I took a urine drug test at a Suboxone clinic and tested positive for opiates, oxycontin, Oxycodone, and methadone. I didn't take any of these. So how is it possible for this test to show up positive? NIK
How can I test positive for methadone if I've never taken it?
Question posted by Nik.Nikita on 25 May 2011
Last updated on 17 August 2019 by Lexibelly
This question has also been asked and answered here: Does methadone show up on a drug test?
8 Answers
Lexibelly
17 Aug 2019
I have many times tested negative for benzo when I take them daily so go figure.
amytapper1094
17 Nov 2011
I just had the same thing happen to me today. I tested positive for methadone but haven't taken it!! I'm just completely blown away!! The only things I take is unisom, for sleep, ibuprofen, for back pain, and suboxone! -Amy
La bella vita
9 June 2012
Amy my husband works in a coal mine and he takes suboxone also he got a drug test a week ago and they don't test for Suboxone but came up as methadone! He was told from the lab this could happen cause they aren't testing for methadone metabolism. The doctore that gave the drug test is a big goof ball and wouldn't retest for what we asked him to do so he was called last night and fired until we can get thus resolved!!! Was u ever able to prove u wasn't on anything but what u was taking??? Thanks so much
Nik.Nikita
9 June 2012
Labella, switch on your private question on your status page so I can send you a private question. Right now you have it set for no private questions. Anyhow, it's a year later and I'm still dealing with this false positive problem with the urine drug test at the Suboxone clinic! I've researched this problem a lot since that time and have found approx. 114 over the counter drugs and prescription drugs which can cause a false positive. I haven't been taking narcotic pain meds for over three years now and even when I did take them prior to this time I never took methadone in my life! I work as a nurse so you can understand my dilemma here. It's become very important for me to find out the cause of my false positive test.
I was just recently tested again at my Suboxone clinic and again it came up positive for darvocet and methadone! I am getting really angry about the literally thousands of people who are at risk of losing their jobs because of false positive test! There are too many drugs to list that cause a false positive but I will list a few. Ibuprofen, Phenergan, (which I believe is the culprit for me, I take it for nausea and vomiting associated with migraines) , NyQuil, sudafed, nasal sprays, and many, many more!!! I was also told by my doctor that I could have an enzyme in my body which causes a false positive urine drug test. I no longer take urine drug screens, now they are drawing blood to test for drugs. Wish me luck!! If this test comes back positive I don't know what I will do. The ironic part of all this is that years ago when I was having migraine headaches I would inform my director of nursing of any medications the doctor prescribed for me. During those years of taking very strong narcotic pain meds when I stayed home with a migraine which usually lasted anywhere from 1-3 days when I returned to work and they occasionally would drug test everyone, if it showed up on my test(which it ironically never did) I wouldn't be in any trouble because it was already documented on my records and was legally prescribed. But now when I'm not taking anything but the Suboxone and occasionally the Phenergan for nausea I keep testing positive for methadone. Request another test if this happens to you! Insist that you are clean and want to be given another form of drug test. It is your right to prove yourself innocent! The drug stick that goes under your tongue has better test results, and the blood test is a lot more accurate than any of them. These other test cost a lot more than the cheap urine screens but are worth it to save your source of income with your job! Good luck everyone! It's a cruel world out there! NIK
Samieneedsabreak
28 June 2012
PLEASE HELP!!
I take tramadol and wanted to come off them as I'm pregnant. I seemed help and went to a clinic that did a urine drug test, they rang the next day to say I tested positive for methadone ... Never ever touched in my life! I went again to be told to re take another urine test and this time it showed methadone and opiates :( its not fair having a false positive as they reported me to social services and there convinced I'm using methadone.. Ironic as I was asked did I want to stop taking tramadol and go on a methadone programme and I refused point blank as I said I did t want to substitute the tramadol I just wanted help to reduce, my argument is if I was taking methadone would I of not agreed to this on the first visit ? Some people can be very rude when they think your using and I'm very disappointed that it was my choice to ask for help but now in being wronged for it :( can someone give me an argument I can give to the social services as they totally believe the councerling workers and not me! Xx
LynnMa01902
29 June 2013
I've been seeing my Doctor in Lynn, Ma for years now and after years of never failing once he started new testing with strips you put in your mouth and when the end turns blue I put it in the tube. The old testing was urines through Willow Labs at 280 Union Street Lynn, Ma. I was excited when I found out I didn't have to do a lab anymore, but the fact of the matter is, these strips are either no good, (faulty) or he screwed up because he has so many patients. He did not believe me! I am so angry. Make sure you watch your doctor put your name on the test before you leave because you will get screwed.
& this doctor is at 280 Union Street Lynn, MA if anyone else who goes there does see this! CAREFUL!!!
carterwe
25 May 2011
It's a faulty test strip. I had one too when I took a drug test- it said I was on like 5 drugs. Demand that you are not on drugs and have them re-send the specimen to an actual medical lab for "real testing" The cheap strips at methadone clinics are wrong about 10% of the time!
Inactive
26 May 2011
Wow, that is a pretty high percent of error for what they are using that for. My subs counselor said she has seen errors too. She said one nite several people all tested positive for the same meds, so she ran one on herself, same results, she threw the whole box of tests out. She thought that extreme temperature changes as the tests are being shipped in large trucks can ruin whole boxes of kits, thanks for that info.
Nik.Nikita
26 May 2011
Carter we, thank you Carter, and thank you everybody for all your kind words of encouragement. I am not in any kind of trouble, it's just not right when I haven't taken anything, and yet the test still comes back positive. it isn't the first time this has happened to me. I've tested positive for darvocet, something that I don't take. And then this last test said positive for methadone, which I've never taken. I just don't like being looked at and told "your the only one we have this problem with". Like they don't believe me when I tell them their test is absolutely wrong!!! it's kind of ironic though, when I was taking opiates, two years ago, I didn't have as much problems with it as I am having now, not taking them. oh Well, such is life. Thanks everybody!!! NIK
DzooBaby
25 May 2011
They do on occasion make mistakes. You can ask for a GC-MS test which are much more accurate but very expensive. It might be worth it if they are talking about discharging you from the clinic. I had a urine screen show up positive for tricyclics one time and I havent taken tricyclics for twenty years!! I still to this day have no idea how I showed positive. The Dr at the time wasnt that worried about it-she even stated she knew their test were not the best. She said she was more worried about perhaps my forgetting to tell her about a med I take and she believed me when I told her I did not take it-perhaps it would have been different if it had been a controlled substance IDK. I'm going to send you a link I found a while back. Others on here have seen it too so you may have but if not its for your reading pleasure. It goes thru what metabolites are found for which drugs and possible reasons for false positives. Pretty interesting reading!
Inactive
25 May 2011
Nniknak, 3 main reasons I thought of for this are 1- bad drug test kit or human error reading test 2- underlying medical condition such as thyroid problem or diabetes that is causing the subs to show a different breakdown than buprenorphine 3- lab mixed up test result if they mailed it to a lab. If you can, buy a home drug testing kit and take it just to see if the home kit shows you positive for any opiates. Subs were specially designed not to test positive for opiates, so dr can tell if patients are relapsing. If your home result still has you testing positive, have dr check for metabolic disorder or other underlying problem. If you test negative at home, drs test kits are bad or inferior quality . Patti
annatfultz
25 May 2011
I am so sorry this is happening to u. Two years ago at the methadone clinic I go to I tested positive for benzos, and at that point in my life I had never taken one. I had been there two yrs and never failed a drug test, but they put me in probation and I swear I think they had to have mixed mine and someone elses up. That's a possibility for u also. Mistakes happen. That's the only drug test I failed and I've been there 4yrs now. I thought my counselor would help me cuz she believed me, but she had to stick to the rules. Now they started this thing at my clinic where u can pay ten dollars to have it sent to a lab for further testing, check and see if they do that. GOOD LUCK!!!
BRRMARS
25 May 2011
The same thing happened to me i took a drug test and tested positive for fentnayl, and i had never taken the drug, i don't get it.
sweetie pie
25 May 2011
Hello Nik Nakita! Had you taken any opiates in the last week? There is a chance that this could happen. It happened to me. I had a urine test done because I am on Morphine and my doctor does drug tests periodicaly. O ne day he did a urine test and it came back stating that I had been taking Oxycodone, which I wasn't. The doctor knows me well because I have been seeing him over 20 years. He beleived me when I said that I was not taking anything but my Morphine. He called the lab at our major big hospital and talked with a lab specialist. He was told that sometimes this could happen because of some chemical reaction. He also told me that this happened to another one of his patients. Needless to say, I was schocked when my test came up positive for Oxycodone! But thanks to my doctor believing me, there was an explanation why this happened. I would tell your doctor what happened to me. Maybe he will check with the lab to get some answers. I hope that this gets resolved. I know that this can be very upsetting.
Nik.Nikita
26 May 2011
Sweetie pie, no, I haven't been taking any opiates. nothing but Suboxone for over a year and a half. however, I do take Phenergan occasionally and I found out that it can cause a false positive. I looked it up on the drug test site here and it explains several things that can cause a false positive test that I wasn't aware of. Things like Nyquil, naproxen, Phenergan and several other things. Thank you for your input. I had no idea that there were so many medications that could cause this to happen.
you would think that a addiction specialist would know these things huh? oh well, I'm not in any danger of losing my doctor, it just annoys me that when I am doing the right thing, I still have problems. NIK
amytapper1094
17 Nov 2011
Where can I find the drug test site on here ? -Amy
declanp17
17 Nov 2011
The exact same thing happened to me today! I'm not sure if my doc believes me since I haven't been seeing him long. I don't take anything else that might cause a false positive, so I assume it's due to the suboxone. I immediately asked him for a script to go to a lab. I thought it was for a blood test but it was another urine test. I'm hoping it doesn't come back with the same result since the office test was a quick result test.
iamalsobelle
20 Aug 2013
Thanks guys. I knew it had to be one of my other meds. Had a test only 2 wks ago because I was hurt at work and it was fine. Today I get a false positive and it said something about MTD. What! I say. Then I read about the Naproxen. It was prescribed to me by the company Doctor. Thought I was going to have to pull out a piece of my hair.Thanks again
Related topics
oxycontin, suboxone, methadone, oxycodone, drug test, opiate, urine
Further information
- OxyContin uses and warnings
- Suboxone uses and warnings
- Methadone uses and warnings
- Oxycodone uses and warnings
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