Elimination

Elimination is how the drug is removed from the body

This diagram was drawn by the authors, based on a variety of scientific sources [1, 2, 3].

How does ivermectin leave the body?

The majority of ivermectin leaves the body in your poo (or faeces) [1]. Active ivermectin, or its metabolites, leave the liver as bile [1, 2].

After being stored in the gall bladder for a little bit, the bile is excreted into the small intestine [1, 2].

In theory, this then moves to the large intestine and becomes faeces.

However, if ivermectin is still active in the bile, it may be absorped by stomach cells again [1, 3]. This can mean that active ivermectin might stay in the body for longer than ideal.

Does ivermectin leave the body in my urine?

Less than 1% of ivermectin is urinated out of your body [1, 2].

We think this might be because it's so heavily metabolised by the liver, so is excreted in bile more readily.

However, this may make ivermectin safer for patients with kidney disease, because the kidney won't have to work as hard to remove ivermectin from the body [1, 2].

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