Whether you’ve recently gotten high or are trying to help a loved one, understanding how long heroin stays in your system is vital.
Join Avenues Recovery, leading addiction rehabilitation specialists, as we delve into how long heroin stays in your system, how long after ingesting heroin it will show up on drug tests, what affects its half-life, and how different testing may show different results.
How Long Does Heroin Stay In Your System For?
Depending on what testing method you employ, heroin can stop showing up in results between 12 hours and 3 months after ingesting the drug.
What Is the Half-Life of Heroin?
The heroin half-life is the amount of time it takes for the body to eliminate half of the drug. The half-life of heroin is only around 30 minutes, though a user may feel both the feelings of euphoria and withdrawal after the drug has been metabolized. Various factors affect the length of time heroin remains in the system. Heroin use may be detected through:
- Urinalysis
- Blood testing
- Saliva Testing
- Hair follicle testing
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Urine?
For 3-4 days, an immunoassay will pick up usage markers in the urine to detect the body’s ability to form antigen-antibody complexes, rather than the level of heroin in a person’s body. Immunoassays are the most commonly used form of urinalysis due to their ease of use, rapid results, and cost-effectiveness.
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your Saliva?
Heroin stays in your saliva for a limited window of only 48 hours. Saliva testing can be done quickly and affordably, and unlike urinalysis, it requires no privacy precautions. The drug will show up on a saliva test only a few minutes after heroin consumption.
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your Blood?
A blood test has the shortest window of viability and will not pick up the drug in as little as 12 hours after use, although it may intuitively seem like the most accurate method for detecting heroin in a user’s system. It is useful, however, for determining if a person is under the influence at the time of the test and still has the drug in his or her system.
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your Hair?
Heroin stays in your hair for up to 3 months. The most effective method for spotting substance use is hair testing. It is more expensive than other tests but is non-invasive.
How Long Does Heroin Last in Your Body: 5 Factors That Influence the Answer
The amount of time it takes for heroin to leave your system can vary. Multiple factors come into play, such as:
- Method of Consumption
Heroin can be snorted, injected, or smoked. Heroin will remain in a person’s body for a longer period if it is snorted as opposed to being injected.
- Metabolism
Different people’s bodies metabolize substances at different rates. Therefore, the amount of time heroin stays in a person’s system is affected by his/her metabolic rate.
- Weight
Heroin will stay in a lighter individual’s system for a shorter time than a heavier person’s.
- Dosage
The more heroin a person consumes, the longer it will stay in his/her system.
- Experience
It will take longer for heroin to leave the body of a person who has been taking it for a while because the heroin has already been built up in his body.
What is Heroin?
Heroin, originally developed in the late 1800s as a cough suppressant, is derived from the opium poppy, placing it in a class of drugs called opiates. Opiates have several beneficial properties and have been used for centuries for their unmatched analgesic effectiveness. The positive reinforcing qualities of opiates (pain relief and euphoria), particularly heroin, create the potential for chemical dependence or addiction — more than half of the people who try heroin just once become dependent on the drug.
What Are the Effects of Heroin?
Heroin is extremely addictive, and repeated use changes the physiology of the brain, creating severe hormonal imbalances. Heroin also causes progressive tolerance, a phenomenon that occurs when more and more of the drug is required to achieve the same effects. Over time, the body adapts to the presence of an increasing level of the drug, and withdrawal symptoms occur when its use is suddenly reduced. It is this cycle that keeps a user locked in addiction’s grip.
Heroin withdrawal symptoms are common, due to heroin’s short half-life and addictive properties. While not as physically dangerous as alcohol withdrawal, heroin withdrawal is a painful and mentally taxing process, and it is the temporary discomfort that often reignites a relapse. The physical symptoms of withdrawal do subside in a relatively short period, allowing the user to address the underlying triggers for drug use and begin the healing process.
Get Heroin Out of Your System
Participating in a recovery program that includes detoxification, medication management, and intensive, clinically proven methods of treatment, is often the first step in breaking the cycle of addiction.
No matter how long heroin stays in your system, any amount will be too much. Contact Avenues Recovery today, and one of our caring program ambassadors will walk you through a judgment-free evaluation. We offer a variety of resources and treatment programs to help you achieve your healthiest lifestyle. Take your next step with Avenues Recovery.