News 12 investigates: How long steroids can stay in your system
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW) -- News 12 launches our own investigation a day after the District Attorney's office decides not to charge any Richmond County deputies with steroid abuse.
Sheriff Richard Roundtree says the deputies under investigation voluntarily submitted to a GBI drug test for steroids and none tested positive.
The deputies were tested for steroids about 40 days after the investigation started. But the question remains, would a steroid still show up on a drug test that much later?
"How long does an anabolic steroid stay in your system?" News 12's Christie Ethridge asked Georgia Regents Senior Athletic Trainer Tim McLane.
"That's a good question. 'Cause it depends on which ones you've used, what method of delivery you've used, how long you've cycled and used it," McLane said.
"It all depends" is the best answer we could get when it comes to finding out if a certain anabolic steroid would show up on a drug test at least 40 days after use.
In a news conference Monday, the Sheriff assured us it would.
"The steroids that were in question had a life cycle of up to 30 days, I'm sorry I mean 3 months or 90 days if not cycled. So, we were well within that time period that we felt comfortable that any traces would still be in their system," Sheriff Roundtree said.
In an interview with investigators, Brandon Paquette said he sold steroids to fellow deputies.
"Anywhere from 2-4 bottles each time being testosterone, winstrol, or equipoise," Paquette told investigators.
The DA's findings name at least eight different kinds of steroids, either found in Paquette's car or mentioned in his interviews.
McLane says the 300 and 400 listed in the report naming the steroid "Testo-Ject C300" and "Teste-Ject 400" indicates how concentrated the steroid is. His pharmaceutical references show the ones listed there are much stronger than anything that would be used medically.
"Dose levels 100-200 mg/ml, so anytime you're starting to get up to 300-400mg/ml on some of those, those aren't even recommended therapeutic uses," McLane said.
All the deputies Paquette named volunteered to take a drug test, but it was 40 days after the investigation started.
Research shows some drugs like winstrol taken orally can cycle out in as little as three weeks.
"That's why it used to be a real popular oral form, because you could pee it out in three to four weeks," McLane said.
McLane says other steroids stay in your system for a long time.
As a general rule, he says injectibles get into your system quicker but stay there longer, whereas tablets taken orally take longer to get absorbed but are flushed out faster.
He says, as a guess, a drug screen would probably show something for most steroids, even 40 days later.
"That stuff stays in your system a long time. Think about what its purpose is. It's there to produce growth in different organs and stuff in the body, so it's there for a while," he said.
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW) -- News 12 launches our own investigation a day after the District Attorney's office decides not to charge any Richmond County deputies with steroid abuse.
Sheriff Richard Roundtree says the deputies under investigation voluntarily submitted to a GBI drug test for steroids and none tested positive.
The deputies were tested for steroids about 40 days after the investigation started. But the question remains, would a steroid still show up on a drug test that much later?
"How long does an anabolic steroid stay in your system?" News 12's Christie Ethridge asked Georgia Regents Senior Athletic Trainer Tim McLane.
"That's a good question. 'Cause it depends on which ones you've used, what method of delivery you've used, how long you've cycled and used it," McLane said.
"It all depends" is the best answer we could get when it comes to finding out if a certain anabolic steroid would show up on a drug test at least 40 days after use.
In a news conference Monday, the Sheriff assured us it would.
"The steroids that were in question had a life cycle of up to 30 days, I'm sorry I mean 3 months or 90 days if not cycled. So, we were well within that time period that we felt comfortable that any traces would still be in their system," Sheriff Roundtree said.
In an interview with investigators, Brandon Paquette said he sold steroids to fellow deputies.
"Anywhere from 2-4 bottles each time being testosterone, winstrol, or equipoise," Paquette told investigators.
The DA's findings name at least eight different kinds of steroids, either found in Paquette's car or mentioned in his interviews.
McLane says the 300 and 400 listed in the report naming the steroid "Testo-Ject C300" and "Teste-Ject 400" indicates how concentrated the steroid is. His pharmaceutical references show the ones listed there are much stronger than anything that would be used medically.
"Dose levels 100-200 mg/ml, so anytime you're starting to get up to 300-400mg/ml on some of those, those aren't even recommended therapeutic uses," McLane said.
All the deputies Paquette named volunteered to take a drug test, but it was 40 days after the investigation started.
Research shows some drugs like winstrol taken orally can cycle out in as little as three weeks.
"That's why it used to be a real popular oral form, because you could pee it out in three to four weeks," McLane said.
McLane says other steroids stay in your system for a long time.
As a general rule, he says injectibles get into your system quicker but stay there longer, whereas tablets taken orally take longer to get absorbed but are flushed out faster.
He says, as a guess, a drug screen would probably show something for most steroids, even 40 days later.
"That stuff stays in your system a long time. Think about what its purpose is. It's there to produce growth in different organs and stuff in the body, so it's there for a while," he said.
