Knowing the answer to “How long does Percocet stay in your system?” should be of vital importance to anyone who takes the medication—not only to those worried about an upcoming drug test.
Understanding how long Percocet stays in your system can help you reduce the risk of opioid toxicity and overdose, as well as determine when you can safely take other substances that may interact with it. After all, even something as innocent as grapefruit juice, let alone alcohol or other drugs, can lead to adverse effects when mixed with opioids.
So, how long does Percocet stay in your system? Keep reading to find out and learn about the different factors that determine this.
What Is Percocet?
Percocet is a prescription opioid used to control moderate-to-severe pain resistant to non-opioid medications. As a combination medication, it consists of oxycodone, a potent semi-synthetic opioid derived from thebaine, and acetaminophen, an over-the-counter pain reliever.
Percocet is sold as a generic drug and marketed under several other brand names, including Endocet®, Magnacet®, and Roxicet®. While generic oxycodone/acetaminophen is available as a tablet or a liquid, the brand-name version comes only in the form of tablets consisting of 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 7.5 mg, or 10 mg of oxycodone and 325 mg of acetaminophen.
Since Percocet contains acetaminophen, it can cause liver injury, especially when mixed with other hepatotoxic drugs or alcohol. If you suffer from liver disease, inform your doctor about it before initiating opioid therapy.
Though Percocet can effectively alleviate pain, taking it is never safe.
In 2022, 2.5 million Americans misused oxycodone products, including Percocet, making them the second most commonly abused prescription painkillers in the United States. Worse yet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that nearly 12,000 Americans lost their lives to an oxycodone overdose that same year.
Due to the high risk of opioid abuse, dependence, and addiction, Percocet is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance. Even those who carefully follow their doctor’s instructions can become dependent when taking it for a prolonged time.
How Does Percocet Affect Your Body?
Percocet affects the body by binding to opioid receptors, thereby interrupting the transmission of pain signals between the body and the brain.
Percocet has a rapid onset of action; most patients will begin to feel its effects within 30 minutes of ingestion, though this may depend on individual factors, such as metabolism. Meanwhile, its effects peak within 1–2 hours following ingestion and subside within 4–6 hours.
Though pain relief is the primary effect of Percocet, it can also produce various unwanted effects, such as drowsiness, dizziness, headache, constipation, and nausea. It can also induce feelings of euphoria by causing the body to release an excessive amount of dopamine, which enhances the drug’s potential for abuse and addiction.
Percocet Half-Life
Percocet’s half-life is around 3.5 hours, which means it takes just a few hours for your body to eliminate half a dose of it.
However, even though it has a relatively short half-life, Percocet can stay in your system and remain detectable by various blood tests for much longer than that.
With that in mind, let’s explore the question, “How long does Percocet stay in your system?” in greater depth.
How Long Does Percocet Stay in Your System?
The short answer to the question “How long does Percocet stay in your system?” is around 19 hours. This is because it takes around 5.5 half-lives for most people to entirely eliminate Percocet from their system, though this may vary individually. Still, certain drug tests can detect Percocet days (and even months) after the last dose.
Though some drug tests may be conducted to evaluate acetaminophen levels (e.g., blood tests may be administered to diagnose acetaminophen toxicity), most commonly, they are performed to detect oxycodone.
Let’s see how long Percocet stays in blood, hair, saliva, and urine.
How Long Does Percocet Stay in Blood?
Percocet stays in the blood for up to 24 hours after the last dose. Though blood tests tend to be highly accurate, they have a very short detection window. However, certain tests, i.e., those designed to detect the drug and its metabolites, may detect Percocet in blood for up to 48 hours.
How Long Does Percocet Stay in Hair?
Percocet stays in hair and remains detectable by hair follicle tests for up to 90 days after taking the last dose. Though these tests have the longest detection window, they are more expensive than other testing methods and aren’t very common.
How Long Does Percocet Stay in Saliva?
Percocet stays in saliva for up to 2 days after you take it. Some tests may be able to detect oxycodone in saliva samples for up to 4 days after the last dose. These tests are quite often conducted to test for opioids like Percocet, but they aren’t as sensitive as urine tests.
How Long Does Percocet Stay in Urine?
Percocet can be detected in urine samples for up to 4 days after taking the last dose. These tests are most commonly used to detect Percocet and most other opioids, as they are non-invasive and affordable.
Factors That Determine How Long Percocet Stays in Your System
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question, “How long does Percocet stay in your system?” since various factors, such as liver function and metabolism, affect the speed at which your body processes opioids.
On that note, here are the key factors that determine how long Percocet stays in your system:
- Sex. Sex is among the main factors that affect how quickly oxycodone is removed from the system, with women eliminating it around 25% slower than men. As such, Percocet stays in women’s systems longer.
- Metabolism. The slower your body breaks down and eliminates substances, the longer Percocet will stay in your system, and vice versa. Since age, diet, physical activity, body mass, and similar factors can alter your metabolism, they also play an essential role in determining how long Percocet stays in your system.
- Liver function. Both oxycodone and acetaminophen are primarily metabolized in the liver. Therefore, people with impaired liver function will need a longer time to clear it out of their system.
- Renal function. Renal problems, such as kidney failure, can also change how your body absorbs and eliminates opioids, including Percocet.
- Polydrug use. Concurrent use of other drugs, including prescription medications, illicit substances, or even herbal medicines, can affect your body’s ability to process and excrete Percocet.
- Dosage and duration of Percocet use. Taking Percocet in high doses makes it more difficult for your body to get rid of it. Similarly, the longer you’ve been taking Percocet, the more time your body will need to get rid of it. Taking opioids for a prolonged time also increases the risk of opioid toxicity, dependence, and addiction.
Percocet Addiction vs. Percocet Dependence
Percocet addiction and Percocet dependence often co-occur, but they are distinct conditions that can also occur on their own. For instance, you can be dependent on Percocet without becoming addicted to it.
However, untreated opioid dependence makes you vulnerable to opioid addiction. Therefore, it is crucial to seek professional help if you suspect you’ve become dependent.
Percocet dependence describes the physical dependence people develop after taking opioid medication for a prolonged time. Anyone, including those who take Percocet as prescribed, can become dependent on it, as repeated opioid exposure alters brain chemistry. These neurochemical changes lead to tolerance.
In other words, if you take Percocet for an extended time, your body will start to create more opioid receptors, causing your usual dose to lose its effectiveness and prompting you to increase your dosage.
Worse yet, once you become dependent, your body will require Percocet to function normally; if you stop taking it, you’ll suffer from distressing opioid withdrawal symptoms. Sadly, millions of Americans get stuck in a perpetual cycle of opioid abuse in an attempt to ward them off.
While Percocet dependence is characterized by physical symptoms—namely, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms—Percocet addiction is predominantly psychological. It compromises your ability to control your opioid use. As tragic as it is, those addicted to Percocet continue taking it, even when it wreaks havoc on their relationships, careers, and other areas of life.
Percocet Withdrawal Symptoms
Percocet withdrawal symptoms are a set of physical and psychological symptoms opioid-dependent people begin to experience within 5–8 hours after quitting Percocet.
The most common Percocet withdrawal symptoms are:
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Depression
- Body aches
- Mood swings
- Goosebumps
- Enlarged pupils
- Opioid cravings
- Excessive sweating
- Trouble falling or staying asleep
- Fever, runny nose, and other flu-like symptoms
Acute withdrawal symptoms typically resolve within more or less a week after discontinuing medication. However, some people continue to suffer from cravings, depression, and other psychological symptoms for weeks, months, and even years, leaving them vulnerable to relapse.
Those who relapse face a high risk of opioid overdose and death due to diminished tolerance. Never quit it abruptly or without medical supervision, as this can lead to particularly severe withdrawal symptoms, further increasing the risk of relapse. It’s in your best interest to seek professional opioid addiction treatment to get off Percocet safely and effectively.
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Key Takeaways
In short, the question “How long does Percocet stay in your system?” doesn’t have a clear-cut answer. However, in most cases, it takes around 19 hours to clear it out—but it doesn’t mean drug tests won’t detect it past this time.
Now, let’s summarize the key things we covered today:
- Percocet is an opioid medication containing oxycodone and acetaminophen prescribed to relieve moderate-to-severe pain.
- Hair follicle tests have the longest detection window for Percocet, as traces of oxycodone can be found in hair follicles for up to 90 days.
- How long Percocet stays in your system depends not only on its half-life but also on your metabolism, sex, liver function, the extent of your opioid use, and whether or not you’re taking any other drugs with it.
How Long Does Percocet Stay in Your System FAQ
It takes 19 hours on average to get Percocet out of your system. However, this may vary from one person to another depending on metabolism, liver function, sex, and other individual factors.
Percocet can show up on any drug test that can detect opioids and their metabolites. Depending on the test type conducted, the Percocet detection window may vary between 24 hours and 90 days.
Percocet can be detected in a urine test up to 4 days after the last dose. However, liver function, metabolism, polydrug use, and other factors may also affect how long it stays in your system and can be detected in urine samples.
How long a Percocet high lasts depends on the dosage taken and other factors. Never take Percocet for non-medical purposes, as this constitutes opioid abuse and puts you at an increased risk of Percocet dependence, addiction, overdose, and death.
Oxycodone is not the same as Percocet. The main difference between oxycodone and Percocet lies in their composition. Oxycodone is a potent semi-synthetic opioid analgesic, whereas Percocet is a combination medication containing both oxycodone and acetaminophen.
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