Breathalyzer Readings and Liver Damage

I am a male. Age 55. Overweight. Weight 257 lbs. Moderately active. I have searched the internet for answers to my dilemma. The questions are directed to Dr. Pho, who I am hoping can offer general medical information regarding the questions.Please forgive my spelling.

I have hemachromatosis (diagnosed in mid-forties), low blood sugar, hepatitis C (1A)(probably related to veteran of foreign wars duties), hay fever, rosacea (adult onset), and spinal stenosis (onset at 52)(surgery incomplete due to excessive bleeding).

I started moderate drinking in the service and this lasted until about mid-thirties. I drank more heavily after that and went through 2 treatment programs. Our area is very small and post-treatment such as AA and other programs were hard to find. I relapsed and maintained heavy drinking habits. The one thing I did regarding work was to not miss time and never drank during work. At the end of shift, I would drink moderately, hit the sack early, and go to work the next day, not suffering hangovers or anything like that. Then, I had the back surgery. That changed everything. The pain was so severe, I was having real trouble with pain medications, anxiety, depression, and more pain. Not being able to tolerate the pain, I began self-medicating myself with alcohol because pain meds would not allow me to work per employer policy of zero tolerance. I was told by my supervisor that I had to stop taking prescription medication for pain control that contained narcotics. Being caught between having to work and suffering the back pain, the bottom fell out and I really drank heavily on my off time. Recently, I drank on a day off in the morning - 4 drinks - and had beers in the afternoon and evening until I went to bed at 8pm. I went to work the next day (5:30am). I had been developing the flu and a cold and was coughing up a storm, so I took some Nyquil at bedtime and Vicks formula 44 in the morning on the way to work. I worked until late morning and started coughing again, so I took some Robitussin. The supervisor said he could smell alcohol on my breath (my wife and car pool did not) and sent me for a breathalyzer to the company doctor. I registered a .048. I was terminated.

I don't see how I could have registered anything on the breathalyzer. I had my last beer at 7:30pm, took the Nyquil for the cough and went to bed at 8pm and slept well for 8 hours. I didn't eat breakfast. I took the Vicks 44 at about 6am and I commuted the 2 hours to work. I worked 3 hours, took the Robitussin at about 10am and then took the breathalyzer at 11am. I hadn't eaten lunch yet.

The question is: how in the world could I have tested .048 on the breathalyzer? I know that I have liver damage and I haven't had a phlebotomy for my hemachromatosis for quite some time, so I don't know what my hematocrit level would have been at the time. When I used several BAC calculators on the internet, although I know they are not exactly accurate, my BAC was consistently .017. Why would my breathalyzer reading be so high? The company allows a .02 reading. Is it because of all the health problems I have that I tested like that?

Thank you for your input.... M


This discussion is related to test results and metabolism.

[CalGal]

You are on the wrong board to get an answer from Dr. Pho. You need to post on the Gastro board he monitors.