How Long Does It Take To Excrete A Medication In Your System?

There is no way to correctly answer this question. There are general rules, but without knowing which medication, it varies. Not all medications stay in the system for the same amount of time, and each individuals body works differently. If a person has poor renal (kidney) function, or if their liver enzymes are not correct, then it will take longer to excrete the medication. Age also plays a factor, such as in infants and the elderly (mainly because their system does not work as well after many years). Also, there is some variance in different ethnic groups. Then there is the route in which the medication was administered. If it is a p.o. (oral) medication then it would be slower acting than one given IM (intramuscular- shot in the muscle) or IV (intravenously- through a vein). Your physical makeup, as well as activity level will effect this as well. And also, how often the medication is take will effect this as the body will build up levels over long periods of usage. So if I knew what medication it was, I could give you a generalized answer for that particular med. Lets compare 2 medications, Vicodin (pain killer) and Penicillin (antibiotic). In a normal healthy young adult (18-36) Vicodin can still be detected after 1 dose for 1-2 days after ingestion (depending on the strength) whereas Penicillin (if they only took one of the pills @ 500mg, would be excreted between 10-18 hours). So you see, even with a general scenario, different medications stay in the system longer. Hope this helps