How Long Do Shrooms Stay in Your System?

Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly referred to as magic mushrooms or shrooms, leave the body relatively quickly.

The body usually metabolizes and removes the psychoactive drugs in shrooms within 24 hours. But the drugs can remain up to three days in the systems of people who regularly abuse magic mushrooms, according to Columbia University.

Psilocybin and psilocin are the drugs in magic mushrooms. The body kbreaks psilocybin down into psilocin, which causes the psychoactive effects of shrooms.

Drug testing companies, such as Quest Diagnostics and NMS Labs, offer specialized tests for psilocybin and psilocin. However, the standard tests from most major drug testing companies don’t commonly look for magic mushroom abuse.

Psilocybin Metabolism

When you eat psychedelic mushrooms, the body converts psilocybin into psilocin within 20 to 40 minutes, according to a 2017 article in the journal Drug Metabolism Reviews. As psilocin levels increase in the blood, you feel the drug’s effects.

These effects peak about an hour and a half after you consume magic mushrooms. The effects slowly fade as psilocin is removed from the blood.

Psilocybin has an elimination half-life of 160 minutes, and psilocin has an elimination half-life of 50 minutes. A drug’s half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of the dose to leave the blood.

On average, more than 95 percent of psilocybin leaves the body after about 13 hours. More than 95 percent of psilocin leaves the body after about four hours.

These times are averages. Actual times vary depending on several factors.

How Long Shrooms Show Up on a Drug Test

Standardized drug tests don’t test for psilocybin or psilocin. A standard five-panel drug test detects popular drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, marijuana and opioids. Nine-panel tests include additional drugs, such as benzodiazepines and barbiturates. Magic mushrooms aren’t included in either panel.

It’s unclear how long blood tests or urine tests can detect psilocybin or psilocin. Because psilocybin almost completely leaves a person’s blood after 13 hours, it’s unlikely that a blood test will detect the drug after one day.

Urine tests may detect the drug for longer periods of time. Metabolites of other drugs that leave the blood within 12 hours, such as cocaine or amphetamines, can be detected in the urine for one to three days. A small 2002 study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis found traces of psilocin in urine 24 hours after the participants consumed psilocybin.

Tests of hair samples can detect magic mushroom use for up to 90 days. However, hair tests are rarely administered to detect hallucinogen abuse.

Factors Affecting Detection Time of Shrooms

Genetics, the amount of shrooms used and the frequency of use are the biggest factors affecting the amount of time that tests can detect the drug in a person’s system. Some people naturally metabolize psilocybin more quickly or slowly than others.

The higher the dose of the drug that people eat, the longer it will take for their body to metabolize it. Likewise, people who use shrooms frequently will test positive for a longer period of time.

Shrooms aren’t addictive, but they can cause serious health effects. Side effects of hallucinogens include dizziness, paranoia, flashbacks and symptoms of psychosis.

An uncommon side effect called hallucinogen persisting perception disorder can cause recurring flashbacks to visual hallucinations. HPPD can be debilitating, and it may require medical treatment.

Some symptoms of psilocybin mushrooms can persist for several days. If you’re being drug tested for work or legal reasons, using shrooms can cause serious consequences in your life.

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