Basics
Percocet, a combination of oxycodone and acetaminophen, is used to treat moderate to severe pain suffered by individuals with fractures, bursitis, arthritis, cancer-related pain and other painful conditions. The oxycodone component depresses the central nervous system in order to control pain. Percocet is a controlled substance, so it must be prescribed by a physician, but addicted individuals can often procure multiple prescriptions by visiting more than one doctor. Due to potential interactions with other CNS depressants, or to monitor health and safety, it may be necessary to test for the presence of Percocet.
The most common form of drug testing is a urinalysis, which analyzes a patient's urine to detect the presence of different substances. Test results from a urinalysis typically take eight to 10 minutes. Most opiate tests require a level of 2000 nanograms per milliliter to register as a positive result. This level is too high to detect a synthetic opiate like Percocet, however, so it requires a more stringent urinalysis.
The half-life of Percocet is approximately 3.51 hours. "Half-life" describes the amount of time it takes for the strength of a substance to reduce by half. For example, if a patient is given a 5 mg dose of Percocet at 3 p.m., there would only be 2.5 mg of the medication in his system at 6:30 p.m. This cycle continues, as the amount of Percocet in the system divides in half every 3.5 hours, until the Percocet breaks down completely. A 5 mg dose of Percocet equals 5 million nanograms. The urinalysis test for Percocet only tests positive for amounts above 100 ng per milliliter. The amount of Percocet in the body will break down below this threshold within three days from the last dose of Percocet, and will no longer be detectable in the urine after this time.
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