How Long Does Suboxone Stay in Your System?

Suboxone consists of the drugs buprenorphine and naloxone. To figure out how long Suboxone stays in your system, you have to look at how long these two drugs stay in your system. 

Buprenorphine stays in your system much longer, and it has a half-life of 24 to 48 hours. Naloxone only has a half-life between 30 minutes and 12 hours. 

These drugs stay in your body for different amounts of time depending on whether you’re screening your urine, blood, saliva, or hair. 

How Long Does Suboxone Stay in Your Urine?

A urine test can detect Suboxone for at least 9 hours after you ingest the drug, but how long it lasts varies based on the type of lab test used. Unfortunately, there is very little information on the duration of naloxone in your urine, but there are detailed studies on how long buprenorphine stays in your urine.

In one study, researchers found that buprenorphine can show up in urine screenings for up to 24 to 96 hours after use. The results are not the same for everyone, and they vary based on the type of urine test used. Many home urine tests do not screen for Suboxone. 

How Long Does Suboxone Stay in Your Hair?

Drug tests can detect Suboxone in your hair for up to 3 months. There is not a lot of research on how long naloxone stays in your hair. But because buprenorphine stays in your system longer due to its longer half-life, you simply need to consider how long this drug stays in your hair.

Buprenorphine stays in your hair for up to 90 days. But the detectable concentration of this drug can vary based on the section of hair tested. 

How Long Does Suboxone Stay in Your Blood?

Suboxone stays in your blood for up to two days. However, how long it lasts and is detectable in a drug screening is not the same for everyone. Suboxone and other drugs clear out of people at different rates based on the following factors:

• Genetics
• Age
• Weight
• Metabolism
• Frequency of use
• Duration 
• Dosage
• Hydration
• Physical activity levels

You can also estimate how long a drug stays in your system by looking at its half-life. When the drugs in Suboxone complete a half-life cycle, half of the drug is out of your blood. It takes about five half-lives to get a drug out of your system. 

Typically, after five half-lives, 3% or less of the dosage should still be in your blood. You stop feeling the brain effects of most drugs long before this point. But you may be able to detect the drugs in your blood until about the end of the fifth half-life.

Buprenorphine has a half-life of 24 to 48 hours, so it stays in your system for between 5 and 10 days. Naloxone has a half-life between 30 minutes and 12 hours. This drug can be out of your system quickly.

How Long Does Suboxone Stay in Your Saliva?

Drugs stay in your saliva about as long as they stay in your blood. As a result, Suboxone can be in your saliva for up to 2 days on average.

The length of time Suboxone stays in your saliva varies based on how you ingest the drug. If you take the drug under your tongue, it stays in your saliva for a lot longer than if you get an intravenous injection. 

After five hours, people who took Suboxone under their tongues had a 100 to 1,000 times higher concentration of the drug in their saliva than people who injected the drug.

When you take Suboxone under your tongue, the naloxone stays in your saliva. Once you swallow the saliva, the drug gets destroyed by first pass effect. With a hepatic first pass, the drugs go from the digestive tract to the liver through the portal vein. Then, they get metabolized before they even enter your bloodstream. 

How Long Does Suboxone Stay in Lab Tests?

The time Suboxone is detectable in a lab test is not the same for everyone. Drug tests can find Suboxone for the following amounts of time:

• Urine between 9 hours and 4 days
• Hair up to 90 days
• Blood up to 2 days
• Saliva up to 2 days

The length of time Suboxone stays in your system depends on multiple factors including your genetics, age, weight, metabolism, frequency of use, and more. 

Suboxone is used to treat opioid addictions, but some people get addicted or take this drug recreationally. If you need help with Suboxone, it is not too late. Contact us today, and we can help you find new hope and treatment options.