Finasteride
- Thread starter kayakjack
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It will probably be a piss test and I highly doubt they screen for finasteride. It should be the standard pre-employment battery of opiates, barbs, amphetamines, cannabinoids,etc.
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Because a lot of people are on things that might show up, and there are some cross reacting substances, things like that. I wouldn't worry. They are looking for problem drugs, not finasteride which many people are on for various reasons.
Be able to show a valid prescription (or a bottle with your name on it) in case something does happen. One job that I applied for (a while back, mind you) said that detection of non-prescribed prescription drugs was also grounds for not getting hired (or getting fired).
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I certainly am no chemistry/tox expert, but have a few thoughts. The routine urine tox panels are all specifically directed at the metabolites of drugs of abuse. In this type of test they will not find anything they are not looking for (barring cross-reactivity). Finasteride is a steroid, they would have no reason to look for that. If this were an athletic doping test it would be another matter.
More in-depth tox analyses (forensics stuff) involve mass spec and there, they will see everything and try to explain every peak. I guarantee that no one is doing this for a summer job pre-employment study. The hospital has bigger fish to fry than super sleuthing about your medical problems, they just want to make sure you are not a junkie.
Just take the test, don't fret about the finasteride issue, don't volunteer the information or do anything special and there is a 99% chance you will hear nothing about it. If it does get flagged, they will give you a chance to explain to the occupational health department (presumably an occupational health physician) and you will have a pretty good story and they will keep it quiet. I understand you don't want to discuss it, but the odds favor you and this may just be one of those things you have to do. If you are going to work in the medical field (or most other fields, or apply for health or life insurance), this is not the last time you will face this issue. Consider yourself lucky to not have something harder to explain, like an actual drug problem or a criminal record... unless you also have these things, in which case good luck...
More in-depth tox analyses (forensics stuff) involve mass spec and there, they will see everything and try to explain every peak. I guarantee that no one is doing this for a summer job pre-employment study. The hospital has bigger fish to fry than super sleuthing about your medical problems, they just want to make sure you are not a junkie.
Just take the test, don't fret about the finasteride issue, don't volunteer the information or do anything special and there is a 99% chance you will hear nothing about it. If it does get flagged, they will give you a chance to explain to the occupational health department (presumably an occupational health physician) and you will have a pretty good story and they will keep it quiet. I understand you don't want to discuss it, but the odds favor you and this may just be one of those things you have to do. If you are going to work in the medical field (or most other fields, or apply for health or life insurance), this is not the last time you will face this issue. Consider yourself lucky to not have something harder to explain, like an actual drug problem or a criminal record... unless you also have these things, in which case good luck...
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Walking to the drugstore right now, it occurred to me that none of us has answered kayakjack's actual question. Wikipedia says the half-life of finasteride is 6 hours in adults. Usually people say that five half-lives is enough to reach steady state when changing doses, and a full week gives you 28 half-lives. So I reckon the finasteride will by gone by the time of your test.
Not sure of the effect on your hairline though. It's fair to venture that none of us here treat male pattern baldness. My gut feeling is that you will not put yourself into telogen effluvium if you stop this drug for a week, but I sure don't know.
Not sure of the effect on your hairline though. It's fair to venture that none of us here treat male pattern baldness. My gut feeling is that you will not put yourself into telogen effluvium if you stop this drug for a week, but I sure don't know.
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Man up!
So what if the occupational health people know you take that drug. They will remember you for all of about 10 seconds after you walk out the door.
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I actually agree with this. The only person who is going to see you and the list is the nurse/assistant who has to confirm that you peed in the cup and didn't use someone else's urine. He/she won't know what finasteride is, what it's trade name is, or what the heck it's for (and there are multiple indications for this drug). It's clear that it's a sensitive issue for you, but wouldn't you rather be embarrassed by that (a small issue, really) than to be rejected for the summer job because you lied when they asked you what meds you were taking? Because, if they give you a chance to explain, and you say "well, I was embarrassed" then you admit to willfully lying and I certainly wouldn't hire that kind of person.
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Not to be crass, but why in holy hell are you worried so much about whether people know you are taking it? Are they going to broadcast it around the lab? Some of my partners are likely on antidepressants or viagra or whatever drug you might ascribe a "weakness" to, I could give a crap since it doesn't effect their work.
It is rather odd that while the risk to you of trouble is trivial since finasteride is not a drug of abuse (to my knowledge), you would rather be deceptive and stop taking it so that "it doesn't show up on the test" than just bring in your prescription as proof that you are on it legitimately. Since it is possible a drug screen would look for it since it can mask steroid use, it could get reported in your report. Who exactly do you have to bring the prescription to? Because it is probably human resources or something in which case they are confidential anyway and no one you work with is going to know. If it does show up on your drug screen and you have an explanation for it, no one will care. But if it shows up and it comes out you were trying to deceive the examination, then you have problems.
Are you trying to date someone you might work with or something? This whole thing makes no sense at all to me. Your hypersensitivity and willingness to deceive over something incredibly trivial to everyone else (although admittedly your condition is most certainly not trivial to you) raises questions to me about your other abilities. I mean heck, if I found out my 60 year old non-gray haired partner had either a toupee or dyed his hair, I wouldn't give a crap!
Are you going to hide everything potentially embarassing about yourself for the foreseeable future?
It is rather odd that while the risk to you of trouble is trivial since finasteride is not a drug of abuse (to my knowledge), you would rather be deceptive and stop taking it so that "it doesn't show up on the test" than just bring in your prescription as proof that you are on it legitimately. Since it is possible a drug screen would look for it since it can mask steroid use, it could get reported in your report. Who exactly do you have to bring the prescription to? Because it is probably human resources or something in which case they are confidential anyway and no one you work with is going to know. If it does show up on your drug screen and you have an explanation for it, no one will care. But if it shows up and it comes out you were trying to deceive the examination, then you have problems.
Are you trying to date someone you might work with or something? This whole thing makes no sense at all to me. Your hypersensitivity and willingness to deceive over something incredibly trivial to everyone else (although admittedly your condition is most certainly not trivial to you) raises questions to me about your other abilities. I mean heck, if I found out my 60 year old non-gray haired partner had either a toupee or dyed his hair, I wouldn't give a crap!
Are you going to hide everything potentially embarassing about yourself for the foreseeable future?
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No it wouldn't show up in the urinalysis.
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What if they do mass spec? Then everyone will think he has BPH!
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If they specifically identify it, then I doubt it will matter unless it's somehow on the banned substances list for that workplace..which seems unlikely. The best idea for any drug test is to do what you are asked to do, at least if you want to get through it without more grief. If you have concerns that it somehow violates HIPAA or your right to privacy, then call a lawyer for goodness sake. If they fail to maintain confidentiality per contract then you sic the lawyer on them again.
As far as I've seen, the vast majority of job related drug tests are urine screens for drugs of abuse, with an aliquot set aside for verification by another method if the screen is positive. Do a search on "urine drug screen" and there you go. The process specific to your workplace is probably documented and available to you.
As far as I've seen, the vast majority of job related drug tests are urine screens for drugs of abuse, with an aliquot set aside for verification by another method if the screen is positive. Do a search on "urine drug screen" and there you go. The process specific to your workplace is probably documented and available to you.
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Lying about things is never a good way to start your career. I really fail to see what the harm is to you if you comply with their request. It's been said above several times, but are you seriously afraid that your colleagues are going to find out you are on a drug to treat thinning hair? Medical histories are confidential and if someone does not have a need to know they do not need to know.
You are risking a lot here for the sake of vanity. Odds are no one will really care or notice if you try to hide it, but is it really worth taking that chance?
You are risking a lot here for the sake of vanity. Odds are no one will really care or notice if you try to hide it, but is it really worth taking that chance?
What if you stop taking it for those few days and all of your hair falls out? Then you'll feel pretty dumb when everyone finds out that you went completely bald to hide your thinning hair.
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lol