Fentanyl extraction data compilation

[cig3f]

Hello All,

I have perused a number of sources around the web through Google, and I have located a number of leading journal articles, top forum threads, and DEA/pharmaceutical extraction analyses. Many of these sources have scientifically verified much of the anecdotal advice I have read here.

I have sorted them in my view of their importance and authority. HTH.

1. Source: The Journal of Pain, Volume 6, Issue 3, Supplement, Page S52 (March 2005).
Fentanyl extraction / recovery experiments: Simulation of fentanyl diversion

R. Bianchi (http://www.jpain.org/article/PIIS152659000500221X/fulltext), K. Ballard (http://www.jpain.org/article/PIIS152659000500221X/fulltext), C. Harte (http://www.jpain.org/article/PIIS152659000500221X/fulltext), G. Vorsanger (http://www.jpain.org/article/PIIS152659000500221X/fulltext)

Fentanyl is a potent opioid medication used in the management of moderate to severe chronic pain. This study involves the conduct of a series of fentanyl extraction/recovery experiments to determine the relative ease of obtaining fentanyl in an abusable form from the Duragesic” reservoir patch and a prototypical fentanyl matrix patch. The experiments were designed to evaluate fentanyl recovery using readily available solvents in a manner consistent with drug abuser capability. The Duragesic® and matrix patches were readied for extraction by removing the adhesive covering and placing them in the selected solvent. The patches were subjected to extraction techniques including soaking and percolation at various times and temperatures. Extraction efficiency was evaluated by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) at various time points. Experiments involving minimal time and effort yielded significant amounts of fentanyl in the free base form from the matrix patch system. For example, soaking for 15 minutes at room temperature in three readily available solvents yielded 61%, 75%, and 97%, respectively, for the matrix patch, and at 3 hours yielded 89%, 93%, and 100%, respectively. Yields for the Duragesic patch did not exceed 10% at any time point in any of the solvents tested. More complex extraction processes like percolating for 3 hours or boiling in various solvents were required to obtain significant yields from the Duragesic® reservoir patches. Overall, these extraction techniques resulted in a greater quantity of fentanyl being extracted in a shorter time period with less complex techniques from the matrix patch versus the Duragesic reservoir patch.

http://www.jpain.org/article/PIIS152659000500221X/fulltext (http://www.jpain.org/article/PIIS152659000500221X/fulltext)

2. Source: EXTRACTABILITY: HOW SHOULD IT MEASURED? Robert Bianchi -PDRCTufts Meeting -Boston, MA September 7-8, 2006

Extraction Techniques
Protective layers removed and intact patches subjected to extraction
· “Room temperature Soak” (party punch): each patch left undisturbed in 500 ml of each solvent at RT.
· “Elevated Temperature Soak”: each patch soaked in 500 ml of solvent at boiling point.
· “3 Hour Percolation”: each patch percolated with 750 ml of each solvent.

Room Temperature Soak

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy95/cig3f/p1.jpg

http://www.tmci.org/opioid/sept06docs/BIANCHI.pdf (http://www.tmci.org/opioid/sept06docs/BIANCHI.pdf)

3. Source: TMCI Discussion, Katz Extractability Discussion
Robert Bianchi, PhD
– Former director DEA Special Testing Laboratory
Donald Cooper
– Former opioid lead in DEA Special Testing Lab
Donald Jasinski, MD
– Center for Chemical Dependency, Johns Hopkins
David Smith, MD
– Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, San Francisco
Stephen Butler, PhD
– Chief Scientific Officer, Inflexxion, Inc, Newton, MA

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy95/cig3f/p2.jpg

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy95/cig3f/p3.jpg

http://www.tmci.org/opioid/oct05docs/Katz%20extractability%20discussion%5B1%5D.pdf

4. Source: Drugs Forum, Fentanyl, Questions and Answers. Kemikaru Tenshu
I think you’re referring to isopropyl alcohol, and if so it is true that the Fentanyl will dissolve in the alcohol. Fentanyl (the citrate salt) dissolves well in all polar alcohols. Alcohol is not necessary with Fentanyl though, as it is soluble at 1g/ 40 mL in water. The jell is difficult to filter out though, so it’s best to filter it cold. The evaporation product of this process would be fentanyl powder.

If you really want to try and extract the patches my advice is this: Take 4 of the patches and freeze them, cut them open and remove the solid gel. Take this and put it in a container with 40 mL of dH2O (or alcohol, your choice) and shake it a couple of times an hour for a couple of hours. Next put a filter in a funnel and wet the filter with what ever solvent you used. Place this in the freezer along with the liquid which has your gel dissolved in it. When the gel water gets cold, take the two out and pour the liquid through the filter. When as much as possible has come through remove the funnel, stopper the bottom end, and place some more solvent in the funnel. Let this sit while you evaporate the filtered liquid (preferably without heat). Next, unstopper the funnel and let the liquid drain. You should then evaporate the liquid again as before, and repeat this process until you get nothing from the evaporation. There will NOT be much powder in the evaporating dish. In fact, there may be so little that until all the liquid completely evaporates you will think there is none. Just scrape the bottom with a good razor blade. Also, because we are working with so little powder here it is a good idea to minimize your handling losses by using as few containers as possible, and transferring only when needed. The large mount of liquid I recommend will help to minimize this factor.

I understand your feelings on a controlled rush for short periods throughout the day. That pretty much describes the way I like to use opiates. But, you shouldn’t be doing Sub-Q or IM injections with anything but injectable solutions (pharmaceutical grade) or pure powder. The bump you saw was NOT a good sign. If you must inject drugs such as these, do it IV.

The penetration enhancer I was talking about is DMSO. Application of DMSO to the sight of transdermal application significantly increases the absorption of the transdermal, which is most often created using IPA and IPM as a carrier solvent. Be warned that DMSO causes horrible dragon breath though, so get some mints. You won’t notice it, but everyone around you will.

The best carrier for OC injection is water or saline. The only reason to use other carriers such as oils is it retards the absorption process, and in this case that is exactly what we don’t want to do. Just dissolve the OC powder in water and inject. Shooting the OC pills you have is not a good idea, as they are filled with a lot of crap. I would extract them using a cold water extraction, and then I would prepare them for injection using a wheel filter.

Hope this helps. And again, to all of you reading this--be CAREFUL with fentanyl.

~KT

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1387 (http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1387)

5. Source: Heroin Helper Forum, How to Not Remove Fentanyl From Patches

A Reader Cautions

I read your stories on Fentanyl and the contents of the Duragesic® patches. A relative of mine works for an in-home nursing care program where they administer strong drugs to the patients. When they die, the nurses confiscate these so they don't fall into the "wrong" hands. Needless to say, I have gotten my hands on some pretty heavy stuff over the years: 160 mg OxyContin®, morphine ampuls, and especially Duragesic®.
These patches come in various strengths that have a total Fentanyl content of between 2.5 mg (releasing 25 micro-grams per hour) and 10 mg (releasing 100 micro-grams per hour). In other words, huge amounts. I have cut any number of these open, and ran a q-tip inside to extract some of the fluid. After all the juice inside the patch was gone, I would cut the remaining empty patch into pieces and chew on it with delight.
After about 4 months of doing this with a case of 35 10 mg patches, I was admitted to the hospital with a liver problem. The solution inside Duragesic® caused my liver to nearly explode. My enzymes were over 10,000--unbelievably high. This was not the result of the Fentanyl; it was the result of the other stuff in the patches.
My advice is: don't mess with these patches. Use them as directed unless you are one seriously knowledgeable chemist and know how to extract the Fentanyl from the glycerine and the alcohol. Even then, who would be ballsy enough to test your first draft? Death row inmates?
That's just my two cents. Happy using!
by Yeah Right © 2003

http://www.heroinhelper.com/angry/fentanyl.shtml (http://www.heroinhelper.com/angry/fentanyl.shtml)

6. [read this before you go to your next chronic opioid therapy doctor!] Source: University of Scotland Drug and Alcohol Library, Patient Level Opioid Risk Management, A Supplement to the PainEDU.org Manual, Nathaniel P. Katz, M.D., M.S.

http://www.drugslibrary.stir.ac.uk/documents/opioidrisk.pdf (http://www.drugslibrary.stir.ac.uk/documents/opioidrisk.pdf)

7. Source: Petition to FDA’s CDER to require risk management plans for existing and future fentanyl transdermal systems, in which they compare the risks of abuse of the matrix and reservoir forms.

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/DOCKETS/dockets/04p0540/04p-0540-pdn0001.pdf (http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/DOCKETS/dockets/04p0540/04p-0540-pdn0001.pdf)

8. [Know the enemy!] Source: TMCI Discussion, The Phenomenology of Prescription Opioid Abuse:
What Types of Abuse Do Products Need to Resist?
Sidney H. Schnoll, MD, PhD, October 27, 2005

“At the bottom of the noisome pit of charlantry crawl the drug-habit specialists. They are the
scavengers delving amid the carrion of the fraudulent nostrum business for their profits.
The human wrecks made by the opium- and cocaine-laden secret “patent medicines” come
to them for cure and are wrung dry for the last drop of blood.”

http://www.tmci.org/opioid/oct05docs/TAB%205.1%20Schnoll.pdf (http://www.tmci.org/opioid/oct05docs/TAB%205.1%20Schnoll.pdf)

Various insightful TMCI industry conference materials:
http://www.tmci.org/opioid/opioid_oct05.asp (http://www.tmci.org/opioid/opioid_oct05.asp)

9. Source: Duragesic Prescriber Information

Patients should be instructed that, if the gel from the drug reservoir accidentally contacts the skin, the area should be washed clean with clear water and not soap, alcohol, or other chemicals,
because these products may increase the ability of fentanyl to go through the skin.

Patients should be advised that while wearing the patch, they should avoid exposing the
DURAGESIC® application site and surrounding area to direct external heat sources, such as:
• heating pads,
• electric blankets,
• sunbathing,
• heat or tanning lamps,
• saunas,
• hot tubs or hot baths, and
• heated water beds, etc.

http://www.duragesic.com/duragesic/shared/pi/duragesic.pdf#zoom=100 (http://www.duragesic.com/duragesic/shared/pi/duragesic.pdf#zoom=100)

10. Source: Industry conference, Patching It Up, Fentanyl Patches, Stephan Neff.

This picture is pretty gruesome, but I dare someone to make it their avatar.

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy95/cig3f/untitled.jpg

http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/neffhbot/Documents/Microsoft%20PowerPoint%20-%202006%20-%208%20-%20Problems%20with%20Fentanyl%20Patches%2028..pdf

Later,
CIG

[TheGimp]

Great info, thank you. I wish I would have checked back here before I had already scoured the internet and found most of those same articles, but I still appreciate you putting them all in one place!

[30_Units]

so basically soak the patches in some HEET and evap for goodness huh?


it's pretty much pure methanol.
http://www.trailjournals.com/images/gear/HEET.jpg

[OverDriven]

This thread is interesting of course, but people need to keep in mind that pure fentanyl is a VERY dangerous chemical and your average person shouldn't attempt to extract it from anything. A non tolerant person can be killed by less than a milligram. If the pure fentanyl powder somehow became airborne, one could easily accidentally inhale a milligram or more. Just FYI in case anyone is thinking of trying this.

[cig3f]

Gimp,

You're welcome.

OverDriven,

Indeed, I would hope all our readers know how to mitigate serious risks and balance them with the benefits should they feel they are worth it to undertake such an endeavor.

To give everyone an example, when I created a fentanyl solution in a metered sprayer, I used a spreadsheet to calculate the mcg/mL and mL/spray based on the labeling as a unachievable conservative maximum plus some error tolerance level. I must have checked this 10 times backward and forward before committing. I started with something like 1/5 of the tolerant user's dose (20 mcg), waited 20 minutes between sprays, and went up from there until I felt it. After this "trial run", I simply mixed up a new concentration and went from there. I wore gloves when handling the gel. I didn't let anyone try it until I personally verified that batch.

Clearly, you can die quite easily handling and manipulating Fentanyl and should proceed accordingly.

30_Units,

With that said, I would not use any toxic solvent unless you have studied organic chemistry and know how to recrystallize and do a melting point to purify and verify your results. With nontoxic solvents, you can proceed with the patch maximum of the active ingredient as your estimated yield to be conservative, as you could never really achieve more than that.

CIG

[30_Units]

If I were to mess with something like fent-a copper plate of a known weight soldered to a thermocouple and some heat transferrence tables would be a necessity.

Pure fent is scary stuff.

[cig3f]

Thirty,

Sounds like you know more than me, bro. One day, I'll take up organic chem. Good luck.

CIG

[30_Units]

no-just how to make a temperature/purity thing. And not even in actuality-just the concept.

The gist is that if you can tell when a sample of something reaches it's boiling point, you can detect the purity. Known purity of a sample would be very important with fent, obviously.

[KoDeInaaaae]

is that a picture of a guy with liek 30 patchs on him?

[Shadowsblaze]

is that a picture of a guy with liek 30 patchs on him?


3400 mcg Fentanyll on a patient with neuropathic pain a case study on the inefficientcy of fentanyl with this type of pain and declaring its a safe analgesic with ????????.

[KoDeInaaaae]

thats a lot of fuckin fentanyl lol,340 mg rite?

[Shadowsblaze]

I don't know anything about fent I clicked the link below the picture.

[OverDriven]

thats a lot of fuckin fentanyl lol,340 mg rite?

Ummm no...that's 3.4 milligrams. He's getting that much every hour. That's enough to kill several non-tolerant adults though.

[cig3f]

'Sup Thirty,

I thought taking the melting point and comparing your range to the Merck Index was the proper way? Or is that a more advanced method?

OD, Kode, and Shadows,

Yup, 34 100 mcg patches is 3.4 mg/hr, as listed by the manufacturer in the PI I posted. Strangely though, a search on the PPT title yields:
Inefficacy of high-dose transdermal fentanyl in a patient with neuropathic pain, a case report.
Bleeker CP, Bremer RC, Dongelmans DA, van Dongen RT, Crul BJ.
Pain Clinic, Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital Nijmegen, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Pain partially responsive to opioids can lead to rapid escalating dosages due to tolerance development. In this report the case of a 58-year-old female with neuropathic pain using increasing transdermal (TTS) fentanyl dosages to a maximum dose of 3400 microg/h resulting in fentanyl plasma levels of 173 ng/ml is described. For pain relief an epidural infusion at the level T1-2 with bupivacaine was started. Immediate pain relief was accompanied by short lasting respiratory depression and drowsiness. Copyright 2001 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the study of Pain.
So our guy, whom I actually thought was a small, young boy, is a 58 year old female! I hope they got relief and were as pain free as possible. Tough.

CIG

[Dhedmo]

Hi Cig,

So many OPs have prodigious pharmacology knowledge, and the health care professionals on board have valuable experiences as, for lack of better phrasing, givers and receivers. I'm hoping to get some clarification on the actual risks associated with consuming the gel inside fentanyl patches.

One part of your post really struck me when I first read it, and I'm glad to finally be able to refer to it and ask a couple questions:


[From the part that begins "A Reader Cautions"]
I have cut any number of these open, and ran a q-tip inside to extract some of the fluid. After all the juice inside the patch was gone, I would cut the remaining empty patch into pieces and chew on it with delight.
After about 4 months of doing this with a case of 35 10 mg patches, I was admitted to the hospital with a liver problem. The solution inside Duragesic® caused my liver to nearly explode. My enzymes were over 10,000--unbelievably high. This was not the result of the Fentanyl; it was the result of the other stuff in the patches.


:(

Obviously, there's no way to know what other factors may have affected this person's liver, but for OPs who choose this ROA, or who may be considering it during this brutal economy, it obviously raises some concerns.

I have used the GDMFSE in an effort to understand ingredients besides fentanyl in the Duragesic-style fentanyl patches (Watson, specifically). ""Fentanyl and alcohol USP gelled with hydroxyethyl cellulose" is how the contents of the reservoir are described. However, I have not found much (PDR, web, etc.) to help me understand "hydroxyethyl cellulose" or any risks it, or the ethanol, may present, as clinical trials have not been conducted, or somesuch verbiage is about all I find.

I think it would be of value to know what the chances are of immediate or long-term health risks.

With regard to oral consumption of the gel (in the three hypothetical scenarios, assume the gel is applied buccally until its absorbtion, or inadvertant swallowing):



What dangers does one face when eating the gel of a new patch?
To what extent, if any, are the dangers reduced when consuming the gel of a patch that has been worn 72 hours?
What about the dried gel inside patches worn months earlier--obviously some fent remains; are the other components still present, and what dangers do they present in this state?

I really would appreciate any information any of the health care professionals and chemically astute OPs can share. Thanks!

p.s. I love the Barry Lyndon avatar. I think it's one of Kubrick's most underrated films (I also like Thackeray), and one of my favorites of his.