How long Hydrocodone might stay in your system, varies from person to person. On average, it can take from a day to months, before this drug completely vanishes from your body. It all depends upon several factors, which we’ll discuss below.
Keep reading to find out all about Hydrocodone.
Hydrocodone — What You Need to Know
It is an opioid drug that treats pain. Pain can be somewhere between mild to severe, and can be because of surgery or injury.
Hydrocodone works by interfering in the brain chemicals, and manipulating the signals our brain sends us when we feel pain.
But, it’s only given when all the other methods of treating pain become useless.
Still, doctors might recommend this med to patients dealing with cancer or arthritis to calm down their suffering.
Now, don’t take this drug as an ‘angel’ that rescues people from the cruelty of never-ending pain.
Hydrocodone can be severely addictive, and it’s misuse might be the last bad thing you’ll ever do…
Because one of the severe side effects can be the death of the patient.
Curious to discover more about Hydrocodone? Click here. We’ve covered it all.
But, today, we’re going to talk about how long it lives in your body, why does it take too long, and should you be worried if it’s still camping in your system?
Let’s find out.
So, how long does it really last in saliva, blood, urine, and hair?
Hydrocodone can be traced in your body for up to 90 days or more — that’s whole three months!
But, that also depends upon what test you take.
Here’s for how long it can be tracked in each different test:
- Saliva: Doctors can detect Hydrocodone in you somewhere between 12 to 36 hours.
- Blood: Hydrocodone is still traceable in your blood for about 24 hours from the moment of intake.
- Urine: In urine, tests can detect Hydrocodone for up to 2 – 3 days.
- Hair: This is the surprising one — in your hair fossils, tests can still detect Hydrocodone up to 90 days after the last intake.
The half-life of Hydrocodone is approximately 4 hours, which is not too long for a drug like this. Every 4 hours, its concentration will be reduced to half.
Factors that Affect the Duration
Here are some of the possible factors that decide whether it will take too long to flush out, or too soon.
Discover below.
Dosage
Obvious by name — the higher dosage you intake, the longer it will take to metabolize them, and finally flush out of your body.
The addiction also affects — the more you’ve been on it, the longer it will take.
Genetics
Genetics can affect the duration by interfering while processing Hydrocodone in the stomach.
Body posses two classes of dedicated enzymes,
a) CYP450
b) UDP-glucuronosyltransferases
that help digest Hydrocodone — and in short, every drug.
Depending upon how strong and weak they’re in quality and quantity, it affects whether it will be too long or it will be early.
Age
At a young age, body organs, such as the kidney, liver, stomach, and heart work at much better rate.
In short, the overall health of the body is finer as compared to old age.
So, it takes less time for Hydrocodone to be exerted from your body at a young age.
Weight/Mass
Doctors prescribe meds depending upon the body weight and mass. So, the more body mass you might possess, the higher will be the dose prescribed to you.
And you know what higher dosage means, right?
Consequently, it leads to much more time that Hydrocodone is going to take to leave your body completely.
Conclusion…
Hydrocodone is a drug that is used to treat pain. Depending upon the factors above, it can stay in your system from a day to 90 days.
But, you shouldn’t be worried about it while it’s still in you the whole time.
Usually, after 24 hours or so, it gets flushed out of your body through urine. Only the specific areas of the body can leave traces of you taking Hydrocodone.
But bear in mind, it’s a prescription-only drug, which means you cannot get it over the counters by yourself.
Want to learn more or have any questions? Leave them in the comments below and our experts will guide you.
Ehsan is a crazy-good copywriter and SEO article writer. He connects businesses with their target audiences, and surges their Google rankings. His write-ups sell, and are exciting and easier to digest — even the hazy & dusky tech, too.
