In our collective consciousness, we likely imagine the typical fentanyl overdose victim as someone in their 20s — maybe 30s.

But people in their senior years (that is, old enough to be someone’s grandparent) are dying from a combination of fentanyl and stimulants in skyrocketing numbers.

Findings from a national study led by the University of Nevada, Reno, were presented at an annual conference of anesthesiologists. Their data showed that fentanyl overdoses among senior adults surged 9,000% — from 264 to 4,144 — over an eight-year span between 2015 and 2023.

The rise in fentanyl deaths among adults 65 and older involving stimulants took off in 2020, while deaths linked to other substances stayed flat or declined.

Cocaine and methamphetamines were the most common stimulants paired with fentanyl by those older adults, far more than alcohol, heroin and sedatives like Xanax and Valium.

The United States has been in an opioid epidemic since the 1990s, with a half-million lives lost since 1999.

It’s had four distinct waves: Prescription opioids in the ’90s, heroin starting around 2010, the emergence of fentanyl in 2013 and, since 2015, the lethal punch of fentanyl and stimulants.

In adults 65 and older, deaths involving fentanyl and stimulants rose from just under 9% in 2015 to nearly 50% in 2023. The same combo accounted for 59% of the overdose deaths in younger adults in 2023.

The researchers said prescribers must use caution in prescribing opioids to those 65 and older. And everyone needs to know about naloxone [nuh-laak-sown], or Narcan, a lifesaving over-the-counter medication that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.