Question

Can HIV meds interfere with a drugs test?

1 July 2010. Related: All topics, Drug interactions, Other tests, Recreational drugs, Supplements and herbs.

Apologies for asking what may be a silly question, I am wondering if being HIV positive and having being treated for Chlamydia a short time ago could affect the outcome of a urine drug test?

The reason for asking is that I been tested in the work place and returned a positive result for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the thing being I have not used or touched marijuana.

Any assistance you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Answer

Answer: Charlotte Walker

Thank you for your question.

Being HIV positive and having being treated for chlamydia will not affect your drug test. However, there is a drug called Marinol (dronabinol) which contains THC. Marinol includes the active ingredient in marijuana and is sometimes prescribed to HIV positive people to increase appetite and stimulate weight gain. If you have been taking any medications to increase your appetite then you should check the label and report this to your employer as the cause for the positive result.

When the HIV drug efavirenz (Sustiva) was first introduced there were several reports that it resulted in false-positive results with some marijuana tests. If you are using efavirenz (or Atripla which contains efavirenz) there may be a chance this could happen, though I haven’t heard of this being a problem for a long time.

The SPC leaflet (Specific Product Characteristics) for efavirenz documents this as a problem with only one make of test: “False positive test results have only been observed with the CEDIA DAU Multi-Level THC assay, which is used for screening, and have not been observed with other cannabinoid assays tested including tests used for confirmation of positive results.”

There are tests which can be done which can measure the levels of THC in your blood. The concentrations of THC can then be used to distinguish active from passive use or prescription from illicit use. If your positive result is due to passive use (being around someone else who smokes marijuana) or prescriptive use you could ask your workplace to carry out this test.

I hope you manage to sort it out.

Best wishes.