Benzos Calling the Xanax experts..

[Cantremember]

hello all, this isn't actually my 1st bluelight post. It is however been several years and I can no longer remember my login info.

Anywho-

I'm a current opiate addict whose been 'clean' on methadone maintenance for about 6 months with no slip ups. This has been a life long battle for me, and even though I've surrendered to methadone, I'm on a proper dose and my life is in better shape than its been in many many years and for that, I am eternally thankful.

On to my question: as a methadone patient whose been following the program as you're supposed to, I have earned take homes on the account of several clean Urine drops. However, last month I came across an old friend who had a bunch of Xanax to which he offered several to me. Generally, I cannot stand benzos. They drop my IQ about 80 pts and then put me to sleep. However, being no stranger to the synergy of methadone and benzos being able to imitate/create an intense high, I decided to take 15 of them to reward myself of my lifestyle changes of late (retarded, I know). That's really where the story ends. I took a 2 week 'vacation' of taking 1-2mg per of xan per day on top of my maintanence dose, and as I promised myself after I finished them, I would abruptly stop.

So.. my question is..exactly 14 days after my last consumed Xanax, I had a urine drop at my clinic. What are the odds I will be clean?

I realize I could've cut out a lot of fat in this post, but wanted to give background info of how much Xanax I took, and also that I was on meth maintanence..as I do not know if being on meth can effect drug metabolism (it does tend to slow down the inner-workings of our digestion/metabolism as many of you know).

I am a bit nervous about this because I have worked hard for my take homes, and my clinic takes benzos VERY seriously. Usually they will give you a serious warning if you test positive for benzos, and if yo utest pos again they'll put you on administrative detox and kick you out of the program. Oh and all take homes our lost, no exceptions. I know it was retarded to have accepted those pills. But I am an addict. Shit happens.

Other info: I weigh 190 lbs, drink a fair amount of water, but have been on break from working out so I've been fairly inactive with exercise lately. I have searched a lot on this topic already, but answeres fluctuate anywhere from 2 days to a month...so I was hoping on getting some info on this from someone with 1st hand experience with benzos and urine testing.

Thanks,

CantFUCKINGRemember

 

[Felonious Monk]

No drug test questions as per BLUA.

But since the thread hasn't been closed yet, I'll take the opportunity to tell you you'll probably fail. But it's not the end of the world, because like you said, they only kick you out after the second one. So take this as a lesson, that your methadone is more important than a few random pills. You have to protect your sobriety.

 

[Cantremember]

Shit, my bad. violation was purely unintentional. But thanks for the honest feedback. I guess it's back to driving every morning to the clinic..but oh well, could be much worse. I am definitely going to dread the confrontation w/ my counselor since she is very familiar with my history of fucking up and how intent I was on putting this crap behind me. but hey, we have to face our mistakes.

 

[VerbalTruist]

14 days? You'll be totally fine. You binged a little, but alprazolam doesn't stay in your system that long. If it was diazepam, you'd be fucked. It probably took about 3 days to clear your system.

 

[VerbalTruist]

Felonious Monk doesn't know what he's talking about. If you had to pee 14 days after your last dose you're totally in the clear. In fact I would be SHOCKED if you popped positive.

 

[cj]

I agree with euphoricnod

 

[RTrain]

Ya there is the benefit if it being one of the shorter acting benzos so 14 days should be enough to clean you out. At the very least you'd be barely over the cut off, and could pass it off as a 1 time, small dose thing to get through a real tough day or something. Even a long acting one shouldn't show after that, I won't get into it any further because the information about drug clearance times really easy to find with a google search.

 

[Felonious Monk]

Felonious Monk doesn't know what he's talking about. If you had to pee 14 days after your last dose you're totally in the clear. In fact I would be SHOCKED if you popped positive.

My bad, I was thinking of the longer-acting benzos. I thought that alprazolam could still take up to 2 weeks in some people though. If not, my bad.

My point still stands though, if you want to make your methadone program work you have to protect your sobriety. Opioid substitution is certainly a viable solution, but if you start treating it as a means to an end (getting fucked up), then it's no longer a recovery program.

 

[T. Calderone]

Monk, you have the right ideas. First, this is why we don't allow drug testing questions. We can go by our own experiences and what we've read. According to the Erowid vaults, it could take anywhere from 1 to 42 days for benzos (general) to clear out from a urine test. The range depends of amount and frequency of use, metabolic rate, body mass, age, overall health, drug tolerance and urine ph.

Going by my own experience with Xanax, I had binged once for several weeks of heavy use and had a nasty withdrawal. After I was pretty sure I had no drugs left in my system, I used an I-cup test that I had from work. It had been a full three weeks and it still came up positive for benzos. I was stunned but then again I'm not in the greatest health plus being old and was drinking heavy I shouldn't have been surprised. There are just too many variables here to know for certain.

 

[MagickalKat777]

^ OT but I have to say that I LOVE the Judge Judy avatar. The irony is simply awesome!

But yeah, I came up positive for Xanax on a UA after not using it for two weeks. Luckily my probation officer let it go since she already was aware that I was on Klonopin every day but it could have gotten me in a shit load of trouble.

There isn't any reliable way to gauge how long it will be in your system unfortunately.

 

[T. Calderone]

Ha, see I'm not the only freak of nature here.

 

[Cantremember]

Whew, I actually feel a little bit better. But in any case, you hit it on the head with opioid maintenance. I couldn't agree more. Full recovery is a long process and I have accepted that. It would be ignorant to think 'fuck ups' do not occur in your recovery..so if and when they occur, all you can really do is accept it and learn from it.

calderon- I know that urine tests can be highly influenced by independent variables. For example, the last clinic I was at before I transferred to a closer location tested for pot (new location, and vast majority of MMT clinics do not test for it) and I tested boarder-line positive after 63 days abstinence. They ended up just waiving it as a pass because it was so close and they're pretty liberal about pot, as most places tend to be these days. That's actually why I created this thread. I am not overweight, and I do try to drink as much water as possible generally..yet, it took 2 months for a little weed to clear the system. I also tested (false) positive for amphetimines btw, and had to pay $10 bucks to get it verified in the lab..which they actually reimbursed me when labs proved I wasn't lying. The tests btw are just dip sticks with red line or no red line; so there won't be a number representing if you just missed the cut off. But I suppose a very faint line could mean the same.

I guess whatever happens, I'll just cross my fingers that I'll pass and save that gas money from my take homes, and of course [EDIT] TRY TO not be stupid in the future..%)

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Read the BLUA and OD Guidelines. Drug testing questions are not allowed.

Just for the record, it's also not allowed to answer questions on disallowed topics. FYI.