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Does Consumption Of Beetroot Cause A Raise The Level Of Alcohol?
Question: I am in a suboxone program to wean from opiates I was prescribed for 13 years. One of the new requirements is that you can not drink alcohol. I had a urinalysis that showed an alcohol level of 43,000 and all I had was 2 doses of Nyquil that I took for sleep with a cold. They said this was too high for just Nyquil but I had also had a large quantity of beets with balsamic vinegar at dinner. No one can tell me what the levels would be for Nyquil, or if any vinegar could alter the result. I noticed that the urine was stained with the beets. They are claiming this is too high to be Nyquil which is 25% alcohol. Could the beets raise the level of alcohol? I eat lots of vegetables which are pickled. Can you tell me anything about what the level should be? Thank you!
Brief Answer:
Depends on the test.
Detailed Answer:
I suspect the test was NOT for just alcohol but for an alcohol break down product. Regardless, urinary infections, especially yeast infections which include those that occur AFTER the urine is out if it sits around (especially if it sits around outside in the heat!) will of course produce alcohol.
Depends on the particular test you are using for what the result would mean and the cut offs of the lab. These vary between labs and I can get a ball park figure for Nyquil but it depends on:
the lab
the test
the units of the test (pounds, miles per hour, milligram per tenth of a liter, yen, etc.)
Depends on the test.
Detailed Answer:
I suspect the test was NOT for just alcohol but for an alcohol break down product. Regardless, urinary infections, especially yeast infections which include those that occur AFTER the urine is out if it sits around (especially if it sits around outside in the heat!) will of course produce alcohol.
Depends on the particular test you are using for what the result would mean and the cut offs of the lab. These vary between labs and I can get a ball park figure for Nyquil but it depends on:
the lab
the test
the units of the test (pounds, miles per hour, milligram per tenth of a liter, yen, etc.)
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
They are going to retest the sample, but I did take the Nyquil at 2:30am and had urine test at 10:00am. The lab made an error the last time and wrote a letter of apology to me, which was nice but makes me wonder. I can find out the details of the test and get them to you. Thank you for your detailed answer!
Brief Answer:
You are very welcome
Detailed Answer:
I wish I could say this was a very rare situation but it isn't. I don't think there are this many errors on other lab tests, but ones on urine screenings are quite a regular occurrence. I had two this week in which the preliminary and final results were quite different and the final result took weeks to get here.
Labcorp?
Just curious....
You are very welcome
Detailed Answer:
I wish I could say this was a very rare situation but it isn't. I don't think there are this many errors on other lab tests, but ones on urine screenings are quite a regular occurrence. I had two this week in which the preliminary and final results were quite different and the final result took weeks to get here.
Labcorp?
Just curious....
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
It was the laboratory Aegis in Tennessee. I live in Maine and they send out to different labs in different states. There are many labs here so I do not understand why they do not use someone local. They have changed labs many times. Thank you so much for your answers! I am having blood tests done so maybe I can get some answers that way.
Brief Answer:
bad or bad
Detailed Answer:
So, if they sent out a urine on a trip taking days and looked for plain alcohol, bacteria and/or yeast effects are very likely to occur.
If they sent it for other tests than alcohol (looking for alcohol breakdown products) these also might get messed up by bacteria and/or yeast also the tests are not as established as the alcohol test and how they are run, what the numbers mean, how they can get messed up inside the lab, etc are not as well known because they are quite new compared to the alcohol test.
Simple breathalyzer at the place is good, but only shows if you are showing up drunk. Frankly, for suboxone, if you drink a few socially but do NOT have out of control drinking, it shouldn't be a reason to kick you out of the program, so the breathalyzer makes sense. I think I am buying one later today.
bad or bad
Detailed Answer:
So, if they sent out a urine on a trip taking days and looked for plain alcohol, bacteria and/or yeast effects are very likely to occur.
If they sent it for other tests than alcohol (looking for alcohol breakdown products) these also might get messed up by bacteria and/or yeast also the tests are not as established as the alcohol test and how they are run, what the numbers mean, how they can get messed up inside the lab, etc are not as well known because they are quite new compared to the alcohol test.
Simple breathalyzer at the place is good, but only shows if you are showing up drunk. Frankly, for suboxone, if you drink a few socially but do NOT have out of control drinking, it shouldn't be a reason to kick you out of the program, so the breathalyzer makes sense. I think I am buying one later today.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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