Failed Fentanyl urine test

[lipsie]

I am in shock to get results back that they said I have NOT been on my patches! How in the world could this be? I remember feeling miserable then but not totally. I dunno. Anyone PLEASE any idea? Of course they discharged me too! But I had already seeked for a new MD because they were so rude there. Meanwhile I am on Norco again from regular MD but did not get many so hope this new referal goes thru quickly. But really I WAS wearing the patches, just having problems...ahh with them staying on..but I should have had something in my system. Thanks! Sheila

[Tuckamore]

Hi Billlie,

I don't believe Bubbajohn still an active member of our Forum.

If you would begin a new post (Question) you will obtain more responses. You are welcome here and I encourage you to post again. I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
~Tuck

[billlee459]

I had an experience like yours at the VA in Berea, Ky.  The doctor was an a**hole.  I was on tramadol athe the VA in Huntsville, Al for DDD and ruptured disc.  I moved to Kentucky and the jerk VA doctor won't give me tramadol which I had been taking for years.  He put me on morphine suffate 30mg.  I didn't want the morphine and I was told by the pinhead "it's the morphine or nothing".  I was sick for over a year, vomiting, nasusa, etc.  I went to the patients advocate three times to get off the morphine, nothing was done.  The doctor in Berea, Bennett, told me he could fix it so I would never get another pain pill from the VA.  I filed a complaint with the VA in Washington D.C. against Bennett.  I was assigned another doctor at the same clinic where Bennett was the head man.  I was made to take a urine test the first visit.  The sample set for nine days before it was tested in Lexington VA.  Bennett doctored my sample with fentanyl.  I had a blood test the same day, no fentanyl.  The VA will not treat me for pain anymore.  The VA wouldn't take another drug test.  I went to a pain management doctor outside the VA and he treats me with respect and for my pain.

[Jaybay]

Did anyone at the clinic ever actually look to see that you had on a patch when the test was performed?  That should be something in your favor at least.  Most pain clinics only perform a general opiate survey unless the doctor suspects a problem.  It's pretty expensive to run a test that identifies individual drugs, and if so that's usually a blood test rather than a urine test.  I understand that fentanyl is particularly expensive to identify.

There is nothing wrong with using surgical tape or any kind of bandage to keep the patch in place.  It does not affect absorbtion rates.  Even so, some people never can find a way to keep a patch in place or end up allergic to the adhesive and have to discontinue its use.  It sounds like the patch just isn't going to work for you.

Your symptoms of feeling ill and having increased pain are probably due to detoxing from the fentanyl.  The norco is keeping you from being in full blown withdrawal.  Suddenly discontinuing any opiate medication will result in noticeably increased pain for a while depending on how long the opiate was used and how strong it was.  It's impossible to assess how much of that pain is due to your original condition and how much is due to opiate receptors in the brain screaming for relief.  It WILL get better in either a few days or a few weeks - depending.

Some doctors and clinics run a very tight ship and follow a zero tolerance policy.  It's unfortunate, but true.  Being put under a microscope and rendered physically dependent on the meds are  the tradeoffs to the benefits of opiate therapy.  I do hope you can find relief one way or another, but it's apparent that the patch isn't a good choice for you.

[sandee1818]

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/97621/False-negative-urine-test?personal_page_id=863283

This includes a study done by the Va about test results not being reliable.
I will write more tomorrow I have been cleaning and I am hurting really bad this evening.

[BubbaJohn]

Since I have taken the test I have been treated like a leper.  But I did find out today that the doctor who has done the damage is leaving the VA today.or tomorrow. Don't know if this will change me situation or not.  I didn't even know I was being tested for drugs.  that is sort of typical  with the VA.   I also had a very difficult peeing.  The test was a fasting test and since I had not taken my zaroxlyn, lasexx or sprinalactone.  So I really wans't working, but I had been up three times the night before emptying my bladder.  I didn't leave much in the way of a sample.  The did tell me that I tested positive for opiates but that makes sense, I take hydrocodon 7.5 as an overflow drug.  I was wrong about the name of my patch.  I was taking azctavis brand Fentanyl transdermal System 50 mcg/h  patches...  If you are not familiar with these, patched, they are relatively large and take 3 big waterproof bandages to cover them.  Now one thing really bothers me.  Either my patches are not doing much of a job and I should shift to morephine which has been suggested, or this doctor can't read English s should be deported back to where ever he comes from somewhere in southern west Virginia;  Hope you can help..  Nice talking to you...

[JadedSweetheart]

One of our medhelpers around here has written a very interesting journal about the inaccuracy of drug testing and which test to ask for if you get a false negative on your UA.  I thought it was Sandee?  Maybe not.  
It was a good journal entry, though and I'm sure it couldn't be used for drug seekers as it is simply asking for them to send the original urine to the lab for a more comprehensive test.