I have Asthma but since my childhood it has never been bad enough to go to a doctor for and for the most part I would rather ‘tough it out’. But recently it has been worse than usual and a friend gave me an Albuterol inhaler that seems to help. I guess all it would take is a trip to the doctor for me to get a perscription for one but in the meantime - Will this show up on a drug test? I have to take random drug tests at my company and obviously if I had something show up that I did not have a perscription for I could lose my job.
Well, IANAD and I don’t know the direct answer to your question, but being asthmatic myself, I’d hope that
a) any test that is likely to get you fired would be sensitive enough to tell the difference between albuterol and illegal narcotics, since albuterol is neither illegal nor a narcotic; and
b) your employer would cut you some slack if you explained the circumstances, especially if you have a documented history of asthma.
Besides, if you can’t breathe, your first priority should be to breathe, right?
Albuterol is a steroid. I don’t know whether employer drug testing even looks for steroids, but I’d think not.
However, I am not a doctor. Neither is your friend; dispensing prescription drugs without a license is a felony, and possessing them without a prescription is a crime. See a doctor!
Thanks for the replies, I did mean to mention in the OP that I knew it was illegal to have perscription drugs without a perscription and did not need to be reprimanded for it. I assumed that an asthma inhaler was a pretty tame drug. I do admit you are right however and I should see a doctor, I just haven’t got around to it yet. I don’t think my trouble breathing is life threatening but it does prevent me from sleeping or doing much of anything else.
I am a driver and I think the drug test is mostly to detect illegal recreational drugs that would affect your ability to drive. Of course any perscription drug you do not have a perscription for is illegal and I assume some prescription drugs my be similer to drugs some people take recreationaly.
albuterol is a cardio-steroid, which means it stays within your cardio system and does not enter the body, i.e. stays in your lungs. Its legal for the olympics so I’m guessing its legal for your work. Go see a doctor though, because you may benefit more from an oral asthma drug or a different type of inhaler (there are literally dozens of different drugs). Also, don’t ‘tough it out’, I almost died on a basketball court by doing that. I only had minor symptons at that time and assumed it would only help me by bearing through what i thought was a ‘minor’ attack. I woke up 2 days later after being in a coma from my stupidity.
AFAIK, Albuterol/Salbutamol is a bronchodilator and not a steriod. That’s what it says on the bumph that comes with them. mythil - I’ve never heard of “cardio-steroid” (but IANAD).
An - It will not be a problem in any company drugs test. It may be a problem in professional sports (specifically, I remember weightlifting had problems with it), but that’s not what you asked.
Bah sorry, albuterol isn’t a steriod i was thinking of my Flo-Vent and before that becloforte, which are steriods. Most bronchodialors are for ‘emergency use only’ and using them too many times can lead to severe problems or deaths (seem to recall a model dying from this). Take yer pulse before and after using one and you’ll understand why. The steriod inhalers are used daily to build up lung strength so you don’t have to used albuterol as often. Cardio-steriod means it stays within the lung system, ie doesn’t provide the muscle recovery and everything else of the steriods you see people banned for at the olympics, like stanazol. Cardio-steroid may be just a term used in sports, i got it from my banned substances book for track and field when i competed on a national level.
If I recall correctly, a drug test for a job typically only tests for certain substances - i.e. they look for the presence of illegal drugs and such.
And even if they do catalog what other stuff they find, I’m pretty sure they’re not going to care that you’re taking an asthma medication. There’s certainly no grounds for firing based on being a little wheezy, I don’t think.
–scout, who uses albuterol and has taken a drug test…
OK, dude, let’s get this clear - if you can’t sleep and you can’t do “much of anything else” you ARE flirting with the danger zone.
GET TO A DOCTOR!
It’s possible this isn’t even asthma, in which case you’d need a different treatment approach. Regardless, you are now having chronic problems and they will only get worse.
Is your drug test for driving likely to find albuterol? I don’t know - I used to be involved in the drug treatment and testing industry and all I can tell you is that there is a wide range of tests out there. Some will only detect very a specific and limited number of substances. Some are so sensitive they can determine the brand name of some drugs. Most likely, a drug test for a job lies somewhere between the extremes.
Asthma is not, in and of itself, a deal killer for most jobs - but uncontrolled asthma can be. Not to mention it could cause servere illness or death.
So why don’t you go to a dcotor?
Since you’re using it without the prescription, you may not have been informed about
reasons related to your own medical condition that might make it a bad drug for you
other medications that would be more effective for you
side effects, e.g., a good handful of people develop panic attacks because they haven’t been told that albuterol is adrenergic (produces an adrenalin rush).
Go see a doctor, please. Any walk-in clinic can evaluate and prescribe, even if your doc is on vacation or hard to reach.
The model in question was using Primatene Mist of which the active ingredient is epinephrine.
Steriod inhalers(CORTICOSTEROIDS)
don’t build up lung strength, they reduce the reactivity of your lungs i.e. reduces your immune system response.