Together, these medications provide relief from the challenging symptoms of opioid withdrawal while reducing the risk of relapse. Suboxone is often administered 12-24 hours after the last dose of opioids and can be part of an ongoing addiction treatment plan depending on the individual’s recovery needs.
The widespread availability of opioids has contributed to the ongoing opioid crisis, with a staggering 259 million opioid prescriptions written in the U.S. in 2012—enough for every American adult to have their own bottle, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Given this overwhelming access, medications like Suboxone play a crucial role in curbing addiction and preventing overdose.
Suboxone helps individuals safely transition off opioids while minimizing cravings and withdrawal, offering a critical step toward long-term recovery. Factors such as metabolism, dosage, and overall health can influence how long Suboxone stays in the system, with detection windows ranging from hours to months, depending on the testing method used.
By addressing both the physical and psychological challenges of opioid dependence, Suboxone provides a crucial lifeline in the fight against opioid addiction.
The Half-Life of Suboxone
To understand how long Suboxone stays in your system, you must look at the drug’s half-life. Half-life is a measure used to describe how long it takes half of a single dose of a drug to be eliminated from the body. It takes about 4-5 half-lives for a drug to be eliminated completely.
Suboxone has a longer half-life than most other opioids. The half-life of buprenorphine is between 24-42 hours, and the half-life of naloxone is 2-12 hours. With such a long half-life, Suboxone is considered a long-acting medication and can stay in your system for up to 8 days.
Factors That Influence How Long Suboxone Stays in Your System
How long does Suboxone stay in your system, and what determines the length of time? Several factors contribute to how long Suboxone remains in your body, influencing its detection times and how quickly it is metabolized and excreted. These factors include metabolism, dosage, body composition, organ function, and interactions with other substances.
Metabolism
Metabolic rate plays a role in how quickly Suboxone is processed. People with a faster metabolism tend to eliminate Suboxone more rapidly than those with a slower metabolism.
Age, weight, and overall health are significant influencers on metabolic rate. For example, younger, healthier individuals generally metabolize substances more quickly, while older adults or those with certain medical conditions may process Suboxone more slowly.
Dosage and Duration of Suboxone Use
The Suboxone dose and duration of use are crucial factors in how long it stays in your system. Larger doses take longer to metabolize, and prolonged use can lead to Suboxone accumulating in the body, making it take longer to clear.
The more Suboxone is used over time, the more time the body needs to process and eliminate it fully from the system.
Body Composition
Body composition, specifically body fat percentage, also affects the elimination time of Suboxone.
Substances like Suboxone can accumulate in fatty tissue, meaning individuals with higher body fat levels may experience longer detection times as the drug takes more time to be processed and cleared from their bodies.
Liver and Kidney Function
The liver and kidneys are critical in metabolizing and eliminating drugs. The liver breaks down the buprenorphine component of Suboxone, and the kidneys help excrete the substance.
Impaired liver or kidney function can lead to prolonged drug retention in the body. For instance, individuals with moderate to severe liver impairment may experience an extended half-life for buprenorphine, increasing by 35-57%, which significantly affects how long the drug stays in the system.
Mixing Suboxone With Alcohol or Other Drugs
Mixing Suboxone with other substances, such as alcohol or other medications, can also influence how long it stays in the body.
Alcohol and certain drugs may slow down the metabolism of Suboxone, causing it to remain in the system for a longer duration. This can complicate the elimination process and increase the risks associated with substance interactions, including potential side effects or overdose.
These factors play a pivotal role in determining how long Suboxone remains in your body and how it’s processed, making it important to understand their effects on your treatment and overall recovery.
How Long Will Suboxone Stay Detectable on Drug Tests?
Suboxone is metabolized by the liver, which breaks down buprenorphine and naloxone into metabolites. Metabolites can stay in your system for longer periods of time than the drugs themselves and can be detected by various types of drug tests.
Standard drug tests don’t screen for Suboxone, but they do screen for opioids, and buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, so it can cause you to test positive for opioids.
Buprenorphine can be detected in various tissues and bodily fluids for the following durations:
Urine Tests
The most popular type of drug test is a urinalysis. Urinalysis drug tests may be conducted by employers, parole/probation officers, drug rehab centers, and more. Urine tests can detect Suboxone 40 minutes after your last dose and for up to 2 weeks.
Blood Tests
Blood tests can detect Suboxone currently in the system, but the detection window is fairly short. This type of test is typically only used in a medical setting due to the invasive nature of blood tests. Buprenorphine can be detected in your blood for 24-48 hours, and naloxone may be detected for about 6-12 hours.
Saliva Tests
A single dose of Suboxone can be detected for up to 2-3 days, but in heavy users, buprenorphine can be detected in saliva for up to a week.
Hair Tests
Hair testing involves testing the hair follicle for substances. Hair tests have the longest detection window of all. Suboxone can be detected in the hair follicle for up to 90 days.
Opioid Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms
Suboxone is often prescribed as part of an addiction treatment plan to manage withdrawal symptoms of opioid use disorder. Although Suboxone itself is a partial opioid agonist, it works by reducing cravings and easing withdrawal symptoms without producing the same euphoric effects as full opioids like heroin or oxycodone.
When an individual stops taking opioids, they may experience a range of withdrawal symptoms, affecting both physical and mental health, including anxiety, sweating, nausea, muscle aches, and restlessness. Suboxone helps by binding to the same opioid receptors in the brain, minimizing these severe symptoms while preventing the “high” associated with opioid misuse.
However, because Suboxone is an opioid, it is possible to develop a suboxone addiction, though it is generally considered to have a lower risk of abuse compared to heroin or oxycodone. Because Suboxone contains buprenorphine, it can still activate opioid receptors in the brain but to a much lesser extent than more potent opioids.
This provides relief from cravings and withdrawal symptoms without producing the intense “high” associated with opioid abuse. However, there is still a potential for misuse, especially if taken in higher-than-prescribed doses.
Discontinuing it too abruptly can also lead to Suboxone withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, insomnia, or anxiety. That’s why it’s important to taper off Suboxone under medical supervision to avoid prolonged withdrawal symptoms and support a smoother transition to full recovery.
Find Help for Suboxone Addiction Today
If you are undergoing treatment for opioid addiction or have been prescribed Suboxone, it is crucial to follow your doctor’s instructions and use the medication as directed. Deviating from the prescribed dosage or stopping the medication abruptly can have adverse effects on your recovery process.
At the same time, if you are prescribed Suboxone and are taking it as directed, you don’t have to worry about failing a drug test. Provide your prescription to the test facilitator so they know that you are prescribed Suboxone rather than taking an opioid.
If you have been abusing Suboxone and are worried about failing a drug test but can’t seem to sober up, you may be struggling with a Suboxone addiction. Suboxone is a valuable tool in opioid addiction treatment. When used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan, it can help individuals achieve recovery and regain control of their lives. But when it is abused, it can be habit-forming and addictive.
If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, please consider speaking with our team at Elevate Recovery Center to learn about your opioid or Suboxone addiction treatment options.
Call now to get started on your journey to a drug-free life.
