Saturday, October 01, 2011
I often see replies about how long a drug can be detected, listing the half life and clearance time of xanax and other drugs.
Half life and clearance values are primarily useful for determining the likelihood of drug interactions.
Example 1: An ER doc asks what drugs patients have taken, when, and how much to make effective decisions about administering other drugs.
Example 2: Your psychiatrist or primary care doc uses this information to determine when and how to switch meds that interact.
Half life and clearance values are NOT useful for determining how long measurable levels of a given drug remain in tissues, body fluids and hair.
Thank you for your comment and welcome to AnxietyConnectin.com.
I agree with you completely. In a recent post on drug screenings and anxiety medications, I wrote, "It is impossible for anyone to say with any exactness how long a medication will remain in your system. There are a number of factors, including your dosage, how often you take the medication, how long you have been taking medication, your metabolism and even what you eat or drink. It is also impossible for us to know what type of drug screening is being requested, as not all screening look for this type of medication."
Eileen