January 6, 2023
Recent Posts
Have Any Questions?
The precise medicine used, the amount consumed, and the user’s age, weight, gender, and drug-taking habits determine how long a Benzodiazepine stays in one’s bloodstream. Other considerations include how the drug was administered, whether other medications were used, the user’s ethnicity, and whether the user has any medical concerns, such as kidney problems. However, some broad principles can calculate how long a Benzodiazepine remains in the body, specifically in your urine. We will also look at how long they stay in other forms of testing samples.
Benzodiazepines treat anxiety disorders and sleep problems. However, they can also be used to treat seizures caused by illnesses such as epilepsy. Because of their lower risk and higher effectiveness rate, benzos have largely replaced the considerably more powerful and hazardous class of medications known as barbiturates.
When used with other medications that depress the central nervous system (CNS), such as alcohol, benzodiazepines present a major risk. However, Benzodiazepines help those suffering from the effects of alcohol withdrawal. This is even though the combination of benzos with alcohol can be dangerous. As the quantity of benzodiazepine prescriptions has grown, so has the appeal of using them recreationally.
Benzodiazepines spend varying periods of time in the body. These timeframes are measured in the medical sector by a drug’s half-life. This is the period it takes your body to digest and eliminates half of the medications you ingest. The active components of medicine are normally removed from the body after five half-lives.
Benzodiazepine half-lives are classified into long-acting, intermediate-acting, and short-acting. These classifications assist medical professionals in determining which medicine to administer for specific medical ailments.
Long-acting benzodiazepines are known to induce a buildup of sedation. This can cause people to feel like they are living in a haze if their dose is too high or if they are misusing the prescription.
Extremely fast-acting Benzodiazepines, on the other hand, might cause memory loss and confusion.
Before starting new employment, many employers ask incoming employees to take a drug test. Drug testing is also very common in situations concerning child custody and parole in the court system. Professional sports and athletics organizations routinely test athletes when an athlete is suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs. There are many reasons why drug testing is necessary.
However, Keystone lab is here for all your testing needs. We assist our clients in determining what test would be best for specific situations. Our team of experts is dedicated to running these tests in a controlled environment where our results are accurate each time.
Most of our drug tests do not directly test for a particular substance. They check for metabolites, which are the residues left behind after your body metabolizes the drug. These molecules last considerably longer than the drug itself, and drug tests can tell which drug was consumed based on the metabolites left in your body.
If you are looking for a rough idea of where to start with understanding how long to wait before benzos are out of your system, we can help. Please keep in mind that how long benzodiazepines stay in your system is determined by various circumstances. These timelines listed below may not apply to all cases but are a good starting point.
Benzos are prescription medications used to treat seizures, panic attacks, and anxiety. Many factors, including the type of drug test and your metabolism, impact how long they linger in your system.
Before we continue, let’s take a quick look at the concept of metabolism. This is just the process through which your body breaks down chemicals into smaller pieces. Metabolite refers to these tiny components. These metabolites are what our drug testing looks for.
Urine testing is the most used and least expensive type of drug testing. A urine test detects the presence of benzo metabolites in the urine. Originally, they are broken down by the liver before being sent to the kidneys for filtration.
Additionally, depending on the kind of benzo, the broken-down metabolites might be seen in urine for up to 11 days.
Hair tests, despite being time-consuming, expensive, and challenging, are still beneficial since they have the longest detection window. In fact, a properly performed hair test may tell whether a user has consumed benzos in the last 90 days.
However, a hair test will reveal nothing for the first five to seven days because hair grows slowly.
These are also known as hair follicle drug tests since the metabolites are “absorbed” by the hair follicle.
The most invasive type of drug test is blood testing. Furthermore, many people have a strong dislike for needles and blood. These blood tests, however, are critical in many life-threatening conditions. For example, professionals will rely on blood tests to provide the required information if a patient is unconscious or unresponsive.
Blood tests provide a more precise assessment of the concentration of medications in the bloodstream.
On the other hand, blood drug tests have the shortest detection window. They can only detect benzos for up to 24 hours.
Saliva drug tests are less invasive than blood or urine testing but are more expensive. That’s because gathering biological material is simple: simply collect some spit (oral fluid) from your mouth. Furthermore, the oral fluid should come from one of the following sources:
Bottom line, 2-3 days for detection in saliva.
Lab testing for Benzos is common in urine, hair, blood, and saliva panels. Here is how long to expect to see the drug lingering in your system according to the type of test:
Of course, this is in general. However, it is a good indicator of what you can expect on average. If you have further questions regarding benzos and how they will show up in testing, you can contact Keystone Lab today.
Keystone Laboratories, a CAP-accredited North Carolina licensed laboratory and CLIA-licensed lab, is committed to helping you make important decisions that impact the safety and health of your patients with greater confidence. Clients in 48 states can get prescription drug and substance abuse recovery monitoring, specialized testing, workplace drug testing, screening, and program management services from Keystone.
contact us
Navigation
Contact Info
Reach Out To Us!
Copyright 2023 © Keystone Lab