Opioids have been used for almost 200 years now by doctors to treat pain. But the past 20 years in the United States have shown us repeatedly that misuse of opioids can lead to overdose and death. Since 1999, over half a million people have lost their lives to prescription opioid overdose, heroin overdose, and synthetic opioid overdose.
OxyContin is a brand name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, a pain relief drug that was patented in 1996. While it is still used to treat chronic pain in individuals recovering from cancer, trauma, and surgery pain, OxyContin has a high potential for abuse.
If you’ve been prescribed OxyContin for pain relief, it’s important to know how long it takes for oxycodone to leave your body. You can test positive for opioid use while on OxyContin, even when a doctor prescribes the drug. You also might experience withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it suddenly. Read on to learn how long OxyContin stays in your system and how you can commit to a life of recovery today.
What Are the Short-Term Effects of OxyContin?
The effects of OxyContin are usually felt within 30 minutes of the first dose, and it generally reaches peak concentration in the blood within an hour. Over time, the drug impacts the opioid receptors in the brain, causing an individual to feel relaxed, euphoric, and free from pain. Based on how an individual’s body metabolizes OxyContin, a doctor usually recommends a new dose every 6 to 12 hours.
OxyContin is extracted directly from the poppy plant and includes no other ingredients. Its purity and potency are both part of why it is considered a controlled substance. For perspective, other opioids like Percocet and Tylox include up to 5 milligrams of oxycodone, but OxyContin is made in up to 160-milligram tablets of only oxycodone.
Factors including metabolism rate, body mass, age, and overall health can all impact the amount of OxyContin prescribed to a patient and its effects. It’s also important to note oxycodone comes in two forms. Drugs like OxyContin are designed to slowly release oxycodone into a patient’s system over an extended period of time, which is part of why it’s so helpful in treating chronic pain. Immediate-release oxycodone drugs include Oxaydo and Roxycodone. Their effects are felt faster, and the drug will also leave a person’s blood more quickly.
How Long Can OxyContin Be Detected?
It takes 3-5 hours for half of a dose of OxyContin to be eliminated from the body, and the drug is usually fully cleared from the blood within 24 hours. However, thanks to metabolites produced by the body as it breaks down a drug, the signs of OxyContin will stay in your system for days afterward.
Oxycodone can be detected in a saliva test within minutes of taking the drug, and this test will continue to get positive results for up to two days. Urine tests will detect oxycodone within an hour and up to 4 days after the last dose was taken. Then OxyContin will continue to be detected in a person’s hair for up to 90 days.
Blood tests are not as effective in detecting OxyContin use in the long term. Oxycodone is primarily broken down in a person’s liver and expelled through the kidneys. As a result, oxycodone is only detectable in a person’s blood between 15 minutes and 24 hours after the last dose.
What Do OxyContin Withdrawal Symptoms Look Like?
Long-term OxyContin use can permanently impact how a person’s mind and body respond to pain. As a result, withdrawal symptoms directly affect a person’s breathing, heart rate, and overall sense of mental calm.
Initial withdrawal symptoms can include sweating, nausea, anxiety, and insomnia. But over time, these symptoms can increase to chest pains, muscle cramps, fever, and even seizures and suicidal thoughts. This is why it’s crucial to complete the detox process with the help of a medical professional.
If you or your loved one is struggling with OxyContin use after repeated recreational use or being prescribed the drug by a doctor, it’s never too late to ask for help. At Skypoint Recovery in Akron, Ohio, we believe lasting hope and rehabilitation are just one phone call away.
Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders
While every person’s road to recovery is unique and personal, there are a few steps along the road you can expect to complete.
First, you will go through a medical detox. Individuals who struggle with opioid use disorder can experience especially uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. With the help of prescribed medications administered by our team of addiction specialists, we can help ease your pain so you more easily break your cycle of substance use and rid your body of harmful toxins.
Then our mental health counselors will guide you through a combination of individual therapy and group counseling to help you better understand the cause of your addiction and develop healthy interpersonal skills that you can use in your life outside of treatment. And through options like motivational interviewing, you can better understand the life you want to build for yourself and how you can achieve it.
Skypoint Recovery also offers life skills training and living in balance classes to guide you toward positive coping skills you can turn to in place of opioid abuse in the future. No matter your individual needs during your time at Skypoint Recovery, we will work to support you and meet them. You never have to battle substance abuse alone at Skypoint Recovery!
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.