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False Positives Forum

This forum is intended to help those who Do NOT Abuse Drugs. We do NOT support the illegal use of any substance. If you have experience with false positives, share your experience. What would you tell someone about drug testing and false positives? Please remember that we do not give medical or legal advice.

Subj: Tested positive for PCP
Date: 12/28/2008
Recently I had a seizure while driving & had an accident. No one was seriously hurt thank God. They did urine test on me & I tested positive for PCP. I have never taken PCP in my entire life. I am 48 years old and I tried smoking pot one time at age 20 I became paranoid and have never touched the stuff again. I am now on Zoloft and I was taking Ultram the day of the accident. I have severe anxiety so I also have a prescription for Xanax and Ambian to help me sleep, but I do not take them on a regular basis. Four years ago I was on Wellbutrin and had several seizures and they blamed it on that drug the switched me to Zoloft and I have been fine until I took the Ultram. I was taking 300mg of Zoloft daily and I took probably 300-400mg of Ultram in the last 12 to 18 hours before the accident. In the hospital they admitted they misplaced my urine and wanted another but I could not go again this made the nurse very agitated. My name was not on the specimen cup. I think maybe they switched cups or is it possible the Zoloft or Ultram caused the false positive for PCP.

I have also been told I have a seizure disorder and can not take Ultram or Wellbutrin those are the only two medications they said could cause me to have another seizure. I had rubella as a child and had seizures then so they think those may have weakened my brain. I am just looking for an answer to the PCP because I have been charged with DUI and I know I did not take this drug. I have a severe anxiety problem the last type of medicine I would take would be something to make me anxious. I would appreciate any information.

Cindy

AskDocWeb: Zoloft has not been reported to show up as PCP on urine drug tests but there was one unverified report that Ultram caused a false positive for PCP on a urine test. A GC/MS confirmation test should reveal any possible false positives. The drugs that have been reported to sometimes show up as a false positive for PCP are Diazepam, Ketamine, Diphenhydramine, and Effexor Tablets (venlafaxine hydrochloride).

Subj: Ritalin and amino acids
Date: 12/30/2008
Ritalin is NOT an amphetamine, it is a stimulant. Ritalin, in any form, should not cause a false-positive for amphetamines. I am on it and get tested regularly, never had any problems. Adderal and Dexadrine ARE amphetamines and are somewhat similiar to Ritalin in their effects, but they are not amphetamines. Ibuprofen (advil, motrin) in excess amounts have caused false-positives for THC, a few times. I ate the top of a poppy seed muffin and was positive for opiates. It was a true positive because poppies, technically, are a form of opiates. So, if this happens, they need to test the level in your system. Lower levels are not consistent with drug use, only muffin use. Do Amino Acids, such as L-Arginine, L-Ornithine and L-Carnitine cause false-positives?

Shelly

AskDocWeb: Ritalin (Methylphenidate) is enough like an amphetamine that it has been falsely identified as such on drug screens. We have not seen any reports about amino acids causing false positives.

Subj: Meth?
Date: 12/31/2008
My husband recently went to the hospital and had shots put in his back and they did a drug test on him and it came back that he had meth in his system. I know for a fact that he does not do that so I was wondering if any of his prescrition medicine would make it test positive for meth. He takes methadone, dailudid, valume 10s, cymbalta ranidine, and zanaflex. Does any one know if any of these will test positive for meth?

crystal

AskDocWeb: The only one you mention that is on the list is methadone. It contains synthetic opiates.

Subj: Phenegran?
Date: 12/30/2008
My husband takes phenegran for migraines, and he recently tested positive for thc. Can these pills cause a false positive?

anjali

AskDocWeb: The closest thing we can find that may show up as a false positive is Phenergan-D (Ref: 18).

Subj: Positive for Methamphetamine
Date: 1/1/2009
My daughter has undergone hair follicle testing for a year now in order to regain custody of her son. Every test has come back negative except for this last one came back positive for Methamphetamine 0.65. I have been reading some posts and noticed that liver disease can give a false positive. She does have Hep C and just recently had to go for some tests cause some levels where high which they believe is do to her being pregnant. Could this be the reason for the positive test??

Jenny

AskDocWeb: Sorry Jenny, the information here only covers urine testing, not hair follicle testing. We suggest you get a GC/MS confirmation test to clear up the issue.

Subj: Allegra D
Date: 1/2/2009
Can allegra d trigger a drug test?

joe

AskDocWeb: No false positives have been reported involving Allegra D.

Subj: Diphenhydramine
Date: 1/5/2009
I recently have taken a sleeping pill that had Diphenhydramine in it and it came back in a urinie test as a benzo. I’ve never taken benzos before. Could this happen?

Wendy

AskDocWeb: Diphenhydramine has been reported to sometimes show up as a false positive. Although it wasn’t for benzos, other false positives are possible.

Subj: Celexa
Date: 1/5/2009
Good day, could celexa cause a false positive for cocaine? Thanks,

L

AskDocWeb: Celexa has not been reported to cause a false positive on urine drug tests.

Subj: Saboxin?
Date: 1/5/2009
If you are taking saboxin can it show up on a drug test as cocaine?

casey

AskDocWeb: Sorry Casey, we have found no reference for saboxin.

Subj: Ibuprofen
Date: 1/6/2009
Hi. I am very upset, I just received a call from my drug court caseworker saying that my UA came back positive for marijuana. I used to smoke a lot and had to do a jail sanction because of that. I quit smoking over five months ago and have not touched it since, nor have I been around anyone doing it. Right when I got out of jail my ua’s were reading a couple points above the cutoff for THC, and at that point I hadn’t smoked in over a month. Then my ua’s were all clean until a week ago when I got a positive for thc at the methadone clinic, but all my ua’s at drug court were all clean, even one taken the same day as the one that failed at the methadone clinic. Now exactly a week after that I failed a ua at drug court for THC, and the ones at the clinic are all clean. The ua’s at drug court are the strips that give results minutes later, but the one that failed was one that was sent to the lab. I am very confused and upset, and don’t know what is causing this. I have hep c and the only meds I take besides methadone from the clinic are ibuprofen 800’s. I have terrible teeth problems so sometimes I take three or four at a time… My only other thought is I hadn’t gotten my menstrual cycle for over a year and then got it and that is when I failed the two ua’s, which was in the last week. I take three to four ua’s a week which have all been clean for months until this incident and the ones in between the failed ones have all been fine. Please let me know anything that you think might put my mind to ease about my problem, I am possibly going to jail because of this mix up. Thanks so much,

Beth

AskDocWeb: You might want to ask your doctor for an alternative to the ibuprofen. It has been reported to sometimes show up as a false positive for marijuana (See references 1, 3, 16, 18, 29). Overdosing like that would only compound the problem.

Subj: Positive for marijuana
Date: 1/8/2009
I recently had to take a drug screen (urine) as a part of my employment process. I do not take drugs or smoke, but the drug screen came back positive for marijuana. I have no idea how this could happen and my job is on the line. I am a single mother and have been in the industry for which this job entails for nearly nine years and have had numberous drug screens. What can I do to prove to them that I have not been smoking pot? This has never happened to me before and should not have happened this time, but here I am trying to deal with this and keep my job. Any suggestions?

Tammy

AskDocWeb: Yes, get a GC/MS confirmation test on the same sample to clear up any false positives.

Subj: Tested positive for cocaine
Date: 1/9/2009
My husband tested positive for cocaine during an ER visit, he was taking percocet, vicoden, soma, and amoxicillen. The doctor upon discharge said he was a cocaine abuser and put that down as his discharge diagnosis but he hasn’t done cocaine, do any of the ones I listed cause a false positive in a blood test?

Kelly

AskDocWeb: Yes, all of those have been reported to sometimes shown up as a false positive. If that happened to us, we would contest the results and demand a GC/MS confirmation test.

Subj: Diabetes relating to false positives
Date: 1/9/2009
My son is in jail because he tested positive for amphetamines. He swears he did not use them. He is insulin dependent diabetic and had taken some cold medication prior to the testing. Can you please refer me to studies on diabetes relating to false positives for amphetamine use?

Marcy

AskDocWeb: The references we have for diabetes say the disease may show up as a false positive for Amphetamines, Cocaine, THC, Ecstasy, Meth and Opiates. See references 3, 15, 16, 20, and 21.

Subj: Alcohol?
Date: 1/10/2009
Hello. I took a urine and blood test on Sunday. I was called on Thursday and was told that I was fine to come back to work. Friday I was called into work to meet with my supervisior. When I got there the fired me. They stated that the first test was negative but, a second test had alcohol in it. I do not drink? I use albuterol, asprin, ibprofin and red bull. Would any of these show up as alcohol? What can I do to fight this? Thanks

Brett

AskDocWeb: In order to fight it you may need the help of a lawyer that specializes in employment law.

Answer update:
AskDocWeb: Please see the answer to the post by Stephen.

Subj: Meloxicam and zyrtec
Date: 1/10/2009
I tested positive for benzos but I haven’t taken any. I have only been taking meloxicam and zyrtec everyday. Do you think there is a correlation?

Donald

AskDocWeb: Sorry Donald, there is no reference for those products causing a false positive.

Subj: Percocet?
Date: 1/12/2009
Was just wondering what the time period would be for a percicet to leave your system. I have a urine screening at work and I took a percicet for my back 4 days prior. Is it possible it will show up? Thanks,

Josh

AskDocWeb: We have to assume you are referring to Percocet as we have no listing for percicet. Percocet is a combination of Oxycodone and Acetaminophen. It is the Oxycodone part that is a concern here. It may show up because it can take several days to clear your system completely. As long as you have a prescription for it you should be okay.

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