How Long Does Gabapentin Stay in Your System?

Gabapentin is a prescription medication, also sold under the brand name Neurontin. Gabapentin is used primarily for treating conditions that cause nerve pain like shingles and diabetes. Gabapentin is similar in structure to the naturally-occurring GABA neurotransmitter. GABA is responsible for calming neural activity. In doing so, it can have a relaxing effect on the brain and body. Gabapentin has a similar effect. The common side effects of gabapentin include dizziness, drowsiness and tremors. Some people may experience sexual impairment. A more severe possible side effect of gabapentin is suicidal thoughts or behavior. While it’s considered to be rare, some patients do have suicidal thoughts and behaviors or changes in mood when they start using gabapentin. If this happens, the patient should seek medical attention right away.

There has been a significant surge in the number of prescriptions written for gabapentin in recent years. According to one report, there were 57 million prescriptions written for the drug in the U.S. in 2015 alone. That represented an increase of 42% since 2011. Gabapentin isn’t a controlled substance, despite the fact that it’s recreationally abused and can create a marijuana-like high. Since it’s not a controlled substance, gabapentin is relatively easy to get. Due to the uptick in gabapentin abuse and the lack of regulation at the federal level, some states are taking things into their own hands. For example, Kentucky recently classified gabapentin as a Schedule V controlled substance. Scheduling a drug like gabapentin indicates that it does have an abuse potential and it makes the drug harder to acquire.

Gabapentin has the potential to slow thinking and motor skills. Someone who is using gabapentin can seem to be somewhat intoxicated, especially if they’re taking a high dose. When someone is prescribed gabapentin, they’re warned not to drive or do other dangerous activities until they know the effects it will have on them. Gabapentin is classified as an anticonvulsant. It’s not fully understood how it works but, for postherpetic neuralgia, it’s believed to prevent increased pain sensitivity. For seizures, researchers believe it changes the effects of calcium in the body. This is relevant because low calcium levels can cause seizures. Some people may experience double vision, nausea, vomiting, jerky movements, and problems speaking. Mild gabapentin side effects usually go away within a few days or weeks.

Gabapentin can cause severe withdrawal symptoms. For that reason, knowing the half-life of the drug is important to time the occurrence of gabapentin withdrawal. The average half-life of gabapentin for most people ranges from 5 to 7 hours. This means within this window of time, most people will have eliminated half of the dose of the drug. It usually takes several half-lives for all of the drug to leave the system. Based on this half-life estimation, gabapentin can stay in the system for anywhere from 1.15 to 1.60 hours after someone takes their last dose. For the majority of people, gabapentin wouldn’t be in their system two days after the last dose.

While there are estimated averages, no two people are the same when it comes to drug elimination times. One of the biggest factors that influences how long gabapentin stays in the system is kidney function -also known as renal function. If someone has impaired renal function, it can significantly impact their ability to eliminate a dose of gabapentin. Other individual factors that influence how long gabapentin stays in your system include:

• Age: For the most part, younger people tend to eliminate drugs from their systems faster than older people. This is usually because of declines in kidney function that occur as people age.
• Body mass and fat: The size of a person can make it easier for their body to eliminate a drug. A larger or heavier person is likely to eliminate gabapentin from their system more quickly than a smaller person.
• Hydration: Gabapentin is processed by the kidneys and excreted in urine, so if someone is very well-hydrated when they use the drug, they’re probably going to eliminate it more quickly.
• Metabolism: People with faster metabolisms eliminate drugs from their systems more quickly than people with slower metabolisms.

People often wonder if gabapentin will show up on a drug test and, if so, for how long. First and foremost, gabapentin is not a narcotic. Gabapentin would not be tested for in a standard drug screening because it’s not illegal to use it. If gabapentin is specifically tested for, it won’t show up for very long on a drug test. Gabapentin probably wouldn’t show up in a urine test for more than a couple of days and the window for a blood test would likely be even shorter. There probably isn’t any instance where gabapentin would be tested for in a hair test, although it could theoretically show up for longer if hair follicles were assessed. Unless gabapentin is being checked for specifically, it’s not going to show up on a drug test.

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