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Other causes of failed PEth test for alcohol abuse?
My daughter undergoes periodic peth testing for alchohol abuse. She fails regularly, although swears she drinks NOTHING. We have reason to believe she is telling the truth. Assuming she is indeed not drinking, is there a physical condition or ailment that might produce positive peth tests? She is 29, has enlarged lymph nodes, some kind of mysterious condition that gives her severe hives, etc. We are wondering if some type of autoinflammation or autoimmune condition might explain elevated levels. Our daughter is FINALLY discussing this with her regular doctor but if it is some unusual condition a specialist will be needed. The reason the peth test is required is due to a nasty custody dispute with lots of allegations of misconduct. I just want to know if there is ANYTHING other than alchohol consumption that can lead to positive test results. Any thoughts or knowledge of cases? Thanks for reading.
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Hi, did this work for you? I have a peth test coming up!
Did u take it and did it work?
I had a false positive and I think it was from my extensive use of hand sanitizer, which contains ethanol also known as the E letter in the PETH test. That and I stayed away from anything that contained yeast. After that I showed negative wouldn’t of even thought about the hand sanitizer if it wasn’t for a policeman at my church, talking about how it gets absorbed through your fingers.
There really isn’t any clear evidence that hand sanitizer used anywhere normally will trigger a peth test. My experience has shown preanalytical errors in the form of improper collection and storage cause most false positives.
While it’s completely possible, just keep in mind it’s also possible you simply had a false positive NOT caused by anything YOU did.
MROs are “trained” to explain away the positive by an action of the person being tested. They know little to nothing about simple preanalytical error.
I know this is old but was wondering if you found anything out. My son is going through this now. He is also on insulin. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated
Did he do a finger prick or whole blood peth test?
Hello all,
I am a law student. I withdrew from a previous school to seek treatment for alcohol use. It took me a couple years to get myself back on track, but since June 10, 2021, I have maintained complete abstinence and am heavily involved in a 12-step program.
In 2022, I enrolled at a new school in. My school suggested I work with my state's Lawyers Assistance Program. The Program required I receive a professional assessment, which I did. That facility performed a urine test, which was negative. They also performed a finger-prick pEth test, which was positive (>70). The tech who performed that test closed the paper immediately without any drying time and packaged it to be sent to the lab. A hair follicle test was performed, but I'm unsure of the results at this time.
At the time, I was taking a large amount of Vitamin D (i didn't know my multi vitamin had that much). I also take valyclovir and minocycline as needed. I took both recently before the pEth test. Not sure if there are any known interactions between those medications and false-positive results.
I will not be eligible to take the bar exam for another two years. My plan was to verify my 3+ years of abstinence and begin working with the lawyer's assistance program so that by the time I sit before the Board, I'm sober 5 years with 2 years under the assistance program's wing.
Thankfully, the assessment facility merely recommended a monitoring agreement. However, I want justice and to prove my abstinence so I can ensure the Board is comfortable with me receiving a law license. Moreover, I am worried that if future pEth tests are required per the monitoring agreement, this could be a recurring issue and could ultimately prevent me from ever becoming a licensed attorney.
The assessing facility has sent my blood sample to a University in Texas for a second opinion. Hopefully that facility is aware of what you all have discussed. I am hoping this community can help provide me with articles, resources, etc., which I might use to advocate for myself if it comes to that.
Thank you.
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1 Reaction@jmayorlaw
Welcome to Mayo Connect, it is disappointing when your working so hard on your sobriety that you get an inaccurate PEth test.
You may want to check some of the other dissuasions about PEth tests results:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=peth
When the tech did finger prick, what did they clean the finger with? Hopefully they did not use an alcohol wipe.
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1 Reaction@roch
They used an alcohol wipe to clean my finger. They did let my finger dry before pricking. They also stated that that alcohol swab would not impact the test results.
Ok… the alcohol swab CAN ABSOLUTELY affect the results. There is published research in that.
I don’t know about the interactions you mention.
The false positive was most likely due to incorrect collection procedure, which USDTL could care less about, as they admitted to under oath.
The lab they sent it to in Texas would be in San Antonio, run by a guy Javors who is well aware of the problems, I’ve spoken with him personally, again, he couldn’t care less and has done NOTHING to help resolve this issue.
He will confirm the results if his lab finds any trace of peth, which they will. It is there, there is just no proof it got there by consumption.
It’s a junk test. I can get a positive result from any person I want using THEIR procedures. We’ve actually done this.
Contact me using private messaging if you like, happy to back all this up, if you care to put together a package for your board.