To think I had a near death experience because of my own stupidity?

[Sleeplessworried]

I was out for Christmas drinks with friends last week.
I rarely drink but had 2 Proseccos, 2 cocktails and a shot. This was from 5pm to 11pm. Not crazy but a lot for me.

I got home at around 12am and took two paracetamols 500mg each, thinking I was getting ahead of the hangover. I felt fine at this point and my friend even said I didn’t even seem like I’d been drinking before she dropped me off home.

I went to bed and jolted awake at around 2.30am. What followed was room spinning, struggling to see, the worst diarrhoea of my life, rounds of vomiting, stomach pain and hours of lying sweating on a bed while itching and shivering.

I know this is silly but because I don’t drink much, I had no idea you can’t take paracetamol after drinking. I realise now this is totally dangerous and stupid.

I remember panicking on the bed wondering if I’d been spiked and actually worrying that things were going to worsen and maybe I’d been poisoned. I know that sounds dramatic but I felt like I was going to die.

Anyway now I am feeling so embarrassed and stupid for taking paracetamol after alcohol.

It ended by me continuously putting fingers down my throat to encourage more vomiting and feeling slightly better after my stomach was completely empty. I managed to sleep from around 5am to 9am and felt only slightly nauseous in the morning.

Just wanted to write it down as I can’t tell any of my loved ones. I wouldn’t like to worry them and don’t want them to know how bloody clueless I am! It feels good to get it off my chest though.

If she hasn’t drunk for a long time, it’s not impossible. It’s more likely surely than a bout of norovirus that has disappeared after a few hours?

It’s far more likely that your symptoms were caused by either a reaction to a particular drink (something in the cocktails?), or because you mixed your drinks. Highly unlikely it was the addition of paracetamol that caused you to be ill.

You can also develop an intolerance to any substance at any time so you might have drunk red wine for years and be perfectly fine and then you find you’re not able to drink it without feeling ill.

I regularly take paracetamol with wine - hell, I even wash it down with wine!! I'm currently taking a strong prescription only paracetamol & codeine mix for period pain, and I drink with those.

I'm sorry, but I'm 100% convinced you were spiked.

This is what happens to me even after 1 drink. My body just can't handle it, so I stopped drinking years ago.

True. Alcohol intolerance or even allergy could explain the itching.

I had literally no idea about this, but my husband says it's well known so I guess it's just me and you, OP. Get well soon.

I got alcohol poisoning from a half bottle of wine once which sounds not dislike what you had. I was in my 20s and very used to drinking that amount of alcohol without even a hangover, but woke up in the middle of the night and went through a similar experience. Thankfully I got over it quickly. Talking about it to people at the time it seems to happen sometimes if the alcohol doesn't ferment properly and you can only tell if you drink it. It was awful and you have my sympathy.

Sounds like an allergy or bug. My DP took one of my Difene tablets for back ache - he would have taken them years before with no reaction but you can develop an allergy anytime, and mine were probably stronger--and told me next morning he d had a weird reaction , skin was bright red and he started vomiting. My reaction was 'oh you must be allergic, don't take them again' stating the obvious or so I thought. Nope, few months later I'd walked to corner shop for milk and dopey decided to take another one (to prove what a hard man he is presumably). I walked into find him on the toilet with violent diarrhoea while vomiting into the bin, shaking and oh my god I have never seen someone so red, from head to toe he looked like he fallen asleep in the summer sun for hours. Once that all finally stopped he was v dizzy and itchy, cocktails and wine can cause histamine issues because of their ingredients more than beer say

My husband had the same. When he resells it now he still thinks he was dying. He was just hung over.

I don’t drink now but certainly used to down a pint of water and take two paracetamol before bed in my drinking days. Honestly I just think you shouldn’t mix your drinks. Your body has reacted like you’ve ingested something toxic and tried to evacuate it. It might be solely down to the booze. Possibly food poisoning or the bar person has a tummy bug and doesn’t wash their hands.

I’ve never heard of this and I have taken paracetamol countless times with alcohol. Two 500mg tablets would also not make you have a near death experience. Sounds like the cocktails were stronger than you thought or just a random bug you got. Or spiked but I doubt it.

@Havingaswimmoose a couple of weeks ago, DH went on a night out. He drank a few pints across the evening.

He had no memory of getting home and I found him sat on the toilet unable to communicate clearly, shivering, room spinning, seeing double and with little strength. My first guess was 'spiked' but because of the speech problem and weakness, was worried it might be a stroke. So called an ambulance (stroke queried by dispatcher.) 8 hours in A&E later, consensus was definitely not a stroke and quite likely spiked.

He bounced back right as rain after 48 hours.

A&E said that as a 50 year old man, he's not exactly a typical victim of spiking which, sadly, is making him wonder about the friends he was out with.

I hope you are back to your old self soon. Look after yourself.

Well in my expert opinion, it’s anxiety mixed with too much alcohol. You start off feeling extremely sick and unwell, then actually think you are dying, then get anxiety and that gives more symptoms. It’s a viscous circle.

Have a dioralyte and plenty of rest. Good luck x

It’ll be the alcohol.

The wine + cocktail combination has done that to me occasionally down the years.

I may be missing something here but when I’ve been out for drinks I often drink a large glass of water and take two paracetamol before bed. Always means barely any hangover.

Sounds more like a virus.

Prosecco is one alcohol I cannot drink
It gives me an appalling headache and THE worst hangovers from very moderate consumption. Combining it with cocktails and shots and I, too, would have been on the toilet and vomiting.

It's the worst drink known to humankind!

Two of my children recently had a 5-6 hour sickness and diarrhea bug. So it's entirely plausible. It was intense, but once it was over that was it. I found it quite bizarre.

People react to alcohol in different ways and this can change as we get older. Also you mixed your drinks. Sometimes there is a kind of allergic reaction that makes the person very ill. The paracetamol straining your liver won’t have helped. Thank goodness you are OK and managed to throw it all up.

You're assuming the wrong thing.

You can take paracetamol with alcohol.

Either you were drunk or you were drunk and had a tummy bug.

You weren't near death. What an odd thing to say.

You had a lot to drink.
Without knowing the size of the Proseccos and how much spirit was in the cocktails, you could have had anything from 6 to 10 units in 5 hours.

That's a lot for a woman. Being drunk can also mean you lose control of your bodily functions. Or you had food poisoning.

Making yourself sick isn't a good idea. You'd be better drinking water. (but not too much.)

I’d never heard of the paracetamol thing either. I don’t think you’re stupid and hope you are ok today.