Could my 54 year old husband have had his drink spiked tonight

[MadKitty]

Just that really. He went for drinks after work with a colleague. We don’t drink much in general, maybe a couple of units a month. I picked him up from the station at 11pm, all the other passengers left and I could see on my phone that he was still on the platform. Called him and he was barely coherent. Saw him staggering down the platform holding onto a railing.

After 10 mins he gets in the car, he’s soiled himself, grey and uncommunicative. Talking weird and not making sense. Walked in the house and literally dropped to the floor. I know, I know….. you’re thinking he’s been on a bender. He’s had less than a bottle of wine, maybe 3 glasses from what I’m gathering. This is the opposite of who he is and how he drinks.

Nearly 3 hours later he’s still lying on the floor with his head in a bowl. He’s so confused and unlike him. 111 tell me he’s just drunk. I’m hoping in the next hour I can get him standing so I can get him in the shower. He said this came on suddenly during the 20 min train journey. Could this be spiking?

Anyone around who might have some insight?

He needs to go to hospital. He probably hasn't been spiked, people tend to not want to give their drugs away, unless they want to take advantage of someone. Is he in the habit of going out and getting absolutely plastered?

This is utter rubbish. It’s far from an urban myth. My daughter lives in London and it happens all the time to the point that her and her friends have a guarding plan every time they go out. I don’t know where you get your information from but it’s wrong.

OP, I’m glad he’s better this morning but I would consider getting him checked over to be on the safe side.

It was really important for me to give you all an update about this, especially given everyone's experiences shared as clearly these anomalies in behaviours after a few drinks (and not blackout drunk) are worth knowing about.

I'm sure many of you will lynch me for this, but we didn't go to A&E last night. He was point blank refusing and although I tried, I couldn't get him physically off the floor for hours. Do I think that was the right call - no, I absolutely agree with the vast majority of you but I literally couldn't pull him up and we'd been refused the ambulance as I said.

Also (and I apologise if this is a bit of a drip feed - you can probably see from my robotic messages last night, I was just practical, need advice, etc) but there are a few reasons why. Firstly, I've had health concerns this year which mean I'd like to avoid if possible sitting in a hospital. We've both been on a 'health kick' and dropped our alcohol consumption so this is why his units this year don't reflect our previous drinking (not that it was loads - but we'd have 1 - 2 units per week previously, not per month). Maybe as some posters have said, it was a reaction to tolerances.

What I would say (and this is why I thought I shouldn't dismiss spiking) is he has a vivid memory of just feeling a bit tipsy on the train but the minute he got off, he literally could barely stand and had to walk down the platform holding on to the railing. I could see him doing this from the car park, so I know that's correct. This was when he lost all bodily functions, soiled himself and could barely walk. When he got home, he fell on the floor and there he stayed for hours. As others have commented who've experienced similar for whatever reasons, it's like nothing you've seen before. There's drunk and being sick, but this is something more and it's important we all know it can happen (even in your 50s!!).

I want to thank you all for commenting. I've no idea if this was spiking and probably never will. Could it be malicious spiking as someone said - potentially as he could have been robbed, but he also works for a high-profile and publicly hated company. Could it be tolerances - I'm thinking more and more, yes, but I had no idea that drinking just a small amount can leave you like this.

I'm keeping a close eye on him today. I've offered to take him to A&E today and to the GP, he's refusing so far and says he feels better. Aaaarggh! He hasn't spoken with the colleague yet but is meeting him later over Teams so we shall see.

Thanking all of you from the bottom of my heart, it's been a really stressful 12 hours xx

Very similar happened to my husband a few years ago. He is still fully convinced he was spiked. He soiled himself and at one point was crying he was so confused. I had seen him drunk before but never like that. He had been with a group of reliable mates and none of them were like he was. He remembered a guy over beside him chatting him up so to speak and is convinced it was him who spiked the drink.

I remember years ago in my early 20s waking up in my bed covered in vomit. I had no idea how I had got there. My friend said she had never seen anything like it one minute I was fine the next I was incoherent and falling all over the place . It's scary stuff.

Have a look at his bank account for transactions the night before - had he bought more rounds than he remembers?

Gosh yes I didn't mention the confusion. Absolutely this! He could barely string a sentence together and seemed so confused by me, what I was doing, the 111 call, everything. That and his pale colour were so concerning. His colour did improve slightly over the evening, but he's still pale now - not grey I might add like he was.

My house stinks of shit and vom though 😓

No, we've talked this through. The reason why he was getting wine by the glass was because he felt he could control what he was drinking - good point though that some posters have mentioned that measures are super generous and he may have had a bottle easily from just 3 large glasses.

When a friend of mine was spiked she had drunk half a glass of champagne. She was completely lucid and coherently chatting, walked to the dance floor and suddenly collapsed, eyes rolling back in her head, completely incoherent and had to be carried outside by the bouncers. Thankfully when the ambulance arrived and claimed she was just drunk the bouncers stuck up for her and insisted she was taken to a&e as a) she’d only been in the place 15 minutes and b) had been chatting to them perfectly fine 3 minutes before she collapsed.

I’m glad you’re both ok today OP, whatever it was that happened x

This still sounds medical to me if he is still pale now. I’d be doing whatever I could to convince him to go and get checked out.
A family member recently had a mild stroke and their symptoms were pretty much identical to this.
I’ve also seen similar symptoms in people having seizures. If he had been spiked, whatever he had been given could have caused him to have a seizure.

How stressful - for both of you! Hope you get a chance to rest and recover over the next couple of days xx

Thanks for updating MadKitty. Hope he recovers well.

I very much doubt he's been spiked but if he's reacting like this he needs to give up drinking completely. I have up drinking 10 years ago in my mid 50s because the tolerance was no longer there.
This was a warning.

But alcohol can and does do this to people. I’m really surprised that other boozers haven’t seen this happen multiple times- people seemingly drinking very little or less than usual but being disproportionally drunk or impacted.
It’s happened to me probably a handful of times that stand out in my memory and I wasn’t spiked. I’ve also seen it happen go my group of friends frequently. Certainly waking up covered in vomit wasn’t uncommon when I was in my 20s, from both my experiences and experiences of friends

Tolerance changes as you get older. The body becomes unable to deal with all kinds of things that it could previously whether that be food or alcohol.

I know I’m more sensitive and have had to realise I need to take better care of myself.

I massively reduced my alcohol consumption a few years ago. If I drunk a bottle of wine these days on an empty stomach I'd be vomiting, couldn't walk, would be very unwell indeed. My body just can't process it well as I've aged.

I haven't been spiked, or been in the company of anyone who has, but I have drunk too much plenty of times and been in the company of others who have.
It's easy for drink to go to your head, or have a few tew many, but I've never known anyone soil themselves.
Well I have, but only after long binges, not just a few units more that normal.
It doesn't sound like drink, well not alone.

Even a bottle would just make you drunk and then feel very sick the next day. Certainly if I had a bottle of red I would be in bed most of the following day. I'm very careful about how much I drink.

But I wouldn't be grey, soiling myself etc. I realise we are all different, but I'd definitely be investigating this more. It could be purely down to alcohol but it seems unlikely to me.

My DH, who is also 54, was spiked a couple of years ago. It was awful at the time and was paranoid for a few days, but he recovered fine. We don’t know what it was as we both know how a lot of drugs feel and it wasn’t any of the usual suspects. Misspent youth and all that, lol

Not here it's not. 10000s of thousands of girls have their drink spiked a year.

The grey skin colour would make me think it’s connected to oxygen. I’d be less worried about him having been spiked and more worried about him having had some kind of medical episode, like a stroke. And the alcohol has just got in the way and been blamed for the whole thing when actually, it’s not connected at all.

If he doesn’t seek medical attention sooner rather than later, he’s a fucking idiot. It’s all very well it happening on a train platform but what if it is medical and it happens again while he’s bombing along the motorway?

Do you seriously think someone who has drinking last night and feels fine today is an idiot for not attending hospital for an investigation into stroke?!

FFS

It’s not unheard of for men to be spiked. I’ve heard of it happening so they can try and rob them.

It does sound very suspicious that he’s been spiked. I very rarely drink and I’m petite. 3 glasses of wine would make me tipsy but not unresponsive. I used to have some big benders in my late teens (spirits) and never once soiled myself.

Hope your dh is feeling better soon.

It does seem that pissing/shitting yourself is a common symptom of being spiked

I would call an ambulance now OP , nomatter how much your Dh isdreads it or refuses

-most reluctant user of medical services you will meet ... don"t leave it later this afternoon as the extra load on A& E today -Friday / half term / Halloween would be about 15 times as busy round here as a normal weekday

"I hope you've got him to A&E. And tell the doctors that he doesn't drink a lot, and this is completely abnormal for him and you're seriously worried. I hope he's ok"

*8"Take him to A & E. The gray pallor is very concerning.

Yes. He's 54 OP, and really not well. I would stop worrying about drinks being spikend make sure he gets help urgently.

from experience fwe never dare leave illness wait & see on A Friday because it is Friday busy hospi , half term and Halloween A&E & other departments etc

Pls bear with me but may be relevant to compare your DHs symptoms with we other posters -I too had my drink spiked by a pair of acquaintances in late 90s and obvs many types & quantities drugs ,

-but although i have a condition affecting alcohol tolerance & bowels & (also used to get very severe , total -collapse migraines as beng discussed,)-

though I was slowed down & slightly slurry , it affected bowels only slightly & I was no in any state still just about able to cope with a 2 hr ride home , on phone to partner

& I was teetotal so easily made drunk

I recommend getting your calling ambulance now fior your DH , know how hard it is to push a fragile, even scared unwell person but think of it as hopefully just the once in your lifetime together ..

..remind him he can refuse when the paramedcs get there , which he may be able to but they will know whether to try to persuade him to go in

For me , seeing those symptoms , therisks are too high not to of lasting ill health / disability

when in A& E/ hospital don"t give up if he feels too ill to stay (speaking from eperience- you will not get the same assessments at an outpatiet appts )

there was a thread recently on waiting in A&E ., one of many -poster will advise