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What Does Positive ETG Urine Test For Alcohol With History Of Liver Disease Indicate?

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Posted on Wed, 8 Oct 2014
Question: Hi Doctor. I'm on probation and recently had to provide a urine sample for alcohol testing. I was not familiar with the ETG test, but am familiar with 8 panel testing. My ETG results came back positive 4775 ng/ml. ETS 4135. Creatine 65.3. I have remained abstinent but was amazed at all of the things I currently take both prescribed and not prescribed that can and will test positive. Please advise and Thank You.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman (45 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
there is not an alternative test

Detailed Answer:
so, I'm not sure how you can say "Nuh uh, that test is wrong!" With drugs of abuse, they show up in hair which is done by that old favorite of CSI... the Mass Spectrometer. The Mass Spec is very specfic, but only able to tell what is there and not what WAS there.
"All urine samples collected more than 26 h after drinking had false negative results" with the ETG ON URINE.
There is a hair test which is definitley specfic BUT will catch any alcohol use during the length of time you've had your hair that is currently on your head.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
4775 ng/ml is 47 times the cut off..... that's rather a lot....
at 100, fruits and other sour things all show up
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
but at 4700, that's a lot.
Then it depends on how the urine was stored and if yeast including jock itch was present
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000


the other side of the coin is that's a lot.
in fact the highest recorded level I've ever seen
http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/1/55.long
Ask them if you are currently alive.
If you haven't died from alcoholic poisoning then you might wonder if the test is not accurate due to bad handling and have them sniff it. If it smells like it's old urine then the test isnt' valid.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman (32 minutes later)
Dr. Wachsman. I appreciate your insight and articles. No, I am not trying to deny and say the test is wrong. I have been reading up on this myself due to the circumstance and Alarmingly High Levels. I was shocked because I have read the journals and biomarker cut offs, etc. I am a 43yr old professional in Finance. I also have a family lineage of liver disease. It made me wonder if I was sick or having liver issues of a serious nature. May this be a cause? Again, not questioning the tests ability to. At those levels it sounds as though I should have been passed out, near drunk death, when submitting the sample. Thank you and any more insight is most appreciated.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman (19 hours later)
Brief Answer:
not a lot out there

Detailed Answer:
yeah, I guess
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
I don't know if the level is a bit elevated or way-the-hell-and-gone elevated. But the liver has to be failry far gone in these cases it seems... so... doubt it applies here, but I don't know what levels they were getting in the one study there was on the subject.
but this is what happened
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr. Matt Wachsman

Addiction Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1985

Answered : 4214 Questions

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What Does Positive ETG Urine Test For Alcohol With History Of Liver Disease Indicate?

Brief Answer: there is not an alternative test Detailed Answer: so, I'm not sure how you can say "Nuh uh, that test is wrong!" With drugs of abuse, they show up in hair which is done by that old favorite of CSI... the Mass Spectrometer. The Mass Spec is very specfic, but only able to tell what is there and not what WAS there. "All urine samples collected more than 26 h after drinking had false negative results" with the ETG ON URINE. There is a hair test which is definitley specfic BUT will catch any alcohol use during the length of time you've had your hair that is currently on your head. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000 4775 ng/ml is 47 times the cut off..... that's rather a lot.... at 100, fruits and other sour things all show up http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000 but at 4700, that's a lot. Then it depends on how the urine was stored and if yeast including jock itch was present http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000 the other side of the coin is that's a lot. in fact the highest recorded level I've ever seen http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/1/55.long Ask them if you are currently alive. If you haven't died from alcoholic poisoning then you might wonder if the test is not accurate due to bad handling and have them sniff it. If it smells like it's old urine then the test isnt' valid.