I have to submit to random drug screens for a board of nursing. All have been negative so far I have been sober for many years. I got a phone call that stated my creatinine was 13 and they were warning me that I would be reported if it happened again. The threshold is 20. I knew I had to go so I did drink 3 large glasses of water could this really effect it to possibly render the test a false negative. This is ridiculous to me. My license could be on the line for this if it happens again. Stressed out.

Why are you drinking large glasses of water before you go for the test ? It can have an effect yes. No it is not funny, it is a method some try to cheat the tests with.

Usually I don't but I went to the bathroom and then realized I had to test and only had two hours to go take the test before they closed. I quickly drank water in hopes that by the time I got there I would have to go. What would be worse is if I got there and couldn't go at all and they had to submit unable to provide specimen which would result in a violation. Obviously I know that drinking large quantities of water can result in a low creatinine. Even the reviewing medical doctor agreed 3 glasses of water should not have lowered the creatinine that much. It was just a warning to watch so it doesn't happen again. It just stresses me out because it is hard for me to go sometimes and helps if I have a full bladder.

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Originally Posted by carefullness

Usually I don't but I went to the bathroom and then realized I had to test and only had two hours to go take the test before they closed. I quickly drank water in hopes that by the time I got there I would have to go. What would be worse is if I got there and couldn't go at all and they had to submit unable to provide specimen which would result in a violation. Obviously I know that drinking large quantities of water can result in a low creatinine. Even the reviewing medical doctor agreed 3 glasses of water should not have lowered the creatinine that much. It was just a warning to watch so it doesn't happen again. It just stresses me out because it is hard for me to go sometimes and helps if I have a full bladder .

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If they were really concerned they could ask me to submit to a hair follicle test which I offered to do. It is just expensive.

As a nurse you are aware that creatinine varies throughout the day and many factors influence the level at any point in time.

In the federally regulated programs (SAMHSA) one cannot fail due to creatinine level. MROs are well aware of this (part of manual, Appendix A) but monitoring programs (BONs, etc) are not required to follow federal dictates.

Dr Robt. Swotinsky, one of the authors of MRO manual summarizes views and practices in relation to negative dilute samples. LINK