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What is Tranq? (Xylazine), Tranq Dope, Tranq Wound, Tranq and Fentanyl Dangers.

The non-opioid sedative analgesic drug xylazine also referred to as “tranq,” is frequently combined and used as an additive with other opioid drugs like heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. The effects of these medications can be boosted or mimicked by blending tranq. In actuality, tranq is currently detected in up to 15% of fentanyl testing.

But being exposed to this combination of pollutants can have harmful, even fatal, impacts on your health. It has been termed a “zombie medication” because it can leave your skin with necrotic skin ulcers that are so horrifying.


What Is Tranq Dope? What Is Xylazine? (or Tranq Drugs, Xylazine Drug)

What is Tranq’s definition or what Is Tranq D? You may be looking for a new deadly substance that has appeared in the illicit drug market as the America’s opioid crisis persists.

The non-opioid sedative analgesic drug xylazine (Xylazine Drugs), also referred to as “tranq,” is frequently combined with (adulterated) and used as an additive with other opioid drugs like heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. The effects of these medications can be boosted or mimicked by blending tranq. In actuality, tranq is detected in up to 15% of fentanyl testing.

But being exposed to this combination of pollutants can have harmful, even fatal, impacts on your health. It has been termed a “zombie medication” because it can leave your skin with necrotic skin ulcers that are so horrifying (Xylazine Wounds or Xylazine Sores).

Xylazine In Humans (Xylazine Human) Veterinarians employ xylazine as a sedative, anesthetic, tranquilizer, muscle relaxant, and analgesic to ease surgical operations, ensure safe handling and simplify diagnostic tests in animals. Xylazine Schedule: Despite being FDA-approved for usage in elk, fallow deer, rodents, mule deer, sika deer, and white-tailed deer, it is most frequently administered to cats, dogs, horses (Xylazine Horse), sheep, and cattle at varied amounts.

Most frequently, xylazine (Tranqs) is taken with medications with comparable effects. For example, xylazine and ketamine (Ketamine Xylazine or Xylazine Ketamine) are frequently combined to maintain a consistent anesthetic dose.

Is Xylazine A Benzodiazepine? Xylazine Abuse and Xylazine Drug Class (Xylazine Drug Classification)

Xylazine Controlled Substance: In the escalating drug addiction and overdose epidemic, Xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary sedative not licensed for human use, has been connected to an increasing number of overdose deaths countrywide.

Is Xylazine A Controlled Substance? According to studies, people exposed to Xylazine frequently combined it with other drugs, including illegal fentanyl, whether they knew they were doing so or not.

Research indicates that overdose deaths associated with xylazine have migrated westward across the United States, having the greatest impact in the Northeast, even if the full national scale of overdose deaths using xylazine is unknown.

Xylazine Philadelphia: In Pennsylvania, the proportion of all drug overdose deaths, including xylazine, rose from 2% to 26% between 2015 and 2020. In Maryland in 2021, 19% of drug overdose deaths involved xylazine; in Connecticut in 2020, 10% did.

Some claim to use fentanyl which contains xylazine, to extend the duration of its euphoric effects. Research has indicated that xylazine is frequently added to illicit opiates, including fentanyl. Most xylazine and fentanyl-related overdose deaths also involved other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, methadone, and prescription opioids.

Xylazine also referred to as “tranq,” is a central nervous system depressant that can impair memory and produce amnesia and dangerously low levels of breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

The risk of a fatal overdose increases when using opioids, xylazine, and other CNS depressants, such as alcohol or benzodiazepines. Learn more from the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the consequences of using multiple types of drugs (polysubstance use) (CDC).

Because xylazine is frequently coupled with opioids, doctors advise using the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone in case of a suspected xylazine overdose. Naloxone, however, does not address the effect of xylazine on respiration because it is not an opioid.

As a result, researchers are worried that the predominance of xylazine in the illicit opioid supply may reduce the effectiveness of naloxone in treating some overdoses. A suspected overdose should always be reported to emergency medical personnel. From the CDC, find out more about preventing overdose.

Skin ulcers (Tranq Wounds. or Tranq Necrosis), abscesses, and associated problems are also linked to frequent xylazine usage. Individuals report injecting, snorting, ingesting, or inhaling xylazine or medications containing it.

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Tranq (Xylazine) Factsheet

What is Tranq? (Xylazine)

The non-opioid sedative analgesic drug xylazine also referred to as “tranq,” is frequently combined with (adulterated) and used as an additive with other opioid drugs like heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. The effects of these medications can be boosted or mimicked by blending tranq. In actuality, tranq is currently detected in up to 15% of fentanyl testing.

But being exposed to this combination of pollutants can have harmful, even fatal, impacts on your health. It has been termed a “zombie medication” because it can leave your skin with necrotic skin ulcers that are so horrifying.


Tranq (Xylazine) Effects

  • Slowing down of the central nervous system
  • Sedation
  • Slow breathing
  • Low blood pressure (hypotension)
  • Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
  • Severe, painful skin ulcers (necrotic skin lacerations) and abscesses
  • Slowed wound healing
  • Frequent, persistent, or worsening skin infections
  • Eye problems like small pupils (miosis)
  • Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
  • High blood sugar (hyperglycemia)
  • Drowsiness
  • Amnesia

How Is Tranq Used?

To enhance or alter the effects of Tranq, it is frequently combined with heroin, fentanyl, or cocaine. It produces a comparable euphoric or “high” feeling to what opioids do.

The drug is known as “speedball” when heroin and cocaine are the main ingredients. Other street names for it in the US, such as “tranq dope” or “sleep cut,” include tranq or “zombie dope.”

It is known as “Anestesia de Caballo” or “horse anesthesia” in Puerto Rico, where xylazine has been linked to the supply of opioids since the early 2000s.

The tainted substance enters the bloodstream of users in ways like these:

  • Smoking
  • Snorting (Xylazine Powder)
  • Injecting (Xylazine Injection)
  • Swallowing
  • Inhaling

Xylazine can also be detected in small amounts in other medications. Benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, methadone, and prescription opioids might all fall within this category.

Attempts at sexual assault, intentional or unintentional poisoning, and drug misuse have all involved xylazine. The average Tranq price is around $30.

Tranq (Xylazine) Statistics


From 2015 to 2020, the percentage of all drug overdose deaths involving xylazine increased from 2% to 26% in Pennsylvania.

Source: NIDA

Among 45,676 overdose deaths reported to SUDORS during January–December 2019, xylazine-positive, and xylazine-involved deaths were identified in 25 and 23 states, respectively. Xylazine was listed as a cause of death in 64.3% of deaths in which it was detected.

Source: CDC

Xylazine was involved in 19% of all drug overdose deaths in Maryland in 2021 and 10% in Connecticut in 2020.

Source: NIDA


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Xylazine Side Effects In Humans: Xylazine Side Effects (Tranq Dope Effects)

Xylazine Effects: Drugs that have traces of tranq can have harmful adverse effects if you overdose on them. In extreme circumstances, an overdose might result in death.

An opioid overdose and tranq exposure might have extremely similar symptoms. It may consist of:

Drugs that have traces of tranq can have harmful adverse effects if you overdose on them. In extreme circumstances, an overdose might result in death.
Drugs that have traces of tranq can have harmful adverse effects if you overdose on them. In extreme circumstances, an overdose might result in death.
  • Slowing down of the central nervous system
  • Sedation
  • Slow breathing
  • Low blood pressure (hypotension)
  • Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
  • Severe, painful skin ulcers (necrotic skin lacerations) and abscesses
  • Slowed wound healing (Xylazine Flesh Eating)
  • Frequent, persistent, or worsening skin infections
  • Eye problems like small pupils (miosis)
  • Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
  • High blood sugar (hyperglycemia)
  • Drowsiness
  • Amnesia

Tranq injections frequently result in severe skin ulcers. But, depending on where you use tranq to pierce your skin, the gashes may appear on a different area of your body. Call 911 or go to the closest hospital right away if you have any of these symptoms.

Xylazine Withdrawal Symptoms and Xylazine Overdose

There is no straightforward treatment for tranq exposure and overdose, unlike with more common opioids like fentanyl or heroin. However, because tranq is frequently used with opioids, first responders will administer naloxone (Narcan) injections to counteract the effects of the opioid. Yet, naloxone is ineffective for treating tranq exposure.

In fact, the opioids in tranq can be so potent that you’ll require numerous doses of naloxone to counteract their effects and resuscitate an exposed person. However, the breathing and heart problems that tranq creates are not resolved. Moreover, there is no available medication to treat withdrawal symptoms.

The majority of the care you receive if you overdosed on Tranq will be supportive. This implies that if you are admitted to the hospital, you will receive saline eye irrigation and fluids through your veins (IV fluids).

They will check your blood pressure and blood sugar levels, administer electrolytes, perform heart testing (EKG), administer cardiac medications, and support your breathing. Veterinarians employ antidotes for xylazine (atipamezole, yohimbine), but the FDA has not yet licensed them for use in people.

Antidote For Xylazine: Xylazine Antidote (Xylazine Reversal)

Human xylazine overdose has no known cure, hence supportive care is still the cornerstone of care. The ability of naloxone to reverse the signs and symptoms of xylazine overdose has received conflicting findings. Poor reaction to naloxone actually raises the possibility of concurrent xylazine or another non-opioid intake. Since xylazine and opioids are frequently combined, naloxone could be utilized to alleviate the symptoms that come along with opioid use.

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How Is Tranq Used?

Most of the time, Tranq discovered on the streets is combined with heroin, fentanyl, or cocaine to intensify or change the effects of the drug. It has a comparable euphoric or “high” effect to opioids.

The drug is known as “speedball” when it is mostly mixed with heroin and cocaine. In the United States, it is also known as “tranq dope” or “sleep cut” in addition to “zombie dope” or “tranq.”

The term “Anestesia de Caballo,” or horse anesthesia, is used in Puerto Rico, where xylazine has been suspected of being a component of the opioid supply since the early 2000s.

Individuals who consume this tainted substance enter their bloodstream in a variety of ways, including:

  • Smoking
  • Snorting
  • Injecting
  • Swallowing
  • Inhaling

Xylazine can also be detected in small amounts in other medications. Benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, methadone, and prescription opioids might all fall within this category. Attempts at sexual assault, intentional or unintentional poisoning, and drug misuse have all involved xylazine.

Tranq is known as "speedball" when it is mostly mixed with heroin and cocaine.
Tranq is known as “speedball” when it is mostly mixed with heroin and cocaine.

Xylazine Test Strips

To check for residues of tranq, there are neither quick nor easy drug tests available. Tranq does not now show up on standard drug testing or toxicology screenings used to find opioids or other illegal drugs. To find any residues of xylazine in your system, your doctor will need to perform additional, in-depth screens or blood tests.

Your doctor will take a skin biopsy if you have serious skin lesions. To determine the cause, they will take a sample of the skin tissue from your affected area and examine it under a microscope. Doctors might also perform wound cultures, which entails swabbing your wound to look for microorganisms that might be the source of the infection.

The following tests can identify tranq:

  • Thin layer chromatography
  • Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Safety Tips for Tranq Use

If you regularly consume illegal substances like opioids, you may unintentionally or purposely come into contact with or consume tranq. You should use them carefully because they can have risky impacts on your health.

The best course of action is to educate yourself on opioids, and illegal substances, and how to handle major side effects if you experience them. You should in order to do it safely and avoid overdosing.

  • Inquire about the nature of the substance, its cut, and its origins.
  • Try to avoid doing drugs by yourself. Do it beside a supportive buddy who can keep an eye on you or check for side effects.
  • Learn how to use naloxone and always keep some on hand.
  • Apply sterile needles.
  • To gauge your response, start with tiny doses of the substances.
  • Establish a safety strategy. For instance, alert someone if you’re preparing to use tranq or another drug. Have someone make the 911 call on your behalf and stay at your side until aid arrives. They won’t face consequences for seeking emergency medical attention.
  • Inform a close friend or member of your family of your whereabouts.

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We Level Up Traq Dope and Fentanl Addiction Treatment

The definition of dual diagnosis (also referred to as co-occurring disorders) can differ between institutions. However, it is generally described as the specific treatment of someone diagnosed with a substance use disorder and a mental health disorder simultaneously. Treating dual-diagnosis clients is a critical aspect of our inpatient treatment experience because co-occurring disorders are strongly correlated with instances of substance abuse.

Creating a treatment plan that addresses the physical aspects of withdrawal, the psychological connection with drug use, and managing underlying mental health disorders is part of setting clients up for success.  A thorough mental health analysis identifies possibilities for treatment.  Meeting with mental health counselors and medical care providers means access to behavioral therapy and medication treatment. At our dual diagnosis treatment center, We Level Up can implement the highest quality of care. 

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