allopurinol

How long does Allopurinol stay in your body?

The elimination half-life of allopurinol is about 1 to 2 hours (parent drug) — the time it takes the body to clear about half of it. As a rule of thumb, a medicine is mostly gone after roughly 4 to 5 half-lives, though this varies from person to person with age and kidney or liver function. The ~1-2 hour figure is for allopurinol itself, but it barely reflects how long the drug works. Allopurinol is converted to an active metabolite, oxypurinol (oxipurinol / alloxanthine), which is also a xanthine-oxidase inhibitor and is generally believed to mediate allopurinol's uric-acid-lowering action. Oxypurinol has a much longer plasma half-life of about 15 hours, so the therapeutic effect far outlasts the parent. Allopurinol is cleared by glomerular filtration, but oxypurinol is reabsorbed in the kidney tubules; in people with severely impaired renal function (or reduced urate clearance) the oxypurinol half-life is greatly prolonged.

This is general information, not medical advice. It doesn’t tell you when a drug test would read negative (tests detect substances for different, often longer, windows) or when it’s safe to take another dose — ask your pharmacist or prescriber. Source: ZYLOPRIM (allopurinol) tablet — DailyMed FDA label, Clinical Pharmacology / Pharmacokinetics.

Frequently asked questions

What does Allopurinol treat?

Allopurinol (Allopurinol) may be used to treat gout, based on NIH RxClass drug-classification data (conditions a drug may treat — not a verbatim copy of the FDA-approved label). This is general reference, not medical advice.

How much does Allopurinol cost?

Nobody can tell you what you will pay — your price is set by your insurer's formulary, your deductible and the pharmacy's markup, and none of those are published. What IS published is what the pharmacy paid to acquire it: about $1.57 for 30, per the CMS NADAC survey. Treat that as the floor, not the quote — ask the pharmacist for the cash price as well as your copay, because for cheap generics the cash price often wins.

Is there a coupon or discount for Allopurinol?

pharmaranks is an independent ratings site, not a pharmacy — we don't issue coupons or sell Allopurinol. To pay less, Allopurinol is already a generic — usually the lowest-cost version — so the main levers are comparing cash prices between pharmacies and using a pharmacy discount-card service. Prices vary by pharmacy, insurance, and location, so always confirm at the counter. This is general reference, not medical or financial advice.

Who makes Allopurinol?

Allopurinol is marketed by Superpharm. You can see Superpharm's full profile, rating, and other products on pharmaranks.

Is Allopurinol a brand-name or generic drug?

Allopurinol is a generic medication; its active ingredient is Allopurinol. Generics contain the same active ingredient as the brand-name original and are usually lower cost.

Is Allopurinol available over the counter?

No. Allopurinol is a prescription (Rx) medication in the US — you need a prescription from a licensed clinician (in person or via telehealth); it isn't sold over the counter. For some conditions there are OTC alternatives — ask your pharmacist.

What forms does Allopurinol come in?

Allopurinol is currently marketed as tablet, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory.

What class of drug is Allopurinol?

Allopurinol is classified as xanthine oxidase inhibitor, per the FDA's Established Pharmacologic Class.

Is Allopurinol FDA-registered?

Allopurinol is on record with the U.S. FDA under application number ANDA070950. You can verify this on its official FDA label.