OxyContin is infamous as a prime target of abuse at the height of the opioid crisis. Today, changes in manufacturing have made the medication harder to misuse. Nevertheless, many people across the U.S. still require OxyContin addiction treatment each year. If you take the medication, how long does it stay in your system? This information can be important for anyone who wants to know how long it takes to detox from OxyContin. However, the answer to the question can vary from case to case.
The Basics – How Does Oxycodone Work?
OxyContin’s intended purpose is to ease the effects of moderate or severe pain in certain adults. It relies on its active ingredient, the opioid oxycodone, to achieve this task. How does oxycodone work inside your system? When you take the medication, it:
- Travels through your bloodstream
- Reaches naturally occurring sites in your brain and body called opioid receptors
- Uses those receptors to change the way your system functions
- Disrupts the normal pain signaling between your brain and various body areas
The result is a decrease in your ability to perceive pain. Oxycodone also produces euphoria. This intense form of pleasure far outstrips the feelings produced in other typical ways. For many people in recovery, the drive to experience it is the starting point of eventual addiction.
OxyContin in Your System – Understanding The Metabolism and Disposition of Oxycodone
When you take any substance, your system breaks it into a usable form. This process is known as metabolism. The broken-down substance is then distributed within your system and eventually eliminated. This process is known as disposition. The metabolism and disposition of oxycodone explain how long OxyContin stays in your system.
OxyContin Effects – What Is the Typical Timeline?
How long do OxyContin effects last? Experts use a concept called half-life to answer this question. Half-life describes how long it takes your system to eliminate half of any given substance. When you use the medication as intended, your system’s half-life of OxyContin is an average of 5.5 hours. For any particular person, the process can be quicker or slower. Factors that influence how fast your body eliminates OxyContin include your:
- Gender
- Age
- History of OxyContin use
- Kidney and liver health
Every few hours, the level of the medication in your bloodstream drops by half again until no OxyContin remains. Most people reach this state in about a day. But well before that point, the effects of the medication fade away.
The Effects of Injecting OxyContin – Speeding Up the Process of Metabolism
In the past, many people misused OxyContin by crushing the medication, dissolving it in water, and injecting it. The changes made in the medication’s formula now make this difficult, but not impossible, to do. What are the effects of injecting OxyContin?
The most important effect is speeding up the rate at which the medication enters your bloodstream. This increase in speed leads to a faster metabolism and a larger delivery of oxycodone to your system. The result is a higher risk for both overdose and eventual OxyContin addiction.
Learn More About the Metabolism of OxyContin in Your System at Northpoint Colorado
Want to know more about how long OxyContin remains in your system? The experts at Northpoint Colorado can further explain the answer to this question. We can also further explain why the OxyContin timeline isn’t the same for everyone.
Do you or your loved one need help for OxyContin addiction? Northpoint is your customized care source that supports detox and active recovery. Give us a call us today at 888.231.1281 or contact us through our online message form.