Pre-employment drug tests and Xanax
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Pre-employment drug tests and Xanax
| Thu, 03-15-2007 - 2:06pm |
I have moderate to severe OCD and anxiety/panic attacks. I am in therapy and taking 60 mgs of Celexa a day and 150 mgs of Wellbutrin SR twice a day, plus Xanax as needed. This has helped tremendously, and although I do not have to take the Xanax very often anymore, I did have to take .5 mgs twice a day until the new dosage of Celexa kicked in (40 mgs did pretty much nothing for me). I am currently between jobs and, oddly enough, work best in fairly high stress jobs. My concern is that many jobs that I am applying for drug test and I would probably need to show them the prescription bottle showing that I was prescribed Xanax by a doctor. I know that many times in job interviews I have been asked, "How do you handle stress?" I am not sure how to handle this question given that I would probably have to explain why I am on Xanax. I was prescribed Klonopin for panic attacks before, but this was after I had already started a job so it wasn't a big deal and nobody but me and my doctor knew about it (FYI, the panic attacks came before that job. It just took a while before the doctors could determine that panic attacks were what was causing my symptoms). I just am not sure how to handle this and will probably have interviews coming up soon. In a high stress job that I very much enjoyed, I was put on a committee to improve the entire system so I am very competent, I just do not want them writing me off either thinking that I don't handle stress well or that I have a drug problem if I don't explain to them why I am on Xanax.
I hope this makes sense. Has anyone been in this situation before, and, if so, how did you handle it?
Thanks for any advice that you can give.
I hope this makes sense. Has anyone been in this situation before, and, if so, how did you handle it?
Thanks for any advice that you can give.

Hi!
My therapist and I have had this conversation many times, it is a very real fear of mine.
Sheri Ann
I've been given this some more thought, and I'm thinking that with all the new privacy issues and HIPPA, I wonder if they can disclose your meds to your prospective employer.
Sheri Ann