How Long Does Oxycodone Stay in Your System

Oxycodone is a pain relieving prescription narcotic to treat moderate to severe pain especially in the accident victims or after surgical procedures to combat the initial pain. However, due to its powerful calming and relaxing effects, it is also one of the most abused drugs in the world today.

Oxycodone abuse occurs both innocently and willfully. Many people abuse it willfully due to the feelings of numbness and lightness or ‘High’ that the drug produces. However, many people think that because it is a prescription drug, it is okay to use it the way we want as it is highly effective in relieving from pain.

Therefore it is essential to know how long does oxycodone stay in your system as it can help avoid overdose, possible risk factors, and possible withdrawal symptoms.

Oxycodone, also known as oxy, is a powerful opioid drug and has a chemical structure similar to morphine. It comes from the opium of a poppy plant. Oxycodone, like other opioids, works by interrupting the central nervous system.

It changes the way a person’s nervous system respond to pain as it binds to the mu opioid receptors in the central nervous system. It blocks the pain signals to the brain creating a feeling of comfort or euphoria as it floods the dopamine. Oxycodone is a schedule II drug, which means it has a high risk of addiction and dependency.

Therefore, it is vital for people to only use it and as long as it is prescribed.Oxycodone treats both short-term pain and chronic or long-term pain as well as illnesses and conditions like cancer or arthritis. It is prescribed to people who can not benefit from other medicines and require pain-relieving treatment around the clock for a set period. It works well, especially at a higher dosage. The drug can be taken alone and also available in versions combining it with other drugs such as acetaminophen. Read more about the classification of drugs here.

Some common medications containing Oxycodone are:

OcyContin®(Oxycodone)(extended-release tablet)

Tylox®(Oxycodone/acetaminophen)

Percocet®(Oxycodone/acetaminophen)

Percodan®(Oxycodone/aspirin)

Roxicodone®(Oxycodone Hydrochloride)

Roxicet®(Oxycodone/acetaminophen)

Endocet®(Oxycodone/acetaminophen)

Use of Oxycodone can lead to many common and serious side effects in a person’s system including both psychological and physical. Therefore, if your loved one is suffering from Oxycodone addiction, you must know answers to questions like what is the Oxycodone, how does it affect a person. And most important questions like how long does Oxycodone stay in your system, urine, blood or hair and what are its effects.

Like every other substance and drug, how long does oxycodone stay in your system, depends upon many factors. The length of time the drugs take to break down and eliminate from the body varies from person to person. Oxycodone is detectable through typical methods of drug testing including blood, hair, urine, and saliva with their different timelines. Below is an estimated extent of times, or detection windows, during which the drug can be detected by the aforementioned testing methods:

How Long Does Oxycodone Stay in Blood:The length of time, oxycodone stays in a person’s blood is detectable by a simple blood test within 15 to 30 minutes of use. The drug remains detectable in the blood for about one day after its last use. However, it also depends on the potency of the particular drug.

How Long Does Oxycodone Stay in Urine:The detection period of oxycodone in urine is for three to four days after the last use and is detectable within 2 hours of use. However, urine testing can be more beneficial in case of testing for short-term drug use and less effective at determining long-term drug use. Urine screenings detect opioids metabolites that oxycodone produces which stay in the system longer than the drug itself. Therefore, the urine test can be positive for up to four days.

How Long Does Oxycodone Stay in Saliva:Saliva testing is becoming a common way to detect a drug’s use and percentage in the body as it is a fast method. Oxycodone provides a detection period of up to 4 days in case of saliva screening and is detectable within 15 to 30 minutes of days. Saliva testing is highly effective in detecting the use of drugs ingested with the past three days but the use of other drugs can easily contaminate the saliva testing.

How Long Does Oxycodone Stay in Your Hair:Hair follicle testing provides the longest window to detect oxycodone traces in your system. The drug remains detectable for up to up to 90 days after its last use. It means that metabolites of hydrocodone stay longer in hair than other parts of the body. However, the drug is detectable after 5 to 7 days of ingestion but still offers an effective method for identifying long-term use of the drug.

How long does oxycodone stay in your system, depends upon many personal factors apart from the drug’s potential staying power. The way a person uses the drug also decides the speed of action and the potential wear off time.Many people crush the drug into a powder and snort it, inject it or smoke it.

These methods allow the drug to quickly send the chemical into the bloodstream than the regular method of swallowing. Such methods are used by addicts and start a quicker onset of action. These methods also have the potential to increase an individual’s tolerance for the substance faster than the common way of use.

As tolerance forms, it requires more amount or high potency to keep the person feeling the drug’s effects and avoid withdrawal symptoms. Read here for more on drugs withdrawal symptoms.

The half-life of a drug explains how long it would take for half of the drug to be eliminated from your system. Immediate-release oxycodone usually has a half-life of about 3 to almost 4 hours while extended-release oxycodone has a half-life of around 4.5 hours. It means that after 3 to 4 hours, immediate- release version will start to eliminate. However, the exact length of time it would take for oxycodone to completely clear your system depends on many variables. It usually takes between 4-5 half-lives for oxycodone to completely eliminate from your system.

Some of the main factors with regard to how long oxycodone stay in a person’s system:

Age is a big influencing point as it directly affects all bodily function especially metabolism when it comes to process and eliminate toxins from the body. Young people are able to excrete drugs at a better rate than old people.

Specific enzymes in your liver can help metabolize oxycodone fast. Thus, individuals with higher scores in these enzymes can clear oxycodone from their system quicker.

Kidney and liver condition is key as a healthy liver can break down and eliminate the drug at regular or more rapid speed than an unhealthy liver. Due to the unhealthy kidney and liver conditions, any drug can stay longer in your system than needed.

Metabolism state is vital as the faster metabolic rate will break down and eliminate any drug from the system more efficiently. However, metabolism rate also depends upon any other health problems that can slow down metabolism.

Urinary PH is another important factor as oxycodone eliminates from the system through urine. in the case of alkaline urine, it will take more time to clear out the drug.

The dose and frequency of use are the most important factors. If you have been taking the drug for a long time or frequently or in high dose, it is likely to take longer to eliminate oxycodone from your system.

Use of other substances also plays a highly important role. Substances like alcohol can increase the effects of oxycodone making it longer to excrete the substance from the body.

A) Possibility of seizures

B) Lessoned worry and stress.

C) Pinpoint pupils

D) Nausea

E) Vomiting

F) Reduced aggression.

G) Reduction in physical tension.

H) Hives, itching, or rash.

I) Health damage in case of misuse

J) Coma or death in case of overdose

K) Painful urination

L) Irregular heart rate

After long and frequent use, the body develops a psychological and physical need for any drug. Therefore, with a sudden stop of use, withdrawal symptoms are likely to take place. Thus, it is adviced not to discontinue the use of oxycodone without proper medical guidance to avoid damaging effects. Read here for ways to achieve sobriety and stay sober in detail.

Addiction is a disease that damages your health and relationships as well. Do not let it take control of your life. Call us now