Medications and False Positives in drug testing

I was just reading about a new medication I started about a month ago. The new medication is Zantac 150mg. I have read on the internet about the Zantac causing some people's drug tests come up positive for speed...I think it was amphetamine or meth or something.

I just had my appointment with my PM doctor yesterday, which required a UA of course. I have never tested positive for anything other than what I am prescribed and rightfully so since I do not do any drugs and I don't take any medicine other than what I am prescribed.

I am a little concerned about this so I have called my PM doctor's office and left a message for the MA to call me back. Hopefully my UA(drug testing) doesn't come back positive for anything, but just in case I am going to make the office aware of the fact that I have recently started taking the Zantac 150mg and that it is prescribed. I'm sure the doctor could also look into my prescription record for confirmation that I was prescribed the Zantac.

Has anyone on here that takes Zantac regularly had any issues with their UA(drug test) by their PM doc because of the Zantac causing a false positive?

I would have told them prior but I forgot my med list and the only med change I could remember during the appointment was the change from Celexa to Cymbalta. I did call and left a message for my doctor's MA to call me back about a med change though. Hopefully she will call back soon and I can have her update my chart with the Zantac being added on about a month ago.

Luckily I came across it on the internet that it can cause a false positive and now just a day after my appointment I am calling to update my entire medication list, including the Zantac.

I've had a few med changes since my last PM appointment:

• I stopped Celexa and started Cymbalta (The Cymbalta seems to be helping my depression a lot more than the Celexa ever did.)
  
• I stopped Hyoscyamine ODT and started Bentyl.
  
• I started Zantac 150mg(RX, not OTC)
  
• I started Anucort-HC 25mg(for Crohn's/Ulcerative Colitis flare-ups)
  

straydog said...
You may want to go back to where you read that article & print it off & take it to your drs office. We have seen in the past once a person's UA comes back with something the drs office will not investigate anything, the patient gets fired & kicked to the curb.

I did print the article off and plan to take it with me at my next appointment. Here is a link to the article. Article

If you search the article for "Ranitidine" you will come across where it says it can create a false positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. It says "In a review by the assay manufacturer, the most commonly reported dosage range associated with false-positive reports was 150–300 mg daily.".

I also just spoke with someone in my PM doctor's office about my med changes since I forgot to bring an updated list of my medications yesterday. She took a note for the doctor of my changes and put it on her desk and just asked that I always bring in a list of current meds. I usually do bring in a list of my current meds but my appointment was early yesterday and I was so concerned about the ice on the roads that I just forgot to take it with me.

EDIT: I was wondering if any of my other medications can create a false positive drug screen result that anyone knows of? Below is a list of all my current medications:

• Fentanyl Patch 50mcg--every 72 hours
  
• Tramadol 50mg--2 tablets up to 3x daily as needed for BT pain
  
• Gabapentin 300mg--2 capsules 3x daily for a total of 1800mg/day
  
• Lomotil(2.5mg Diphenoxylate/0.025mg Atropine)--2 tablets 4x daily
  
• Questran Powder--2-4g 2x daily as needed for diarrhea
  
• Bentyl 10mg--1 capsule 3x daily
  
• Atenolol 50mg--1 tablet daily
  
• Cymbalta 30mg--1 capsule daily
  
• Klonopin 1mg--1 tablet 3x daily
  
• Zofran 4mg--1 tablet as needed for nausea
  
• Zantac 150mg--1 tablet daily
  
• Anucort-HC 25mg--1 suppository 2x daily for 2 weeks during flare-up of Crohn's/Ulcerative Colitis
  

I've been taking OTC Zantac for years and so far, thankfully, have not had a problem. However, due to recent events in my life, I'm now taking it more regularly than I have in the past. Thanks to this post, when I go in for my next PM appt I am going to most definitely bring up that I am taking this med.

Considering it's an OTC med, it's not one of the meds they specifically inquire about,...it never would have occurred to me to make it a point to even think it's noteworthy. How bizarre is this?

Duly noted and I will cover my tookus from this point forward. Thanks for this notification!!





M.

If your pm offices use confirmatory ms/gc testing, there would not be a false positive result. Most offices use a screening test and in the event of a problem, those tests are sent out for confirmatory testing which looks for the metabolites of a compound/medication, so mixups would be very ,very unusual with gc/ms testing.

straydog said...
Everyone should always carry with them a complete up-to-date list of their medications with them at all times, not just when going to the dr. This list could perhaps save your life if ever in an accident & unable to communicate.

I think I am going to start doing that since I am on so many medications right now. I always take my med list to my doctor appointments, but I think I am going to print out a basic list and put it in my wallet from now on. This was the first time I have ever forgot to take my med list to a doctor's appointment and I hope there aren't any issues with my UA. Even if there are though, I had the nurse in my doctor's office put an updated list on the doctor's desk along with my concern of Zantac causing a false-positive.

I've had a chance 2 or 3 times now to read through the list of drugs that are tested for and Fentanyl is not one of them, nor is Tramadol. I take both of those along with Klonopin, which should always show positive on their drug test as a benzodiazepam. I just thought it was strange that Fentanyl wasn't one of the drugs they test for since they prescribe it.