Will Zolpidem show up on a drug test?
By
Dr Natalia Marceli Stephanes (PhD)
Author bio
Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes PhD is a Pharmacist with expertise in Drugs Administration and Toxicity; Discovery of New Drugs; Cancer Treatment; Biochemical Analyzes and Hematological Analyzes. She writes and reviews content on these topics.
Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes’ Highlights:
- Pharmacist at the Department of Health of Santa Catarina State, Brazil
- PhD with a focus on oncology treatment
- Years of experience in commercial pharmacy
- Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees in Pharmacy at the Federal University of Santa Catarina
Professional Experience:
From her undergraduate studies to her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Pharmacy, Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes has participated in numerous scientific studies in the field of oncology and onco-hematology at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Her research has focused on understanding the molecular and biochemical bases of malignant neoplasms and investigating safer and more effective therapeutic alternatives.
Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes has also served as an assistant professor of haematology for undergraduate students at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Additionally, she held the position of professor of Hospital Pharmacy at the Qualificar Technical School in Brazil, where she developed instructional materials for use in the Pharmacy Postgraduate Program at the Leonardo Da Vinci University Center.
In addition to her academic experiences, Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes possesses a strong expertise in commercial pharmacy, with in-depth knowledge of medications, their routes of administration, desired effects, adverse effects, and toxicity.
Currently, Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes works as a Pharmacist at the Health Department of Santa Catarina State, where her role entails providing pharmaceutical scientific consulting services to judges.
Education:
- 2016 Bachelor in Pharmacy at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
- 2018 Master in Pharmacy at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
- 2023 PhD in Pharmacy at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
The main publications of Dr Natália Marcéli Stephanes are:
Falchetti M ; Delgobo M, Zancanaro H, Almeida K, Das Neves RN, Dos Santos B, Stefanes NM, et al. Bishop Omics-based identification of an NRF2-related auranofin resistance signature in cancer: Insights into drug repurposing. Comput. Biol. Med [Internet]. 2023; 152:106347.
Feuser PM, Matos dos Santos PC, Cordeiro AP, Stefanes NM, Walter LO, Maioral MF, Santos-Silva MC, et al. Antineoplastic activity of free 4-nitrochalcone and encapsulated in poly(thioether-ester) nanoparticles obtained by thiol-ene polymerization in two human leukemia cell lines (Jurkat and K562). J Drug Deliv Sci Technol [Internet]. 2022; 67:102924.
Jacques AV, Stefanes NM, Walter LO, Perondi DM, Efe FL, Souza LFS, Sens L, et al. Synthesis of chalcones derived from 1-naphthylacetophenone and evaluation of their cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in acute leukemia cell lines. Bioorg. Chem [Internet]. 2021; 116:105315.
Duarte BF, Vieira DSC, Lisboa ML, Stefanes NM, Grando LJ, Santos-Silva MC. Características clínico-epidemiológicas de pacientes portadores de carcinoma de células escamosas de boca. Arquivos Catarinenses de Medicina. 2021; 50(2): 232–245.
Machado V, Jacques AV, Stefanes NM, Santos-Silva MC, Biavatti MW. Anti-leukemic activity of semisynthetic derivatives of Lupeol. Nat. Prod. Res. 2021; 35(22):4494-4501.
Bigolin A, Maioral MF, Stefanes NM, Mascarello A, Chiaradia-Delatorre LD, Nunes RJ, Yunes RA, et al. A novel sulfonamide derivative as a strong and selective apoptotic agent against hematological malignancies. Chem. Pap. 2020; 74:2965–2976.
Bigolin A, Maioral MF, Stefanes NM, Zatelli GA, Philippus AC, Falkenberg MB, Santos-Silva MC. Cytotoxic mechanisms of primin, a natural quinone isolated from Eugenia hiemalis, on hematological cancer cell lines. Anticancer Drugs. 2020; 31(7):709-717.
Maioral MF, Stefanes NM, Neufeldt PD, Chiaradia-Delatorre LD, Nunes RJ, Santos-Silva MC. Aldehyde biphenyl chalcones induce immunogenic apoptotic-like cell death and are promising new safe compounds against a wide range of hematologic cancers. Future Med. Chem. 2020; 12(8):673–688.
Perondi DM, Jacques AV, Stefanes NM, Maioral MF, Sens L, Pacheco LA, Cury NM, et al. A novel thiosemicarbazone as a promising effective and selective compound for acute leukemia. Anticancer Drugs. 2019; 30(8):p 828-837.
Rengifo AFC, Stefanes NM, Toigo J, Mendes C, Argenta DF, Dotto MER, Santos-Silva MC, et al. PEO-chitosan nanofibers containing carboxymethyl-hexanoyl chitosan/dodecyl sulfate nanoparticles loaded with pyrazoline for skin cancer treatment. Eur. Polym. J. 2019; 119:335-343.
Rengifo AFC, Stefanes NM, Toigo J, Mendes C, Santos-Silva MC, Nunes RJ, Parize AL, et al. A new and efficient carboxymethyl-hexanoyl chitosan/dodecyl sulfate nanocarrier for a pyrazoline with antileukemic activity. Mater. Sci. Eng. C [Internet]. 2019; 105:110051.
Maioral MF, Stefanes NM, Bigolin A, Zatelli GA, Philippus AC, Falkenberg MB, Santos-Silva MC. Miconidine acetate, a new selective and cytotoxic compound with synergic potential, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in leukemia cells. Invest. New Drugs. 2019; 37:912–922.
Srefanes NM, Toigo J, Maioral MF, Jacques AV, Chiaradia-Delatorre LD, Perondi DM, Ribeiro AAB, et al. Synthesis of novel pyrazoline derivatives and the evaluation of death mechanisms involved in their antileukemic activity. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2019; 27(2):375-382.
Maioral MF, Bodack CN, Stefanes NM, Bigolin A, Mascarello A, Chiaradia-Delatorre LD, Yunes RA, et al. Cytotoxic effect of a novel naphthylchalcone against multiple cancer cells focusing on hematologic malignancies. Biochim. 2017; 140:48-57.
You can view some of Dr Natália’s work below and links to her professional profile below.
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natalia-Stephanes
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliamarceli/
Will Zolpidem show up on a drug test?
Zolpidem does not show up on a drug test and it is not generally included in the panel of drugs to be tested. Zolpidem is a prescription medication used for the treatment of insomnia and related sleep disturbances.
Although it is not a controlled substance, Zolpidem can be used as a drug of abuse and can cause addiction in long-term users – but it is still not as dangerous as other drugs of abuse are and it is not a part of standard 12-panel urine drug analysis.
It is also not known to cross-react or to cause a false positive for controlled substances that are tested (1). However, Zolpidem is detectable in other urine toxicology tests (2).
How long does Zolpidem stay in your system?
Zolpidem has a half-life of about 2-3 hours, after which the initial peak concentration of the drug reduces to half. The remaining concentration keeps reducing to half after every 2-3 hours until the drug is completely out of your body.
Most of the drug is eliminated from your body within 10 hours. However, Zolpidem can be detected in urine toxicology screening for up to 24-48 hours.
How to avoid Zolpidem showing up on a drug test?
As I have discussed in previous sections, Zolpidem does not show up on drug tests. Other hypnotics like Lunesta also don’t show up on a drug test. However, it can show up in urine toxicology tests which are usually performed in case of an overdose.
If you have a drug test coming up, it is highly unlikely for Zolpidem to make you fail that. However, it’s still best to inform the drug testing authorities about taking prescribed Zolpidem or any other medication that could cause a false positive.
If your testing procedure is a more accurate one, like Gas Chromatography – Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), you don’t need to worry about false positives (3). Inaccurate results are more common with preliminary drug testing procedures like urine immunoassays.
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References
1.-
Piergies AA, Sainati S, Roth-Schechter B. Lack of cross-reactivity of Ambien (zolpidem) with drugs in standard urine drug screens. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1997 Apr;121(4):392-4. PMID: 9140309. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9140309/
2.-
Willner N, Schiff E. A case of suicide attempt with Zolpidem – will Zolpidem show up on standard urine toxicology screening? EXCLI J. 2014 May 6;13:454-6. PMID: 26417273; PMCID: PMC4464338. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26417273/
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/
