Can I use her sample?

I'm totally livid right now. I "passed" my pre-employment (non-DOT) preliminary drug screen - then the lab basterds lost my sample. Yeah, "lost it". Even if they do "find" it, it's of course a week old now so I'm screwed all around. Now, so as not to arouse pre-employment drug screen suspicion, I have to retake the test ASAP.

The only sample I have access to is from a 47 year-old woman. She is likely menopausal. And I'm nowhere near menopause. Can UA's (screens) detect menopause? I know she won't pass the preliminary screen (she takes Adderall, as do I) so it's gonna go through the second screen - the gas/mass spectrometer. Will either screens be able to detect molecules/metabolites related to menopause?

Any information or answers would be helpful. I don't need any tips on how to smuggle in the sample or detox or anything like that.

First off, your situation sucks, it is hard enough making sure you pass these days, and now have some F**** lab screw you over. I understand not wanting get mad and alert suspicion. I am not an expert so hopefully someone with real knowledge of this will chime in and reply to your post.

What i can tell you is i don't think they would even be checking for menopause issues for an employment related screening. Again i am not an expert.

Thanks, cdk420, for your console. I'm gonna use your words as a mantra and hope the universe hears and me and heeds me. :hippy:

"don't think they would even be checking for menopause issues for an employment related screening"

more info, i have been reading about urine substitutions and the consensus on this site seems to be that a man could use clean urine from a women as a substitute for an employment screening. That being said a standard drug screen for employment should only be testing for drugs and nothing else. i still have no 100% correct answer for you and dont want to give you bad advice so take what you want from my post but i cant give a garauntee. Read the (sticky) in the forums on this site about substitutions you may find alot of info to help put your mind at ease and using your friends sample.

Again i am not a professional but i am leaning towards (you should be fine.) In order to notice menopause on a drug screen i would guess they would probably have to check some sort of hormone balance which would definatley be strange and potentially illegal for a for an employment screening. I should also mention i am a male so my knowlege of menopause is pretty much zero.

Again Read the (sticky) on substitutions i am sure you will find valuable info.

I am also getting ready to pull the old (switch-a-roo) for my pre-employment drug screen in a few days so i know how paranoid you are right now as i am felling the same way about my situation.

i normally just say no when i know i have a test coming but the powers that be decided to surprise me this time and i only have a little over two weeks to prepare and anything less than 30 days and passing a first morning pee at home test calls for a subsitution in my book.

I would agree, cdk420, that a substitution is best in your case. Actually, I think for any non-DOT/court mandated test, substitution is the only way. Detoxification is unreliable. The very first time I had to have a urinalysis I went to a doctor and asked her how I could detoxify safely and quickly. Bless her heart; she worked with me for a week through an intensive, medically-sound detoxification regimen. And I still failed my UA (that took place a week after all the detoxing).

In my case, phew, I managed to run into the same lab technician who did my test last week and she, without so much as a "huh?" signed my form and faxed it to my employer. I was flabbergasted and grateful! I'm so happy the Universe came through! Granted, I first had to ride the bus with the urine sample wrapped in a hand warmer in my bra (which is oh so very hot) - for nearly two hours. Go through a dentist appointment with it sitting carefully upright in my purse. Then ride to my place of employment (yeah, I got the job) with the urine stashed in my bra, ask for a new form, idly chat, and head back to the lab (another hour-long bus ride). All of that just to pour the sample out. But, thank god! Although, it would be nice to know whether a menopausal sample could make it through the second test.

I can only hope something so wonderfully karmetic happens to you as well, cdk420. I'll light one in your honor :thumbsup:

Glad to hear everything worked out... (All of that just to pour the sample out)Did you mean you the tech did not even have you re-test? or did you mean pour sample into the cup?

did you have any issues with the temp since you were carrying for so long?

what type of container did you use to keep the urine in?

Yeah, I did not have to retest.

And no, I've never had temperature issues. I've substituted my samples every time I've had to test - which is no less than 25 times in the last 5 years (what can I say? I tend to arouse suspicion). Plus, I advise my friends on how to successfully carry samples; and they've never failed. As long as you keep the sample wrapped or pressed against a hand-warmer you can keep your sample at or above 100 degrees. Most temperature strips utilized by the lab techs don't register above 100 degrees, so I don't worry about the urine being too hot. The hand-warmers I often use are Coghlan's disposable hand warmers ($2.99 or so at RiteAid) which average 140 - 155 degrees Fahrenheit (according to the package). If you use a hand-warmer, make sure it lasts longer than two hours. I have found the ones that claim to last for â??up to 2 hoursâ?� noticeably cool down after about a half hour.

I use prescription pill bottles (the orange ones) as my containers of choice. I use these because they don't leak, they are easy to come by, and they are small/skinny. Also, even though the amount of urine they can hold is a little on the less side, I've never had a problem. For the bigger sample-collection cups used by lab agencies, even the small amount of urine in my pill bottles is enough to reach about halfway up the temperature strip, and therefore be "enough" (because the temperature is still registered). Even though the technician marks how high up I am supposed to fill the cup (and I rarely ever make it to the mark), I just sheepishly say, "That's all I can manage." One time, though, the urine was well below the temperature strip so I suggested the technician tip the cup a little to register the temperature. He was not impressed, but tipped the cup anyway and went about his business.

Edited to Add:
If you merely press a hand-warmer against the container, make sure the container is pressed against your skin or something equally insular and warm.

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Originally Posted by LisaDee

I'm totally livid right now. I "passed" my pre-employment (non-DOT) preliminary drug screen - then the lab basterds lost my sample. Yeah, "lost it". Even if they do "find" it, it's of course a week old now so I'm screwed all around. Now, so as not to arouse pre-employment drug screen suspicion, I have to retake the test ASAP.

The only sample I have access to is from a 47 year-old woman. She is likely menopausal. And I'm nowhere near menopause. Can UA's (screens) detect menopause? I know she won't pass the preliminary screen (she takes Adderall, as do I) so it's gonna go through the second screen - the gas/mass spectrometer. Will either screens be able to detect molecules/metabolites related to menopause?

Any information or answers would be helpful. I don't need any tips on how to smuggle in the sample or detox or anything like that.

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As long as she has no other prescriptions you should be good.