If you suffer from ADHD or narcolepsy, the odds are you are familiar with Adderall. The drug was created in 1996 and stimulated the brain and central nervous system to counteract these problems. Users experience a heightened level of attentiveness, focus, and controlled behavior.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Adderall, but only in prescription form. Many people abuse it for these properties, though, to become more productive and alert. Students and young professionals, for example, are the demographic most likely to abuse Adderall, often at rates twice as high as their peers.
Adderall may appears in two forms: immediate-release and extended-release. These variations help medical professionals provide more precise treatment based on a patient’s unique condition. For instance, someone suffering from narcolepsy will be prescribed small and frequent dose of adderall, which the provider will increase until the desired results have been achieved.
How Does Adderall Show Up on a Urine Drug Test?
If you have an upcoming drug test as an Adderall user, know that laboratories can detect the substance use easily in your urine. Hair, saliva, and blood tests are less common, but these forms may also detect Adderall use effectively. Any drug you take can show up in an examination, especially when you are a frequent or heavy user.
The most common form of drug testing is a 10-panel screening. These panels check for the presence of amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and other commonly abused substances. Adderall contains two different forms of amphetamines, which is why adderall abuse is common and it shows up so quickly on these drug screenings.
Read More: Can CBD be detected in a drug test?
How Long Does Adderall XR Last?
The half-life of Adderall is from nine to fourteen hours. So, within that range, the concentration of Adderall in the body will have dropped to fifty percent of the original dosage. This measure is generally lower in adults than it is in teenagers.
So, how long does Adderall stay in your urine? The body processes Adderall so quickly that drug tests can detect it immediately after ingestion. As for the duration of time in the body, Adderall typically stays around for four to seven days. Adderall lasts in other forms that are tested, too. For instance, it stays in blood and saliva for up to two days, but in the hair follicles for up to ninety days.
Many tests can detect Adderall after its half-life has deteriorated because the substance is broken down into metabolites. These minuscule metabolites remain in the body far longer than pure Adderall. It is the reason laboratories will typically test for the metabolites of Adderall instead of the drug itself.
How long Adderall stays in your system depends on a wide range of factors that can include, but is not limited to, health, metabolism, age, dosage, frequency of use, genetics, and diet. There are even studies suggesting that someone with anxiety will absorb Adderall at a slower rate than the average person, for example.
The presence of more body fat is also a way to flush out Adderall more rapidly. The amphetamine mixed salts in the drug are hydrophilic, which means they do not bind with fat cells. Therefore, a person with a low muscle mass and a high-fat content will process Adderall faster because there are fewer opportunities for the drug to bind within the body.
False Positives for Adderall
It is possible to be given a positive drug test for using Adderall, even if you have never ingested the substance in your life. There are similar drugs that tests can occasionally mistake for Adderall, for example. There is also a long list of medications with histories of false positives, including Robitussin, Advil, Aleve, Benadryl, Prozac, Sudafed, and Zoloft.
False positives are not common, though. If you do take one of the listed medications, or something else that delivers an incorrect test result, talk with your health care provider about taking a break from the drug before the test. Your body needs to have enough time to reset and produce accurate results. Also read our article about foods to avoid before a drug test.
How To Pass a Drug Test for Adderall?
Adderall has such a short half-life that you shouldn’t be too concerned about passing a drug test, even if you use it regularly. The drug breaks down and processes so quickly that there isn’t time for it to linger in the body. If you are given at least a week’s notice for the examination, you will have more than enough time to prepare.
If you take Adderall daily and are concerned that it will show up on your drug test results, the first and the most important step is to stop taking Adderall. Abstinence allows your body to remove unwanted toxins and chemicals. It is also the most effective and straightforward method of passing a drug test.
If abstinence seems too challenging, you could also try a full body detox kit. It increases the rate that toxins are flushed from the body via herbal remedies and vitamin supplements. Detox kits come in pill or liquid form.
If you are confident that you are going to fail, using synthetic urine is your best friend. Industry leaders like Quick Fix and UPass provide realistic fake pee that comes with all the same traits of the real thing, like pH levels and specific gravity. The product boasts passing rates of up to 99.9 percent, so these fake urines will assure you of a job well done on the Adderall drug test.
Resources
Adderall Addiction and Abuse https://www.addictioncenter.com/stimulants/adderall/
Adderall vs. Meth https://www.drugrehab.com/addiction/drugs/crystal-meth/meth-vs-adderall/
False Positives https://www.goodrx.com/blog/these-15-medications-can-cause-a-false-positive-on-drug-tests/
