Oxymorphone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands

It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run oxymorphone against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.

We track 3 oxymorphone-containing products in the U.S.: Numorphan, Opana and Opana ER. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.

Across the brands we track, oxymorphone is currently marketed as suppository, tablet, injectable and tablet, extended release, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.

We do not currently list a generic-labelled oxymorphone product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.

"In your system" means two different things. First is clearance: oxymorphone has a plasma elimination half-life of about 7 to 9 hours for immediate-release tablets and roughly 9 to 11 hours for the extended-release form, per the FDA prescribing information and StatPearls. Because a drug is largely eliminated after about 4 to 5 half-lives, most of an immediate-release dose is cleared in roughly 1.5 to 2 days, with the extended-release form taking a little longer. Second is detectability: a drug test can find oxymorphone or its metabolites for longer than the drug stays active, and how long depends entirely on the test type (urine, blood, saliva, or hair). These are approximate ranges from laboratory and pharmacology references, not guarantees, and only a clinician or testing lab can interpret a specific result.

Urine is the most common test, and oxymorphone is typically detectable for about 1 to 4 days after the last dose, with heavy or long-term use extending that window somewhat. One honest and important point: a standard "opiate" immunoassay is built around morphine and codeine and cross-reacts poorly with semi-synthetic opioids like oxymorphone, so it can miss the drug entirely. Labs generally need a specific oxymorphone assay or confirmatory testing (GC-MS or LC-MS/MS) to detect it reliably. Note also that oxymorphone is a metabolite of oxycodone, so it can appear on a test in someone taking oxycodone rather than oxymorphone itself. The exact window varies with dose, duration and frequency of use, metabolism, kidney function, hydration, and the specific assay and its cutoff. These are approximate ranges; only the testing lab can interpret an actual result.

Detection windows differ by specimen. In blood, oxymorphone is typically detectable for a short period, on the order of about 24 hours, reflecting its relatively short half-life. In saliva (oral fluid) it can generally be found for up to about 1 to 4 days. Hair testing has by far the longest window: because drug incorporated into the growing hair shaft grows out over time (hair grows roughly 1 cm per month), a standard hair-strand test can reflect oxymorphone use for up to about 90 days. All of these are approximate laboratory ranges that vary with dose, frequency of use, and the assay, and specialized testing is needed because oxymorphone is not part of routine opiate panels. This information is factual and educational only; it is not advice about passing or altering a test, and no one should stop a prescribed medication without talking to the prescribing clinician.