Sarah: I lived in New York City. I had a job. I had a family. This is my Fentanyl Story (Season 3 Episode 1)Sarah: I lived in New York City. I had a job. I had a family. This is my Fentanyl Story (Season 3 Episode 1)
Facing Fentanyl
Sometimes people have a fixed idea of what a Fentanyl user looks like. This is not the case with Sarah, a woman with a job, a family, and everything going for her in New York City. We emphasize the importance...
22:06•22 Jan 2025
From New York Professional to Opioid Addiction: Sarah’s Fentanyl Story
Episode Overview
- Prescription painkillers like oxycodone can feel harmless at first, especially when used socially, but dependence can develop within weeks.
- Access to opioids in family medicine cabinets increases the risk of early experimentation, particularly when families are unaware of the dangers.
- The initial nausea and sickness from opioids can quickly be overshadowed by feelings of numbness and euphoria, which many start to chase continually.
- Opioid withdrawal is intensely uncomfortable physically and mentally, yet the craving and altered thinking of addiction still pull people back.
- Addiction can strip away jobs, cars, independence and relationships, even from those who appear successful, educated and "put together".
“It takes everything from you… you’ll sell your soul to get more.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? Sarah’s account in this episode of Facing Fentanyl has a way of quietly knocking down every stereotype about what a "typical" opioid user looks like. She describes growing up in what she thought was a fairly functional home, excelling in academics and sport, even playing college softball in upstate New York. After graduation, she had a good job, a car, an apartment, and a life that, from the outside, seemed completely on track.
Yet within a couple of months of trying prescription painkillers socially – "it was oxycodone, 30 milligram pills" – recreational use slid into daily dependence. Sarah talks through the early physical reactions – breaking a blue pill into quarters, getting nauseous, even vomiting – and how that shifted into something more seductive: numbness and euphoria.
"Once I had started it, I didn’t want to stop," she says, explaining how that first high lit up her brain in a way she spent the next seven years chasing. The conversation also highlights how easily accessible prescription opioids can be at home, especially when families don’t realise there’s any risk. Sarah points out that many people "wouldn’t even think to hide" prescribed painkillers, making it simple for teens and young adults to experiment.
She describes the brutal withdrawal process, the way addiction "takes everything from you" – car, job, independence – and how people still go back again and again despite knowing what detox feels like. The host keeps bringing the focus back to humanising her story, stressing that before fentanyl or oxycodone, there was a driven young woman with a loving family.
If you’ve ever thought addiction "could never happen" to someone with a solid upbringing, a degree and a career, Sarah’s story may prompt a different question: how many people quietly chasing numbness are hiding in plain sight?
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