Quicksilver asked:


For those of you who have been prescribed the antibiotics in the quinolone class (ex. Cipro, Trovan, Levaquin etc) please be aware that they frequently cause false positives to opiates on drug screens. The vast majority of doctors are unaware of this. I was given Levaquin for a kidney infection and had to go to the ER because of a severe adverse reaction. The ER does a drug screen on every inpatient and I tested positive to opiates (imagine me, a respectable middle-aged woman on heroin!!). The doctor treated me like a real jerk despite my truthful claim of innocence.
When I got home, I looked up “quinolones and opiate false positive” on the internet and found many studies have been done to confirm that these drugs do cause a false-positive reaction. Just wanted to make everyone aware of this, in case you have an occupation that requires drug screening!
Thanks for the input MD-gal. On the study reported in JAMA, all 6 of the volunteers showed positive after being given Levaquin.
The other flouroquinolones showed some activity also, but not as much as Levaquin.
Also, if you ever take a quinolone and begin experiencing any joint pain, nerve pain, panic attack, heart irregularities – stop Immediately and tell your doctor. This is a highly effective and yet highly toxic class of drugs and has done permanent damage (mostly to the cartilage and nervous systems) of thousands of people.