How Long Does Methadone Stay in Your System

How Long Does Methadone Stay in Your System Addiction Drug Use Opioids Print How Long Does Methadone Stay in Your System? By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on December 14, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on February 20, 2020 Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Opioids Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Prescription Medications Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Methadone is an opiate analgesicâ€"a narcotic pain  medication thats sometimes prescribed for people who arent getting enough relief from another analgesic.?? Like other opioids, it works by changing the way the brain and the rest of the nervous system respond to the sensation of pain. Interestingly, methadone is used most often to help prevent withdrawal symptoms in people whove become addicted to other opiates such as heroin, and who are  undergoing treatment to break that addiction. Withdrawal from a drug like heroin can be excruciating. Methadone helps to ease the process by producing sensations that are similar to the effects of the drug. The High Risk of Methadone Overdose Methadone is a powerful medication and it remains active in the system long after its analgesic effects wear off.?? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that while pain relief from methadone can last from four to eight hours, it can take between eight and 59 hours for the drug to fully clear from the body.?? This means that someone whos taking it for pain relief may think they need to take a second dose before the first one has completely cleared from his system, potentially causing him to take too much of the drug. This can lead to a coma or even be fatal, so its important to know the early symptoms of a methadone overdose. These include slowed breathing; sleepiness; muscle weakness; cold, clammy skin; changes in the size of pupils (they can become narrower or wider); and slowed heart rate. If you think someone has overdosed on methadone, get emergency help right away. If caught early, methadone overdose may be reversed with a drug called  Narcan (naloxone). In fact, it is the position of the American College of Medical Toxicology that medical providers be extremely cautious when prescribing methadone for pain relief. Preferably the use of methadone for pain relief should be avoided. Methadone should not be prescribed on an as-needed basis.?? Preventing an overdose of methadone is one reason its important to know how long it can stay in the body. Another is that because it affects the central nervous system, certain other substances that affect the central nervous system should always be avoided if theres any chance theres methadone in the system. These include alcohol; antidepressants; other narcotic pain relievers; medications for anxiety, nausea, or mental illness; muscle relaxants; sedatives; sleeping pills; tranquilizers; and any type of street drug. The official lethal dose of methadone for an adult who isn’t dependent is 25 mg. For a regular methadone user, the fatal dose may be 200 mg. Methadone builds up in the system, and even a prescribed dose could be an overdose. Symptoms of methadone overdose may take up to ten hours to appear. Methadone is reported responsible over one-third of all overdose deaths from prescription painkillers, or as many as four out of ten prescription painkiller overdose deaths involve methadone.?? Testing for Methadone Estimating how long methadone is detectable in a persons body depends on several factors, such as age, weight, percentage of body fat, how active a person is, and the level of hydration. Some health conditions can play a role in the rate at which drugs are metabolized by the body.  The length and frequency of methadone use, as well as the dosage, also factor into the length of time it might be detectable. There are some estimated ranges of times, or detection windows, during which methadone can be detected by various testing methods. However, in urine, this window is six to 12 days. A blood test for methadone can detect the drug for up to 24 hours and a saliva test can detect it for one to 10 days. Like many other drugs,  methadone can be detected with a hair follicle test for up to 90 days.??