How Long Can Methadone Be Detected In Your System?

Methadone drug test detection time ranges are between 3 and 90 days after ingestion.

This is a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating opioid addiction. It is also used by people with chronic pain for their pain management.

While it is used as part of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use, it is still classified as a controlled substance because it carries the risk of abuse.

Read on to learn how methadone drug testing may affect you or a loved one.

Methadone Drug Testing Times By Type

Methadone drug testing is usually done via 10-panel drug testing. Each “panel” is a different drug or family of drugs, and the 10-panel tests for 10 types of drugs, one of which is Methadone.

The most common forms are the 5-panel and 10-panel drug tests. Methadone and other opiates are detectable on 9-panel tests through 12-panel tests.

Blood Drug Testing For Methadone

While somewhat rarely utilized, methadone detection times via blood samples are viable for up to 3 to 4 days after a person’s last use of the drug.

Hair Drug Testing For Methadone

When attempting to determine long-term drug use, hair tests are typically the preferred test type. They can show positive results for all drugs of abuse (including methadone) for up to 90 days.

Saliva Drug Testing For Methadone

Oral fluid drug tests can detect methadone use for up to 10 days. But it should be noted that this type of test is relatively uncommon.

Urine Drug Testing For Methadone

Urine drug screening is the most popular type of testing for methadone. It can be detected in urine specimens for up to 14 days.

How Does Methadone Drug Testing Work?

All forms of drug screening for this synthetic opioid use mass spectrometry and gas chromatography to analyze samples for drug use.

These techniques are very accurate and make false-positive results very rare.

How long a substance is in your body is determined by the drug’s half-life, or how long it takes for half of the drug to break down. Methadone has a longer half-life than others at 48 hours.

Metabolite Tests

After specimen collection, most toxicology tests look for the methadone metabolite. Metabolites are the chemical traces left after your body has used an enzyme to break down a specific drug.

Once the concentrations of methadone-specific metabolites (known as EDDP) in a hair or fluid sample reach a high enough cutoff point, that is when the test results are considered positive.

Why Blood Testing Is Different From Other Forms Of Testing

Drug screening via metabolites is used to detect methadone levels in urine, oral fluid, and hair follicle testing. However, in blood screenings, the testers look for the substance itself.

For this reason, blood tests are very accurate.

However, blood tests have a smaller window of detection than other tests, as the drug must still be in the person’s system to be detected in the blood.

Find A Methadone Addiction Treatment Program For You

Fortunately, methadone abuse and addiction treatment is available.

Spring Hill Recovery Center can help you or your loved one to safely detox and recover from methadone addiction.

We offer multiple levels of addiction treatment in Massachusetts, including inpatient rehab, outpatient programs, detox services, and aftercare.

Give us a call today to determine what type of methadone addiction treatment program is right for you.