Mucinex DM - Taking mucinex-dm can it cause a positive urine in a drug test?
Question posted by Henryptnm on 21 March 2011
Last updated on 15 February 2017 by Brooke36
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
5 Answers
I just talked to my drug testing facility. They said that any over the counter cold medicines will not show a false positive test for drugs OR alcohol (ETG Tests), as long as you take the RECOMMENDED dosage.
Yes, it'll show up on a drug test. Found out the hard way. Took Mucinex on Thurs. Fri. and Sat. for bad sinus infection and tested on Wed at VA hospital. Tested postive for meth. Have never touch any drugs and have no plans to. Had a 3rd party test 4 hrs later that I paid for myself and test were negative. Go figure.
Like technotard said-request a more specific test. The best test is gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GS/MS). It is also more expensive but it will be able to prove or disprove any false positives. Many of the cheaper test dont distinquish certain metabolites (drug by products detected in the urine after a drug breaks down in the body). GS/MS will distinquish the differences so if they do GS/MS you wont get a false positive for other drugs or eating a poppy seed muffin or bagel and all the other false positives you hear of. It is a much more expensive test but if you do get a false positive and it can mean not getting job or not getting further pain control from pain management and especially in legal matters insist on the GS/MS test because it is the most accurate.
Yes! The DM portion is dextromethorphan. DXM is actually an opiod like molecule.
As a comment to the abov, I don't know if you can prove that you were prescribed it, since it is over the counter. However, you might be able to request a more specific test
Mucinex DM (dextromethorphan and guaifenesin).
Dextromethorphan - Can cause false positive for Heroin, Opiates, Morphine.
Take some sort of proof that you have been prescribed this medication, and let the them know before they do the test that you are on it.
All the best and take care.
Related topics
mucinex, mucinex dm, drug test
Further information
Similar questions
Search for questions
Still looking for answers? Try searching for what you seek or ask your own question.