What I would do is ask them how long amphetamines can be in your system and the test still be able to detect it. That's your window of exposure. Then list anything and everything that you can remember putting in your mouth or body in that time frame and submit that to the testing lab to see if anything pops up.

You take supplements?

Wouldn't your insurance company know what drugs they are paying for you to take? Could't you get a letter from the doctor that prescribes them to you?

Tell the VA to do a GC-MS (or similar) to identify the false-positive. This can 99% of the time differentiate the substances identified in a less sensitive test (read cheaper for the VA to administer)

Getting pissed at the VA is going to become more common FYI. Some idiots lately have been caught selling their prescribed drugs.

Edit: Pseudoephedrine is a common culprit.

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Formerly TriBrad02

As I said, it's mostly antacid type stuff. Vit D3 and B6.

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Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill
of hope
For a destination

Yep. I bet they did a non-selective test and you got a false positive, similar to when poppy seeds set off an opiod test. You need to have a more specific test done. It could also be that someone in the lab is sloppy and contaminated your sample.

Have taken any sort of cold medine recently?

I get all my meds from the VA. They know exactly what I'm prescribed. The nurse said it's not anything I'm taking.

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Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill
of hope
For a destination

JacquiAndBoudreaux wrote:

As I said, it's mostly antacid type stuff. Vit D3 and B6.

Possible contamination exacerbated by antacids.....

Read this:
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/590340-Why-do-antacids-potentiate-amphetamines-and-opiates

Thanks, I'll float that to them.

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Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill
of hope
For a destination

No cold meds or sudafed.

Some alka seltzer, does that count?

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Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill
of hope
For a destination

If I read those posts correctly, those guys were trying to prolong an amphetamine high by taking antacids. Did I miss something?

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Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill
of hope
For a destination

Which is exactly why I was tested.

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Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill
of hope
For a destination

Do you take a pre-workout prior to strength training?

Fun stuff, isn't it?

Yep, antacids prolong the half life of amphetamines in your body. Your "exposure window" as well as the "accumulated levels" could be larger than you think.

Again, could be that your meds are the actual culprit. Wouldn't trust VA on testing all their Generics.

Just tell the VA that you only use them as performance enhancers and that recreational use would be criminal. I'm sure they'll understand:)

Sudafed?

You can also ask that they retest it, also check that it was labelled correctly along the way. You have a right to ask and question your results. Did you personally see them or did you label the sample? Next, if they are using an automated instrument or a kit test, there is usually a long list of things that interfere with testing. Especially kit/cartridge type assays, it can be pages long. They need to do confirmatory testing with as someone said, GC/MS or LC/MS/MS, basically mass spec. Each drug has a foot print it is identified by.

https://www.beckmancoulter.com/.../EN_AMPHETAMINES.pdf

Most of these package inserts can be found on line. This one is the typical assay used on multiple instrument types for screening purposes. Page 4, the smaller table shows levels of non amphetamine compounds that may react.

Most healthcare providers and systems are now doing what they call Pain Management Screening. Verifying you are taking what you are supposed to, nothing more, nothing less. It is one means of making sure the patient is compliant and also verifying a patient is not going around to other providers asking for the same medication when they have an addiction problem. It is one reason why our healthcare systems are linking up the EMR so procedures and medications are not duplicated.

Hope that helps!

I'd get the sample and take it to a private lab. The VA makes a lot of mistakes.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Kudos, a quite elegant explanation for the cost explosion in Health Care.

That isn't the half of it and this is probably pretty minor compared to the cost of the overuse of the ED's, the money it takes to keep systems up on regulations because of provider offices, hospitals, etc. that cheat the system. Here is one such case:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/809243

.

i had a coworker/buddy test postitive for drugs at work. i'd bet my paychecks that the test was in error. the testing facility he went to had been known to have false positives. he lawyered up right away and the atty told him not to cut his hair so he could have testing done via a hair sample. if you haven't cut it yet perhaps you can get tested, on your own, to see if it was a false positive or whether your cocktail is causing your body to show signs of amphetamines.

follow up blood and urine test all came back negative as did his hair samples.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

"I receive my health care (oxymoron) from the VA"

stop taking oxymoron. that's what got rush in all that trouble.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Or tell them it's cool because the Captain cooked it with Chili P