Re: False Negative Drug Screens

[mdmstellar]

To try to make a long story short:

After my Pain Doc of 2 years exhausted all treatment options, he referred me to my Primary to prescribe my 2 Lortabs a day, which I'd taken for years, and she asked for blood tests & a drug screen first…No prob, except the screen came out Negative on the Lortab, & also on the Klonopin that she had been prescribing me for years…She then refused my meds as well as any additional tests.

I then went back to my Pain Doc and begged for another drug screen…He finally consented, and again, Negative…I then requested a blood drug screen, figuring it would surely show my medications…Wrong! All Negative Again!…Thus, No More Medications…Doctors wouldn't even talk to me anymore.

Took me 2 months of extreme anguish, majorly heightened blood pressure & irregular & fast heart rates, anxiety, sleeplessness, severe pain and searching to finally find a psychiatrist to take me, who was awesome, and immediately put me back on double my original Klonopin…He then got me an appointment with a new pain doctor, who immediately put me back on the Lortabs.

The labs as well as my new doctors, all say that the medications not showing in my drug screens is due to fairly low dose meds & a fast metabolism, and that I simply burn the meds up in a matter of hours…This would explain why I have always been able to stay on low doses, as well as recognizing that I have always been medication sensitive, as I have had adverse effects to dozens of medications over the years, sometimes serious.

It's very disturbing to me that, upon receiving the false negative drug screens and doing major research, that there are SO many people out there that this has happened to, and are cut off their medications…Mayo Clinic & the VA both have done studies where as many as 44% of medication compliant patients have shown false negatives on drug screens, but doctors in general do not realize that these drug screens are often incorrect, or inconclusive, and simply accuse people of selling or giving away their meds…I had given these findings & begged my previous doctors to do more & different tests, but they absolutely refused.

Now that I am back on my meds, my doctors are going to run drug level tests soon, instead of a typical drug screen…They claim these will show how my body metabolizes these drugs quickly, and likely I will then never have to take a drug screen test ever again.

BAD experience!…I just think this is so terrible that it happens to people all the time, and so many doctors are too stupid to know any better, or to realize that we are not all exactly made up the same.

[mdmstellar]

Another screen today...Docs said let's just do a quick urine screen and see...Sure enuff, negative for both my meds...I offered to show all the meds I had with me, in case they wanted to count, but they said no, they believe me, and we'll run blood levels Dec. 6.

Thanks for the replies.

[peekawho]

I'd take the max dose you usually tolerate, too.  Be safe, but you have to be sure you have a good blood level.

[mdmstellar]

Yeah peekawho...Every drug screen I had, (4 now) I had taken my meds right around 4 hours beforehand...I'm definitely not going to change that now for any screens I may have in the future, or fear I may be accused again if I do anything different and/or results come out positive, ya know?...That is, unless they specifically ask me to.

[peekawho]

This is so worriesome!

I'm a fast metabolizer, too...of all meds.  Anything that is supposed to last for 12 hours only lasts about 6.

Always be sure to take a dose of your medications a couple of hours ahead of any PM appt...that's what I'm learning here.  So far, I've never been asked for a urine or blood sample, but I'm always aware that they COULD ask, and thus I medicate prior to the appt to be sure I have a blood level.  

I'm glad you got the help you need.  its very disturbing, what you and others have gone through.  Fast metabolism or underdosing for weight I suspect, is the main reason for false negative screens.