Suboxone is detectable in your body for up to 90 days.
Suboxone contains buprenorphine, a long-acting partial opioid agonist, and naloxone, an opioid antagonist. When taken as prescribed sublingually, Naloxone is not absorbed. Buprenorphine is the active ingredient that prevents opioid cravings. Buprenorphine has various metabolites that remain detectable in the blood and saliva for about 3 days, urine for about 6 days, and hair for up to 90 days.
Suboxone is a Medication for Addiction Treatment (MAT) that helps people with opioid use disorder (OUD). In the short term, it alleviates uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. When taken long term, it reduces craving and helps people stay abstinent from opioids. It also helps people feel physically and emotionally stable, so they can focus on rehabilitation and counseling.[1]
People who take Suboxone usually take a dose between 2 and 16 mg per day, once daily. However, depending on your needs, you may take two or three smaller doses per day.
Buprenorphine’s half-life is 25 to 72 hours. Different parts of your body will eliminate Suboxone’s components at different rates. As per the chart above, buprenorphine is detectable for a shorter period of time in the blood and urine, but can be detectable for much longer in hair.
Peak effects from buprenorphine typically occur between 1 to 24 hours after you’ve taken the sublingual dose. [2] The drug’s mean half-life is listed as about 30 hours, but if you metabolize it more slowly, the half-life can be as long as 72 hours (3 days).
While buprenorphine can still be quite active in the system days after it’s taken, naloxone’s half-life is between 2 and 12 hours.
By itself, naloxone is used to temporarily stop opioid overdoses. When added to Suboxone, it prevents buprenorphine from becoming bioavailable if Suboxone is tampered with, or taken through a route that is not appropriate, for example if someone injects it or snorts it. It is active in the body for between 30 and 90 minutes.
When naloxone by itself is taken, about 40 percent is metabolized out of the body in about 6 hours.[5] Within three days (72 hours), all naloxone metabolites will have been excreted from the body, except for the hair. Naloxone is not an opioid and so it is not usually tested for on a drug screen.
If you completely stop taking Suboxone, there will be no trace of this medication, except in your hair, after 3 to 6 days. Naloxone will completely metabolize out of the body well before buprenorphine does, and is not usually tested for on a drug screen.
If you take a drug test with a current or potential employer, they do not usually test for Suboxone as part of a routine drug panel. However, if they do, you should inform them that you take Suboxone under the guidance of a doctor, to treat a medical issue. If necessary your doctor can provide documentation of this.
A drug's half-life refers to the time it takes for an average body to process and remove half of the substance.[6] A half-life doesn't vary by how much you take or how long you've taken it. The timeframe is always the same.
Suboxone is a combination medication, and each ingredient has a different half-life:[7]
A very addictive and dangerous drug like heroin has a half-life of just a few minutes. Suboxone’s ability to linger makes it an effective medication for people looking for a smooth path to sobriety.
People metabolize different drugs at different rates, and Suboxone is no exception. These factors influence Suboxone metabolization:
If you have questions about how long suboxone stays in your system or about what to expect with routine drug screening, reach out to your doctor.
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