Normal to feel in shock after being spiked?

MamaBee92

I was out with friends this Friday just gone, I wasn't drinking much because I'd come straight from work and I was exhausted. After a few glasses of wine I'd switched to water but stayed in the nightclub with my friends until they were leaving (about 2.30am). After we left they were hanging around outside for a while but I was starting to feel unwell so I said my goodbyes and headed for the taxi rank (5 min walk away). My friends would never usually let me walk alone but I was sober and told them I'd text them the taxi details,so they left me go.

Almost as soon as I turned the corner I felt a wave of confusion come over me, I'd forgotten my way and felt very panicky, then some guy started talking to me and I trying to link my arm, I tried to move him away but he kept telling me to come with him that he would look after me. I managed to make my way to a newsagent and when I went in I told them someone was following me. They went out and told the guy to go away and called a taxi to come right up to the door. At this point I was feeling really really out of sorts.

I got into the taxi and couldn't remember my address but told him the general area as I figured I'd remember when I got there. When I got into the taxi I explained I felt really unwell but luckily he was really nice and didn't just kick me out. I explained to him how I was feeling and he said it didn't sound right, I told him I wasn't drunk but maybe I had eaten something funny or something. He said he could tell I wasn't drunk but that he was worried that I didn't look right, at this point my speech went completely, I sounded like someone who was having a stroke. My memory is very scattered after this. I have flashes of the taxi driver pulling in and telling me I need to go to the hospital. I have flashes of screaming at the top of my lungs for him to help me. I remember a few seconds of being in the ambulance and feeling like my body was on fire and wanting to scream but my body wouldn't cooperate.

My next clear memory is waking up in hospital absolutely terrified and strapped up to monitors and IVs. I was in and out of consciousness for about 10 hours after that, and whenever I fell asleep the nurse said I was tearing the skin off my arms and trying to pull out the canulas. They did blood tests and realised then that I had GHB (I think that's what it was) in my system which is some sort of anaesthetic?

Sorry for the long post, but my question is, is it normal to still feel in shock? I know it's only a few days, but I've been in traumatic situations in my life before, I've had genuinely awful things happen to me and I've coped far better than this. I haven't been able to sleep because every time I try I have nightmares and jolt awake. I feel genuinely terrified and I don't know what of as I know I'm safe now. My heart is racing, I can't stop crying, I'm really jumpy, it's horrible. I'm back in work today and I'm struggling to do even basic tasks.

I go to counselling every week but on Thursdays as it's my only day off so I can't even go earlier. I don't know what to do I can't cope like this, this is so out of character for me I'm usually really able to manage my emotions and cope but I just can't get a handle on it this time. Any advice?

Mr. Incognito

Go see your doctor

MamaBee92

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Go see your doctor

For what though, she'll just tell me to talk to my counsellor who I can't see til Thursday

dartboardio

I'm sure its normal to feel in shock. You described how you felt and yes look how extreme your body felt. Your body needs time to recover mentally and physically. In other context what goes up must come down, you'll be okay after a few days.

MamaBee92

dartboardio wrote: »

I'm sure its normal to feel in shock. You described how you felt and yes look how extreme your body felt. Your body needs time to recover mentally and physically. In other context what goes up must come down, you'll be okay after a few days.

Yeah I was thinking actually 8 wonder is it a comedown from the drug rather than me just losing my mind. Thanks for your help

Ursus Horribilis

I remember a thread here a long time ago from a woman whose drink was spiked. She ended up being hospitalised I think and was really messed up. She posted here a few days after it had happened. She didn't want to leave her home and she was not in a good way mentally. What I mostly recall is how angry and aggressive she was. The thread was eventually closed because she snapped at just about everyone who offered her advice. So yeah, it's safe to say that an experience like what you've gone through is traumatic and devastating.

Riesen_Meal

MamaBee92 wrote: »

Yeah I was thinking actually 8 wonder is it a comedown from the drug rather than me just losing my mind. Thanks for your help

I think you are obviously still very shocked over it, and rightfully so... the GHB should be out of your system within a few hours in fairness but will take a while to get over the shock of it I'd say....

You were very lucky....

It's unbelievable to think there are oddballs out there doing this type of thing to women on nights out....

rcarroll

I imagine the drug is still working it's way through your system, hence the nightmares, jumpy feeling, confusion etc. Give it a few days, a week or two and try not to ingest any other medications to let your body clear it out and get back to normal. However, that said, I'd think about going to the rape crisis centre or some sort of women's group. I know nothing happened, but you lost control over your body, autonomy, power...that's quite frightening and disturbing...I can understand why you feel like you do. Somebody drugged you, with the intention of who knows what, and you had no power over the situation - your choice to be in that situation was taken away, your decision making capabilities were taken away due to a drug, and you had no say over what could potentially happen in that situation. You were incredibly fortunate to see the good side of humanity too - people in the shop that were concerned enough to call a taxi, a taxi man that later realised your predicament and cared enough to take you to hospital. So for that one bad act (spiking) you also saw that others are willing to help and protect you. That aside though, the original act of spking your drink can affect your feelings of trust in people. Don't let it be the biggest thing you take away from the night though, as hard as it can be, I hope you don't let it stop you going out or feeling safe on the streets/ in the bars. Give yourself time though to process it and talk about it, allow yourself feel the way you do right now, as it must feel awful to have that sense of safety taken away.

MamaBee92

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I remember a thread here a long time ago from a woman whose drink was spiked. She ended up being hospitalised I think and was really messed up. She posted here a few days after it had happened. She didn't want to leave her home and she was not in a good way mentally. What I mostly recall is how angry and aggressive she was. The thread was eventually closed because she snapped at just about everyone who offered her advice. So yeah, it's safe to say that an experience like what you've gone through is traumatic and devastating.

Really? God that's awful that poor woman, I hope she was ok. It is really scary. I keep getting weird images when I close my eyes like the fear on the taxi drivers face when he pulled over, or the noises of the machines in the ambulance. It's horrible. I think it's the loss of control that is so terrifying. I'm just so lucky nothing else happened

MamaBee92

Fieldog wrote: »

I think you are obviously still very shocked over it, and rightfully so... the GHB should be out of your system within a few hours in fairness but will take a while to get over the shock of it I'd say....

You were very lucky....

It's unbelievable to think there are oddballs out there doing this type of thing to women on nights out....

I was SO lucky and that's going around my head in circles. The doctor in the hospital said that he was surprised I even made it to that shop. If I hadn't God knows what could have happened. Terrifying

MamaBee92

rcarroll wrote: »

I imagine the drug is still working it's way through your system, hence the nightmares, jumpy feeling, confusion etc. Give it a few days, a week or two and try not to ingest any other medications to let your body clear it out and get back to normal. However, that said, I'd think about going to the rape crisis centre or some sort of women's group. I know nothing happened, but you lost control over your body, autonomy, power...that's quite frightening and disturbing...I can understand why you feel like you do. Somebody drugged you, with the intention of who knows what, and you had no power over the situation - your choice to be in that situation was taken away, your decision making capabilities were taken away due to a drug, and you had no say over what could potentially happen in that situation. You were incredibly fortunate to see the good side of humanity too - people in the shop that were concerned enough to call a taxi, a taxi man that later realised your predicament and cared enough to take you to hospital. So for that one bad act (spiking) you also saw that others are willing to help and protect you. That aside though, the original act of spking your drink can affect your feelings of trust in people. Don't let it be the biggest thing you take away from the night though, as hard as it can be, I hope you don't let it stop you going out or feeling safe on the streets/ in the bars. Give yourself time though to process it and talk about it, allow yourself feel the way you do right now, as it must feel awful to have that sense of safety taken away.

Thanks that was really helpful. Yeah I feel like the only thing keeping me sane is how fortunate I was that I made it to a shop that was open, that they were kind enough to help me, that the taxi driver didn't just assume I was drunk and kick me out. It could have ended up so much worse. Its just haunting me all the feelings of fear and confusion I had. It's like when I remember it I'm looking at it from someone else's perspective. Every time I try to sleep something flashes in my mind that jolts me awake again.

retro:electro

Hi op, first of all let me say how sorry I am that this happened to you. Don't beat yourself up over it, it's not your fault and you are every bit entitled to feel however you feel over the next few days.
I notice you say here that the blood results showed that it was GHB in your system, but in another one of your posts in another thread you say you haven't had the blood results yet and they are going to send them to your gp. You should probably clarify that for the posters here as they could be giving you advice related to GHB withdrawals when in fact that's not what may be happening to you at all.

MamaBee92

anna080 wrote: »

Hi op, first of all let me say how sorry I am that this happened to you. Don't beat yourself up over it, it's not your fault and you are every bit entitled to feel however you feel over the next few days.
I notice you say here that the blood results showed that it was GHB in your system, but in another one of your posts in another thread you say you haven't had the blood results yet and they are going to send them to your gp. You should probably clarify that for the posters here as they could be giving you advice related to GHB withdrawals when in fact that's not what may be happening to you at all.

Yes the other thread I posted yesterday but my blood work went to my GP this morning. The doctors in the hospital suspected this but of course couldn't say definitively without the results, so I was fairly sure that's what it was, but my GP confirmed it this morning when I called. She said that is leaves the system after 12 hours but I might still feel the affects of it, which seems like a contradiction and it confused me somewhat, but I got the sense she was rushing me on the phone, I'm sure she was busy, so I didn't ask her to elaborate

dartboardio

No problem, yeah especially as you probably don't take any sort of illegal drugs regularly, the kind people take on nights out in clubs etc, so this would have even more of an effect, nevermind planning to take something, then coming down, this is completely different as you weren't expecting it.

hope you're okay soon

I actually thought I got spiked or 'roofied' last week, though your situation seems much much worse, but luckily my boyfriend was there taking care of me.. be a small bit wary of people offering to buy you drinks, although you can remember being concious, what happened me was I was pretty drunk as it was, and took an E tablet, wasn't my first time, but I just threw the full thing back without thinking, next thing I know I literally have snippets of consciousness throughout the night, (one including lying on the bathroom floor naked infront of my mother) yes it's kind of funny to think back on but very dangerous, apparently I could not walk OR talk.... had to be lifted by two people home, into taxi, etc...

and the weird thing is we think it was a guy i WORK with! you really never know people.

MamaBee92

dartboardio wrote: »

No problem, yeah especially as you probably don't take any sort of illegal drugs regularly, the kind people take on nights out in clubs etc, so this would have even more of an effect, nevermind planning to take something, then coming down, this is completely different as you weren't expecting it.

hope you're okay soon

I actually thought I got spiked or 'roofied' last week, though your situation seems much much worse, but luckily my boyfriend was there taking care of me.. be a small bit wary of people offering to buy you drinks, although you can remember being concious, what happened me was I was pretty drunk as it was, and took an E tablet, wasn't my first time, but I just threw the full thing back without thinking, next thing I know I literally have snippets of consciousness throughout the night, (one including lying on the bathroom floor naked infront of my mother) yes it's kind of funny to think back on but very dangerous, apparently I could not walk OR talk.... had to be lifted by two people home, into taxi, etc...

and the weird thing is we think it was a guy i WORK with! you really never know people.

God that's awful! I used to be a coke addict and would occasionally take e on nights out but have been clean for 5 years, I knew straight away that this wasn't any normal reaction. I've had all sorts of bad reactions to recreational drugs but this was a different ball game.

Usually I'm very cautious of my drinks but at this point of the night I was on water so I guess I stupidly thought I'd be safe, don't know what my logic was there. Thing is I didn't even leave my drink unattended but the club was literally bumper to bumper so it would have been so easy for someone to do it with no one noticing. It's put me off wanting to go out now, I nearly called in sick to work today because I felt anxious about leaving my house. That's not like me at all, I'm hoping it stops soon

eviltwin

Totally normal to be anxious. It's not just what did happen but the thoughts of what might have happened if that man had managed to take you with him. You had a very lucky escape. Talk to your counsellor about it, they will probably recommend some therapy to help you. Glad you're okay, you just don't know what kinds of people are out there do you?

MamaBee92

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who's replied here today, you don't know how much it's helped. I don't feel so crazy! Thanks to everyone for not being judgemental, I've seen people on similar threads calling the person stupid for leaving the drink unattended, etc. I appreciate it.

dartboardio

jeez you really never know what people are planning, thinking. Scary to think people could be watching you while your out having a good time with friends.. wouldn't blame you for not wanting to go out for a while..

you'll never be back to that club anyway!

MamaBee92

dartboardio wrote: »

jeez you really never know what people are planning, thinking. Scary to think people could be watching you while your out having a good time with friends.. wouldn't blame you for not wanting to go out for a while..

you'll never be back to that club anyway!

Definitely not, what's worse is I actually know 2 people on separate occasions that were spiked in the same place, one male one female. You just never think it will happen to you! The club were complete a******s when I rang them too. 8 didn't ring to complain, just to inform them, and they more or less said it was my own fault and what did I expect them to do about it. His exact words were "well these things happen in nightclubs you can't expect us to stop it"... Good attitude!

dartboardio

MamaBee92 wrote: »

Definitely not, what's worse is I actually know 2 people on separate occasions that were spiked in the same place, one male one female. You just never think it will happen to you! The club were complete a******s when I rang them too. 8 didn't ring to complain, just to inform them, and they more or less said it was my own fault and what did I expect them to do about it. His exact words were "well these things happen in nightclubs you can't expect us to stop it"... Good attitude!

Oh wow, gets better and better doesn't it.
More of a reason to hate most nightclub/ late bar owners... most are complete fing dkheads.

Nightclubs and bars are so all for themselves
I wish going to nightclubs and bars wasn't such a normal thing to do anymore - no wonder they're dark inside... disgusting places to be, i hope one day i find the motivation to stop going in any at all - nightclubs late night, late bars etc... pubs are fine generally...

(not intending any offense towards anyone anything just a couple of clubs as stated staff and management really do not give a f unless they're making money they couldn't care less who dies, who gets attacked, nothing. I say this as a young girl who goes to a late bar at least 1s, 2s a week)

I've nothing to add to what's been said already, OP, besides that it's okay to be confused and traumatized because you've been through a confusing and traumatizing experience. You're not just getting over that happened, but as has been said already, you have to get over the thoughts of what could have happened.

It's okay to feel your feelings, they seem perfectly normal and you're entitled to them. I'm glad you got away and got help, you were very insightful about what was happening to you and you deserve credit for that. Good luck with your recovery.

Katgurl

oh my god, that is awful. You poor thing.


Of course it's normal to still feel traumatised.

Firstly; you were targetted by a person who wanted to hurt you. Terrifying stuff. Then you were simply lucky that you made it to the shop / taxi.

Being in hospital is scary anyway. I was in there two years ago and there was a complication and the noises on the machines stuck in my head for ages afterwards. I could feel the staff member's panic rising with the beeping and the memory of all the shouting kept running around my head.

Lastly, on top of this you have drugs working through your system.

I hope you are feeling a bit better now. It was an awful thing you have happened to you.