Question

Can HIV meds make me fail a recreational drug screening test?

I would like to know what HIV meds can produce a false positive on a drug screen.

Answer

In general, most HIV meds will not affect these drug tests.

Efavirenz may be an exception, because when it was first approved there were reports that it might cause testing for marijuana to be false positive.

I thought that the tests used for recreational drugs had become more refined since then, but theoretically, this might still be a worry. A false positive test for marijuana can be checked using a more specific test.

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.”

However, a more recent study reported that people taking efavirenz had a high rate of false-positive tests for benzodiazepines (including commonly used drugs like diazepam (Valium) and lorazepam (Ativan). The same study found no false positive results for marijuana.

54 comments

  1. Christina Antoniadi

    Hi Regent, there is a small chance this might happen – but only if your medication contain a drug called efavirenz.

    Telatri doesn’t contain that medication.

  2. Regent

    Hi Johnson, next week I’m going to do my urine test, and I’m stressed because I’m using Telatri

  3. Simon Collins

    Hi Albert, this service is only in English.

    Please use Google to translate your question – ie:

    I have been taking TLE combination for almost 10 years, and today was my first time taking a drug test. Surprisingly, my BZO was positive when I was very sure that I was not taking any other drugs besides TLE. The doctor even insisted that this type of ARV would not cause a false positive, he even forced me to remember the drugs I had taken, which really stressed me out.

    Answer:

    The efavirenz in TLE can sometimes cause fall-positive results for some recreational drugs. You can show this answer to your work.Please see this answer at this link:
    https://i-base.info/qa/4797

    Efavirenz dalam TLE terkadang dapat menyebabkan hasil positif palsu untuk beberapa obat rekreasional. Anda dapat menunjukkan jawaban ini pada pekerjaan Anda. Silakan lihat jawaban ini di tautan ini:
    https://i-base.info/qa/4797

  4. Albert

    Aku telah mengonsumsi kombinasi TLE hampir 10 tahun, dan hari ini adalah pertama kalinya aku melakukan tes narkoba. Mengejutkan, bahwa BZO ku positif sedangkan aku sangat yakin tidak mengonsumsi obat lain selain TLE. Dokter bahkan bersikukuh bahwa ARV jenis itu tidak akan menyebabkan positif palsu, beliau bahkan memaksaku mengingat obat yang telah aku minum, benar-benar membuatku stress.

  5. Simon Collins

    Hi Johnson, PEP won’t cause a problem with drug testing unless it contains efavirez. Even then this is still very unlikely with modern drug tests.

  6. Johnson

    I bought the drug test, all they have 2 dark lines but on Marijuana is 1 dark line and the other line is light, but I’m not smoking at all is just am using PEP medication and I’m still on 5 days now so am scared because on Monday am going to pre employment drug test.

  7. Simon Collins

    Hi Johnson, there is a small chance this might happen – but only if your PEP contains a drug called efavirenz. There is more info on PEP here:
    https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/pep-faq

  8. Johnson

    Can pep medication make you fail for drug urine test

  9. Josh Peasegood

    Hi Luvuyo, as mentioned in this post it is possible. As Odimune contains efavirenz it is possible to cause a false positive for marijuana. However tests used should be more refined and this should be an outdated problem.

    If a test is positive, a urine test is only screening and a more specific test would be used. In this case the result would be negative.

  10. Luvuyo

    Hi does odimune arv cause false positive result on urine drug test done by saps

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