How Long Does Methylphenidate Stay in Your System?

How Long Does Methylphenidate Stay in Your System?

Methylphenidate is a generic nervous system drugs that is prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Narcolepsy, and commonly sold under the brand names Ritalin and Concerta.  By consuming it directly, methylphenidate will increase the activity of the central nervous system for a short period of time and even help control appetite in people who are dangerously obese. To know how long does Methylphenidate stay in your system, you need to know the regulations, effects, and after-effects.

Methylphenidate is a stimulant drug that speeds up certain functions and processes of the central nervous system. Methylphenidate affects neurotransmitter activity in human brain. The neurotransmitters affected by methylphenidate control things like movement, attention span and pleasure. Methylphenidate can block the reabsorption of certain neurotransmitters and, in people with ADHD, the effects include more self-control over actions, less fidgeting and better concentration.

When the drug is being abused, it’s going to be difficult to know how long does methylphenidate stay in your system. Severe methylphenidate effects can include shakiness, mood changes, confusion, hallucinations and seizures. Methylphenidate can cause circulatory problems and it can raise blood pressure, the heart rate and body temperature. Digestive system effects of methylphenidate can include stomachaches, nausea and vomiting.

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Disposal of Methylphenidate and How The Body Processes Methylphenidate

In order to understand how long Methylphenidate stays in your system, you must understand how the body processes methylphenidate. While the rate at which this happens depends on several different factors, methylphenidate is primarily excreted from the body through urine.

There are two forms of methylphenidate: direct/instant-release and extended-release. The direct-release ones will leave the body faster, while extended-release Methylphenidate will stay in the system longer.

Overall, methylphenidate has a relatively short half-life of between 1-4 hours. It also doesn’t attach and stick to fat cells in the same way other longer-lasting drugs, like marijuana, usually do. It takes 4-5 half-lives for a drug to be released from the body. As a result, it can be said that methylphenidate only stays in your system for less than 24 hours.

However, rates of methylphenidate release from the body can vary widely from one person to the next – and this doesn’t mean you can take methylphenidate on Saturday and pass a drug test on Monday.

To know how long does Methylphenidate stay in your body is dependent on several variables, including which type of drug test is being examined and which type of the  prescribed drug is being taken. There are both immediate-release and extended-release forms of methylphenidate on the market, the latter of which remains in the body longer. Both are excreted primarily in urine.

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Factors That Affect How Long Methylphenidate Stays in Your System

There are several factors that dictate how long does Methylphenidate stay in your system. And, they are all unique from one person to another. Some of the factors are:

• Age, weight, and body mass – People in younger age, as well as those who weigh less and have a lower BMI, will be able to eliminate drugs from their system at a faster rate than those who are obese or elderly.

• Metabolic rate – How fast or slow a person’s metabolism operates affects how long substances stay in the system.

• How long Methylphenidate has been abused – People who abuse Methylphenidate regularly and for a longer time will have higher concentrations of methylphenidate built up in their system, requiring them more time to fully excrete the drug’s metabolites.

• Dosage taken – Higher doses of drugs will require more time to be processed and excreted from the body.

• Kidney function and other underlying health issues – The kidney helps process and metabolize toxins in our body, and if it became disfunctional, it can slow down the drug elimination process. The same can be said for other underlying health issues.

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Due to all of these unique circumstances, it can be impossible to predict exactly how long does methylphenidate stay in your system.

If you are an illicit drug user, a drug test may be one of your worst enemies. Even though Methylphenidate has a short half-life and leaves the system fairly quickly, the metabolites of methylphenidate may linger in your system for longer. And, even though Ritalin may not show up on your standard panel drug screen, methylphenidate metabolites will – especially if you get tested within the given detection window.

Different types of drug tests have different detection windows. For example, substances tend to stay in person’s hair and urine for far longer than they do in blood and saliva.

Broken down by the type of drug examination, this provides an estimate of how long Methylphenidate will show up on urine, hair, blood, and saliva tests.

• Urine tests may detect Methylphenidate for 1-3 days after use.
• Hair follicle tests may detect Methylphenidate for up to 90 days after use.
• Blood tests are rarely used for drug screenings because substances leave the blood quickly. Methylphenidate may only show up in blood tests for several hours.
• Saliva tests may detect Methylphenidate for 1-3 days after use.

There are many good reasons for drug testing, but if you are worried about passing a drug test because you’ve been abusing Ritalin, it may be time to consider seeking help. If you have a problem with drug/substance abuse or addiction, you get help by contacting us at Rehab Bali. Remember, don’t hesitate to ask for help, so you can take precaution.