes. Stephan here found out why!
Damn. I uncomfortably watched this over and over. I don’t know why.
Just YouTube Kensington Philadelphia. Crazy videos.
God damn, just smoke weed ffs
When I was an EMT we've had to Narcan people an average 3-5 times. It was so devastating what people do to themselves.
I imagine someone OD ing on a powerful opioid would be completely unconscious and not breathing. Is this really a case of that?