What Causes False Positive Methamphetimines In A Drug Test?

Posted on Thu, 6 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 6 Mar 2014 Answered on

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : i just tested positive on a court urine screen. it shows methamphetimines! i was recently sick and was taking sudafed heavily along with vicks inhaler, XXXXXXX seltzer and also a 2 week dose of methylprednisolone. did any of these make my results show positive??

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (3 hours later)

Brief Answer: could have caused false positive result Detailed Answer: HI, thanks for using healthcare magic False positive drug tests can occur. Sudafed may contain one of the decongestants ephedrine or pseudoephedrine , both of these can cause false positive meth results. Vicks inhaler can also cause false positive results. There are web pages that list the drugs that can potentially cause false positive drug screening for methamphetamines as well as other medications. One such web page dig.pharm.uic.edu Once a test is positive , further testing can be done to confirm or deny the result. The GC/MS test (stands for gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) is highly accurate. It is done to determine if the initial result is accurate. You may want to consider speaking to your court official or doctor to let them know what medications you were using that may interfere with your result. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar