Does Buspar show up on a drug test? 

Does Buspar show up on a drug test? 

Buspar (Buspirone) may or may not show up on a drug test. Since the medication itself is not a controlled substance or a drug of abuse that can get you high, it is not something that a standard drug test would focus on. 

However, it can show up on a drug test as a false positive for Benzodiazepines (1). Such false positives are not considered that common and many people who are on standard doses of Buspirone have not complained of a false result caused by this medication. 

However, you should consider it a possibility and if you have a test coming up, it’s best to inform the testing authorities about taking a prescription Buspar to prevent getting in trouble. 

How long does Buspar take to leave your system? 

Buspar has a half-life of about 2 hours and the drug can take up to 17-24 hours to leave your system completely. In fact, it becomes undetectable in urine after this time period and you will most likely not experience a false-positive because of this medication. 

However, the time taken by Buspirone to leave your system can vary from person to person. Factors like your weight, age, genetics, dosage strength, frequency, use of other meds, any underlying health condition, and overall body physiology can make a difference. 

How to avoid a false-positive drug test on Buspar? 

If you have a drug test coming up, don’t worry! Buspar may not cause a false positive, and even if it does, informing the authorities about it prior to the test won’t lead to any complications. There are a number of meds known for causing a false positive and it’s more common than you think.

The primary drug testing procedure – urine immunoassay – is known for causing false positives because of the weak accuracy(2). In this case, more sensitive testing procedures – like Gas Chromatography – Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) are recommended for confirmed results (3). 

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References

1.-

Alyson Schwebach, Jennifer Ball. Urine Drug Screening: Minimizing False Positives and False Negatives to Optimize Patient Care. US Pharm. 2013;38(12):1-6. Available at: https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/urine-drug-screening-minimizing-false-positives-and-false-negatives-to-optimize-patient-care

2.-

Schütz H, Paine A, Erdmann F, Weiler G, Verhoff MA. Immunoassays for drug screening in urine : Chances, challenges, and pitfalls. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2006 Jun;2(2):75-83. doi: 10.1385/FSMP:2:2:75. PMID: 25868585. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25868585/

3.-

Ramoo B, Funke M, Frazee C, Garg U. Comprehensive Urine Drug Screen by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1383:125-31. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3252-8_15. PMID: 26660182. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26660182/