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?