# How long do neurotransmitters take to go through their cycle?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-neurotransmitters-take-to-go-through-their-cycle/833510>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 5, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-neurotransmitters-take-to-go-through-their-cycle/833510 "2019-05-05T13:43:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-neurotransmitters-take-to-go-through-their-cycle/833510/21 "2019-05-06T13:04:26Z")

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> [@Ruken](#):
>
> n/m

What? When talking about psychoneuroendocrinology, it’s ok if what you have is tentative information. Isn’t it interesting that I found it takes 10 minutes for my mind to wind down and we later found out that this corresponds to 5 half-lives of adrenaline which is the rule of thumb used in medicine for when a substance has been practically eliminated? Maybe it’s a coincidence but isn’t it worth a longer look?

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**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-neurotransmitters-take-to-go-through-their-cycle/833510/22 "2019-05-08T09:02:38Z")

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> [@MichaelEmouse](#):
>
> Thanks you for the great information.
> 
> Is adrenaline water soluble? How long does it take for the kidneys to filter an amount of blood equivalent to that contained in the body?

from [Adrenaline (Epinephrine) Injection BP 1 in 1000 - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc)](https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/6284/smpc) :

“Adrenaline is rapidly inactivated in the body, mostly in the liver by the enzymes catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and monoamine oxidase (MAO). Much of a dose of adrenaline is excreted as metabolites in urine. The plasma half-life is about 2-3 minutes. However, when given by subcutaneous or intramuscular injection, local vasoconstriction may delay absorption so that the effects may last longer than the half-life suggests.”

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