Positive codeine urinalysis reported

[moneys12]

I am a 29 year old woman and I am healthy for the most part. I did have bronchitus in November and was prescribed promethazine with codeine. I have since been tested for my work and recieved a positive result of 2506 ng/ml of codeine. Is there any way to prove that I did not abuse my prescription?

[Dr. Chan Lowe]

Hello Moneys12,

The urine test itself will not be particularly helpful to distinguish abuse from normal intake. The test basically detects codeine presence but is not that helpful in determining amount of use.

I would suggest you talk with your doctor and ask to have a note written explaining that you were prescribed a medication with codeine and that it was for a medical reason. This will hopefully be sufficient for your employers.

Best wishes.

[moneys12]

Thanks Doc. I am in the military and I am scared that the red tape is going to cause me to be falsely accused of abusing drugs. The promethazine with codeine was prescribed to me by a military doctor. I have been in the military for 10 years and this has really caused me some major anxiety. Hopefully they will review my medical record and this will be over. One last question, can you tell me a book that I can reference that says that the urinalysis has only detected codeine from my prescription and not that I have abused drugs?

[Dr. Chan Lowe]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is such a book. The problem is that the drug tests only look for the presence of the drug. They are of no help in determining where they came from.

The one thought I have is that a more comprehensive drug screen can be performed to look for the presence of the promethazine as well. If both are found together it would support that it came from the medicine (although again this isn't 100% since both medicines could be taken individually).

Best wishes.

[stitches mom]

I take vicoden 750s for my severe spinal stenosis, When my Doctor tested me for my drug levels I came up positive for dilaudid. I don't even know what this is. What could of altered the test.

[ToxPro]

Vicodin is brand of hydrocodone with acetominophen.
Dilaudid is a brand of hydromorphone.

It is very common to find both hydrocodone and hydromorphone in urine within 24-72 hours after ingesting Vicodin. This is due to the fact that a major metabolite of hydrocodone is hydromorphone, and it is not uncommon to find both in the urine. While rare, it is also possible for the Vicodin (hydrocodone) to fully metabolize to hydromorphone where no detectable parent hydrocodone is found.

Without seeing the actual analysis results, it is hard to judge what your Physician is interpreting. My guess is he is mistaking the presence of hydromorphone as evidence of taking Dilaudid when, in fact, the presence of hydromorphone is normal.