Periods (menstruation) are the hormonal changes in a female’s body that discard the monthly build-up of the lining of the uterus.
Usually, it takes about a month to build up the lining and then break down. That’s why most women and girls have their periods once a month.
Apart from this, multiple questions are asked related to periods but one of the most frequently asked questions is “can you take a drug test while on your period?”
Drug testing is generally a mandatory condition for all workers in the workplace before they start their job. Basically, a drug test needs a biological sample like urine, saliva, hair, or blood to determine the absence or presence of an illegal or legal substance in your body.
The most often tested drugs include cocaine, amphetamines, opioids marijuana, and PCP. However, it may find difficult for women to decide whether or not to have a drug test while they are on their period.
So, without further ado, let’s look at the drug tests you can have during your periods.
Can You have Urine Drug Test During Your Period?
Yes, but some recent studies recommend not taking a urine drug test during your menses cycle. But if there’s no other option then it’s advised to take the samples on the first or second mornings of the menstruation.
The urine is highly consolidated in the morning. That’s why it’s the most suitable time to take a sample.
Overall, you can have drugs tested during menstruation because there won’t be any big change in the results till the sample has blood contamination. However, on period days, there is a possibility that the sample can be blood contaminated.
So, while collecting the sample firstly make sure that the sample container is not cloudy. Secondly, to avoid blood contamination you may use tissue paper to clean/wipe your genital parts before collecting a sample.
Can You Take Blood, Saliva, and Other Drug Tests During Your Period?
Menstruation won’t be an issue while taking hair, blood, saliva, and other drug tests. During periods, only the blood levels of the hormones changes, which causes zero effect on drug test results.
So without any doubt, you can have blood testing, hair testing, or saliva testing as the menstrual discharge or menstrual blood does not include in these samples.
Should You Prefer to Reschedule Your Drug Test During Period?
It depends upon your requirement or what your company demands. It also relies on what kind of test you are required to do. However, no matter what drug test you are asked for, menstruation (period) may not impact the results.
Typically, urine drug tests are preferred by employers over other drug tests due to their affordability and ability to detect a variety of substances with a single urine sample.
While according to several pieces of research urine drug tests are prohibited during the menstrual cycle (period) because of the high probability of blood contamination.
So, If you are demanded to have a urine drug test while you are on your period cycle, you should request your supervisor to choose another drug test (such as a blood test, mouth swab, or hair follicle test) or reschedule it.
But still, if you are forced to take the urine test then no worries, you can take the test by the following method.
Method to Have a Urine Drug Test Avoiding Contamination During Period
A urine drug test scans traces of alcohol or drugs, which is done to determine if any future or present employee has used them recently.
Basically, during menses, the blood in the urine sample won’t affect the result too much. But on the safer side, it’s much better to use menstrual cups or fresh tampons before the urine test to avoid blood contamination.
Can Menstruation (period) Lead to False Positives?
The cloudy urine during the period might alter the drug test outcomes but it won’t be considered a false positive.
Generally, numerous factors could lead to a drug test false positive. For example, some medications like diltiazem, dextromethorphan, labetalol, doxylamine, and metformin might arrive as drugs on a urine drug test.
Apart from this, the blood levels during menstruation will vary depending on the level of the period cycle which won’t affect the test results.
However, while collecting the urine sample, there are chances that the sample might get contaminated with period blood. Due to this the sample gets tainted and refused on a visual test.
When the urine sample is delivered to the technician, he first measures the temperature and visually approves the sample.
The sample must be concentrated and yellow. But the contaminated sample might be a little muddy red. That’s why there are many possibilities of sample rejection in the Initial visual checking.
Wrap Up
Overall, it is fine to collect blood, saliva, or hair sample for drug testing while you are on your period. However, the most common method is to collect a urine sample for drug testing.
But during menstruation, you should be aware that the urine sample must be free from blood contamination and should be collected on the first or second morning of your monthly cycle.
