How long does it take for opiates to clear?

[I_shall_rise]

Hi All- I know some of you remember me from my long drawn out ramblings....well I'm baaaaaack. LOL. However I have a different concern this time. Long story short, I relapsed since I've been on here....I guess I really wanted to test the "can you feel it?" theory....which I found out is NOT a theory by the way, you really don't feel it...but if you wait long enough off your sub, then you can DEFINITELY feel it again...! Bad, bad, bad. NOW- I don't want to feel it anymore...I want back on the sub. But I'm scared and have questions about getting back on, etc.
So like an idiot, I admitted to my sub doctor that I relapsed and took some pills....and like a smart doctor, my next visit he gave me a pee test....( I know there's a better medical term than that, but whatever) of course it came back positive with opiates and benzos...and attached was a letter that said...."if this happens again you'll be taken off the program"....and like an idiot again, I continued to use. Well now it's crunch time because TOMORROW is my doctor appt. And I KNOW he's going to test me. I'm READY to quit....but I just took my last two 7.5 hydrocodone and am very scared that he's going to test me tomorrow and it will come up positive again....especially since I took about 5 last night. Is there anyway that if I drink enough water/cranberry juice I can be clean by tomorrow? How long does it take to get out of your system? I'm freaking out. Please someone give me a little bit of advice.
Thank you!

[Mike]

I would just be honest with that doc and if he throws you out find another one. Any doctor that would throw out a patient for relapse doesn't understand the disease anyways and you are better off elsewhere.

Does this guy kick out his hypertensive patients if they eat salt? What if an asthma patient stops their medication and relapses? Out on the street? How about a depression patient who stopped their meds and is depressed again? It shows he doesn't see addiction as a chronic condition. What he should do is improve the treatment to prevent further relapse. increase your dose and provide more counseling to start with.

By trying to get around the drug test you are just confirming the stigma he already has. By being honest and reasserting your desire to reengage in treatment, and wanting to discuss ways to avoid future relapse, you are taking the high road. If he wants to punish you, because he didn't provide the treatment you are better off with someone else.

[flier1]

What Mike has said hit it dead on. You have to first be really ready and be honest with your Dr. You kinda knew this was going to happen if you kept taking the opiates. So go in and before anything talk to him, be very honest and I would even print out the response that Mike typed down here cause if he is a caring Dr. then he really doesn't understand.

God Bless Helen

[kellibear]

if he does a urine test--it will show up--most opiates are detected for about a week, sub stays in you about 11 days. i too, would tell him, because he will find out and kick you out anyway. there are detox drinks you can get--but that's just addict behavior and if you truly want recovery--just be honest!!drinking a ton of water will just show a very dilute specimen and most dr.'s consider that deceptive!!

[I_shall_rise]

Yes, I agree. Here's the problem: There's ONE sub doc. in my whole area....he's it....and he did give me one chance when I was honest with him the first time, he wrote me out a script and I was supposed to get back on...but of course I kept on plugging. So in the long run, it's my fault, and I know that relapse is common....but with him being the only doc. and a lot of serious patients on the waiting list, he has to make room for serious people only. And I am serious- NOW! But the fact is I just took my last two and want to make sure it's out of my system....basically my intentions are good, but my actions were bad....as with the case for all of us, I know....and I don't want that to catch up with me tomorrow...so I really just need to know how long it takes for these things to get out of my system.

[Done]

What would happen if you reschedule for next week....do u have any subs to get you thru?
You could go to the pharmacy and pickup one of those home tests and check your urine before the appt.
I agree to be honest with him, but with the alternative being kicked out of the program i dont know what i would do.....
Relaspe is a part of this disease so he should not punish you, he should help you thru this set back. I would print mikes post and take it with (great idea).
Let us know how it goes....there are very few sub drs in my area (and i have drive about an hour) so i understand. You may plan for the worse and if he does stop seeing you, ask for one more rx so that you can hopefully find another DR. And put your info in patient matching thing and hope you get a reply.

[flier1]

At least you have one DR. I have absolutely none around here so I have to travel about 2 and half hours to my Dr. So maybe extend your search you may be able to find a DR quickly I dont know where you are from but if your around the MI area I can email you my DR's name he could probably get you in the same day.

God Bless HELEN

[rsr101]

I believe it usually takes about 3-4 days to leave your system. Tuesday I was in the same boat you are in now. I don't know if this will help but it helped me. I brought support, My wife. I also offered to come back in a couple days and test, to show him that I was serious and would do anything. I gave him my counselor's number so he could call him if he wanted. But I think bringing my wife was the difference. It showed him that at least I wasn't lying to everyone. He said," OK ,I'll give you one more chance if you give written permission for your wife to call me if you do relapse and come in every 2 weeks just for a urine test." It wasn't alot of fun but he did give me one more chance and that's all I could ask! Just a thought, hope that helps. Good luck!!! rsr

[okie]

Here is a chart that gives the times for urine and saliva, from a testing site online.

http://www.tryi.com/drugsearch/images/Drug%20Detection%20Times%20Urine-Saliva.pdf

[I_shall_rise]

thank you for all of your support and ideas...I called and rescheduled my appointment for next week so God is good and everything is working out. I rescheduled for next friday. The scary part is that the last thing the nurse said when getting off the phone was "don't do anything you shouldn't do because I WILL be drug testing you!"....ahhh....okay, that's okay because I will be clean THEN! Thanks again everyone!

[Done]

Do you have any subs ??

[Done]

If you have any drugs other then subs...get rid of them NOW!!! And start to drink water, water, water and then more water. Flush your system until your appt. Another thing i would do, opiates are stored in the fat (read that somewhere) i would start an Atkins type of diet...which flushes fat from your body. Low carb, high protein..as long as that does not interfer with any health problems you have.
A friend had to be clean for a drug test for work, he is on the chubby side, he did not smoke weed for 38 days...and flunked. He did not know that he flunked. So he celebrated that he "passed" his test and got high that weekend. Monday morning came...and he found out that he had to take the test again, he somehow bamboozled his way into letting them retest in a week. In that week he did atkins and drank as much water as possible...he said he should have just stayed in the bathroom......and he did end up passing. This was for weed. Which i have heard stays in your system a lot longer then other drugs. I have no data to back this up.

Replay that convo with the nurse in your mind over and over again....

[spoint1]

Weed stays in your boady fat and will show up for 6 weeks. opiates are noted stored, and will only show for about 4 days.

[okie]

I have had a friend that smoked maybe a bowl on monday and tuesday (first time in months) and was urine tested in office on the following tuesday and was negative. Didnt do anything special to pass the test either. Average height and weight and all..
So it really can depend on a whole lot of factors. The cut off on the test is probably the biggest.

[I_shall_rise]

Okay so you all wouldn't believe this....after endless panic attacks...freaking out...researching how to get opiates out of my system the fastest...and even drinking a rapid detox...my doctor did NOT test me! Wow. What a blessing, because in the meantime that really made me get my stuff together and realize how important this treatment is to me!

[Chrisifix]

WOW that was a blessing but do not take it for granted. He is going to pop a UA on you when you least expect it. He was giving you the benefit of the doubt which was very nice of him.

Now, make sure you do not have any stash in your house at all. Get rid of it NOW. You don't want to end up in that scary situation again.

I am glad you are now back on suboxone. Good luck and keep us updated on how you are doing.

Chris

[flier1]

Take all the advice given to you here especially Chris's , he will eventually do a UA but hopefully you wont have to worry about anything in your system when he does.

Helen