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?

I was told that it was likely sulphites bringing on severe migraines, although I have also started getting the same reaction to dark chocolate, (or anything with cocoa powder in) and have had the occasional reaction to spirits. So I'm not entirely certain - I just avoid all alcohol and dark chocolate now. Honestly, if I become allergic to cheese too I don't know what I will do!

Menopause has a LOT to answer for.

He could have been spiked.

But he could have had a reaction to the alcohol.

Sometimes I have been able to drink like a fish and I honestly don’t know how I put away so many spirits without being sick or completely wasted.

But there’s been times when I’ve only had a couple and I’m being sick and feeling incredibly drunk.
I have been spiked before but I know those couple of times I definitely wasn’t and my body just had a really bad reaction to the alcohol.
I sometimes wonder if I was becoming poorly and it was something to do with my immune system.

I was also under the impression that spiking was (mainly) a myth following some really interesting articles/ documentaries (a good 5-10 years ago) concluding this. However googling to find them, I can see that more research has been done which reaches a different conclusion.

what I never understand though, is why if people are spiked with recreational drugs (like mdma above) why do they never experience the actual effects of that drug?
MDMA users don’t take it because it makes them pass out and go grey and get the worst headache of their life, they take it for the intense emotional experiences (whether euphoric or intensely scary) and they enjoy it.

these drugs are also expensive, why give it to someone else and watch them stumble off into the night to their wife?!

This obviously excludes those who drug to rape, but I think we can all agree that is rare. The majority of posts on this thread don’t (thank goodness) suspect that such motives were behind their spiking.

none of this negates that I hope your DH is ok today OP, and actually hope it was just overdoing the booze, as that’s by far the healthiest outcome

It's women that get spiked - by men who want to take advantage of them.

Who would gain from your DH being spiked? Seems very unlikely.

I would think food poisoning if they ate out, or another illness.

Yes quite possibly. I had my drink spiked once and it was a young girl who spiked it. I made a comment in the toilets that she took exception to then she hovered around me for the night. And I know it was her. Ended up suddenly collapsing and went to hospital in an ambulance.

How is he this morning?

Did they tell you what it was spiked with? This is what I’m so curious about, why would you pass out from being spiked with a recreational drug? It’s a terrible outcome but obviously not common for party drugs.

@Bambamhoohoo - I don’t think people are spiked with recreational drugs like mdma. It wouldn’t have the effect people are saying they suffered from spiking!

I hope your DH is ok, OP.

I am old and naive, but find this thread very worrying.

What are people being spiked with? Drugs, I assume, rather than additional alcohol?

And if it is drugs, why can't a&e routinely test for them (with consent) when the patient comes in and they suspect their drink has been spiked?

If it is as widespread as this thread implies, we should be testing people and getting evidence it's happening, finding and prosecuting people, and working on ways to stop it happening.

Could it be a variation of food poisoning?
We had a friend suddenly feel unwell at our house, sick as a dog went home to bed, he was more unconscious than asleep. (Years ago before 111)

This is so untrue! Such ragebait.

That’s what the articles were saying a long time ago, that when people were tested only tiny numbers were coming back as testing positive for drugs (there is no way to test if someone was spiked with alcohol if they were drinking alcohol anyway though)

i suspect they no longer test during to this and the cost, but it also looks like in the absence of testing, actual spiking might’ve increased

Rohipnal. The girl was proper shady, she was with a group if mostly men and they were all extremley flash and obnoxtious, early 20s but with much more cash than an early 20s group would usually have.
It was a good few years ago now.
I didnt press charges. I didnt want my parents to know.
I went from stnding up talking lerfectly normally, to collapsed and couldnt move any part of my body. I was aware of what was going on but my body was like a lead weight and compeltely paralised. I smacked my head on the way down. I also remember her hovering over as i was collapsed, smiling.
It was definitely a woman and definitely a drink spiking.

Any update OP? If you haven't already, I'd contact who he was out with last night, and they can maybe clarify how much he drank.

I hope your husband is ok. Maybe he is sickening for something and overdid the drink on top of that so it's hit him doubly as hard?

After 3 glasses of wine I would be more concerned about stroke in this situation although pallour is also concerning for blood supply and heart issues. I hope your DH is ok.

A poster on this thread thought that had happened to them. But also, what else would the average spiked person be drugging with that would have the impacts people are describing?

A poster above said 1.2m people have been spiked. That surely has to be a decent proportion of the population who socialise in that way.

God that’s vile. What sort of person watches that happen to someone they’ve spiked and thinks it’s some kind of win?!?

Whenever spiking is mentioned I remember a police TV reality programme where a policewoman asked the victim which one of the 17 vodkas did they think was spiked.

The 'passing out going grey and having the worst headache of your life' is EXACTLY how I reacted when I was drinking alcohol containing the allergens that gave me what was described as 'alcohol induced migraines'. I'd be fine, not even drunk, suddenly get very very hot, start vomiting, be unable to stand up or move and have the most dreadful headache. I'd have to lie, naked, on a tiled bathroom floor with my head in the toilet for hours.

It wasn't spiking, it was allergy. Not saying this is always the case, but the similarities might bear investigation.

This is so untrue. Although it’s more likely to be spiked by needles now, not in your drink. And it’s more likely to be young females, not adult males. My daughter is a student. Three of her housemates have been spiked, plus two other friends. All ended up in A&E.

Morning! Sorry we were both exhausted and needed a bit of a lie in! Will update properly later this morning but just to say he’s feeling better than last night. I was really touched this morning by your kind comments and helpful advice. They were all read throughout the night and calmed me down too xx

That’s really scary, no one ever speaks about alcohol induced headaches! And migraines are so awful anyway, if you weren’t aware you were getting one it would be logical to think you were having a stroke or aneurism or similar

Glad to hear he’s well OP, thanks for updating.

The thing is that I get migraines too, ordinary ones, but they don't feel or behave anything like this and are nowhere near as severe. This is why the first couple ot times it happened people were throwing around the 'spiked' thing. Even though it was almost impossible. The last time it happened (at home, alone, one tiny glass of Prosecco) was when I looked for a diagnosis.

I vomit so hard that I genuinely fear I will choke, and can't move my head at all. It is terrifying. Hence giving up alcohol altogether (sigh).

I've been drunk many many many times over the last 30 years. Only ONCE have I experienced what happened the night I believe I was spiked. Most of us aren't actually stupid and can tell that it's not a normal 'drunk'.