FALSE POSITIVES on UA's

Number of posts : 19 Registration date : 2010-01-02

I know that quite a few if not most Suboxone doctors have their Sub patients submit urine samples during treatment visits.

And probably everyone has heard of stories where false positives can ruin somebody's life.

I had several instances during my treatment where the doctor said "You tested positive for ......"

And as addicts there could not possibly be a more unreliable person to say "I didn't use anything"

Luckily the first time it happened and then happened repeatedly was when I still had insurance.

The doctor came in and said that I tested positive for PCP !!!

While my "done that" list is long, I had never touched it once.

The strange, even FUNNY thing was PCP was the ONLY thing I tested positive for, as if I was using PCP and JUST PCP recreationally !!

Fortunately since I had insurance I asked for them to send the sample off for a more accurate test.

My next visit, they got the expensive, highly accurate test back of course there was no PCP.

BUT my UA was STILL positive for PCP !!!

The doc wasn't worried but I was. I started doing some digging and found out why.

EFFEXOR. I actually found a medical study done by some ER doctors who noticed that patients they were getting from a nearby nursing home were testing positive for PCP, including a 97 yr old woman.

The one common factor was the anti-depressant EFFEXOR. On SOME UA's EFFEXOR can cause a false-positive for PCP. Of course when they run it through the $200-300 test it does not show. My doct has never heard about it so I gave him a copy to put on my file.

After I lost my insurance I had to switch to a cheaper anti-depressant, ZOLOFT.

I was still going to the same doctor and a visit or two later he said I tested positive for BENZO's !!

I had been clean for over 2 years and still was.

This time I couldn't afford to pay $300 to have a fancy re-test but the doct didn't give me a hassle.

I did research again and found that ZOLOFT can cause FALSE-positives on UA's.

My doc didn't know that and again, I had them put a scanned copy into my new electronic chart.

So, as a WORD OF WARNING to Sub patients, it wouldn't hurt to check out any prescriptions you are on for possible false positives.

All I did was type in the prescription name then UA and FALSE POSITIVE.

Considering some docs could do anything up to kicking a patient out for a positve drug test, it's worth knowing

Subject: Re: FALSE POSITIVES on UA's Thu 08 Apr 2010, 8:25 am

Good Morning Mark and thank you for sharing that bit of information.
On our Medical Assisted Treatment of America Inc. website located at www.medicalassistedtreatment we have a section that includes information on Positive UA's and some of the medications that may cause a positive result.
The link to that section is: http://medicalassistedtreatment.org/245760/index.html

For the convenience of our members I have made a section here on this forum with that information.
The link to that area of the forum is: right here
Please read over it and make a copy for our records. I am sure that over time more medications have been added to the list. So education is the key here. The more you know, the better off you will be.
Enjoy your day and thank you for sharing,
Dee

Number of posts : 256 Age : 67 Registration date : 2009-01-10

Hi Mark, Thank You for sharing your exprience. I went threw the same thing. I tested positive for opiods, benzo's, barbit. and mara. This happen about a month ago. I have been clean since I started Suboxone in August of 2008. My counselor went threw the roof and made me feel like a piece of crap. My provider gave me the benefit of the doubt. I had a second ua done the following day and that came out clean.

I really wonder how many people have actually been clean and tested dirty and got kicked out of their treatment program or how many people have lost jobs due to a false ua.

Thank You Dee for posting information on this.

Cathy FALSE POSITIVES on UA's Icon_flower

Subject: Re: FALSE POSITIVES on UA's Fri 09 Apr 2010, 8:47 am

Your welcome Cathy. You know it is just so sad that unless you can afford to pay for the cost of the more expensive reliable urine screen, you are pretty much scr*wed it you come up with a positive screen. Something needs to be done about this.
There are a lot of things that aren't right in addiction treatment especially if you are attending a Methadone clinic, it amazes me what they get away with now days. What is comes down to is money and more money.
Just a bit of a rant, thanks for listening.
Dee