How Long Does Hydrocodone Stay In Your System: Complete Detection Timeline and Safety Measures

Patients nowadays have become too dependent on painkillers to deal with chronic pain. These painkillers can show a lot of side effects if one keeps consuming or using them uncontrollably. One of those painkillers whose abuse is growing rapidly day by day is Hydrocodone. This opioid painkiller is prescribed by a doctor to help patients treat severe pain, but some patients get addicted to the point that they are taking multiple doses of Hydrocodone without administration, which makes it a very unsafe drug. One needs to understand how long does Hydrocodone stays in your system to realize why we should not overdose on it.

How Long Does Hydrocodone Stay In Your System: A Detailed Study to Learn About Its Risks and Duration

What is Hydrocodone?

Hydrocodone belongs to the class of semi-synthetic opioid painkillers that help one deal with moderate and severe forms of pain. One can also use it to deal with a cough, as it can be found in medications like Codeine. It becomes even more effective when one can find it in combinations with ingredients like Acetaminophen, Chlorpheniramine, and Ibuprofen. Norco, Vicodin, Lorcet, Lortab, etc, are some of the medicines that have Hydrocodone in them. A doctor’s prescription is the only way a patient can get Hydrocodone, because it is a Schedule II drug. Overdosing on it has serious side effects, and one must be careful about it.

How Does Hydrocodone Work?

It works in our nervous system when it binds with certain opioid receptors, like mu-opioid and delta-opioid. This action leads to the release of neurotransmitters that create an analgesic effect on the central nervous system. These transmitters do not allow the pain signals from reaching the brain, and with that, they also slow down brain activity to make sure it does not feel any sort of discomfort. This process makes the patient feel much relieved, and this effect lasts for a long time. One dosage a day is enough to bring these effects, but the more you take the medicine, the more are the chances that its side effects will show up.

Duration of Hydrocodone in our System

There are many answers to the question that how long Hydrocodone stays in our system, because it takes around 3 days for Hydrocodone to completely leave our system. It totally depends on the kind of dose the patient is taking. As Hydrocodone is available in both immediate and extended-release tablets, its half-life differs in both. After leaving the system, too, Hydrocodone traces can be found in some areas of our body, like urine and hair. Here are the durations the drug stays in different places in our bodies:

• Blood: In our blood, Hydrocodone can stay for almost a day, i.e, 24 hours.
• Saliva: Our saliva carries the drug with it for 12 to 36 hours.
• Urine: Hydrocodone can stay for up to 4 days in the urine.
• Hair: For the longest time, this medicine can stay in our hair for 90 days.

What Influences The Duration of Hydrocodone?

There are a lot of factors that can influence how long Hydrocodone stays in urine, blood, or the whole system. From basic measures related to our metabolism to the dosage we take, everything determines the duration of the medication.

• Formulation of the drug has a major role in influencing the time of the drug. The immediate-release version has a half-life of 4 hours, while the extended-release has it for 9 hours.
• Metabolism can also affect the duration of the drug, and it involves a lot of sub-factors. Liver function becomes an important indicator, as Hydrocodone gets metabolised by CYP450 enzymes inside the liver. Any patient with a bad liver might need a lower dose. The same goes for the kidneys, which excrete the medication with its metabolites. Poor renal function might affect the excretion process.
• Age plays a huge role, too. Patients who are elderly in age will be prescribed with slower dose of Hydrocodone.
• Drug interactions with CNS depressants like benzodiazepines and alcohol, and other opioids, can increase the chances of addiction, leading to serious issues like sedation and breathing problems.
• At last, developing tolerance to the drug can make one dependent on and abuse the drug, leading to retention of the drug in the system for all the wrong reasons.

Side Effects of Hydrocodone

Hydrocodone is a controlled substance, which means its overdose will lead to side effects; some might be common, but some can be very serious. The risks of abusing Hydrocodone can be:

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Dry Mouth
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Sleeping problems
• CNS Depression
• Fever
• Hallucinations
• Seizures

Medications That Can Help Detoxify Hydrocodone

Four medicines that a doctor can give to help detoxify not just Hydrocodone, but any issue caused by opioids are:

• Naltrexone
• Buprenorphine
• Methadone
• Lofexidine

Conclusion

Painkillers like Hydrocodone are the solution for many severe pains; no patient should go through. But as it is a strong opioid drug, one has to make sure the medication stays in the system as per its dosage. Anything more than 3 days can be very dangerous and can lead to side effects like nervous system depression and respiratory issues. Hydrocodone is built to provide long-lasting relief, and one should use it as prescribed by the doctor.