How Antidepressants Show Up on a Drug Test

If are taking a prescription antidepressant medication like Prozac (fluoxetine), you might worry that it could show up on a drug test. This is especially a concern if you must take a pre-employment drug screen for a new job.

Because antidepressants are not considered "drugs of abuse," they are not included in common urine drug screens. However, there may be cross-reactions that can produce false positive results for the substances these tests are designed to detect.

Keep reading to learn the actions you can take to ensure your drug test results are interpreted accurately, and your rights are protected.

Common Drug Screens

Antidepressants do not show up as antidepressants on standard drug tests. The lab would have to do specific additional tests to look for antidepressants.

If you are in treatment for depression, the good news is that antidepressants are not the drugs that an employer is looking for in an employment drug screen. The types of substances tested for on a typical employment drug screens include:

• Amphetamines, including methamphetamine
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepines (tranquilizers)
• Cannabinoids, including marijuana
• Cocaine
• Darvon (propoxyphene)
• Opiates, including heroin, oxycodone, and hydrocodone
• Phencyclidine (PCP)

Sometimes, however, an antidepressant will trigger a false positive on a drug test, showing up on the test as an amphetamine or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).

Impact of Antidepressants on Drug Tests

False positive test results can sometimes occur if a prescription drug or its metabolite has a similar chemical structure to the target drug being tested for.

Certain antidepressant drugs are more prone to false-positive readings. For example:

• Wellbutrin (bupropion), Prozac (fluoxetine), and Desyrel (trazodone) can all potentially show up as amphetamines on a drug screen.
• Zoloft (sertraline) may show up as a benzodiazepine. Less commonly, antidepressants have been known to trigger false positives for LSD.
• Case reports also suggest that the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) Effexor (venlafaxine) and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) may lead to a false positive for phencyclidine (PCP).

Preventing False Positives

If you are concerned that your antidepressant might show up as a false positive for another drug in a drug test, your best course of action is to be proactive.

Inform the Technician

In addition to informing the technician about the antidepressant you're taking, bring along the prescription bottle and ensure that the drug is notated on your record. It is better to declare this before the test rather than after.

Request a Second Test If Necessary

Due to the risk of false positives, all drug screen results should be considered presumptive until confirmed by a second testing technique, such as liquid or gas mass spectrometry.

Talk to Your Doctor About Other Medications

If possible, you may want to talk to your doctor about trying a different type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that won't produce a false positive. For instance:

• Prozac (fluoxetine) or Zoloft (sertraline) may produce a false-positive result, whereas Paxil (paroxetine), Celexa (citalopram), and Lexapro (escitalopram) do not.
• If you're using an antidepressant to treat neuropathic pain, you may want to avoid taking Effexor XR (venlafaxine) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), which are types of antidepressants that may be more likely to produce a false positive. Instead, you may ask your doctor about Cymbalta (duloxetine), which has a very low risk of producing a false positive on a drug test.
• If you are using an antidepressant as a sleep aid, avoid using Desyrel (trazodone) if possible. Remeron (mirtazapine) or sedative-hypnotics are alternatives that have less of a chance of producing a false positive on a drug test.
  

Protecting Your Privacy

Even if you are able to sort out any false positives from your drug screen, you may be concerned about the disclosure of your antidepressant drug use.

In most cases, any information you share with the tester won't be included on the result. The employees at the lab and your present or future supervisor will likely have no direct contact with each other. All your employer will receive is a list of positive and negative results to the requested drug screens.

Workplace harassment and discrimination for depression and other mental health conditions are prohibited under the Americans With Disabilities Act, but you may have valid concerns about your rights being upheld.

Although awareness about mental health conditions such as depression has grown over the years, it is still common for people with depression to worry about the stigma associated with a depression diagnosis.

It is understandable that you would want your depression diagnosis to be kept private, especially from a current or prospective employer. You may fear you could be discriminated against or singled out for your condition in the workplace, even with the legal protections in place.

Preparing for the Test

First and most importantly, don't stop taking your medications or reducing the dosage unless you are doing so under the guidance of your physician. This is true even if you are concerned about false positives.

It is also important to remember that antidepressants aren't the only drugs that can trigger a false positive drug screen. Others include:

• Advil (ibuprofen)
• Aleve (naproxen)
• Benadryl (diphenhydramine)
• Cardizem (diltiazem)
• Dextromethorphan (found in Robitussin)
• Glucophage (metformin)
• Ritalin (methylphenidate)
• Sudafed (pseudoephedrine)
• Trandate (labetalol)
• Ultram (tramadol)

Summary

Drug screens do not typically test for antidepressants, but some medications may trigger a false positive. Understanding this possibility is important and will allow you to take steps to minimize this risk.

The best approach is to bring your medications with you to inform the test administrator. If a false-positive does occur, the medication will already be noted in your record. Other options include requesting a second test or changing to a different medication that is less likely to trigger a false-positive result.

Most importantly, never stop taking your medication without talking to your doctor. Suddenly halting your medication may result in antidepressant withdrawal or the return of depression symptoms.