Fentanyl is part of the broad group of Opioid drugs, but what sets it apart is its extreme potency, which can be 50 to 100 times greater than morphine.
With more people using this drug, it’s important for us to look at its half-life and discuss important questions like what are test detection abilities?
This article will delve into how fentanyl works and factors that can vary detection times. as well as answer the question, how long does fentanyl stay in your system? With the recent rise in overdoses caused by this drug, it’s important to know how it interacts with the human body’s systems.
Table of Contents
What is Fentanyl?
Similar to morphine but over 50 times more potent, fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic. This prescription drug is approved by the FDA for treating severe pain but is also manufactured and distributed illegally.
How it Works
Fentanyl binds to the body’s opioid receptors, which can cause a user to experience extreme happiness, sedation, and drowsiness. They can also experience negative side effects such as nausea, confusion, constipation, respiratory depression and arrest, and severe addiction. With fentanyl having such extreme potency, the risk of overdose is high. An overdose of fentanyl can cause decreased oxygen reaching the brain, potentially leading to coma, permanent brain damage, or death.
How Long Does Fentanyl Stay in Your System?
The half-life of fentanyl can vary depending on whether it’s pharmaceutical grade or made illicitly, as well as the usage pattern of the individual user. The elimination half-life of fentanyl has been reported to be between 7.3 and 9.7 hours during intravenous infusion. Normal tests have a detection window of around 7-13 days after last use, while hair follicle tests can detect fentanyl use over 90 days with a long enough hair sample.
Factors That Can Vary Detection Times
There are some factors that can increase the length of time fentanyl can be detected. Regular use of fentanyl can cause this drug to become sequestered in fat cells and other tissues, which can lead to a delay in the body cleaning it out. Larger doses may also take longer to be cleared from the system.
Body type can also influence detection times. Individual metabolism can affect how quickly or slowly fentanyl is eliminated from the body. Plus, body fat and impaired kidney and liver function can create an extended detection window.
Detection Window by Test Type
- Common urine tests can detect fentanyl for approximately 96 hours, but more advanced tests can detect the drug for up to 7-13 days after use.
- Fentanyl can be detected by blood tests, but the test windows vary by consumption method. For intravenous use, the drug can be detected for up to 20 hours after use. For oral use, it takes three days, and for a transdermal patch, it takes 3.5 days.
- More research needs to be done, as Saliva tests are not able to detect fentanyl consistently.
- Hair drug tests can have a very long detection window depending on the length of the hair sample, sometimes detecting fentanyl more than 90 days after use.
Fentanyl: The Fast and Potentet Drug
This article’s aim was to answer the question, how long does fentanyl stay in your system? Although the half-life is set to around 7 to 9 hours, tests can detect usage for much longer. Urine detection tests can detect the drug for up to 7-13 days; a hair follicle test has the potential to detect usage past 90 days. With the extreme potency of this drug, it is recommended to work with your doctor when using it.
