Drug seekers will love this post.
EMedHome.com recently published a set of pearls about urine drug testing that included several things I wasn’t aware of.
Did you know that …
- Urine levels of “ecstasy” (MDMA) need to be quite high before they will be picked up by the urine drug screen since the tests have a low sensitivity for MDMA?
- Zantac, Prozac, and labetolol can all cause false positive results for amphetamines?
- Zoloft and Daypro can cause false positive drug screens for benzodiazepines?
- Several benzodiazepines are difficult to detect on urine drug screens – including Librium and Versed?
- Levaquin, Cipro, dextromethorphan (common in OTC cough meds), rifampin, and verapamil can all cause false positive tests for opiates?
- Standard urine toxicology screens do not usually detect Vicodin, Tramadol, Fentanyl and Percocet?
- Ingestion of one poppy seed bagel can cause a false positive opiate test?
- Most drugs are undetectable 3 days after use?
Links to some of the cited articles are here, here, and here.
By the way … if you came across this post in a web search on how to beat drug tests and now think you’ve got it made – don’t worry. There are plenty of other ways that doctors can tell whether or not you’re using drugs.
I’m not giving away all of our secrets.
Efavirenz (Sustiva and Atripla-HIV drugs) can cause false-positive marijuana and benzodiazepine test results, which has been problematic in some prisons where prisoners have lost good behavior time and been thrown in solitary confinement over the issue.
Test for Tylenol. That should give a fairly good indication of recent,common opioid, prescription abuse; or how screwed your liver is.
smirk
So if the test often misses hydrocodone and oxycodone, what’s the point in screening for opiates?
My understanding was that the tests could pick up metabolites of these? Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
depends on if its’ a rapid uds (test for about 6 things) or a comprehensive uds for metabolites.
let me go get my popcorn and wait for this thread to get interesting as there are a few things posted there that just are not EXACTLY true (eg the poppy seed bagel thing has not been true since the threshold for reporting on most standard tests has been raised such that poppyseeds won’t trigger a positive).
This is timely!
I was just remembering the Seinfeld episode where Elaine had been eating poppy seed bagels and so her boss thought she was on heroin. Funny episode!
Yep, I was on Cymbalta and Prilosec and popped positive on a urine screen for every drug known to man. Not a good day for me.
Ahhh…but most of the VA clinics now specifically screen for oxycodone and suchlike…..also, if you come up positive for something you aren’t taking on a rapid screen, request a send-out.
fuzzy what is a send out?
It’s a confirmation test sent out to a reference lab. The testing is way more sensitive and usually test for metabolizes
Carol, thanks for the heads-up. Did you know that Cymbalta is also prescribed under the name Yentreve for people WITH urinary problems? I’m not surprised it shows up on tests.
“Ingestion of one poppy seed bagel can cause a false positive opiate test?”
Derrick,
The federal guidelines say that when testing for opiates, a “postive” is one that is more than, say, 25. However, not all states use the federal guidelines. Michigan is a case in point, this happened to a coworker’s son. Son admitted to a crime and was subjected to random urine testing while on probation.
The son ate a poppy seed bagel the day before he was randomly urine tested. He scored a 3 for opiates. Because Michigan does not use federal guidelines the prosecutor wanted him to go to jail…for eating a bagel.
Talk about a backwards state!
Now I do know there are some poppies that do not produce opiates, and some that do. Only the poppies that produce opiates are illegal to grow in Michigan.
After much begging and pleading, the son was given further probation instead, thus adding a crime to his record (consuming opiates). But no jail time was involved. Apparently, Michigan legal rules say the judge cannot overrule the prosecutor’s stupidity.
Let me rephrase: “Not all states are REQUIRED to use federal guidelines when testing for drugs.”
They sent my specimen out to an independent lab. Came back clean.
Had a pregnant patient have a false-positive for amphetamines – she was on Zantac, which we initially suspected, but turns out she wasn’t taking it. It was methyldopa (old-time antihypertensive only really used in pregnancy) – apparently this wasn’t the first time the clinic had seen that.
I have had issues with fentanyl not popping up – when it most definitely should have.
I had an ER visit last month for chest pains. Dr. did a drug test. I tested positive for amphetamines. I only take methyldopa and prenatal vitamins. Have since followed up with family dr. Still testing positive. Dr. says there’s not way it’s the methyldopa. What can I do?
I just had a positive result for amphetamines but I also only take methyldopa and prenatals. I told the Dr it has to be a false positive…he says no way…. what to do???
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This why when I give drug screens for people I have under probation, I give them a list of stuff that could come up as false positive. Some of the medicines like anitdepressants, I will ask to see a Dr. Prescribtion beforehand, but should anything else come up and they claim for example it was poppy seeds, I violate them. They were warned from the beginning.
when given a confirmation test for popping positive for cocaine, will other drugs, if taken, show up or do they only test for the drug you popped positive for and the amounts of it, if any and isnt a false positive like I believe mine was, should I ask for a confirmation test? I hadnt used cocaine in 4 weeks but I have lupus, Im just wondering if the confirmation test will show everything in your system or are they specifically looking for the drug you popped positive for?
My son in law lost his job because of a positive urine test. He claims it was due to his drinking tonic water and taking ibuprofen. Is this possible?