Whether you need to take a drug test or want to learn more about tapentadol, you’re likely wondering how long it takes for your body to clear it out. The truth is, you may not find one clear-cut answer to the question “How long does tapentadol stay in your system?” since several factors may affect this.
Still, you can determine how long a particular drug stays in your body from its half-life, and tapentadol is no exception.
Today, we’ll discuss how long tapentadol stays in your system, what factors determine this, and how long different drug tests can detect it.
What Is Tapentadol?
Tapentadol is a synthetic opioid prescribed to relieve moderate-to-severe pain that doesn’t respond to or cannot be treated with non-opioid painkillers. Like tramadol, tapentadol is considered an atypical opioid due to its dual mechanism of action; it acts not only as an opioid agonist but also as a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI).
Tapentadol is sold as a generic and a brand-name drug, with Palexia® and Nucynta® being some of the most common names under which it is marketed. It comes in the form of an oral tablet or solution.
Moreover, tapentadol is available in immediate- and extended-release formulations and can be used to treat both acute and chronic pain, such as that stemming from diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Even though tapentadol is less potent than most opioids, it can lead to abuse, dependence, and prescription drug addiction. For this reason, it is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance and should be taken strictly as prescribed.
How Does Tapentadol Affect Your Body?
Tapentadol affects the body by attaching to the opioid receptors in the central nervous system (CNS). This inhibits the brain from receiving pain signals, altering the perception of pain. Due to its dual mechanism of action, it also affects norepinephrine levels.
Moreover, tapentadol can trigger a surge of dopamine, inducing feelings of euphoria and relaxation. However, this increases the risk of opioid abuse, as some people may take this medication for non-medical purposes, i.e., to get “high.”
Tapentadol’s immediate-release mechanism starts working within about half an hour of consumption, with pain-relieving effects lasting 4 to 6 hours.
On the other hand, extended-release tapentadol alleviates pain for up to 12 hours, but it may take 1–2 hours for it to take effect. The onset and duration of tramadol effects also depend on certain individual factors, such as your metabolism.
Tapentadol Half-Life
Tapentadol’s half-life, or the time it takes for your body to clear out half a tapentadol dose, is around 4 hours. However, it also depends on the drug’s formulation.
Specifically, immediate-release tapentadol has a half-life of 3–4 hours, with more than 95% being eliminated from the body within 24 hours following administration.
Meanwhile, extended-release tramadol has a slightly longer half-life—it may take between 4 and 6 hours for your body to eliminate half a dose.
With this in mind, let’s discuss the question “How long does tapentadol stay in your system?” in greater detail and explore the tapentadol detection window in different drug tests.
How Long Does Tapentadol Stay in Your System?
Depending on the formulation, tapentadol stays in your system for 20–30 hours on average, as it takes about 4–5 half-lives to eliminate it. Nonetheless, it can be detected by some drug tests for much longer than that.
On that note, let’s discuss how long tapentadol remains detectable by different drug tests.
How Long Does Tapentadol Stay in Blood?
Tapentadol stays in the blood for about 24 hours after being ingested, though certain blood tests may be able to detect it for up to 48 hours. These tests tend to be highly accurate, but they are invasive and have a short detection window.
How Long Does Tapentadol Stay in Hair?
Tapentadol stays in hair and can be detected by hair follicle tests for up to 90 days after taking the last dose. Although these tests are relatively expensive, they have the longest detection window for all opioids, including tapentadol.
How Long Does Tapentadol Stay in Saliva?
Saliva tests can detect the presence of tapentadol in your system for 1–2 days following ingestion. This type of drug testing is relatively common, as saliva tests are less invasive than others. However, their tapentadol detection window is fairly short.
How Long Does Tapentadol Stay in Urine?
Tapentadol remains detectable in urine samples for 2–4 days after the last dose. Urine tests are among the most commonly conducted drug tests for opioids like tapentadol, thanks to their non-invasive nature.
That said, the answer to the question “How long does tapentadol stay in your system?” can vary from one person to the next. This is because it largely depends on how quickly your body metabolizes and eliminates the drug, which can be affected by several factors.
Factors That Determine How Long Tapentadol Stays in Your System
Kidney function is one of the main factors that determine how long tapentadol stays in your system, as 99% of tapentadol is excreted via the kidneys. Therefore, the healthier your kidneys are, the quicker it will be eliminated from your system. Kidney problems may also extend the detection window for tapentadol in certain drug tests.
Other factors that might impact how long tapentadol stays in your system include:
- Metabolism. People with a fast metabolism will need less time to clear tapentadol out of their system than those with a slower metabolism. For this reason, factors that impact your metabolism—such as age, diet, body composition, and activity level—can also affect how long tapentadol stays in your system.
- Polydrug use. Taking tapentadol with other substances, including alcohol, prescription or illicit drugs, and herbal medicines, can affect how your body processes and breaks down tapentadol.
- Extent of tapentadol use. The dosage and duration of your tapentadol use play a key role in determining how long this opioid stays in your system. If you take tapentadol in large doses over an extended time, it can accumulate in your body, making it harder for you to metabolize and eliminate the drug.
Tapentadol Addiction vs. Tapentadol Dependence
Tapentadol addiction and tapentadol dependence are two distinct conditions, even though they often co-occur.
Although tapentadol is relatively weak compared to other opioids, it still carries the potential for abuse, dependence, and addiction, and you can become dependent on it. If you take it for a prolonged time, it will eventually alter your brain chemistry. There have been cases where people developed tolerance and cravings after taking tapentadol for a month.
Tolerance is a sign of physical dependence; once you build up tolerance, you can no longer feel the full effect of the drug without increasing the dosage.
Moreover, if you quickly stop taking tapentadol after becoming dependent, you will suffer from opioid withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms from tapentadol are often very uncomfortable, prompting people to continue taking the drug to prevent them.
If left untreated, tapentadol dependence can develop into an addiction, which is a treatable condition characterized by the loss of control over opioid use.
In other words, people addicted to tapentadol will continue to take it even though it harms them or their loved ones. For this reason, it’s in your best interest to seek professional help for opioid dependence as soon as possible.
Tapentadol Withdrawal Symptoms
Tapentadol withdrawal symptoms occur when people stop taking the medication after developing opioid dependence or addiction.
Most commonly, tapentadol causes the following withdrawal symptoms:
- Anxiety
- Tremors
- Diarrhea
- Irritability
- Shivering
- Depression
- Body aches
- Dilated pupils
- Stomach ache
- Opioid cravings
- Sleep disturbances
- Excessive sweating
- Nausea and vomiting
- Elevated heart rate and blood pressure
Withdrawal symptoms from tapentadol typically begin within 6–30 hours after the last dose and last one or two weeks, depending on the formulation of the drug, the extent of your tapentadol use, and other individual factors.
Some people, however, continue to struggle with cravings and other withdrawal symptoms for several months and even years after quitting opioids like tapentadol.
Since prolonged withdrawal increases the risk of relapse, tapentadol overdose, and death, it is crucial to seek professional opioid addiction treatment. Never quit tapentadol abruptly or without medical supervision, as this can lead to potentially life-threatening complications and increase the severity of your withdrawal symptoms.
ANR Opioid Dependence Treatment
Accelerated Neuro-Regulation (ANR) is a groundbreaking opioid dependence treatment that can help you overcome tapentadol dependence within days by returning your brain to its pre-addiction state. It has helped nearly 25,000 people worldwide regain control over their lives.
ANR is the first and only treatment that addresses the root cause of opioid dependence by re-regulating the endorphin-receptor system to its normal levels. Since it reverses the opioid-induced chemical changes, ANR eliminates withdrawal symptoms, negating the risk of relapse.
The ANR treatment is performed by highly experienced board-certified medical professionals, including critical care physicians and nurses, in an ICU setting of accredited hospitals. The average hospital stay for ANR patients lasts only 36 hours.
Moreover, the treatment is suitable even for those with complex health conditions, as we tailor it to each patient’s medical history and needs individually.
Safety, speed, and effectiveness are just two of ANR’s many advantages over traditional treatments. To learn more about the treatment, contact us today for a free, 100% confidential consultation!
Key Takeaways
Now that we’ve answered the question “How long does tapentadol stay in your system?” it’s time for a wrap-up:
- Tapentadol is a synthetic opioid painkiller that stays in the system for roughly 20–30 hours.
- Drug tests have different detection windows for tapentadol; while saliva tests can detect it for just 1-2 days after ingestion, it remains detectable by hair follicle tests for up to 3 months.
- The factors that determine how long tapentadol stays in your system include kidney function, metabolism, polydrug use, and the extent of your opioid use.
How Long Does Tapentadol Stay in Your System FAQ
It takes around 20–30 hours to get tapentadol out of your system. However, several factors can impact how quickly your body breaks down and wipes out opioids, including kidney function, polydrug use, metabolism, and the extent of your tapentadol use.
Tapentadol can show up on any drug test designed to detect opioids, but its detection window differs based on the type of test performed. Hair follicle tests have a particularly long detection window—they can spot traces of tapentadol for up to three months.
Tapentadol stays in urine for 2–4 days after the last dose. However, certain factors, such as impaired kidney function, may affect how long tapentadol remains detectable in urine samples.
How long a tapentadol high lasts depends on different factors, such as the dosage, the type of tapentadol taken, and so forth. Like any opioid, tapentadol can induce feelings of euphoria and relaxation, especially when abused. However, you should never take tapentadol in any way other than prescribed, as this can lead to opioid dependence, addiction, overdose, and death.
Tapentadol does not work immediately, but its onset of action is fairly rapid. Immediate-release tapentadol starts to work within 30 minutes following ingestion. If you take extended-release tapentadol, you should begin to feel the drug’s effects within 1–2 hours after taking it.
