The U.S. is in the throes of what researchers have deemed a “fourth wave” of the opioid crisis, a phase characterized by overdose deaths caused by the combination of stimulants and the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 for the first time in 2021, fueled by the rise of synthetic opioids, which accounted for 75% of those deaths. Once propelled by prescription opioids and then heroin, the decadeslong crisis was overwhelmed by synthetic opioids in the mid-2010s.
Now it has taken on a new challenge: so-called polysubstance overdoses, which include more than one drug.
The proportion of overdoses involving fentanyl and a stimulant — most commonly cocaine and methamphetamine — increased more than fiftyfold from 2010 to 2021, a study published Thursday in the journal Addiction found.
I have a degenerative bone disease that causes my bone marrow to turn into tumors. It’s really painful and I break things as I walk.
I’ve been on fentanyl patches when my pain gets too extreme. I also drink coffee when I don’t have the energy to do much due to my condition. I was taking stronger stimulants NuVigil in order to be able to function at work in a corporate job before I became 100% disabled for several years. Nowadays, I just stick to coffee or caffeine pills.
A lot of people mix uppers and downers like that. It’s just that coffee and caffeine are much more acceptable stimulants even if they work pretty close to the same…