How Long Does Gabapentin Stay in Your System?

Gabapentin is a commonly prescribed medication for various conditions, but it’s essential to understand how long it remains in your body. This timeframe can vary based on individual factors like your metabolism, kidney function, and the dosage you’ve been taking.

What Is Gabapentin?

Gabapentin is most recognizable by the brand name Neurontin, but there are numerous generic forms of gabapentin on the market and other brands of gabapentin (Gralise, Horizant, and others). Gabapentin is often used in conjunction with other drugs to treat specific conditions, including seizures, pain, and anxiety, as opposed to being used by itself.

Gabapentin may be used for other purposes, including:

• Other forms of pain that are not related to nerve issues.
• Anxiety that occurs in certain types of psychological disorders, such as bipolar disorder
• Restless leg syndrome
• Withdrawal symptoms from alcohol and other drugs

Gabapentin’s favorable side effect profile and minimal interactions with other medications make it a versatile treatment option for various conditions. Dosage varies depending on the specific issue being addressed, and it’s important to note that higher doses for pain management may sometimes reduce its effectiveness.

How Gabapentin Works

Gabapentin is not a controlled substance listed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), but it does require a prescription from a physician in order to legally obtain it. It is most often listed as an anticonvulsant drug, and it is believed to mimic the actions of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Therefore, many sources refer to gabapentin as a GABA analogue, meaning that its structure is believed to be similar to the structure of this neurotransmitter.

Neurotransmitters are chemical substances in the brain that are released by the nerve cells in the brain (referred to as neurons) that allow the brain cells to communicate with one another and give a person the ability to perform nearly all the actions they perform. GABA is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, meaning when this substance is released, it results in decreasing the activity of other neurons in the brain.

Although gabapentin does not directly affect the receptors in the brain that are specialized for GABA, it does appear to reduce the activity of other neurons but through a different but unknown mechanism. This accounts for gabapentin’s ability to address issues like seizures (which are typically the result of overly active areas of the brain), pain, and anxiety.

Although it is used to address issues with pain, gabapentin is not considered to have the addiction potential that other prescription pain medications like opioid drugs have, and it is not as effective as relieving pain as many of the opiate drugs are. Physicians will often prescribe gabapentin with other drugs, and this combination of drugs can result in a more effective treatment of the specific issue at hand.

Gabapentin Half-Life

Gabapentin is available in immediate-release and extended-release versions. It is most often taken as a pill. Information on the drug suggests that the half-life of gabapentin in most people is between 5-7 hours. The half-life of a drug refers to the time that it takes a person’s system to break the drug down to half of its original or beginning concentration in the bloodstream.

The liver is the organ that is responsible for breaking down (metabolizing) most of the substances in a person’s system. However, gabapentin is one of the few drugs that is not metabolized by the liver; instead, it is primarily metabolized by the kidneys. Because of this unique process, gabapentin does not remain in the body very long.

While gabapentin generally leaves the body within 5 to 8 half-lives (approximately 48 hours for most people, given its average 7-hour half-life), several factors can influence this timeframe. For instance, extended-release formulations release the medication gradually, prolonging its presence in the system.

How Long Does Gabapentin Remain in the Body?

Drug screens typically do not test for the presence of gabapentin, but the substance can be detected if instructions are made to specifically look for the drug.

• Blood tests. The detectability of gabapentin will range from five to seven hours for most blood tests.
• Saliva tests. It is undetectable in saliva swab tests.
• Hair tests. Hair tests might be able to specifically detect the presence of gabapentin for up to 90 days; however, it would be highly unusual for a hair test to be used to detect gabapentin.
• Urine tests. Urinalysis can detect the presence of gabapentin for up to three days in most individuals. The range of detection for urine tests would span from one to three days in most cases. Urinalysis would be the most common method to test for gabapentin.

While gabapentin’s elimination time is less influenced by dosage than many other drugs, taking very high doses can still prolong its presence in the body.

Beyond dosage, several factors affect how quickly gabapentin is eliminated:

• Age: Older individuals tend to eliminate gabapentin more slowly than younger people.
• Kidney Function: Since gabapentin is primarily eliminated through the kidneys, impaired kidney function can significantly increase the time it takes to clear the drug.
• Body Mass Index (BMI): Interestingly, individuals with a higher BMI may eliminate gabapentin more quickly.

The Importance of Seeking Medical Care

Gabapentin can be a valuable tool for managing various health conditions, offering relief and improving quality of life for many individuals. However, if you’re concerned about misusing gabapentin, it’s crucial to seek professional guidance.

If you’re struggling with drug misuse or addiction, or love someone who is, reach out to today at . Our navigators are on hand to listen to your story, answer your questions, go over your treatment options with you, and even help verify your insurance. Recovery is possible, so don’t wait. Call us to begin your recovery journey today!