How long does Lortab stay in your system?

What is Lortab?

Lortab is a composition of acetaminophen and hydrocodone that are pain relievers. However, Hydrocodone is a form of Narcotic as it is an opioid pain medication. Acetaminophen on the other hand is less effective as a pain reliever and enhances the impact of hydrocodone. Lortab is a common pain reliever which helps in reducing mild to critical pain. One should be very careful in using Lortab as the Hydrocodone in it can affect the breathing. Also, the Narcotic medications are very habit inducing. People with drug addiction or a history of drug abuse should avoid its consumption.

Lortab is a safe and approved medication for not only adults but also children. It is typically consumed after every 4 to 7 hours for pain. It is mainly used for pain caused due to an accident, medical surgery, dental treatments. Apart from short term pain it is sometimes also used to help with chronic pain such as migraines, pain that cancer patients have and other physical disorders that gives a long term pain. It is also often misused/abused by a lot of people inappropriately, due to its narcotic medication. The uses of Lortab that are not approved or the “off-label” uses are for the treatment of coughing and insomnia and are not considered healthy and appropriate by a lot of healthcare practitioners.

How long does lortab stay in your system?

The duration of the medicine staying in the system isn’t very specific as it varies from person to person and on various factors such as the metabolism, sensitivity of the drug test, amount of the medicine and duration. The Lortab stays for maximum 3 to 4 days depending upon how much of it is there in the system. Therefore, giving oneself at least 4 days after the last dose is the ideal thing to do. It can easily be flushed out of the system through urine and that is why it is important to consume at least 6 pints of water every day till you are consuming the medicine.

In order to determine the duration of the lortab in the body, different variables and types of drug tests have to be considered. It is also known as Anexsia, Dolorex Forte, Lorcet, Lortab, Maxidone, Norco, Vicodin, Zolvit, amongst many others.

Lortab Drug Tests

Lortab can be detected by some tests that are as follows:

Urine Test: 3-4 days
Blood Test: 1 day
Saliva Test: 2-4 days

Hair drug test

Like many other drugs, Lortab can also be detected through the hair follicle drug till 3 months. In this test the probability of identifying hydrocodone in the system is highest. Even if the patient hasn’t consumed drugs a few days or weeks before the test, it will still detect the hydrocodone which you won’t find in a blood or a urine test.

Blood drug test

If a day has passed since the last dose, there is a very high probability of the blood test identifying the hydrocodone, due to its shorter life. The test in general is also used for medical emergencies and drug addiction.

Flushing out through urine

Apart from drinking enough water you should also be careful to not use the initial two urine reliefs. A 1000mg vitamin b and creatin as well as a 500mg niacin and 3 aspirin can also be taken. Opiates get excreted from the urine and don’t stay in the fat cells, so the more the water intake, the easier will it be to flush it out.

Side effects

It is very addictive like many opiate medications and should be taken only according to the prescriptions. If you somehow can prevent the addiction, your body will soon develop more tolerance to its impacts eventually making you consume more dosage for the desired effect. Most of the people are very vulnerable to have a mental and biological addiction towards Lortab.

The main side effects are:

1. Lightheadedness, nausea and a feeling that you might faint
2. Drowsiness, Unusual thoughts, paranoia, confused actions.
3. Convulsions or seizures
4. Increased vulnerability to bruising or bleeding.
5. Pain in the upper part of the stomach.
6. Fall in appetite, darkening of the urine color and stool color and texture.
7. Yellowing of the skin as well as eyes
8. Constipation, blurring of the vision, severe headaches and dryness in the mouth.
9. While you are consuming Lortab, if you experience difficulty in breathing, hives, swollen face or any other body part and a sore throat you must immediately seek medical emergency as these are the main kinds of allergies that could develop as a result of the medication.
10. In some rare cases it can also lead to fatal skin reactions even if you have been taking the medicine in the past. If you experience skin rashes, redness, blistering or peeling you must call the concerned doctor without any delay and immediately stop the medicine.