Wellbutrin - Hair Follicle Test

Hello there. I will be getting a hair follicle test in three weeks. I stopped taking the anti-depressant Wellbutrin about three weeks ago. I've heard Wellbutrin sometimes triggers a false positive on urine tests but not on hair follicle tests but I've aflso heard the trucking companies test for other prescription drugs in hair follicle tests including Wellbutrin. I'd rather not disclose that I was taking Wellbutrin. My parents were very sick for a few years and I developed depression while caring for them. Do any of you have knowledge about this subject or is there any and vice you cam give me on this topic? Should I disclose that I used Wellbutrin? Would that disqualify me from trucking?

Best advice is to not hide anything. If you don't tell them and they discover it anyway, it could sink your chances of getting hired.

I took welbutrin a couple of years ago to quit smoking.

I took welbutrin a couple of years ago to quit smoking.

Ditto, tell them as such, it is not just for depression.

Smoke free for just over a year now.

Totally understand you not wanting them to know about the depression but they will almost certainly detect it so you have to disclose it. As others have stated I don't think you'll have to admit it was for depression. But you will have to admit you were taking it and you'll have to show them the prescription so they know it was legally prescribed to you.

Definitely. Better to say it helped me get thru a rough time in my life, than well i only lied cause i dont want you to know something.

Keep in mind also - that the increased incidence of americans being treated for some kind of mental/emotional ailment with a pill - has skyrocketed in the last decade (or more).

Most trucking companies don't have a problem with being treated - there are just some medications they don't like (and usually won't tell you if the ones YOU ARE ON, are on the "no fly list"). Commonly, adderal and the other "speed-like" add drugs are on the FMSCA list, as are a few others.

We've had members here, get sent home to get off the drugs and return after 30 days when they are clear of them. This is both to allow the drug to clear their systems, and to give the driver time to get past the side effects of discontinuing use (or to get stable on another med that IS acceptable to the company).

You're better off DISCLOSING, and telling them you came off the meds 30 days (or more) ago, so you wouldn't have an issue with them at orientation (a doctors note, that you were on them and discontinued would help here too) - than having them detected and getting questioned for failure to disclose. This presents an issue too, with your DOT Med Long form - though your drug screen and your med card are two totally separate issues (even though they are usually done at the same time).

Rick

Hey Kevin, we all understand your concerns, and they are legitimate. Here's the deal on this whole prescription drug use issue. You are required to let them know what you have been taking. You will be given a form that is a part of your permanent records - this is a Federal requirement - on that form you are supposed to reveal all the prescription drugs you are taking. One function of that form is to protect you from failing the drug test. I know some people say that if it is a hair follicle test then that is not an approved D.O.T. test and they can't share that information, but I can tell you that as a former employer, I could almost always discover if you had failed a previous drug test. It may not have always been technically legal, but I could find it out, and I can assure you that they can, and most probably will. My point is: don't take such a huge risk at keeping yourself black-balled from the industry.

As long as you declared it on the form, it doesn't matter that it showed up in your test, that is as far as it concerns you not passing the drug test. What it may affect is your ability to be employed by some companies, but that shouldn't be a big concern. Here's an example from my past experiences. I got sent home from a trucking orientation one time for a hernia. Two other drivers got sent home with me, one of them was for a prescription drug that the company did not allow. This fellow was a combat veteran, and was taking medicine to help him function with PTSD. What was crazy about this whole scenario was that this was one of those companies that actively advertises that they are veteran friendly! The driver was really disappointed, and carrying on about how he had wasted his money going to truck driving school. He was afraid he'd never be able to get a job. He and I got out our phones and did a little research while waiting on the bus, and I got him to call a recruiter at Schneider who after a brief conversation set him up for a phone interview. He called me just a few weeks later to let me know he was happily employed at Schneider!

Each of these companies has their own medical thresholds that they go by. They usually have a physician who is advising them, and they just go by his discretion. Look, you are off the medicine now, and you will be allowed to indicate that on the form. Don't take what is a concern to you now and turn it into a catastrophe by failing a drug test because you did not declare it on that form. Even if your top choice employer doesn't hire you it is not the end of the world. I know all about this - I got sent home from three different orientations when I was trying to get started. It was a very discouraging way to get started. Through it all I learned a lot about how you succeed in this business, and one of those things is that you've got to start well, and that includes being honest about any legal prescription drug use.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll say I tried to quit smoking and failed. I'll talk to my doctor to see if he'll write me a letter saying I took it for smoking.