{"id":631557,"date":"2025-03-11T09:30:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=631557"},"modified":"2025-03-10T15:14:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T19:14:02","slug":"how-long-does-trulance-stay-in-your-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/how-long-does-trulance-stay-in-your-system\/","title":{"rendered":"How long does Trulance stay in your system?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trulance (plecanatide)<\/span><\/a> is a prescription medication used to treat <\/span>irritable bowel syndrome<\/span><\/a> with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic <\/span>constipation<\/span><\/a> (CIC) in adults. If you live with either of those health conditions, you know you don\u2019t want symptoms coming back unexpectedly before your next dose. Understanding how it\u2019s processed by your body can give you peace of mind and help you better manage your Trulance treatment plan. While it\u2019s not precisely known how long <\/span>Trulance<\/span><\/a> stays in your system, it\u2019s estimated to last a day or two. Read on for everything you need to know to ensure Trulance is working at its best for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

How long does Trulance stay in your system?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cTrulance works by increasing the amount of fluid in your intestines, which results in changes in the consistency of your stool and helps to relieve constipation,\u201d explains\u00a0 Jacqueline Forman, MD, a board-certified gastroenterologist with Digestive Healthcare Associates in Great Neck, New York. Unlike many medications, which need to be processed by the liver or kidneys and absorbed by the body before they begin to work, Trulance stays in the intestines and does its work there. The fact that it isn\u2019t absorbed into the bloodstream is the main reason why it\u2019s hard to say quite how long it stays in your system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we refer to Trulance as being \u2018in the system,\u2019 we are referring to it being in the GI tract (whereas with most medications, we mean in the blood),\u201d explains <\/span>Aaron Emmel, Pharm.D.<\/span><\/a>, founder and program director at Pharmacy Tech Scholar, an online education service for pharmacists. For most drugs, we know how long it stays in the system based on the drug\u2019s <\/span>half-life<\/span><\/a>, or how long it takes for its concentration in the bloodstream to be reduced by half. \u201cSince there are negligible levels of Trulance to detect in the blood, there has not been an established half-life,\u201d Dr. Emmel says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Experts estimate that Trulance stays in the system about the same amount of time it takes other substances to move through the digestive tract. \u201cI would suggest, without any evidence to back it up, that for most people, it will be about one to two days by the time the drug and its byproducts are eliminated in the <\/span>stool<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Dr. Emmel says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trulance is intended to be taken every day. This means that if each dose takes a day or two to move through your system, your next dose will already be active and working by the time the previous dose has run its course. It also means you can see results pretty fast. \u201cStudies demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the percentage of patients having complete spontaneous bowel movements in as little as 24 hours,\u201d <\/span>Dr. Forman<\/span><\/a> says. Indeed, <\/span>clinical studies<\/span><\/a> confirm that people start to see the effects of Trulance to improve various types of constipation within the first week of taking it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Factors that influence how long Trulance stays in your system<\/span><\/h2>\n

Like with any medication, there are factors that influence how long Trulance stays in your system and how quickly it works. Here are some of the biggest and what you might be able to do about them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Food intake<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cFood intake is probably the biggest factor,\u201d Dr. Emmel says. \u201cIn studies, patients who received a meal (either high fat, high calorie or low fat, low calorie) reported looser stools up to 24 hours after a single dose compared to patients who fasted.\u201d Trulance can be taken with or without food, but if you can take it without food, you may see results faster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Physical characteristics<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cA person\u2019s physical measurements such as height, weight, and body fat can affect how quickly a drug will work and how long it takes to excrete the drug,\u201d Dr. Forman says. According to research in <\/span>The Journal of Nutrition<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>being overweight or having obesity is typically associated with faster gastric emptying, which means that food and other substances move from the stomach and into the small intestine faster than they do in average-weight people. This could mean that Trulance would not be in your system and working for as long if you are overweight or have obesity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trulance dosage and frequency<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe dosage and frequency of Trulance can impact its duration of action in your body,\u201d Dr. Forman explains. \u201cFor example, higher doses or more frequent administration may result in the drug remaining in your system for a longer period of time.\u201d The standard FDA-approved dose for Trulance is 3 mg once daily. In studies comparing 3 mg Trulance to 6 mg Trulance, there was no additional treatment benefit with the higher dose, and there was a greater incidence of side effects. But if you were to take a higher dose, it might take longer to travel through your GI tract, thus staying in your system for longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trulance side effects and risks<\/span><\/h2>\n

Given that it is a medication for treating digestive problems, the possible side effects of Trulance are mostly digestive in nature as well. Trulance may cause bloating, stomach tenderness, gas, nausea, dizziness, and mild to severe diarrhea. The most common side effects of Trulance, per the <\/span>National Library of Medicine<\/span><\/a>, include:<\/span><\/p>\n