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Clonazepam - What would make Klonopin not show up on a drug screen?

32 Answers

BigFish42 30 April 2023

I was hospitalized the day before Easter. When I got out my therapist called and said that my klonopin wasn't in my system and that they had to take me off of it. I take it everyday 1mg 3x daily. This is unbelievable. I'm gathering as much info as I can on the subject and throw it in there face for not believing me when I said I take my medication. This is absolutely disgusting and they should know better. They didn't even taper me off, just straight up took it away because "it wasn't in my system so you don't have to worry about withdrawals/seizures!". So pissed.

Votes: +0
Dragonfly4me 25 April 2023

I started drinking green tea. A month later had drug screen, and Klonopin did not show. I stopped drinking green tea, and it showed up. By the way, in March of last year, I was taken off Klonopin. Vomited, no sleep, lost 40 lbs, nightmares, and auditory hallucinations for months. Now, I am jerking and have been put on Ativan. Doctors don't know what they are doing.

Votes: +2
WildcatVet 25 April 2023

Every person will respond differently to any given medication and it's impossible for a doctor to predict that reaction.

kevinb1953 24 April 2023

Hello.
This medicine is amongst a group of meds that needs to be targeted to find it. A standard screening likely won't be looking for this. Reasons vary. They never found it in my brother's spot tests when he was an over-the-road truck driver for 30 years.
Best regards,
Kevinb1953

Votes: +0
38yroldman 24 April 2023

Clonazepam will never show up in a standard test for urine. It has to be analyzed in a lab, and even then, 7-aminoclonazepam is still hard to detect. I get tested weekly and take 4 mg a day, but the lab will find it when it's sent out for analysis I can't believe how many doctors are oblivious to the facts and rely on their laurels thank God mine knows better.

Votes: +1
WildcatVet 30 Nov 2022

"Klonopin (clonazepam) isn’t like any other benzodiazepine. It’s the only one that’s broken down into the metabolite known as 7-aminoclonazepam (7AC). This means it does not show up in many standard drug tests, such as the SAMHSA-5. Labs must specifically screen for Klonopin or its metabolite."
Wildcat

Votes: +2
WildcatVet 25 April 2023

"Many basic drug screens only test for the breakdown metabolites, oxazepam and noroxazepam.
Alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), midazolam (Versed), and triazolam (Halcyon) do not undergo metabolism to oxazepam and can be missed in detection. "

Wiley111 30 Nov 2022

I can think of three reasons why Clonazepam (or any drug) might not show up on a drug screen:

1. The dosage was too low.
2. Too much time passed since the drug was taken, so it was mostly out of the person's system.
3. The drug was not included in the list of drugs being screened.
4. The lab is incompetent.

Votes: +2
WildcatVet 25 April 2023

Unfortunately, laboratories employ human beings.

kevinb1953 26 April 2023

Not for long. AI will sweep all of that away to the dustpan(s) of history. I'm reading about an entire hospital system has implemented a new AI system throughout their complex network of care facilities and labs. It is doing these things and much more. Appointments, scheduling, lab workups, HR duties and much more. Sorry but I can't mention the AI program or the name of the hospital (legal reasons). Just a heads-up on how fast this artificial intelligence (AI) is moving and taking the world by storm. So..I don't think anyone will be able to "beat" the system. Just my two cents. Hold onto your job. Take self driving vehicles and combine it with artificial intelligence (already in the works) and just imagine where we are headed!

Bishopmagicjuan 30 Nov 2022

I'm also on Klonopin, I notice if I drink a lot of water it will not show up in my system, yet the Dr says it should be in my system up to a month. I video tape myself taking it. But they only care about the urine test. Someone above said to file a grievance, can I ask how this works ? Who do I file it with, because I take my pills, I do not understand why they are not showing up. I can use some help please.

Votes: +1
WildcatVet 25 April 2023

""Many basic drug screens only test for the breakdown metabolites, oxazepam and noroxazepam.
Alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), midazolam (Versed), and triazolam (Halcyon) do not undergo metabolism to oxazepam and can be missed in detection. ""

""Klonopin (clonazepam) isn’t like any other benzodiazepine. It’s the only one that’s broken down into the metabolite known as 7-aminoclonazepam (7AC). This means it does not show up in many standard drug tests, such as the SAMHSA-5. Labs must specifically screen for Klonopin or its metabolite."
Wildcat"

WildcatVet 26 April 2023

You must have your doctor write a script for a drug screen specifically looking for clonazepam or you'll keep getting false negatives from a regular drug screen.

ShaneAM311 13 Dec 2021

I have taken clonazepam for 10+ years and it never shows up on urine tests for me either. I always thought it was due to other medications I take that could possibly mask it. If you request they test your pee and send it into the lab they can detect minor traces in it I have found as well. Weird though.

Votes: +0
Luckyterry 28 June 2022

I’m prescribed Xanax but ran out so I took 2 Meg’s of klonopin and then was called in for a urinalysis. Later that week my Dr warned me to stop taking klonopin due to the fact that I’m not prescribed it. They can tell the difference.

skfreedman10 2 Dec 2021

Research has shown that this is true. It has to do with how klonopin is metabolized. Even in a lab, it might not show up it they use GC/MS testing. For some reason there are people who continue to maintain that there is not reason for it. They are misinformed, or under informed. "It does not react well by the commercially available screening reagents" If you want more detailed information, please look up research by Dr. Peter Abaci, as well as many others!

Votes: +2
mmmousemaid 18 Nov 2021

You have to look for it to find it.

Votes: +0
Numd2it 18 Nov 2021

Just adding to the chorus here, I take clonazepam daily and diazepam occasionally for emergencies and I have had problems with them not coming up on my drug screens at my methadone clinic. Apparently because of the way the metabolites work clonazepam is especially prone to false negatives. (the clinics will not do blood tests or anything else). Some doctors are aware of this and you can find info about it online but that didn't stop me from being accused of selling my medication. I actually had to switch methadone clinics because of this problem. I live in fear of having my meds taken away because of this and it's frustrating that more doctors aren't informed and that people are generally treated with suspicion when they don't deserve it. When it comes right down to it drug tests are an imperfect tool and should never be treated as infallible.

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Decisions that have life threatening/ changing consequences, like taking away someone's anxiety meds or violating someone for probation should never be made based solely on a drug test. They should be a tool among many other tools like conversation and observation, pill counts etc. If drug tests weren't given godlike credibility and power over people's lives then things like this odd problem with clonazepam wouldn't have such terrible consequences for people who aren't doing anything wrong. It's a problem of education about how tests work as well as a problem of perspective on how drug tests should be used.

Votes: +1
BJK73 27 Jan 2021

It would stay in my system for 3 days. Every time I'd pass. I guess it depends on your metabolism...

Votes: +0
IMRight 27 Sep 2020

I am 39 years old, I take 4 mg of klonopin daily, for over 15 years. In that time I have been placed on drug court, twice, due to other things. Drug court is extremely strict probation, we have to call every morning, 365 days of the year, to see if we take a UA that day. We get called a minimum of 4 days of every week, Klonopin HAS NEVER shown up in my UA's... I take my medication as prescribed, it has NEVER, throughout all these years shown up. I am given a 15 panel UA, which obviously tests for benzo's, the tests are very sensitive as I smoked CBD that contained no THC, and it caused a false positive for THC. So for you people saying that's not possible, IT IS POSSIBLE AND DOES NOT SHOW UP FOR MOST PEOPLE. I HAVE TAKEN WELL OVER 200 UA's and my klonopin DOES NOT, I REPEAT DOES NOT EVER SHOW UP, NO MATTER WHAT TIMES I TAKE IT.

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I don't have the explanation as to why, I'm just answering to inform all these people who answered that it isn't possible, that it is possible. I live it, I know for a fact.

Votes: +2
Mark Albus 4 June 2020

Will vinegar cover up Klonopin in a ua? What will really cover it?

Votes: +0
WildcatVet 26 April 2023

Why would you want to?

Dopefein1108 6 Feb 2020

There's a hundred different answers here. Klonopin has a longer half-life than Xanax. But does not always show up on UAs. Don't know why, and you don't know when it will or won't. But it sometimes doesn't. Maybe depends on water intake, other drugs, kidney functions or liver functions for that period, metabolism, who knows. But in my case, it would show up sometimes, sometimes not. Same dose, same times, just did what it wanted. To be sure it's out, if you take it once or twice, give yourself 5-6 days, and hydrate yourself just in case.

Votes: +1
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