Why is there so much discrepancy? For example Alprazolam has an average half-life of 11.2 hours, so it should be out of your system in 78 hours. Even in the worst case of 26.9 hours half-life, it should be gone in 188 hours. So why do so many websites say that it’ll be out of your system in 1 to 6 WEEKS?
Sites say that it takes longer for the drug to get out of your body if you are a “regular” user, but why? Seems to me half-life should be the same regardless of whether or not someone is a regular user or not. Once you stop using, the half-life of the drug dictates that it should be out of the system after 188 hours max. So why can it be detected for up to 6 weeks? What is the science behind this?
In: Biology
>For example Alprazolam has an average half-life of 11.2 hours, so it should be out of your system in 78 hours.
78 hours is 7 half-lifes, which means there will be ~0.7% remaining. Molecules are very very small, which means a dose of any drug contains a huge number of molecules of that drug. So 0.7% could still be a lot of molecules. What exactly are you defining as “out of your system”? No longer experiencing effects of the drug? Can no longer be detected in a blood test?
If a user is taking a dose every day, and the half-life is 11.2 hours, that means there’s still ~25% remaining from the previous dose when the new dose is taken, so over time the amount in the system will increase. This probably why it says it takes longer for a regular user.
Let’s say a dose is 100 of some abstract unit. Day 1 you have 100 units. On Day 2, you are down to 25 then take the second dose so you’re up to 125. That means Day 3 you’ll be down to 31.25 units and so the third dose will take you to 131.25, and so on.
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