What could my dd have been up to? Slurring her words

[PinkBump2022]

My dd is almost 13, she came home last night around 7pm she’s been hanging out with some girls the same age, when she came home she told me what she had been up to a few days earlier (which I already knew) immediately I thought she’s been drinking, then she began slurring her words and we could hardly understand anything she said. I asked her if she’s been drinking she said no, I couldn’t smell any drink on her. I then worried it was some sort of drug however Iv never personally tried drugs so I wouldn’t know the effects or what seams to be popular on the street atm, so I’m worried what she could have been up to, she told me nothing at all, no drink or anything at all. This morning she was fine and not slurring her words so what ever she did wore off by morning.
any ideas anyone??

@Unforgettablefire

Almost 13 is not 13, it's 12.

I see, so was acting oddly. OP definitely says child is 12. Not sure why she is being allowed to get into such situations even if she was 13.
I would seek medical advice actually, children have strokes too. And if nothing else the threat of speaking to a dr might make your DD come clean.

Sorry I realised my mistake I've asked for my post to be removed.

This. She's either telling the truth, in which case it's a medical emergency, or she's not, in which case she's grounded.

Predictably on drugs threads you’re getting answers from people who haven’t got a clue.

OP, only she can tell you what happened. As an OP said, it’s either something she’s taken or a medical event. So grounded or doctors, her choice.

Is she prone to migraines? These have caused slurred speech in my teen.

I'm with you on this one. I would tell her slurred words without a cause need investigating by a doctor and I would keep her home until its investigated.

If she’s insistent she hasn’t taken anything I think you need to book a GP appointment in case it is something medical.

I slur my words due to a neurological disorder. So I would tell her you will have to book a GP appointment unless she has an explanation.

And I would worry a lot about who she is spending time with

I’d take her up on the offer.

No idea. But she’s 12 so I wouldn’t be letting her out again any time soon.

I agree!

I’d genuinely be concerned that she’s either doing drugs at 12 or she has something wrong with her.

Either way she needs a doctors appointment asap and I’d speak to her about it so as a PP said she may come clean.

This is definitely a possibility. Before a migraine I slur my words and sound like I've been drinking. Don't always get a headache after either.

Difficult to say, but the nitrous oxide/gas canisters suggestion up thread is a good call.

Nitrous Oxide inactivated vitamin B12, causing deficiency, if there's any issue's digesting B12 or not eating enough due to vegetarian diet etc, then the B12 isn't replaced quickly & can cause neurological & other symptoms including slurred speech. These things are seen as harmless, but are far from it when B12 deficiency can be very disabling

Unless she comes clean, especially if there's other symptoms, I'd suggest seeing your GP & getting her tested

@RockinHorseShit if it was vitamin b12 deficiency, it would be there in the morning.

@PinkBump2022 I have to say, with a child (or an adult) getting disoriented and slurred speech with no obvious other signs, I would have taken them to AE.
Simply because slurred speech fir example can be the sign of a serious health issue (stroke, migraine etc…)

Not necessarily, it can come & go as do other symptoms in my experience, took me over a decades to get a diagnosis as a result & mine was catapulted into sudden symptoms partially after an NO overdose when having DD

I keep coming back to this and I have to say I am shocked that the immediate response wasn't medical attention. She is 12 years old. Even if it did turn out she had taken something, she clearly wasn't ok. Imagine just letting her go to bed and hoping for the best

I can't think of any situation where I wouldn't immediately seek medical advice if my DD was significantly slurring her words and had denied taking something.

I slur with lots of my migraine attacks. I also slur when I'm dehydrated.

Is it possible she was actually just tired and dehydrated?

Anything else she's been up to recently that seems odd now?

I agree with PP, tell her you'll need to take her to GP and do it. A friends DD had a series of mini strokes around 13/14 and sometimes appeared drunk. I expect it's more likely she took something, but if she's insisting she didn't, she should be checked out . She's OK and in the Army now BTW.

The laughing gas they do with balloons? I know I felt drunk when I had it during labour.

Agree with everyone she needs to be seen by a doctor. If she hasn’t taken anything then slurred speech should set off about a million alarm bells all pointing towards seeking medical attention.

If that really is the case this is quite worrying. Slurring and disorientation can indicate neurological problems.

Yes, this. Maybe let her know that whatever it is as long as she tells you she is not in trouble. Then you can work out a plan to keep her safe. At 12, although she might think it's hilarious fun to be out trying things, it's also a bit scary if adults don't put down boundaries. It's your job to keep her safe.

This is how we got DS1 to come clean when we found out he was weeing in towels on his bedroom floor and hiding them in his laundry basket. It turned out that he wanted to play games late at night and then he would need a wee but didn't want us to see him going to the toilet so made up a solution in his room () noting that I sometimes used towels to let (baby) DS2 have nappy free time and then harmlessly washed the towel, he assumed that his towels would just get washed as well, not realising that urine left for several days starts to smell terrible.

So we stayed true to our word and did not punish him either for the weeing or the late night game playing, although we did take the console out of his room at night so that he could no longer do it. He could still play on it, just not at night.

I would do something like that - aim to find out what caused her to be slurring her words, not punish her for it, but make sure that it can't happen again for example change the rules so that she can only see certain friends at your house, or pick her up directly from school if it's happening after school. If she genuinely doesn't know what caused it, then it is definitely a medical concern, and you should take her to see a doctor.

This might be wayyyy off the mark, but my little sister went through a short phase of this when she was 14. We were convinced she was up to no good, turns out she was diabetic!