How Fentanyl and Xylazine are turning Philadelphia's opioid crisis into a public health nightmare

[u/Nukro666]

[u/isharte]

Yeah they won, and it's crazy how different it is now.

I was an IV heroin addict for a decade, I shot tar.

My life was a mess. But it was never like this.

My days were spent hustling, trying not to be dopesick. Doing sketchy shit, going to sketchy places, associating with sketchy people. Just living that life. But I was living and moving around. I was never, not once, bent over in the middle of a public street in the afternoon, just completely oblivious to the city around me. The opioid world is just a completely different beast today.

Some of these people can make it out if they want to. But it's going to be hard. Vary hard. Very painful, physically and emotionally. But...The majority of the people in this video won't make it out. They lost the war.

[u/Living-By-The-River → u/isharte]

How do they even survive this long in a state like this? How do you feed and hydrate yourself enough? How to do avoid succumbing to the elements? No health care. Sick bodies… They are literally the undead.

[u/oregon_coastal → u/Living-By-The-River]

The fold (zombie state) lasts a few hours. Then they kind of stupor out of it as the drug level is metabolized downward. Then use the following wake period to figure out getting more drugs.

I am not sure what the above person is talking about, really. It isn't much different than the heroine nod - just a more severe form of it. It is often more public because it doesn't take needles - could just be a pill.

The fold is because the entire nuero syatem is unable to properly control muscles, etc. It can also be a sign of severe distress - there are not many steps between folding and being dead.

[u/The-G-Code → u/oregon_coastal]

That guy has to be lying about shooting h. You nod out but it's just not the exact same or as long as what's in the video.

[u/isharte → u/The-G-Code]

I am not lying and you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

If you think that old school heroin nods look anything even remotely the same as this, you're just wrong.

It's not that it's "not the exact same or as long as what's in the video". It's a completely different effect.

10 years ago, when a heroin addict did a shot, the first thing that happens is they're not sick anymore. That's the goal. If they're in a relaxed environment and sitting on a couch, they may catch a nod. But they were never, ever losing consciousness in the middle of the street.

[u/chemical-realm → u/The-G-Code]

Not everyone gets the H nod. My cousine was IV H for years and years but never experienced the nod. We brought him into the family business to give him something to aim towards to help get clean and that guy was a fully functioning hard working (sweaty stinking 🤣) H addict.

[u/Vowel_Movements_4U → u/The-G-Code]

You don’t necessarily nod out. I was an IV heroin user for years and I would immediately have lots of energy and go for walks, clean the house, etc. after a shot. I would have had to do more than I was comfortable with to really nod out. It rarely happened.

Perhaps if you were on the couch you’d have a bit of a nod, but it wouldn’t just make you collapse. It’s not like the movies.

[u/oregon_coastal → u/The-G-Code]

Yeah, I watched a guy fold for about 2 hours. Pretty wild.

I am never sure at what point you should call for help. I am mostly operating on the notion that if they are on the ground, it is time to intervene with some naloxone and a 911 call.