How Long Does Nicotine Stay in Your Blood

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Nicotine is highly addictive, and people who use it go through withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop its usage. Find out how long nicotine stays in the blood to assess its effects.

The amount of time for which nicotine stays in the body may be different for each individual. Some may need to take a drug test if they are habitual tobacco users, while some need to take a test as per employee policy.

In order to understand how long this chemical stays in the system, you first need to count the number of cigarettes you smoke in a day. Next, you need to analyze your frequency of smoking and you need to remember the last time you smoked. This will help you calculate and analyze your situation.

The length of time for nicotine to remain in the body also depends on the different forms of its usage. These include chewing tobacco, smoking cigarettes, and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). The detection depends on whether you are an addict or a social smoker.

If you are a habituated tobacco user for the last 6 months, the traces can be detected in your system for about 20 days or even more. Depending on the usage, there are different levels that will help define the presence of nicotine in your system.

Light User: Those who only smoke once in a while will have this chemical detectable only for two to three days after use. The longer the time period between the last use and the test, the lesser the amount of nicotine detected in the blood system.

Medium User: These are people who smoke irregularly, maybe once or twice a week. The amount of nicotine detected will be slightly higher in these people than that detected in a light user. Heavy User: Those who are addicted to smoking will have nicotine detectable in their system for more than 10 days or so after the last use.

In case of a urine test, an occasional user will have the drug detectable in the system for up to 3 to 4 days only. After that, there will be no trace of it found in the urine. If someone is a heavy smoker, the presence of nicotine will be detected for 10 to 20 days in the urine.

How Long Does Nicotine Stay in Your Blood from Chewing Tobacco?

Many people have a habit of chewing tobacco, the effects of which are similar to smoking it. It can be in higher concentration if the person chews it regularly. Nicotine can last in their system for 10 or more days after the last use.

How to Reduce Nicotine in Body?

You may be aware of the effects of smoking cigarettes, and want nicotine out of your system. Or maybe you want to pass the drug test by your employer or insurance company. For this purpose, you can try and flush out the traces by undergoing a diet change.

You will need to eat a lot of citrus fruits, as they contain a high amount of vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that helps in metabolism of nicotine.

You should also drink more water, about 8 glasses, to flush out the traces. You can even try a nice workout plan that will help you with the same, as the sweat will burn out the toxins.

However, these remedies might not work with the hair follicle test. This test is a bit sensitive and can detect trace amounts of nicotine as well. But not many employers would like to get their employees tested for hair drug test, as it expensive.