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?

Definitely do, I posted earlier about how suddenly things you could once tolerate can change causing all kind of horrible effects.

OPs husband says he didn't and also says he didn't do drugs.

Because people who do daft things always tell the truth.

Some very naive posters on here.

If you can afford the outlay it's always worth having a sphygmomanometer as part of your home first aid kit. Regardless of whether someone's drunk or not, a blood pressure reading says a great deal about the seriousness of someone's need for medical assessment/ treatment & if it's really bad, it indicates a 999 call instead of the absolute shower on 111.
(I mention it particularly because grey & sweaty sounds more like a drop in blood pressure rather than the raised BP associated with alcohol - think of all the flushed party faces you've seen in life.)

I saw the comment about the sulphite intolerance, I developed this too in my mid-twenties. I used to drink wine with no problem (other than the odd hangover if I over did it!) but now even one glass makes me extremely dizzy/nauseous. I don't doubt two glasses would fully have me knocked out!

I tried a sulphite free white wine before but tbh I couldn't be bothered trying to find them all the time.

Strangely I'm still okay with sparkling times (prosecco, champagne etc).

3 kids through university in the last 10yrs and I can categorically say it is not an urban myth. To the extent that 2 of the universities at various points issued warnings due to frequent attacks and my daughter always uses her stretchy drinks covering that the union gave out. This is after a A&E trip with a friend who had been spiked. Blood tests confirmed and the police were called. Not just drinks either as I know personally of two YP being randomly injected; one at Reading Festival and the other in Nottingham city centre. The scary thing is that these days, it’s not spiking to take advantage. The police officer giving the talk at university told them that these days, it’s just being done for kicks!
Now whether it’s far more rare in a standard non student pub, I don’t know but you’re probably correct as it’s never happened to me or any of my friends. But sadly, it’s definitely not an urban myth in student circles.

Worth recalling too that Reynhard Sinaga, perhaps the UK's most prolific rapist, targetted men by offering them drugged drinks them when they were already under the influence of alcohol. As for "urban myths" spiking is a long-established thing with a new name - it used to be called slipping someone a Mickey Finn & wasn't taken seriously enough back then either.

@MadKitty Bit of an odd question, but what did your husband eat when he was out? Did he have a curry?

I only ask because my husband once came home in a similar state after being out with a friend. They had had no more than a beer and a glass of wine with their meal, and he literally fell over as I picked him up from the Indian restaurant and acted as if he was paralytic. Luckily the friend was staying at our house and so could help me get my DH to the loo, and get him into bed after he violently threw up everywhere. (My DH has never been in this state in 33 years).
The next morning he was absolutely fine - not a trace of a hangover.

For years, we put it down to being spiked somehow, until DH and I went out to a (different) Indian restaurant for our anniversary, and I saw it for myself. He had one beer, which he had only drunk a little of, and we had only eaten our starter, when, all of a sudden he started to act weird and started passing out at the table. I had to get him home ASAP and then the vomiting started.

Since then, we are now convinced that it is some ingredient in what he has eaten that affects him like this and NOT what he has been drinking, so I wondered if maybe it was something similar for your DH. I have a friend who has an immediate and violent reaction to goat's cheese, so I know it is possible for it to affect someone very quickly.

Good point. Not curry I believe it was steak/burger and chips

This is so interesting. I started having an in intolerance to dairy some years ago and have been careful.

Earlier this week I had a teaspoon of butter on some bread and I almost had to call an ambulance, the reaction was truly frightening. I couldn’t stop choking and could barely breathe in between, gasping.

It’s all very strange.

I'm glad that your DH is doing much better today.
Your account brought back similar memories for me, when I was in my 20s, and am still convinced I was spiked. I had about 1.5 glasses of wine after work one Friday, and was so disorientated, I fell and cracked my head in the train station. Had to call my then partner to drive the 20 miles into the city to collect me. I proceeded to vomit all the way home. and come down with the worst migraine. I remember staggering, trying to get to bed. He was super worried about me, but kept saying, 'you must have drunk more than you think!' I really hadn't, as I left the 2nd glass, as I started to feel weird, and just wanted to go home. It was the oddest experience of my life. In those days, I used to go out drinking quire a bit, so it certainly wasn't a tolerance issue.
I think it's one of the great mysteries.....

Sounds like something less likely to create an allergic reaction, but you never know!

😨That sounds really frightening!
Horrible that you have to be so careful with something as innocuous as butter.

Dear OP and anyone else reading this, if someone suddenly develops serious symptoms like DH did, please drag him to A&E at once.

OP, I would still get him to A&E now, as you say he still looks very pale. I realise it would have been difficult last night, but I would have called a taxi, begged neighbours to help, anything to get him there.

My father felt very ill one day, unusual for him, and Mum sent for the GP (back when they did home visits). The GP took a quick look, didn't ask any questions as far as I know, and said Dad had indigestion.
Dad died of a heart attack the next day. He could easily have been saved if he'd been taken to hospital when he first felt ill.

Do get your husband checked for heart and liver? It all sounds rather worrying and he is in his mid fifties so not in the first flush of youth.

I'm no expert, but it does sound like his drink might have been spiked.

I think it's worth a follow-up with his GP to rule out any underlying health conditions. He could say that he had a funny turn recently and he thinks either his drink was spiked or there's something else going on.

God, that's awful. I am so sorry. 💐

He’s maybe just had three large glasses, which could easily be a full bottle, which has also then just ‘hit’ him on the way home - from where I’m from, we usually say the fresh air hit you on the way home. (Usually implies you were fine one minute, plastered the next). Hope he’s ok soon!

Please ask your DH to see his GP. This is really, really important.

Something similar happened to DH recently. Luckily, when I called 111 the call handler told me to bring DH into A and E. After seeing the results of an ECG he was admitted straight away. He is now recovering from open heart surgery.

He had a leaky heart valve and an aortic aneurism that was at high risk of bursting.

I am sorry. I don't think this is taken seriously enough. I knew a young person this happened to and he didn't survive. Recently my DD was sat next to a friend in a gay bar. He is a pretty big man, fit and strong. They had one glass of wine each and he was absolutely flat out in minutes. Luckily there were enough people to get him to hospital. He was ok, but if it had been her glass she would have been dead.

Crikey.

You don't get out much, do you?

It is very very common, especially in big towns and cities.

It sounds like something happened, medicaL or spiked: I’d get him seen ( maybe a gp check now it’s been a day) but doesn’t sound right

Happened to my husband too, also in his late-fifties. Never got to the bottom of it but was so out of character and was also with reliable friends.

I suspect with mine that he had lost count of the drinks, probably only had four or five but we had cut down and so very little tolerance. Our home wine glasses are 90ml - you'd need 8 for a bottle of wine. But in a restaurant you'd only need 2-3 for a bottle of wine!!

It scared us both and he got blood tests afterwards but nothing came of it. He was very embarrassed. Worst night of my life TBH.

@MadKitty I would 100% support that it could be his health kick because very similar happened to me. I used to really enjoy a drink and sometimes got drunk - although not massively over the top, but certainly a few glasses 2-3 times a week + some more at weekends.

Then I was offered a role in another country. It was a hot country and I knew I'd be wearing fewer/thinner clothes and due to this I went on a health kick and lost weight and drank zero alcohol for a few months. Embarrassingly on the first meal out with the company the alcohol hit me so hard I don't remember it. I had to be taken home by someone (imagine in a new company in a country I just moved to!!) This is a few years back probably before we heard much about spiking so I didn't think of that - but since then I've been exceptionally careful and hardly ever drink as I feel that at any time that could return. The embarrassment of that night is never to be repeated! So, it could well be the health kick and weight loss, it's almost like your body rebels against it!

I had symptoms similar to this in the summer. However mine lasted for a week before DH called an ambulance, id not been drinking much of anything including water. I was diagnosed with acute kidney failure and was in hospital for 8 days. Im slowly recovering.

That sounds like an allergic/anaphylactic reaction possibly? I’d see your GP asap. You probably need to be tested and may need an epipen. It might be something else but if you had difficulty breathing you definitely need to check it out immediately and avoid dairy in the meantime.