How Long Do Opiates Stay in Urine?

Opium and other drugs derived from the opium poppy plant have been used by humans for over 5,000 years. In that time, it has been used as a sedative, an antipsychotic drug, an all-in-one healing medicine, and a pain management tool. But it wasn’t until the 1800s that doctors began to become fully aware of the addictive power of opiates.

The 21st century has seen a great clash between easy-access opium-based prescription drugs and a rise in heroin use throughout small towns in America. And unfortunately, there is no clear end in sight. Some prescription opiates are still considered safe to be prescribed by doctors, but many have been categorized as Schedule I drugs with no safe medical use and a high potential for abuse.

If you’ve been prescribed an opiate like morphine or codeine for medical pain relief, you need to know how long it takes for the drug to leave your body. This will help you avoid an accidental positive on random drug tests and any potential for overdose. Read on to learn how long opiates stay in your urine. And if you or your loved one is struggling with opiate abuse, we’ll tell you how you can commit to a life of recovery today.

What Are Opiates?

Oftentimes, opioids and opiates are confused with each other. Some people even use the terms interchangeably. While both include similar chemical compounds, opiates are made directly from the natural sap and fibers of opium poppy plants. In contrast, opioids are a class of drugs that is designed synthetically in a lab.

Both are narcotic drugs with a high possibility for abuse and addiction, which means they can increase drowsiness and decrease pain levels in individuals. There are also semi-synthetic opioids, which include a combination of both natural and synthetic ingredients.

To give you a better understanding, examples of opiates include opium, morphine, codeine, and heroin. They are usually ingested in a liquid form. Opioids are more commonly taken in pill form, and they include drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and methadone.

In general, if a person wants to use a more all-encompassing word, they can use opioids as an umbrella term. This category of drugs has expanded to include both natural and synthetic opium products.

What Factors Influence How Long Opiates Stays in Urine?

There are also a wide variety of factors that can influence how long opiates stay in your system. As a general rule, opiates will leave a person’s system quickly, but their effects can linger for hours after the last dose.

For example, a person will feel the effects of a drug that is injected, snorted, or smoked faster than one taken in pill form. And since they feel the high sooner, they will also experience a crash and withdrawal symptoms more quickly.

Other factors influencing how long opiates stay in the body include a person’s hydration level, weight and body fat content, metabolism, age, and overall health. The purity of the drug can even impact how the body processes the substance. And if a person is a heavy opiate user, they will have to take higher levels of a drug to feel the same effects as someone who has never taken opiates before.

How Long Do Opiates Stay in Your System?

So how long do opiates stay in urine? And how long do opioids stay in your system too? The amounts of time vary for each drug. But generally, opiates and opioids can be detected in a person’s urine anywhere from 24 hours to two weeks after a person’s last dose.

Urine tests are still the most commonly used drug test by both employers and police investigators. A saliva test is not as effective in detecting opiate levels, especially if they were injected or snorted. Blood tests are also usually only effective within the first 12 hours, mainly because opiates leave a person’s system so quickly.

Hair tests can detect opiates in a person’s system for up to 90 days.

Treatment for Opiate Abuse

Opioid receptors in the brain can drastically alter the entire cheminsry of a person’s nervous system, which is why opioid addiction can be especially hard to overcome. Opioids directly impact a person’s ability to control their emotions and bodily functions like breathing. And by numbing the pathways between nerve endings, they can offer pain-relieving effects while they are active in your system.

On top of this, because the physical and mental impact is generally the same across all of these drugs, a person can easily switch between using opiates and opioids when facing withdrawal symptoms. This is another reason why opioid use disorder (OUD) continues to be on the rise in the United States.

In short, it’s not safe to break your cycle of opioid use without the help of a medical professional. If you or your loved one is struggling with opioid abuse, it’s never too late to ask for help. At Skypoint Recovery in Akron, Ohio, we do the hard work of managing your withdrawal symptoms so you can focus on your rehabilitation. Then we work directly with you to give you the personalized tools you need to better understand your triggers for substance abuse and choose a life free from drug use in the future.

With one phone call, you too can begin the road to sober living today.

The Skypoint Recovery Difference

At Skypoint Recovery Ohio, we will help you escape the noise and chaos of your daily life so you can focus on your individual mental and physical needs. Our main goal of Skypoint Recovery substance abuse treatment is to help you experience all the benefits of sobriety and develop daily practices to help you choose a drug-free life. We guarantee you get the individualized treatment you need to reclaim your desired healthy life.

Contact Skypoint Recovery today to learn how we can best help support you on your journey toward rehabilitation.