How Long Do Benzos Stay in Your System?

How long do benzos stay in your system? Gain a deeper understanding of Read on to find out Benzos uses, side effects, and half-life.

Understanding Benzos

Benzos is short for benzodiazepine, which is a psychoactive drug that works as depressants.

They help reduce hyperactivity in the brain and effectively treat conditions such as anxiety and panic disorders, bipolar disorder, insomnia, seizures, and more.1 

How Long Do Benzos Stay in Your System

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What are Benzos?

Benzos are a class of drugs alongside alprazolam, diazepam, lorazepam, midazolam, and clonazepam. The popular drug Valium is a brand of diazepam.

Stress and anxiety often lead to an overstimulation of the brain, which in turn causes a lack of sleep and then more stress. Benzos lessen the activity of those neurons in the brain that activate anxiety and stress reactions to help calm the brain.2 

Are Benzos Addictive?

Because of the calming effect, users may easily become attached to benzodiazepines and tend to use the drug for prolonged periods. As a result, developing a substance use disorder with them can occur.

Benzos Side Effects

If the drug causes an overreaction in your system, some negative effects may materialize. The side effects of benzos include:

  • Excessive sleepiness or drowsiness3 
  • Dizziness4 
  • Slurred speech
  • Unsteady locomotion
  • Anxiety
  • Depression5 

There are other more severe side effects of benzos, such as memory problems, delirium and hallucination, negative behavioral patterns, and higher risks of substance use issues.

Similarly, when users want to stop benzodiazepines, there may be some withdrawal challenges such as anxiety, prolonged fatigue, sleep difficulty, seizures, panic and agitation, migraines, general body pain, dizziness, and more.

How Long Do Benzos Stay in Your System?

It can be difficult to understand how long benzos stay in the body. This section talks more about this concept, along with the difference between short and long acting benzos.

Half-Life of Benzos

There is no definite answer to how long benzos stay in your system. Benzodiazepine is a group of drugs, which means there is no definite period that the substance spends in the body since there are several drugs involved.

This also applies to the half-life of the drug, which is the period it takes for the substance to reduce itself by half in the body. Estimates place the half-life of benzos ranging anywhere from one to twelve hours.6 

However, the specific hours will be determined by the type of benzos a person consumes. There are two main types of Benzos:

Short-Acting Benzos

These have a briefer half-life and can leave the body quite quickly. Typically, the half-life of short-acting Benzos is between one and twenty hours. Examples of short-acting benzos include Midazolam, Alprazolam, Estazolam, and Lorazepam.

Long-Acting Benzos

These can persist in the body for lengthier periods. The half-life of longer-acting benzos can range from twenty-five hours to several days. Examples of long-acting benzos include Chlordiazepoxide, Quazepam, Flurazepam, and Diazepam.

Factors That Affect How Long Benzos Stay in Your System

The amount of time that benzos spend in the body differs depending on several factors, including critical body indicators.

Liver Functioning and Metabolism

The liver is the organ that cleanses the blood of any impurities or external substances. Its functions include filtering for drug substances and breaking them down. This breakdown is called our metabolism.

If the liver functions optimally, it will break down benzos faster, making it less likely to find traces of the drug in the body after some time.

Genetics

The body systems of some people are better at processing and excreting substances than others. This ability to process substances better is often a result of their inherited capabilities and genetics. Since we do not have control over this, it’s not something that should be relied upon when looking into how long benzos stay in our systems.

Age

Age is another element that one cannot control. The older a person gets, the less efficient their liver metabolizes substances. Benzos tend to stay longer elderly people than they do in younger generations.7 

Alcohol Use

Benzos and alcohol often don’t go together, as benzos are sometimes used to treat alcohol addiction. Both benzos and alcohol are substances that the liver needs to metabolize. Thus, consuming both will give the liver too much work to do. Never attempt mixing alcohol and benzodiazepines, as this will aggravate the side effects of Benzos use.

Weight

The heavier a person gets, the more metabolism the body has to go through. The result is that the liver and other organs involved in metabolism may get overwhelmed. As such, they may not perform as well at processing benzos.

Hydration

Consumption of fluids such as water lets the body filter out wastes and substances. High intakes of water and other hydrating liquids may lead to a lower presence of drugs in the body.

General Health and Other Factors

Healthier bodies process drugs faster and wean themselves of the presence of substances easier. Lifestyle choices such as nutrition and exercise are also contributory factors.
Drug Tests Used to Detect Benzos

Types of Drug Tests Used to Detect Benzos

Trying a drug test is the best way to answer the question, “how long does benzos stay in your system?” Different methods exist because they often yield varying results. Here are some of the most popular tests.

Urine Tests

This is the most popular drug test for detecting benzos, and it involves collecting urine samples to measure metabolites that pass through the kidneys. Urine can still retain the presence of benzos for several weeks.

Saliva Tests

Saliva tests become less accurate as the hours go by, and as such, they can only find traces of benzodiazepines for up to twenty-four hours.

Hair Tests

Hair tests are becoming less popular, but they have the longest detection time. For example, it can still identify benzos usage up to ninety days after the last dosage.

Blood Tests

Collecting blood samples for processing is the second-most-popular drug test. It is the fastest of the tests, as you can get results almost immediately. In addition, it can detect benzos use up to four days after a recent dosage.8 

Getting Treatment for Benzos Addiction

Benzodiazepine addiction recovery is very possible, even with severe in cases of prolonged dependence on the substance. Coming into any recovery center is the first step to getting the help you or a loved one may need to help with the recovery process, and Concise Recovery is also a great option for going through the treatment process.

Benzos Detox at Concise Recovery

One effective treatment method to help with benzos addiction is to start a detox from the substance. Concise Recovery offers the best services in this regard and are here to help with every step of the detox process. With the best facilities and most qualified experts, you or a loved one can achieve freedom from benzos reliance seamlessly and with plenty of support along the way.

Contact Us Today

Contact us today at Concise Recovery to learn the best recovery method to utilize in your journey–start the journey to a benzos free life today.

Resources

  1. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0401/p2121.html
  2. https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/benzodiazepines/
  3. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Benzodiazepenes-2020_1.pdf
  4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326951768_Benzodiazepine_Use_and_Abuse
  5. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0401/p2121.html
  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684331/
  7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684331/
  8. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-xanax-stay-in-your-system – xanax-and-drug-tests